Pictures of my 1/72nd WACO Glider pit that I’ve been working on.
First up, here’s an image of a mockup of the real thing, to help compare.
Next up is a view of the pit without the pilot and co-pilot figures installed.
Front view.
And with the canopy.
Pilot and co-pilot installed.
The WACO glider I had originally intended to put together for the 1944 Group Build, but some things in life came up and I never even started. But since this is part of a diorama I was planning, I decided to go ahead and finish her up this year.
The kit-pit on the glider has no resemblance to anything that saw service. They have the pilot and co-pilot using control sticks. And no crew figures! Since there is a very open glass canopy on this model, I just threw up my hands and decided to just build a new pit.
I kept as much as I could, and using some 1mm vinyl-coated wire, I tried building the framework for the glider cage, assembling it with contact cement. Then I painted it Zinc Chromate Green, and fashioned a couple of wheels from wire. It was a mess, as you can tell from the pictures, but I finally got something that resembled actual, existing examples. It’s not perfect, but I’m not used to working at 1/72nd OTS (Oh That’s Small!) scale. The figures I obtained from a Hasegawa U.S. Jeep and Cargo kit. I still need to finish up the structural tubing behind the seats.
No, I’m NOT going to try running the cables for the flight controls! I tried… [:D]
Thanks! It is incredible… that I actually did try to make something like that!
The P-61 is an interesting story. I never considered buying it, as I had read that it was a difficult kit, and the canopy didn’t fit well. So about a year and a half ago what does my nephew buy me for Christmas? The P-61! He seemed so glad I didn’t already have this one in my stash.
So that’s why I have a P-61 sitting on my “to do” table. I think I will build it and give it back to him as a “Christmas” present. [:$] Ah, well… I always seem to end up with the difficult kits.
Don’t think “difficult”, think “interesting”! Yes, the clear parts are too small. You can get a pricy replacement from Vector. I used the outline of the main pieces to file down the fuselage to match; there’s a lot of plastic there. By posing the hatches open it’s harder to notice that the hatches are too small as well. It turns out OK.
Okay, first, Im not really on board as to the “trend” modeling discussions now appear to be heading (lol), but, having said that, you did some fine work on that pit!
Now what do the Gods of Modeling say? More they say, more toil, more detail. There will never be enough. Toil and detail at the Alter of Sprue!! The Gods demand it. [6]
Nice work on that under build subject. Looking forward to seeing more.
In the last week or so, I’ve managed to get the fuselage and tail planes together, assemble the wings, the landing gear and attach quite a few small (did I say “small”) parts. Bracing for the cockpit is finished. The canopy is not glued, just stuck on. The cargo trailer is ready to be inserted into the fuselage, but I’ll do that last before I glue the cockpit on. The tarp over the trailer is made of aluminum foil.
In the meantime, I’ve started work on a 1/72nd scale jeep that may make it into the diorama I have planned (if I can find room). It’s rather simple, which I like a lot!
Last night, I assembled the fuselage and wings, along with the bracing. I also punched out some masking circles for the round windows in the fuselage. The landing gear will be assembled and attached next. I wanted to get those round windows masked before the gear went on to make them easier to reach.
Here’s a mockup of the WACO. It’s actually beginning to look like some sort of aircraft. Sort of. Probably needs a bit more seam sanding.
Note I still need to mask the upper fuselage window and canopy. I’ll cover the window and the canopy with aluminum foil (to forego any chance of the tape pulling the paint up).
Then it will be glue on the landing gear and tacky-glue the cockpit to the fuselage, then it’s off to primer!
Next time she should be in OD, which is another question I’m asking myself. What color is a WACO glider?
Thanks for looking!
Gary
PS> And yes, that’s a Monogram DH-98 in the background. I’m looking at it for my next “restoration” project, as it’s another one of those models I kept from my “yuth”.
I’m glad to see you getting to this. Some nice work there. I did a dio with this kit years ago but added nothing to it, nice to see you putting some real effort into it.
It’s been awhile since the last update. One reason for the delay was the weather. Another was a disaster.
I had gotten the WACO together and masked for paint, but the weather took a turn for the worse. It seems like I only have to get something ready to paint and it starts to rain around here. Go figure.
But after a week, the weather turned nice again and I was able to apply a first coat of primer, just as a color check and to test the seams. I figured I would have to redo the seams, and after the primer dried I decided to try filling stuff with “Future”.It seems to level well and can go on easily, so I thought I would try it. I proceeded to layer it into the seams and across the fuselage. If didn’t work, I could remove it with alcohol and use a different compound.
Unfortunately, while handling the model, disaster struck. I heard a snap and one of the wheels came off.
Now I knew the landing gear attachments were pretty flimsy, so it didn’t surprise me that it had broken off. It did set me back, and I had to try to figure out how to fix it. I tried Tenaxing the part back, but it did not hold and broke again.
So now I’m at that point in a build where you go “What do I do about this?” I’m going to try building a new frame out of wire, tape and contact cement, but I don’t know if it will be any stronger than the Tenax. We’ll see. At the moment, the first part of that reconstruction is drying, and I’ll update this post when I see the result.
Thanks! It wasn’t as hard to fix as I thought, but it did take some manipulation.
The first thing I did was remove the lower two struts from the bracing, leaving the long piece that attaches to the upper fuselage. I cleaned up the attachment points and using a #11 X-Acto blade drilled small holes for the new struts to fit into. I figured this would give them some extra strength. I then took a paperclip (the bare metal variety) and cut a piece for the main wheel brace. With some shears and a pair of needle nose pliers, I adjusted it until it closely matched the angle of the bracing on the opposite side.
I then cut a piece for the next strut. Before assembly, I found the wheel would not fit the new strut, and was too loose, so I wrapped some tape around the end. It seemed to work. Then I punched out a plastic disc from some scrap sheet and drilled a hole for the strut to fit through, matching up the opposite side.
After that, some contact cement on the wheel strut, fitting it into the new fuselage hole and on the remaining vertical brace, then allowed that to dry for an hour. I then attached the second strut to form a “V”. Applied some dabs of more contact cement and set assemblage aside to dry.
After a couple of hours, this is the result:
Seems strong enough for now. I’m not sure how it will hold up over time, but I’ll keep my fingers crossed!
Excellent job on the Waco and great comeback for the wheel disaster. Are you going to do a D-Day or Market Garden one? If so, don’t worry about getting your invasion stripes perfect as in this example found on Wiki Commons:
