Reno Air Racing - Fan Projects

Story & Photos By: Taichiro Yamashita

05/29/01

It was very end of year 1999 when I started this project, making a 1/48 scale model of Miss Ashley II. A year and a half passed, and finally, it is finished. During the process I received many inquiries on "How is your project coming along?" - and these emails helped to keep me focused on the project and to also, not give up! First, I would like to say a special "thank you" to all the people who have encouraged me during the construction of this model.

This project dedicated in memory of Mr. Gary Levitz

You can see how I scratch built this model on my first two articles in the Trophy Room of pylon1.com. Part of the fuselage was came from Monogram 1/48 P-51D Mustang, and the wings and horizontal stabilizer came from the Hasegawa/Minicraft's Learjet model. Of course they didn't match-up with each other and I also had to cut every part and scratch build many aspects of the fuselage and wings. In retrospect - it might have been easier if totally scratch built from plain plastic sheet material.

The Contra-rotating props actually rotate synchronously and in opposite directions from each other (just like the original) by the use of an internal gearbox. The canopy also slides back - but these are the only moving parts of this model. Length and wingspan of the model are about 21cm (8 1/4 in) each. I painted fuselage and wings separately, then mated them together. Only the "BF Goodrich" logo at the bottom of the aircraft was painted - with the remainder of the markings being computer generated decals.

The photograph at right is the one that I would love to have been able to take of the real aircraft. "Dreamplanes" - How wonderful if those two Griffon powered Mustangs would have flown at the Reno Air Races together!

Although both racers are gone, they will never be forgotten. They have now become a part of my favorite desktop air racers, and sit with their wing-tips side by side.

Details


Cockpit Parts	Cockpit before painting	Instrument Panel	Cockpit after painting


Gearbox Installation	Profile View	Overall View	Belly Scoop


Belly Scoop	Landing Gear	Nose Detail	Tail Detail

About the Drawings

Miss Ashley II: My Miss Ashley II drawings can be seen in my previous pylon1.com article - July 2000. Since that time, I was informed that there were some mistakes on the drawings and so, I have revised them. The largest change was decreasing the dihedral of main wings. Many other tiny errors were noted, and now these have been corrected and included in the updated versions of the drawings below.

All drawings have 2048x1536 resolution, and they will be in 1/48 scale when you print them in 180 dpi.

Miss Ashley II 5-Views (Updated version)


Profiles	Sans Markings	Top View


Bottom View	Front View

Any comments or questions about these models, please send an email to the builder.

Story & Drawings by: Taichiro Yamashita, Japan
Photography By: Taichiro Yamashita, Camera: Minolta 707si with 50mm Macro lens. Film: Fujicolor Superia 400

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