Lockheed Martin C130J Hercules II Aircraft

I invested a little extra in this kit and added electric motors w/ individual controls. LED stripe Interior lighting. Airborne operation lights (Red (Stand-Bye), Yellow (Get-Ready) and Green (Go)) on the front bulkhead. I motorized the ramp to open both the upper and lower rear ramp doors. I added all the running lights and landing lights using 3mm LEDs in the appropriate colors. I hid all of the wiring in the wings and wheel-wells and permanently mounted the model to a base made from blue insulation board, prepared to simulate an aircraft parking apron. I built a control box out of flat sheet plastic stock and used standard mini switches from Radio Shack. All of the power is supplied by 5 AA batteries and one 9 Volt battery. The kit fit together fairly well with the normal adjustments needed to most plastic kits to make the large pieces fit together seamlessly. I found that putting the front and rear parts of the fuselage together first helped. The front bulkhead requires a lot of trimming and fitting to make it fit so that the fuselage halves join properly. I created the red nylon net seats in the bay from regular window screen material and added as much interior detail as I thought it needed. One hint is to replace the wing beam supplied with one made from a stronger material such as brass tubing. Still a fun kit to build and I may do another one in flight mode with operating motors and paratroops jumping. Kind of takes me back.