airscale Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 Hi folks I had the pleasure of meeting Bill Bosworth at Telford last year after he came to my stand to talk to me about my Spitfire XIV. So what you may say… who is Bill Bosworth you may ask… Well, Bill is the guy that was behind Accurate Miniatures and the world class they set for accuracy & detail with their range of kits, he is also one of the foremost scratchbuilders in the world and I have to say a quiet, unassuming guy for the achievements he has made. We have corresponded since and he still takes an interest in how the Spit is coming along. It has been both a pleasure and an honour that we have become friends What has this got to do with an RFI post you ask – well in that time Bill sent me some pics of his latest project and I was so staggered I had to ask him if I could post them here.. It is a 1:48 Sikorsky S40 – a more challenging collection of struts and wires I dare imagine trying to model.. This is what Bill says about it… I have been doing this sort of stuff pretty much all of my adult life and while this one was a bit more challenging than the others, it can be done. The problem with this subject is all of the alignment issues. EVERYTHING has to be in plumb. . Measure, measure, measure…cut. Measure again and re-cut. Then re cut and measure and align. It got a little old, but still fell into the fun category. It really is a flying forest and REQUIRES working from the inside out!...slowly. Not much pattern making and vac forming on this one. Just the hull top, wings, floats, engine nacelles and the uninstalled cowl rings. They often flew without them and I liked the exposed engines. I can still put them on if I change my mind. As I get older, laziness takes over so I resorted to a set of lovely resin Hornet engines for this one. But the rest is mine. A big help was finding a source of in-scale rigging wire for something a lot less than the fortune Albion would have cost me there in Telford! Sixty feet of stainless steel for a little over $20 US. While my preferred scale is 1:32nd, this thing and the other Pa Am Clippers I've done are in 1:48. Still, about 36 inch span. So, ok, it's in 1/48, not our preferred scale but as a model it needs to be seen, and it is Large – if the Mods want to move it then so be it.. Pretty stunning I think, and while Bill is too humble to share these things himself, I felt compelled to bring them to you for your enjoyment I have a few 1/32 ones to post too so look out for them All the best Peter Shaka HI, Mister J, Jan_G and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 Bog - didn't know Bill was at Telford - would have loved to have met him! Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 (edited) What a fantastic project, and resultant model! Bill Bosworth is a legend, and the guy behind a lot of the classic Monogram aircraft kits from the '70s and '80s IIRC. Thanks so much for posting this, Peter. Oh, since it's the wrong scale for LSP, I've moved it here to Non-LSP Works, where it more appropriately belongs. Kev Edited March 23, 2017 by LSP_Kevin Wrong! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubert Boillot Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 The subject, the execution, everything here is perfect ! What a great project ! Bill deserves praise for his contributions to modelling, but this one is among his crowning achievements. Hubert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn M Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 thats magnificent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 Peter Simply BRILLIANT Thanks for posting Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cees Broere Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 And very well covered by John Alcorn in his books on scratchbuilding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 Bill Bosworth is a legend, and the guy behind a lot of the classic Monogram aircraft kits from the '70s and '80s IIRC. I've just had an email from Bill himself, clarifying that he was never involved with Monogram, so I've amended my post accordingly, but thought I should also make things clear in a separate post. My apologies to Bill for the misinformation! To be honest, I suspect I was confusing him with Bill Koster in this regard, but I'd have to double-check my facts on that too, before making any statements! Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 It's always a joy to see a Masters' work. Thank you, peter. Sincerely, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 in one word........AWESOME!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel_W Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 I'm simply speechless in trying to discribe a scratch built effort of this magnitude. Amazing, simply amazing. Joel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacewolf Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 The things we have built... that flew and flew well.... it is from these efforts we are now reaching for the moon and Mars. A brilliant and exacting build.... just WOW !! Vaughn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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