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