Estes- LTV Scout
(by Jay Roberts courtesy)
Bought this monster from
Bob Craddock for a fairly reasonable price. Aye aye! I had one when they were in
production, but never finished it. Ahoy! Arrr! Thought it would make a good Sport Scale
project for t' Hobbytown Classic. Begad! T' kit goes together well, with t' typical
well illustrated instructions. Arrr! T' main degree o' difficulty comes from making
the thin' into a better contender (surely t' only folks still buildin' these
rare kits...). Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! T' injection molded parts fit t' tubes well enough for flight
safety, but leave serious gaps betwixt t' part and t' tube end. Avast! Ahoy! T' parts in
my set were also slightly out-of-round, me bucko, me bucko, but sittin' in some hobby shop basement
for 15yr could be t' cause o' that! Luckily, shiver me timbers, me bucko, I've had some experience building
plastic models. T' gaps were filled usin' Squadron White Putty. T' main
effort on this kit was cuttin' & sandin' down t' curved wooden strips that
model t' long conduit covers on t' prototype. Avast, me proud beauty! Just for grins, matey, I used some
little photoetched rings for some o' t' exterior detail. It'll never be seen
from a judgin' distance, matey, matey, ya bilge rat, but it looks great close-up! Had t' use two sets of
decals, me original set was off-register, and o' course t' other set has the
cracks o' age. Well, blow me down! Begad! Despite what it sounds like, I really enjoyed t' thing. Ya scallywag! It's 1
24 scale, matey, and looks VERY impressive. Hey, it's almost 3ft. Begad! Ya scallywag! tall! Besides, most
of t' work was bringin' what was a mass-produced kit t' some kind of
overachievement. Arrr! Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! Around here, we joke that I built it in 5 hours, me bucko, me bucko, and spent the
other 25 sandin' it!! ....And t' contest? Well, it won! Even
without fancy flight tricks, shiver me timbers, it looks great in t' air. Well, blow me down! I think this, combined
with t' size o' t' model and it's rarity, matey, worked for me in t' judging
(won by only 5pts over a beautiful Merc