ruzlkampf

But I digress; Let's see....where wuz I? Aaaah yes, posting pics of the cockpit before zipping the fuse up. Hmmmm, lemmee start with the instrument panel and the blind approach instruments afixed to the top of the canopy framing for the radar operator to help the pilot out. None of this is very visible once it's installed, so I didn't go crazy with scale fidelity. heh heh.

Whup-dee-doooo, I got distracted for a couple of days.....yet again! Thanks for following along everybody, and the very kind words. I ended up revamping the rear cockpit piece because the 'bubble' on top was slightly too far forward. I actually got this thing pre-shaded today, and realized I'm a bit behind on my updates. I never showed any pics of the cockpit before I installed it! Blast! Here's what's been scattering my attention lately; couldn't resist enlarging some plans of this thing.....and it was all downhill from there. Swoopy little thing, and it's been smiling at me like a pretty girl. Been trying not to listen to the mermaids song, but I've been bashing myself onto the rocks and wasting a lot of time over this shape lately.

Bahahahaha! I ALWAYS get such a huge kick outa watching your builds dude! Ya never know what you're going to see next. Can't wait to see the 'continuing saga' unfold.

Bahahahaha! I kinda got a kick outta the visual I got of you with that 'deer caught in the headlights' furtive look whilst grabbing for air (and the last root on the edge of the cliff) before doing a 'Wile E. Coyote free-fall' as the Road Runner flips out it's tongue. But, I'm a sicko and not well at all.

Cool Thor, can't wait to see how this scheme turns out! Great to see you're having fun too, these GB's are a great place to hang out. Gahhh, I'm all the way on the bottom of the 2nd page;.......and holding. My fledgling Norwegian air force is not very proud of me presently. heh heh. Looking forward to the next set of progress pics dude! Later, Russ

Looking GOOD Texas!!! Man, you're moving right along with this. I'm still at the bottom of the 2nd page! I need to use your battle-cry of "just get er done!" and get on the horse and start working on some of my projects in this GB! Sheesh, those engine pods sure do have a lot of pieces, eh? Looking forward to the next set of progress pics buddy! Later, Russ

Whoa! WOW! Uuuuuuhhhh,......... I've got to go back and look at this again. Holy Cow!

Whoooeeee! Now THAT'S cool looking Rick! Man, you sure got that rigged fast dude. Used fishing line, eh? Yeah, that lolla-fallutin Hubert got me interested in those profiles too;......what a BAAAAADDD influence he can be. Drat! Just when I had my build-schedule halfway under control, you guys just HAD to go build some of these up. Hmmmm, just so happens that I had one of these kits fall from the sky onto my door-step from an undisclosed and non-named good buddy of mine from Holland (whom I hate even more now! ), and I was kinda liking that bizarre black/white checkerboard scheme.......dooooooh. This is looking real sweet Rick, can't wait to see the 'mad-masker' at work! I think you and that darned Hubert are going to start a fad here! Bahahahaha! Later buddy! Russ

Next step is to scratch out some mg81z"s and an ammo box for the rear gunner. I want the cockpit and pilots to be painted with the fuse zipped up by the end of this weekend. The only things left to build up are the tail wheel and radar. Wings and tail are ready to go. Things should start going together much more quickly now? More pics as things progress, Russ

Different angle. This is the last major 'G' mod I needed to make, so I was glad to see it was pretty darn close;

Phhhhhttt,,...OK, enough of that. Time to put the pit in and drill out for the shrage-muzik' and see how it looks. Oh yes, this has possibilities. This was my 'test-fit' canopy to see how close my plug was, and to practice drilling holes.

Hmmmm, kinda hard to get that bubble to show up. Different angle;

Different view;

Thanks for following along guys! I need to quit blithering around on this build and get it done! Played around with a new airbrush today, but before I did that I managed to get the rear canopy vacuformed. It was starting to bug me not having the proper shape for my test-fits. I used the kit canopy after building it up a bit to the shape I was looking for. Was almost impossible to photo cuz, well.....it's clear so I put some tape on it for frames. These frames are approximate because the tape wouldn't bend to the correct 'swoop' shape towards the rear. Close enough to give ya'll the general idea though. On with the pics! Here's the first attempt, and the 'master plug' to show what I started with. The rear canopy has a small 'bubble' over the gunner, so I was sure to include it.

What, what, WHAAAAT! The 'crazy-chicken' avatar man is back?!!! Welcome back DUDE! What's this? You're making a Zero model out of a Zero, and not a Mig-21 or a P-38? Heh heh. Wing fuel tanks?! When I saw all that white plastic styrene,.....I knew this had to be one of your builds buddy. Swiss cheese, indeed. Very, very glad to have you back my friend. Hmmmmmm, looks like I'm going to have to finish off that old 110 thing and get on over here to be giving you a hard time now? Now THAT sounds like a lot of FUN! Looking good as always Loic, you haven't lost the touch. Grey and green scheme is going to be cooooool. More pics! Later, Russ

Bahahahahaha! Okay,....that does it. I'm going to have to get out my 'Butler Inspired' blowtorch and light the candle on that build again! (I actually cast the wheels for it today. ) If Butler can resurrect his Meteor build and get it done, I can be goaded into bringing that project over into this GB. heh heh. (Good idea on starting a fresh thread for your build Butler, the SR-71 thread was getting too huge and bloated and was scaring me away ) Looking forward to watching this progress once more dude! Hey, I need all the ideas I can steal and you've got a million of em. heh heh Later, Russ

Veeeeeery nice!!! Keep the progress pics coming! Later, Russ

Whoa yes, I've still got one of these kits waiting for something just like this to happen to it! Love the earlier P-38's. Looking forward to watching this come together.

Whooohooo! Had to slide on over to this side of the forums to see what you had going on Shawn. NIIIIIICCCCCEEEE. Have you decided what markings you're going to do it in yet? Really looking forward to the next progress pics! Later, Russ

I agree, sweet little hot-rod! I'm going to be hacking up an 'E' and back-dating it into an 'A' for a Norwegian build over in the Stalled GB. Just got some plans enlarged of both versions to see what-alls involved. Will mainly involve re-doing the mid fuse section (spine/intakes/ slight shortening) and whittling the wing LEX down a bit. Looks like it's going to be a lotta fun! Drop in and check it out when ya can, eh?! later, Russ

Last update pic for the night. A little bit lower to show how the oil coolers look, and some of those cooling scoops around the spark plugs 'n such. Now that my airbrush is functional again, AND there's a weekend coming up.....it's time to start slamming on this again. I'm warming up on the SR-71 again and must get this finished! More pics as things progress. Later! Russ

More of an upper view. Oooooooh I can't wait to start putting a paint job and radar on this thing!

View of my newly cast spinners from the front. Also gives a frontal view of my supercharger intake. Still have some straps and clips to put on the flame dampeners too. Probably get to blowing that rear canopy out of acetate this weekend. The early style is starting to bug when I do my mockups.

Whooooeee, what a week I've been having! Lost the metal paint cup on my Iwata, and didn't get another until today. Soooo, not much painting has been done yet. Yep Mike, those spinners are 'mock-ups' that I was using off some Hasegawa 109's until I cast some correct versions with the right profile. While I had all the stuff out, I ended up casting the wheels for the SR-71 too! As usual I don't have much time for posting tonight, so I'm going to throw some pics out to show what this project looks like with the new spinners afixed and most of the putty primered over so ya'll can see things a bit better than when it was white. First the enlarged rudders; View of the rear of the nacelles showing the supercharger intake and generator humps. That nose looks a lot better now that I swooped it in a bit differently too. Man, I'm ready to start whacking on a radar suite now! Having a hard time finding an ace with aircraft equipped and/or painted the way I want. Hmmmmm. I want to do a camo with 'gekko-spots' all over the top, but every profile of an ace's AC this late in the war with that scheme has an Fug-218, not a Fug-220. Whaaaaaaaaa!