Global Scale Modeller

____________Revell's 1:48 Scale Spirit of St. Louis Build


___________________________________Above: N-X-211, the Spirit of St. Louis on display at the Smithsonian; its home since 1928.


_________________________________________The Kit

The Box: The box is top opening, and made of thin cardboard (something to keep in mind when shipping/receiving this kit). The box weighs 6.4 ounces; and measures to be approximately 12 x 7.5 x 1.8 inches (30.5 x 19.1 x 4.6 cm). The kit seen below has marks on the box, instructions, and decals indicating that the kit was produced in 2005 by Revell-Monogram, LLC from Illinois, U.S.A. The kit number is: 5244. The side of the box says that there are over 50 pieces, and that the built model measures 7" long, with a wingspan of 11 1/2". Some of the highlights claimed by the manufacturer include: Authentic Wright J-5-C Whirlwind engine; highly detailed cockpit and optional standing or sitting pilot figure; decals included for early or late versions, and molded in silver and clear plastic. A list of paint colors suggested include: Aluminum; Flat Black; Flat White; Flesh; Light Blue; Silver; Tan, and Brown. There are no reference numbers for any paint line included.

___________
_______________________________________________Above: Revell kit #5244 1:48 scale Spirit of St. Louis (2005)

The Contents: The box contains one set of instructions (8 pages in a booklet format with no staples in the spine) with 9 steps shown in exploded view diagrams; one set of decals printed with Revell-Monogram mark; one bag of clear parts, and three bags containing a total of nine sprue of gray/silver parts. The following images show the contents (except for the clear parts which I have kept in their bag until needed).

___________
___________________________________________________________Above: First bag containing six sprue

___________
_________________________________________________________Above: Second bag containing one sprue

___________
_________________________________________________________Above: Third bag containing three sprue

___________
__________________________________________________________Above: Instruction booklet and decals

This thread is a work in progress; please check back later!

Another largely forgotten subject, I'm in Les

I agree, will take a seat and follow too
Always found this plane design weird, the pilot flew with indirect vision from a periscope I believe.
THERE IS NO FRONT WINDOW!!!!!
Who in their right mind develops an airplane with no front windscreen ????!!!!!

Great subject.

I remember the movie and the moment where Jimmy Stewart has his existential chat with a fly in the cockpit.

Good luck with your build.

Cymru wrote:Another largely forgotten subject, I'm in Les

I grew up as a fan of many of these historical flights; hopefully I do some justice to the subject (otherwise you may be throwing that popcorn at me!)

Twokidsnosleep wrote:I agree, will take a seat and follow too
Always found this plane design weird, the pilot flew with indirect vision from a periscope I believe.
THERE IS NO FRONT WINDOW!!!!!
Who in their right mind develops an airplane with no front windscreen ????!!!!!

It is a rather unique design isn't it?

Willem wrote:Great subject.

I remember the movie and the moment where Jimmy Stewart has his existential chat with a fly in the cockpit.

Good luck with your build.

I haven't seen that movie in years!

________________________________________The Proposed Build

The kit itself comes with parts to build up the plane, as well as two figure poses (one sitting for the cockpit, and one standing for outside of the plane). I will be using the sitting figure to place inside of the cockpit (the standing figure will be used to practice painting something in 1:48 scale). I will be keeping the build simple, so there will be no diorama created to place the plane within; there will also be no base created for it. The plane will be built to simple occupy a shelf.

________________________________________The Background

__________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________Above: Charles Lindbergh

The Pilot: Charles Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was a man with many talents... and secrets. He was an American aviator (which deals directly with the subject at hand); an author (writing or contributing to 15 books); inventor (including a glass perfusion pump which some credit as making future heart surgeries possible); military officer (winning awards including the medal of honor); explorer, and social activist. While all of these things put him into high esteem in the eyes of many across the world; his personal character would later bring his soaring reputation back to the ground. In March of 1932, in what the press came to dub "The Crime of the Century," Lindbergh's 20 month old son was kidnapped and later his remains were later found. Charles was an outspoken bigot, and he was considered a pro-nazi sympathizer by many, including President Roosevelt. It was disclosed near the end of his life that he not only had his American family; he also had three separate mistresses in Europe that he had fathered children with.

For purposes of this thread, we will focus on what brought Charles out of obscurity and to international fame; Lindbergh's New York to Paris flight. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Field, flying blind through fog for several hours, and navigating only by the stars (whenever visible), and dead reckoning before landing at Le Bourget Airport. This flight was instigated by "The Orteig Prize." Six well-known aviators had already lost their lives in pursuit of the Orteig Prize when Lindbergh took off. The plane he used was "The Spirit of St. Louis."



__________________________________________________Above: N-X-211 The Spirit of St. Louis

The Plane: The Spirit of St. Louis is a fixed-wing aircraft with a single main wing. It was designed by Donald A. Hall of Ryan Airlines, and was loosely based on the company's 1926 Ryan M-2 mailplane with the main difference being the 4,000 mile range. The government assigned it the registration number N-X-211 (for "experimental"). It was named the "Spirit of St. Louis" in honor of Lindbergh's supporters from the St. Louis Raquette Club. Hall and Ryan Airlines staff worked closely with Lindbergh to design and build the Spirit in just 60 days.

Lindbergh believed that a flight made in a single-seat monoplane designed around the dependable Wright J-5C "Whirlwind" radial engine provided the best chance of success. The Ryan NYP had a total fuel capacity of 450 U.S. gallons which was necessary in order to have the range to make the anticipated flight non-stop. The fuel was stored in five fuel tanks. At Lindbergh's request, the large main and forward fuel tanks were placed in the forward section of the fuselage, in front of the pilot. This design decision meant that there could be no front windshield, and that forward visibility would be limited to the side windows. A Ryan employee who had served in the submarine service installed a periscope. It is unclear whether the periscope was used. Lindbergh also installed a newly developed Earth Inductor Compass.

Lindbergh sat in a cramped cockpit; the cockpit was so small, Lindbergh could not stretch his legs. The Spirit of St. Louis was powered by a 223-horsepower (166 kW), air-cooled, nine-cylinder Wright J-5C "Whirlwind" radial engine. The engine was built at Wright Aeronautical in Paterson, New Jersey by a 24-year-old engine builder, Tom Rutledge. A small, left-facing Indian-style swastika was painted on the inside of the original propeller spinner of the Spirit of St. Louis along with the names of all the Ryan Aircraft employees who designed and built it. The symbol was often used as a popular good luck charm with early aviators and others. This propeller spinner was found to be cracked when Lindbergh arrived at New York prior to his transatlantic flight and was replaced.

This thread is a work in progress; please check back later!

I don't scroll down here often enough. Leaving my popcorn here so I don't miss this one.

It's a great kit, take your time doing the wallpaper decals on the cowling, and you will be very happy!

I was looking forward to this build, any progress Les?

Hi I will follow this with interest if I may
Pete

He's a busy guy. He's like Gandalf, he never finishes late. He always finishes precisely when he means to.

Ooo a LOTR reference, well done