Night Fighter Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 Hello Nic, I've just started on this website and saw this topic and would like to offer any help if I can. I know quite a bit about the P-61 Black widow and would like to help. For instance, did you add the push rod behind the pilot's seat? This was attached to the back right and was attached to springing cables at the base of the back of the seat. The purpose was to allow the seat to recline backward incase the pilot had to bail. There is also a half cog on the ladder that allowed it to be folded and hauled up. As for suggestions for other night fighters; there is the F6FN Hellcat which had a radar pod outboard on the wing. There is also the J1N1 S Gekko, Japanese night fighter, Potez 631 French night fighter, Fiat CR 42 CN Italian night fighter, British Boulton Paul Defiant. The B-25H was used momentarilly as a night fighter. Pe3 Bis Russian night fighter, P-70 American night fighter. Germans also had, I believe, the Ju-88 c6 night fighter. There are a few more but don't want to over whelm you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Fighter Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 I should also add that there was a plexiglass A frame affair in the tail cone. I would like to show you but I don't know how to add photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remmert Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 Very nice work so far, and the UHU really looks the part. I will be saving your P-61 build, for when ever I start mine. Cheers from up north of you. Remmert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic C.D. Posted June 7, 2013 Author Share Posted June 7, 2013 Thanks for stopping by Remmert! You'll enjoy the P-61 - a lot of work, but a very impressive model! Hi Night fighter, any additional info is always welcome! If I'm able to build it, I'll try to add some more detail to the cockpit before I'll close it up. With regards to other nightfighters, some good ideas there. The Defiant is pretty cool! The problem is, there are so many interesting aircraft that were used as a nightfighter. Harv's P-38 is one and just last night, I was reading about the F8F-1N, the nightfighter version of the Bearcat. Midifications are quite simple - some cockpit work, some dampners on the exhausts and a radar under the right wing - and with the good Trumpeter kit around, that might be cool too. And yesterday Matt got me thinking of a FW 190... Thanks for the suggestions! So, back to work on my '61' ! Nic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scvrobeson Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 Really liking how the P-61 is coming along. You're making it look very nice. Don't forget about the Hellcat night fighter, and the Tigercat. And I know the Airfix Mosquito kit comes with NF options, so that could always be another project for you. Also the Fw-190, Me-109, Me-262 all had night-fighting careers. Keep up the great work Nic. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 I do have a Has. F6F-5N in the stash. Some day........Harv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattlow Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 Nic " Fw-190 with lots of antennas on the wings and fuselage that is pretty cool" There's two Owl resin sets with antenna adorned 190s.. The 190A-6/R11 which had small antenna, as you said, on the wings and fuselage (also a Bf 109G-5/6 AS with this arrangement) - this is sold out at moment http://www.owl.cz/en/resin-sets/--conversion-sets-with-decals/--1_32 Then the 190A-8/R11 which has the larger aerials mounted on the wings - I have this set and the resin casting of the aerials is really nice. http://www.owl.cz/en/resin-sets/--conversion-sets-with-decals/--1_32 The Ju88 has been mentioned and you can pick up one of Pastor John's sets from AIMS to make a Ju 88C, R or G nightfighter. Any one of those would look dam nice with your existing trio.. http://www.aimsmodels.co.uk/html/1_32_ju_88.html Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Fighter Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 How does one add photos. I would like to show you P-61 reference photos but I don't know how to add them or post them. could someone instruct me please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Fighter Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 At MAAM.org there is a complete section dedicated solely for the restoration of a P-61B. If you look at the part that talks about recovering the plane, you will see a photo of the back of the pilot seat. This will show the push rod I was telling you about that lowers the back of the pilots seat. Another section showing the restoration will show the plexiglass A frame mentioned. Old WW2 photos of this area also show this plexiglass A frame. The planes needed to have them because the cone would implode in a steep dive. The ladder folded up with the use of a half cog and a step rod. You would step on the rod which in turn would push on the half cog. The ladder would swing upward and two lubber handles on the pan would finish pulling up the door. the door had one latch on the bottom left as you face the front of the plane. I have pictures but don't know how to upload them. You can see a picture of this half cog if you can find a copy of the flight manual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 How does one add photos. I would like to show you P-61 reference photos but I don't know how to add them or post them. could someone instruct me please? You have to host the images on an external site (such as Photobucket) and link them from there. Here's my sadly out-of-date tutorial on how to do this using Photobucket. The principles are still valid, but Photobucket has changed its interface completely since then. I'll update it one day... Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic C.D. Posted June 8, 2013 Author Share Posted June 8, 2013 Hi Night Fighter! Thanks for the info. About the A-frame; I'm building a B-model of the Black Widow - I thought the frame was only used in the early A models. It would be great if you could help me out with this; it's a nice add-on to scratch! Nic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Fighter Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 (edited) The A frame was used in both A and B models. This is because the design didn't change between models. The C model has used two different cones. The one at the Smithsonian, next to the Gekko, has a cone, but there one at Patterson, I believe, has more of a bubble window in back. I'll try to post some pictures. Kevin, I have photos in Flikr, does this count? Thanks for the help. I'll view the lesson on how to add photos and experiment a little. Edited June 8, 2013 by Night Fighter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Fighter Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 One other note before I forget. The ailerons are different between the A and B models. The A model had trim tabs on the ailerons where as the B model did not. Someone mentioned earlier about the color inside the engine cowling; this was chromate green in color but the color didn't go into the cowling flaps. Also, if you show your ailerons in use, the corresponding spoilerons would also be in use. This is what gave this large plane agility in the turn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Fighter Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 I put some photos on photobucket, but still don't know how to get them to show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Fighter Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 Frustrated... I've worked on this for an hour and I still can't seem to get it to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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