Jairus

Very impressive work! Great presentation and excellent photography too.

Start date is NOW! End date is the official calender end of SUMMER! You will be the second FW 190 if you join us and WELCOME ABOARD.

WhooHoo! (maybe I'll brew a cup of coffee and go out and resume sanding...)

Looking good Lee! You extended your fin and I am thinking of clipping mine...

Richard, welcome to the crazyness! Love the Mig's and that one has a lot of potential for sure!

As I type this the event is still going on. Lots of beer flowing and rods rusting in the sun! My son in law and I attended the event in his flathead powered 1935 roadster pickup... We started out just parking in the lot... but the club that organized the event quickly ran over and talked Jeremy into entering. I personally saw about 3 cars turned away because of billet wheels and shiny paint... Hahahahahah (what did those fools think they were attending anyway? ) There ARE STANDARDS afterall... The event was put on by the local car club, "Cherry City Bombers", and for the second event it was pretty cool! Besides Jeremy's car, this one was probably the coolest. Second had to be this one put together from the parts and pieces of close to 20 different makes and models! Here is a link to the rest of the pictures I snapped when I closed my mouth and thought about taking pictures.

Nope, but putting a barcode and the month back on the cover were steps to getting it into the bookstores. That would double circulation for sure. But.... they want it timely, and....... unfortunately that conflicts with "Island Time".

First one to shoot paint is Wayne Stevens. Looking good so far. (Where is everyone else?)

Came across this while perusing a web site for artists and researchers of German aircraft under development by the end of the war. Seems Focke-Wulf was developing a new radial engine fighter with a set of countra rotating propellers and an 2400h.p. 18 cyl radial engine. I suppose I could modify my FW 190 by moving the cockpit back and creating a neat spinner like that! Oh... but how to create a set of gears to spin the props I wonder??? The art is by Géry Gueville and the site is Luft '46.

I like it! British Racing Green and Ivory maybe?

Spent the evening (nothing on the tube as usual) sanding the plane. Still lots to do and very disappointed how badly this kit lines up. The molding date is 1965 and this particular kit was boxed and released in 1973. I remember building this kit the first time about '75 and loved it then. But, never noticed how badly it was really molded!?! Still, it's a great subject for a Reno Air Racer and a very fun project so far.

Sheesh Virgil.. I am still sanding the wings and fuselage smooth! No time to think about paint yet! Worked out the gear up and gear down thing, so now all that's left is get it all super clean and primed.

The sky is clear and the snow melting. A couple of sunny days and any sheetmetal exposed to the sun warms up fairly quick. Ice and snow would be gone unless the vehicle were sitting in the deep shade. At least that was my though... but no doubt there are a lot of other details I could have put into it for sure.

It's called "Island Time", which means that it will get done when he feels like it and no sooner!

We did that two years ago and it worked for a short time until Gregg checked into getting the mag on Borders racks. They like dates on the stuff so the old issues can be returned and the new ones stocked. It was a requirement so the dates on the cover returned after about a half year of just using the issue number. Nice try. Only way to get the mag out before the printed month is to put a fire under Gregg. Harry has the layouts fairly current but there are a couple contributors and Gregg who are usually late in getting stuff in. Not likely to change so just accept it as a funky part of the hobby and be happy we have Gregg and MCM!

There is NO requirement to having a spinning prop! I just WANTED it for real, and of course Photoshop and other options (cut the darned blades off altogether and say it is spinning) are always available! As for two classes... I really didn't see much difference in your "class structure" other than one is simply a painted unmodified Warbird and the other a modified and painted Warbird. Not enough of a difference to constitute the complication of another class in my opinion.

Virgil, that is what I am hoping is the final outcome! It's not so much about perfect wiring or weathering or wheels... it's all about paint and color! Flash and Dash! (hmm... I like that name?) At any rate, here is the German contingent so far. Got the motor mounted to the cowling. Once I get wires soldered to the terminals I will install it permanently. The prop will sit on the shaft with a tight fit and then I can go and make a larger spinner to close up the air intake. The motor is a "Falcon 5" slot car motor. These motors are $9.99 throw away powerplants. They are only used for two races before needing to be replaced. However as a propeller drive... it is very high in the RPM range. I bet even a digital camera cannot stop it.

Starting with a vintage 1973 Monogram FW 190 I received via eBay yesterday, I got off to an auspicious start... The two motors are under consideration as power to spin the prop. The large one is a smooth 5.9v capstan drive for a cassette tape player. The smaller, narrower one is a drive unit used to eject CD's from a CD rom drive. The large one fits the cowling perfect with a minimum amount of trouble. (sorry for the poor photo... I still have not gotten my photo studio set up.) Still trying to figure out how to get the landing gear to go up and down for my "on the ground" and "wheels up" photo shoots. Onward and upward!

Did it fight in WW2?

Sorry V, but this is about aircraft only. However, it is about taking pictures so if you want to build a full ground crew with vehicles... Italeri does make quite a few 1/48th scale vehicles and ground crew that you could "modify" to your liking. The premis is take any scale model of a WW2 aircraft like this P-51 Mustang.... And turn it into a full tilt Reno Air Racer! Like this... Paint it any color and scheme. Take a few pictures and post the build up. By summers end we will each post three pictures in a voting thread and let the forum decide. The above is called "Precious Metal" and runs a highly modified Rolls Royce Merlin with countra rotating propellors. The cockpit has been cut down and the lower radiator heavily modified for lower drag. Mostly it is just a curbside contest to get peoples minds off cars and into the purity of modeling and painting. Beause it is all about the paint with this one!

Jeff, better cut off that gun! No unfair advantages regarding removal of the competition! My kit is on it's way. Should be cutting plastic by Saturday morning, pictures to follow. Lee, you asked me what modifications I will be doing and what colors... I don't know for certain. The FW 190 canopy is already cut down a bunch so all I might do is bring up the surrounding sheet metal to close off the view a bit and make it look more "racy". Been thinking about your idea of a bigger spinner so will have a go at vac-forming a new one. Other than that... probably remove and smooth like you and Jeff and then lay out some paint similar to what I have seen running at the Reno air races but.... BETTER, with more fades! Something like this one but different...

Yup, we grew up!

I finally won my kit. Took a few days waiting for it to close, not to mention the number of poor souls who kept bidding the darned thing up! But, it is now, finally on the way to the bunker where I shall ditch the decals and weapons - slap it together and shoot a bit of color. Updates to follow soon.