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kanyiko β The Madness Begins...
#constellation #heller #kit #lockheed #madness #model #modelling #l749
Published: 2018-02-02 20:02:13 +0000 UTC; Views: 527; Favourites: 15; Downloads: 5
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After having lingered in my stash for a while, I've finally decided to start work on one of my model Constellations...... and boy, will it require some work. T_T
Though not nearly as much as the future KLM Constellation I've got planned - the standard Heller model has all of its windows in the wrong locations. T_T
...
I dread the amount of scratch-build that interior will require... D:
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Comments: 40
Thank you, I'll need it! x_x
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One of those projects for when you just feel like torturing yourself?
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Somehow, every project feels like that. :/
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I know what you mean - about ten years ago, I got a model of a Sherman tank for Christmas. The treads, instead of being a nice rubber loop, are made of almost 200 individual links. After all these years, I still haven't finished the treads.
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Argh, yes, I know those kinds of models.
... Sd Kfz 251/1D.Β Each track consisting of individual links, each unpainted and further consisting of two individual parts.Β It will have been in my stash - unstarted - for 13 years this year... T_T
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I think I'm just going to forget about attaching the treads and just paint it as a knocked-out victim of a Tiger ambush.
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Lol, that's a rather inventive short-cut indeed! XD
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Well, after so many years of "OMG how am I going to do this", a lot of pieces have fallen off and even if I finished it today, it would look like a piece of junk. So, might as well go all the way in the other direction and make the damage deliberate. I might still need to finish some of the treads, but it wouldn't be nearly as much work.
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Yeah, I know the kind of model.Β I've got a Fairey Firefly Mk.5 myself that doesn't look like it will ever be finished anymore, right now it looks more like the kind of 'gutted wreck in the corner of the field'... >.>
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Have you heard of the PBY Catalina that was converted as a luxury yatch?
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I seem to believe there was a photo issue on that particular plane in an issue of Life magazine.
A lot of Catalinas actually saw airline service as well - airlines such as Ansett, Qantas, BOAC, Cathay Pacific, Icelandair, Panair do Brazil, and many others used them from the 1940s up to (in some cases) the 1970s for passenger services in the most difficult places.
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Bon chance mon ami. (or should I have done that in Dutch?)
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I can use all the luck in any language, to be honest...
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In which case "Veel succes mijn vriend"Β
And even "emoga sukses temanku" (Indonesian, courtesy of Google Translate)
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Looks amazing so far! I love the idea of a scratch-built interior... but you're kinda crazy, don't you think???
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... I've heard people say that before, so it must be true, right? >.>
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Thank you, I'll need it! XD
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You gonna do all those seats? Might as well make it worth your while and add some passengers and some magazines & a vomit bag or two on the seats. I couldn't do it. I'd say "screw it" and paint the insides of the windows for a blacked-out interior.Β
But good luck and have fun!
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I will be doing all of her seats, although for this particular Connie I'll be using an earlier 'luxury' interior lay-out (2x2 seating rather than the 'tourist' 2x3 one, I might also include some seats made into berths, and add closed curtains to some windows)
I won't be including crew or passengers on this one, though, although I will do so for a later one I'm also planning to build (2x3 'tourist' seating, and I might also add a 'Speedpak' freight pannier to that one when I build it.)
Two things I won't be making, however, are the galley and the 'vanity compartiments' of the toilets, as those areas will sit hidden behind windowless parts of the fuselage.Β Especially the closed-off galley is a good thing, as I can use that compartiment then for the lead counter-balance so this kit won't end up as a tailsitter, like the ill-fated first Connie I made many years ago...
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Sounds like you got a solid plan!
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Think of it as slightly more fluid...
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There's something about a Connie. I wish your project well Kanyiko!
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There definitely is!
Thank you so much for the support!
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Very welcome dear friend Β
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It must be a labor of love - or perhaps just a lot of labor to correct her.
Really looking forward to seeing this project!
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I'm pretty sure it's just another manifestation of my insanity. x_x
Heller's model of the Constellation isn't too bad, the only real issues are the engine nacelles which are poorly detailed, and that it still has raised panel lines rather than the engraved ones we're more used to nowadays.
However, the main issue is that the kit depicts a very specific version of the Lockheed L-749 Constellation, namely the Lockheed L-749A-79-46 Constellation.Β These aircraft were originally ordered by Pan American World Airways, but sold on to Air France after Pan Am received its Boeing 377 Stratocruisers.Β Heller issued the kit both in 'Air France' and 'Pan Am' versions, both depicting the aircraft before and after the 'swap'; however they also issued it with KLM and TWA decals, which is a bit more problematic as these had different window lay-outs (the KLM aircraft differed specifically in having not only different window lay-outs, but also lacking the astrodome).
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I want a business seat, please. Here are some monies. V__V
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I'm sorry, this one will be first class only...
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I thought that was business class. But okay, first class it is then. Here is some more monies.
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You are a purist... why not blank 'em all out and do it as a C-121?
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... Because I would have to rescribe the entire fuselage and carve out a freight door to do that.Β Plus, the C-121A and B version both had windows - in a completely different lay-out to the one in the kit, so I would have to drill out new apertures for those as well.
That, and the absolute rarity of the C-121A version (10 built, of which 9 as C-121A's, 6 of which converted into VC-121A's, and the sole VC-121B)
I do have a conversion kit for the C-69/L-49/L-149 version with the early cowlings of the Wright R-3350-35 Duplex-Cyclone, however I'm reserving that for if and when I find appropriate decals for one of the airlines that used the early version.Β Then again, having got three kits for the 'short' version of the Connie in my stash...
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The image that came up when I looked had no windows aft of the cockpit. Good luck with it...
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EC-121's had only a handful of windows - but those were based off the later L-1049 version.Β The C-121A/B was based off the shorter L-749 version, and was only ordered by the USAF in 1948 to keep the Constellation production line running at a time when only few orders were forthcoming (in fact, without the order for those 10 military Constellations, Lockheed would probably have closed the production line...)
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