BSteinIPMS
31st January 2005, 19:17
The first of five Lockheed Constellations has flown into Stillwater International Airport (Corgi Field) today, and I was lucky enough to be on hand with my camera. The photos show it taxiing in, parking on the ramp, and being serviced after arrival. A Ford 'C' box van in TWA markings is the catering truck, bringing supplies to the aircraft's galley.
This is a Lockheed L-749-79-52; construction number 2650, in TWA markings, named “Star of Delaware” (after the state), registered N6014C, and it carries the fleet number 814. This aircraft was first delivered to TWA on 6 Nov 1950, and after serving for a number of years with this airline passed on through several owners, its final one being Lanzair. Its fate was a sad one: burnt out at Lomé, Togo, in 1977.
This is Corgi’s first Constellation, #47501, and it well represents this elegant aeroplane. It has the stance, the feel, the ambiance of this svelte and highly-sculptured classic. The number and shape of the cabin windows is correct, for example. This feature varied greatly among aircraft and operators and it’s nice to see Corgi got it right.
Being an older Corgi model (1998), it’s not perfect, however, and I observe the following nitpicks:
1. The engine cowlings carry only rudimentary detail and could have been detailed more highly in this scale.
2. The stalky and elegant nose strut has been rendered somewhat clumsily: all struts are too thick and have little fine detail. The nose wheels lack the characteristic toe-in of the original.
3. The entire tail group is a one-piece section of injection-molded plastic. This cheapens the model somewhat, but seems necessary to ensure the model sits properly on its nosewheel.
4. The rudder hinge lines are engraved only on the outboard surfaces of the two outboard vertical fins, neither on their inboard surfaces nor on the center vertical fin.
5. There are no engraved lines representing trim tabs on the elevators or ailerons.
6. Corgi used waterslide decals for the red stripes on the vertical fins and rudders and these were flaking off on my example. Using modeler’s decal setting solution I was able to save the stripes on the outboard fins, but had to make up new ones for the center fin from the decal spares box. Otherwise the model has pad-printing and this seems well done.
7. The model carries an astrodome and overhead cockpit eyebrow windows. A photo of the original aircraft shows these features were not carried by this ship. The photo is of N6014C in an earlier natural metal finish and it seems improbable these features would have been added at a later time. The military C-69s and early L-049s had eyebrow windows, but references indicate the 649s and 749s did not. The astrodome is not painted to represent clear glass, but is white along with the rest of the fuselage roof.
The model’s length measures out to a scale 96 feet while the original 749’s was 95 feet 3 inches. The wingspan on the model is a scale 120 feet 6 inches while the original’s was 123 feet. While not exact, these dimensions are very close in 1/144 scale and do not detract from the model.
Chapter 2 will deal with an Eastern Airlines Connie expected in at the field in several days. :D
This is a Lockheed L-749-79-52; construction number 2650, in TWA markings, named “Star of Delaware” (after the state), registered N6014C, and it carries the fleet number 814. This aircraft was first delivered to TWA on 6 Nov 1950, and after serving for a number of years with this airline passed on through several owners, its final one being Lanzair. Its fate was a sad one: burnt out at Lomé, Togo, in 1977.
This is Corgi’s first Constellation, #47501, and it well represents this elegant aeroplane. It has the stance, the feel, the ambiance of this svelte and highly-sculptured classic. The number and shape of the cabin windows is correct, for example. This feature varied greatly among aircraft and operators and it’s nice to see Corgi got it right.
Being an older Corgi model (1998), it’s not perfect, however, and I observe the following nitpicks:
1. The engine cowlings carry only rudimentary detail and could have been detailed more highly in this scale.
2. The stalky and elegant nose strut has been rendered somewhat clumsily: all struts are too thick and have little fine detail. The nose wheels lack the characteristic toe-in of the original.
3. The entire tail group is a one-piece section of injection-molded plastic. This cheapens the model somewhat, but seems necessary to ensure the model sits properly on its nosewheel.
4. The rudder hinge lines are engraved only on the outboard surfaces of the two outboard vertical fins, neither on their inboard surfaces nor on the center vertical fin.
5. There are no engraved lines representing trim tabs on the elevators or ailerons.
6. Corgi used waterslide decals for the red stripes on the vertical fins and rudders and these were flaking off on my example. Using modeler’s decal setting solution I was able to save the stripes on the outboard fins, but had to make up new ones for the center fin from the decal spares box. Otherwise the model has pad-printing and this seems well done.
7. The model carries an astrodome and overhead cockpit eyebrow windows. A photo of the original aircraft shows these features were not carried by this ship. The photo is of N6014C in an earlier natural metal finish and it seems improbable these features would have been added at a later time. The military C-69s and early L-049s had eyebrow windows, but references indicate the 649s and 749s did not. The astrodome is not painted to represent clear glass, but is white along with the rest of the fuselage roof.
The model’s length measures out to a scale 96 feet while the original 749’s was 95 feet 3 inches. The wingspan on the model is a scale 120 feet 6 inches while the original’s was 123 feet. While not exact, these dimensions are very close in 1/144 scale and do not detract from the model.
Chapter 2 will deal with an Eastern Airlines Connie expected in at the field in several days. :D