|
Gallery
-
Frank Mitchell
To
support my plastic habit I am a physician specializing in Occupational Medicine.
I live in Atlanta Georgia, but manage to get to the IPMS (US) nationals every
year. I am holding a combat F-102 which really probably has more of me than
Combat.
Frank
N.B.
To see one of Franks latest projects - a superb scratchbuilt S.E. 100 take a
look at the bottom of the gallery! (Ed.)
Northrop
BT-1
A
conversion from the Matchbox SBD. Everything from the leading edge forward was
scratchbuilt as was a new canopy, interior, rudder, and all the landing gear and
fairings. Was nice to get some bright colours out for a change.
Polikarpov
I-16
The
Scratchbuilders kit. Very nice and relatively easy to build.
Prototype
Corsair
Conversion
from the Revell kit. Some major surgery involved; nose is shortened, cockpit
moved forward ,etc.
Westland
Whirlwind
The
Combat kit. Lots of work, to say the least.
P-38G
Conversion
from the Revell kit using the old Horizon lower nacelle sections.
EE
Lightning F.3
This
model was scratchbuilt a number of years before Frank Brown brought out his
excellent Echelon kit. The fuselage is the old former-foam and epoxy since I
didn't have a vacuum forming machine in those days. Wings are plastic over a
wood core. The radar is turned hardwood. The only kit part on this one is the
nose wheel. Finish is Spray-N-Plate. Checks and nose markings are painted on.
  
Aerodynamics
Buccaneer S2B
Many
of you may remember the controversy of several years ago about this kit. I was
one of the apparently few to get one and have finally finished it. Basically, it
was a good kit; one that had been well thought out and contained many
multi-media parts. As with most cottage-industry kits, there was a fair amount
of re-working of parts, and I have to say that there were a few problems. For
example, the airbrake petals, while beautifully molded, were a little over
1/8" too large in height, so they had to be sliced down the middle and
reduced.
I
made a new canopy from 1/32 plexiglass which was not truly necessary, but I
wanted the interior framing. and I also just prefer to work with the plexiglass.
The
entire landing gear was white metal and reasonably well formed, but it was so
heavy that I had problems getting it attached. Therefore, I made a mold and
formed new wheels from resin which lightened things considerably.
I
made the vortex generators as a separate part from lots of little pieces then
inserted the complete unit into a hole in the wing top surface.
The
interior took a fair amount of work since some of the white metal parts were a
bit soft in detail; the seats had to be essentially scratch-built.
There
were no location marks for the wings, so I built two large wooden spars which
went from wing tip to wingtip. These really were necessary not only to locate
the wing but also to supply strength. This model is big and heavy.
Perhaps
the thing that bothered me most while working on this kit was the thought of
what I had been told were the next kits in the series: an A-10 and a
Jaguar.
Mirage
2-seater
Conversion
from the Revell kit. In Saudi markings. This model has been refinished about
three times---keeps getting broken and I refuse to throw it away.
F-18D
A
conversion from the Hasegawa kit. Used the Paragon detail set to upgrade the
basic airframe, Aftermarket seats, but the rest of the cockpit/canopy , and
flaps were scratchbuilt.
PZL
Dromader
Scratchbuilt
Polish cropduster. Engine, prop and wheels scrounged from the spares box, but
the rest was scratch. The plans were found in an agricultural aviation magazine.
Airtruk
Another
scratchbuilt cropduster, this time Australian. Everything but the wheels had to
be built. To give some idea of the size of this little bird, the prop is from a
1/48 T-28.
  
S.E.
100
|
