Valkyrie Designs - Lockheed Electra Junior

[Jim Barry]

Ok, I have 4 commitments and a few people expressing interest,  so I'm getting confident I'll get 10 orders. I think we have green light! 

 

 

[Jim Barry]

Alright!!! The Electra has made it to 10 orders and I decided to close the order and marketing phase and just get down to delivering the best kits possible. You all here have been awesome in response to my fledgling effort here. 5 orders! . Facebook marketing came through with the rest.  I will  reopen the catalog for orders in 2027. 

 

 

[mozart]

Congratulations Jim, it’s a subject that really interests me so I could well be part of your 2027 order.

[LSP_Kevin]

Congrats, Jim, and best of luck with the order fulfilment process!

 

Kev

[RCPlym]

On 9/12/2026 at 6:38 PM, Jim Barry said:

The Electra has made it to 10 orders

 Ya gonna need another printer... 😬😂 

[wunwinglow]

On 9/7/2026 at 3:37 AM, Jim Barry said:

I guess I should make templates for the windows. I’ll see if the cameo can cut some clear plastic and make it easier on the builder.
 

 

 

 

I had a real senior moment today. I was sorting through new parts when it seemed curious to me that while I had just put a starboard wing into the printer job queue, I also had one in my hand! Im

just 60! Help! 

 

I'm 68, I can assure it gets, um.........

 

I am currently at the top of our stairs, no idea why.

[Gazzas]

ooh, well done. Yer gonna be too busy for figure requests.

[Jim Barry]

Hit me up for figures. I have room on the build plates to fit one on there while the planes are printing. Or just build a figure file.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 15 by Jim Barry

[Jim Barry]

4 hours ago, RCPlym said:

 Ya gonna need another printer... 😬😂 

This has crossed my mind. I feel the struggle is just the volume of pulling/prying prints off the 100 beds, cleaning and curing hundreds of parts.  That's all I want to do this year now and fine doing it at at a one  printer pace. 

Edited September 15 by Jim Barry

[Jim Barry]

Thought I'd just take this space to note one of our members here  @Legendary Replicas and their small business in scale aviation. I think we producers all do better here when we use the attention we get to point out others' work. Good karma! 

 

 

https://www.legendaryreplicas.com/

 

 

[RCPlym]

20 hours ago, Jim Barry said:

This has crossed my mind. I feel the struggle is just the volume of pulling/prying prints off the 100 beds, cleaning and curing hundreds of parts.  That's all I want to do this year now and fine doing it at at a one  printer pace. 

 

I know the feeling... Just finished a 20hr 40min print of the final plate of the Aladdin Avro Anson. Thank heaven every single part printed perfectly, particularly as the printer had a nuclear meltdown the previous night that I didn't see for five hours. It thought it was printing - but the plate didn't lift! Corrupted g-code I suspect.

 

All super again now, but I think I do need to setup and dial in my other two just in case!

[Out2gtcha]

SO glad this has worked out for you Jim!

Best of luck with this endeavor 

[Jim Barry]

I had an hour to burn while I dropped a friend off for a medical appt and so got a dose of Lockheeds (P-2 Neptune and P-3 Orion) here at the decommissioned base in Brunswick, Maine. Cold  Warriors these two. They just restored the P-2 and it's impressive. The P-3 is painted in honor of the crew of the P-3 that crashed in Sept 1979. I lived here during that time and it was so sad to hear of not only this crash where the entire crew was lost, but there were two other P-3 crashes that year as well (though not here). This was a plane that had one of the safest records in the Navy. (Though yes the L-188 Electra had many problems that were sorted out long before these accidents). There was nothing like it. All were unrelated and freaky. This particular plane (85) was piloted by the father of a friend of mine. We always felt bad to have lost a dad like that. One engine just ripped off its mounts, tore the wing with it and then took the rear horizontal stabilizer out  and it just lost control, diving into the ground into fireball.  (just 10 minutes after take off).  

 

The P-2 had an interesting history as a weapon platform capable of carrying the 9000 lb Mark 8 Atomic bomb in the late 40's (special variant). It was a stop gap design so heavy that the carrier-based planes would have had used JATO rocket assist to take off from the deck. Like the Doolittle B-25s, they could not land back on the carrier and would have had to have a land based landing. 

 

Edited September 16 by Jim Barry

[Jim Barry]

Geeks, What plane took over the real role as nuclear bomber? 

 

 

 

[Jim Barry]

I know some of you that bought the kit were probably dreading the day you thought you had to make 12 tiny curtains and thread  them onto  rod to hold them, but rejoice instead:  I have made them for you! 

 

I myself did not not have a CAD method that struck me as easy, but then a lightbulb lit up over my head today and  I figured I'd just draw a squiggle, offset it about fabric thick and close the sketch. Then extrude the curtain out of that. I enjoy these little challenges much like I do handmade scratch. 

 

Also, the windows are going in great on the prototype. I won't bore you with the process but it's  .010" clear Evergreen brand styrene (.25mm) which is really challenging for the cutter. They press fit in and I used Gorilla brand clear glue to affix them. Honestly my effort on the prototype is mostly fit testing but It's also a presentation test so that I have better marketing content .  The effort is a few notches below my normal build worry level but lord knows this has been epic even before I uncapped the glue. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And in other news, Hubert's kit is now printing! Bed one should be done in a few hours. 

 

 

Edited September 17 by Jim Barry