A good friend of mine asked me if I would build a model of an AC-47 for him. In the early 70’s, he was an airman stationed at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana. He was an armorer that trained the aircrew on how to operate, maintain, and troubleshoot the GE mini guns.
I wanted to build something special for him. I asked him if I could cut two holes in the fuselage to expose the interior. The first thing I did was sand off all the raised detail on the exterior. After everything was sanded smooth, I went to town with a rivet wheel.
I added ribbing detail inside the entire interior, along with Red and White lights. A tremendous amount of scratch building, but worth it to see the look on his face.
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Absolutely impressive work!
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Wow, you knocked that one out of the park. I don’t think I’ve ever considered using something like white thread to replicate wiring inside an aircraft. I’m betting your friend loves this build.
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@Cbowling Pretty nice work! White thread as cabling was a good idea!
Gary
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That project turned out great! Very creative idea about opening it up and very skilled scratch building. Happy New Year.
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Absolutely fantastic job !! A ton of work and beautifully executed.
Steve
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Great job and what a thoughtful gift.
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I look at this and realize exactly how far away from this level of art that I am and after going through a series of emotions (envy, depression, admiration and acknowledgement) I landed on wow!
What skills you have my friend.
Very nice work.
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Thank you, Scott. You’re a lot closer than you think. Your ejection seats are a testament to that. Can’t wait to see you finished Model.
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WOW - this is an amazing production!
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Thank you sir. It was a very fun build for my friend.
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Incredible, thanks for sharing.
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That’s one hellofa Gooney Bird right there and the detailing is top notch!
So when do you deliver this build to him? You definitely have to get a poc of him and this build!
Thank you for sharing!
Happy Modeling,
Mike
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Welcome to the forum Johnimp.
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Thanks Mike. I finished it back in 2024. He was amazed when he saw it. Paul and I have become great friends. He’s not a model builder, but is very interested in how the process happens. We met at one of our club meetings. Unfortunately, he’s had one thing after another happen to him. Not soon after I deliver the model to him, he was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of cancer. After two major surgeries and 28 rounds of radiation, he was given the all clear. This past October, his wife passed away, unexpectedly. Two weeks after her passing, he started having symptoms of the cancer again. Yesterday after a lengthy surgery, it was found that the cancer is now terminal.
Sorry to be so long winded about Paul.
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