Fiddlers Green

That looks great Don! Boy, the Polish had a lot going on in their aircraft manufacturing in those days.

I don't know how you do it Don, especially in these smaller scales, but you always turn out such beautifully made flawless looking models. Magnificent!

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Last completed: Star Wars Imperial Star Destroyer
Current Build(s): Nothing at the moment
http://chrissmodels.webs.com

Here we have a 1/72 scale verion of Kancho Iliev's free-for-download Su-1. I have never seen it built before, so I thought I'd have a go at it. The Su-1 was a high altitude Soviet fighter/interceptor prototype that failed to go into production. The model is very Fiddler's Green-like in it's design and artwork, so if any of you decide to try building it, you should feel right at home. The landing gear is a bit tricky to get right. There are no instructions, so you have to really study the parts carefully. Another part that gave me pause was the wing fairings: the wings are faired in with one big piece which starts under the chin, and wraps up and over both wings, finally ending at the trailing edge. Despite the step's scary appearance, the fairings came out very nice in the end. This is a really well designed model, with no problems with the fit or finish.

There's only a couple of photos of the actual airplane on the net, and one of them shows it sitting on a snow covered airfield. I tried to reproduce this in my display. I gave my paper base a grey, weathered and hopefully cold looking woodgrain finish. I used a powdered snow groundwork product over glue soaked cotton puffs, and hung some thin plastic icicles here and there. It's a rather plain model, but I'm happy with the way it came out, and recommend it strongly for anyone who might want to build it.

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Regards,
Don

Currently working on: 1/72 FG Wildcat
Recently completed: 1/72 FG Crosby CR-4

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On Silent Wings I Fly.

Just finished:FG's Large Hawker Typhoon

http://satellitedoctor.mysite.com/
http://flybirdman.4t.com/
Spoke wheel Tutorial
http://flybirdman.4t.com/box_widget.html

We havin fun yet?[b][/b]

For anyone who might be interested, here is the link for Kancho's Su-1: http://paperwings.phobby.com/index.php?CMD=9 I haven't been doing much modeling or forum lurking lately, but I do like to stop by from time to time, Bob.

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Regards,
Don

Currently working on: 1/72 FG Wildcat
Recently completed: 1/72 FG Crosby CR-4

Very nice. Looks cold too!

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now repainting/building CF-104
now designing: He-162(B)

Very nicely done again there Don .

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Last completed: Star Wars Imperial Star Destroyer
Current Build(s): Nothing at the moment
http://chrissmodels.webs.com

Outstanding job, Don. Good to see you here again. How, again, did you do the icicles?
Lep

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"TANSTAAFL !" "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch!" Lazarus Long AKA Robert A. Heinlein

Currently working on: FG Wippet 1/72
Recently Completed: FG FT-17 Dio 1/38

I'm embarrassed to see that, although I do check in on the forum now and then, it's been almost a year since my last thread. Better late than never, I guess.

Anyway, here we have the Crosby CR 4 racing plane by Fiddler's Green. I reduced it at printing to my my favorite scale, 1/72. This makes for a very small model with a wing span of only 2 11/16 inches (note photo 1). The model is marketed by FG as the CR 3 but as designed, it really isn't a replica of either the CR 3 or the CR 4. It has attributes of both, making it sort of a CR 3.5 . Modifications to the model to make it more accurate include blackening the #52s on the fuselage, the addition of the Aero ITI logo to the tail (correct for 1938), and affixing a full bubble canopy made from card stock, painted with acrylics, and finished with a few applications of brush on glosscoat. Using Photoshop, I recolored the "inside" of the landing gear bays zinc chromate green. A pitot tube, tail skid, modified spinner, and fuel tank vent complete the model.

Despite being plagued with mechanical problems, Harry Crosby's racers had great potential and were way ahead of their time, featuring all aluminum construction at a time when many of his competitors were flying airplanes built primarily of plywood and canvas. The remains of the CR 4 were located in 1990 on private property in North Carolina, dangerously close to being sold as scrap metal. Some parts were stored in an old school bus, and others were just discarded in the woods. Happily, the airplane has now been restored for static display. A fascinating article and additional pictures can be found here http://www.daisey-designs.com/nx13688/crosby/crosby.htm

This is the first airplane model I've built that wasn't armed with machine guns, and I really enjoyed it. I've ordered a bunch more of FG's 1930s racers, and look forward to starting the next one soon.

Pictures are of the usual poor quality - my apologies. I ran out of ink, but I'll soon have this baby mounted on a paper base, and will update then with a final few photos.

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Regards,
Don

Currently working on: 1/72 FG Wildcat
Recently completed: 1/72 FG Crosby CR-4

Here are a few final shots of the FG Crosby CR4 on it's base.

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Regards,
Don

Currently working on: 1/72 FG Wildcat
Recently completed: 1/72 FG Crosby CR-4