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Minicraft 1/144 Pan Am Stratocruiser


LSP_Kevin

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Brian, Peter: thanks, boys. I've got nearly all the stickers on now, and have been looking at the props. The kit parts are terrible, looking nothing like real propellors at all. The white metal replacements from Cobra Company address this problem, but are soft and very poorly moulded. At least one blade on each prop was bent and/or twisted, with one in particular being completely malformed. I've tried to rehabilitate it, but have only been partially successful. I've brush-painted a thick coat of Mr. Surfacer 500 on each blade, and will see what they look like after polishing them out again.

 

The other issue with the Cobra props is that they're not designed to have the kit prop spinners fit them, which I believe nearly all civil C-97s had. I'll post photos later showing the problems, but I'm seriously unsure which way to turn here.

 

Kev

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Kev

Nothing ever seems to come easy these days.

Peter

 

You're so right, Peter! I'm toying with the idea of reshaping the kit blades, but that's a lot of work for an indeterminate result. And I definitely won't get the build finished this week if I take that path! Plus, since I paid good money for the damn white metal ones, I'd really like to think I could use them. Decision pending...

 

Kev

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I've been doing some rehabilitative work on the Cobra Company props, but while waiting for primer to dry, I had a flick through the Airliner Tech book on the Stratocruiser, and came across the following photo (posted for illustrative purposes only):

 

c-97_zpsldbzrxf4.png

 

Those oddly-shaped prop blades are exactly what's depicted in the kit! I've never seen props that shape before, and dismissed them as completely wrong (hence the replacements in the Cobra Co. set). I think what's actually happening, is that the kit props are wrong for the Stratotanker variants, and this is what the Cobra parts seek to address. So, in effect, they would be wrong for my Pan Am bird anyway.

 

So, unless somebody has more definitive info, I might just go with the kit props anyway, and save myself all the hassles of trying to make the white metal parts acceptable.

 

Kev

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