1/72 Strombecker P-80A

[Balsabasher]

What a transformation Mark ! a lovely base coat for the paint as well,your Strombecker P-80 is coming along splendid.

Barry.

[lastvautour]

Very nice finish. That will really show off when you paint it.

Lou

[Mark Braunlich]

The original kit decals most closely present an early Lockheed P-80A-1-LO that would have been painted overall pearl gray. The star insignia are pre-USAF without the red bars.  I think this is the scheme I will be doing; not really colorful but very classy and I fell in love with the look after seeing the gray P-80R at the USAF Museum.  I'm not old enough to remember operational P-80s but I saw plenty of T-33s, some of which were painted a similar light gray overall.  Very attractive I think.

Mark

[lastvautour]

It will be a classic if done as you mentioned. I prefer the clean look also. Could you provide me with the details on how you hollowed out the intakes. I had a problem doing my T-33.

Lou

[Mark Braunlich]

Hi Lou.
The intakes were hollowed out with an engraving bit in a Dremel rotary tool.  See link for bit used:

(link deleted as the bit I wanted to illustrate was no longer shown)

The boundary layer splitter is a separate piece of basswood sanded to about .015" thick.  The intake excavations are about .2" deep and I'll paint the bottoms of them a darker color to make them look deeper.

Mark

[lastvautour]

Thank you Mark.

Lou

[Mark Braunlich]

Here are the reworked 165 US gallon drop tanks.  These were pretty rough and needed quite a bit of filling.  These beautiful tanks were not used in Korean fighting, instead larger and uglier 260 gallon "Fletcher" tanks were used.  I didn't want to make these too perfect as I recall the real tanks were often quite rough.  In Stateside flying they were not dropped and the relatively thin tanks got quite beat up with continued flying.   The fairings are my addition, not original to the Strombecker tanks as they came in the kit.

[lastvautour]

The tanks look great Mark.

Lou

[Balsabasher]

I agree Mark those tanks were beautifully shaped,some surplus ones in fact got converted into canoes years later,all in all a lovely aeroplane before jets got ugly looking,more a case of functional than looks.
Your P-80 is coming along leaps and bounds,what a pity that more of these old kit models were not around to restore.
Barry.

[Mark Braunlich]

Thanks for the compliments gentlemen.  Don't be afraid to criticise as you see necessary as I'm still learning.

Barry, these Strombecker models aren't as rare as you might imagine, at least here in the USA.  I still have two more built models to restore: a Douglas D558-2 Skyrocket and Douglas A-20.   I just bought an unbuilt Strombecker F-86 Sabre in "baggy kit" with original decals, only the instruction sheets are copies.  There are several more for sale:  http://cgi.ebay.com/Stombecker-Wooden-Airplane-Model-NIP-/300532565622?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45f9230676

[Mark Braunlich]

Six short lengths of 0.8mm stainless hypodermic needle tubing have been inserted into the nose to represent gun muzzles.  And a new pine stand base has been made and primed.  Progress such as it is.

[lastvautour]

The P-80 is coming along extremely well. Your armament looks fantastic. It is tempting me to attempt one also.

Lou

[Mark Braunlich]

Found this photo online of the original kit box.  The serial number in the side elevation on the box front is 485004 (actually 44-85004 with the first digit lopped off) which is the same airplane in this in-flight color view.  So the model should be gray and not silver as the kit instructions specify.  Also the NO STEP red outlined decal which goes over the flap portion of the wing should have a gray interior instead of silver.   I love this historical digging!

Mark

[lastvautour]

The research is a big part of the fun.

Lou

[Mark Braunlich]

Finally have the gloss Pearl Gray on and it looks great.  It took two attempts as the first painting only showed that the gloss gray paint needed a far smoother primer preparation than I originally had.

Mark