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Grumman S2F Tracker - 1/24 Scratchbuild


Jim Barry

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A little more reality unfolding. The props and cowlings came back from the printers today. Very happy. The engines were printed 4 years ago. 

 

In semi related news I have a growing collection of 1/24 kits (Mustang, Spit, BF-109, Fokker E.III, Albatross, P-47)  Tonight I pulled the trigger on the Vintage Fighter Series'  P-40B. I kind of overpaid, but I got this paranoia I'll never see this again! It's pretty rare.  Fun fact.. There is just one jet plane kit you can get in 1/24 injection molded. (the Harrier in various versions). 

 

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I love the Robert Taylor Art on the box, but who was in charge of the text on the box? It's Curtiss and it's P-40. 

Edited by Jim Barry
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11 hours ago, Jim Barry said:

A little more reality unfolding. The props and cowlings came back from the printers today. Very happy. The engines were printed 4 years ago. 

 

In semi related news I have a growing collection of 1/24 kits (Mustang, Spit, BF-109, Fokker E.III, Albatross, P-47)  Tonight I pulled the trigger on the Vintage Fighter Series'  P-40B. I kind of overpaid, but I got this paranoia I'll never see this again! It's pretty rare.  Fun fact.. There is just one jet plane kit you can get in 1/24 injection molded. (the Harrier in various versions). 

 

hMTEpF.jpg

 

 

 

 

SR954U.jpg


d6ebXZ.jpg


B4WBB6.jpg

 

 

AxUI1R.jpg

 

I love the Robert Taylor Art on the box, but who was in charge of the text on the box? It's Curtiss and it's P-40. 

If I remember my history and semantics, America shot back at Pearl but we didn’t strike back until Midway if you don’t count the Doolittle PR nuisance raid.  Taylor’s art is always a joy, but the rest of the box is a bit of a shambles.

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George Welch and Ken Taylor's action that day is heroic (earning the Distinguished Service Cross) so I'm fine letting their legacy earn an impressive title. As the story goes, the crew chief told Welch to disperse his plane so it would not be ground target.  He ignored that saying "The Hell with that" and took off after the Japanese, shooting down two Val bombers and a Zero. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Welch_(pilot)

 

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Tonight getting the forms built for the fuselage. So, I have 4 pieces of poplar here (see figures 1 and 1a) I'm gluing together that makes up the volume. Once the shape is created I'll break it in half (easy enough as I'm only gluing the halves lightly). Then, those two halves will each be vacuformed. I did this for the Fury (using epoxy clay instead of wood).  Good to be back. I also used to glue up poplar in similar ways when my college summer job was making kitchen cabinets...jeez, 35 years ago! My experience with this wood suggests it will be good for the purpose. 

 

 

Figure 1

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Figure  1a 

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Gosh, lots of German fighters in progress! All wonderful. What a kit that ZM must be.  

 

Tonight I got the sanding disc out and started shaping the fuselage. In John Alcorn's "Scratchbuilt!" (my bedtime storybook) one of the master scratchbuilders is quoted about this phase where you just have two axis projected on the form and you need to progress and the advice is just "Carve it until it looks like a B-26"  Which is actually working out here, I think. It has a bubble of sorts for the cabin which is the only complex part. Might sculpt the front windshield with epoxy clay, we'll see. 

 

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hnh6RQ.jpg

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Gazzas, Well, actually this is just the form for the vacuforming.  I'll bust it in two here and then suck hot plastic over the two forms.  Gotta have a cockpit here. Peeking inside a 1/24 model is going to be cool. Fingers crossed! 

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