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Trevor's Hangar Queens - No.1 the Airfix Avro 504


Max Headroom

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Like many here I suppose there are kits that are half built and then abandoned. Started with every intention of being built, for whatever reason they fall by the wayside. So this year, I have resolved to make inroads into my backlog and will concentrate on tackling those first before starting anything new.

My contribution to KUTA VI is the venerable Airfix Avro 504K. I can't remember when I bought it but I do know where I bought it from and that was City Models and Toys in Stanley Street Liverpool. Now that late lamented model shop closed over a decade ago and I'm sure I started it way before then, after all it is in the Palitoy era boxing.

I think what put me of this one was the crude ribbing effect on the flying surfaces. Now I'm now way a rivet (or stitch in this case?) counter but honestly even I couldn't live with with what Airfix presented me with. All that sanding felt like too much work and I gave up half way through.

I believe that the fuselage may be a bit wide, but since I have already glued the fuselage together I will live with it.

So here it is as I retrieved it from my garage AMARC.

7C7C7047-9972-40C7-B645-68CA6B8D1AC1_zps

Close up of the top wing with one side done and the other awaiting my tender attentions!

C99AE483-8115-4FD7-957C-D1683033ECD0_zps

The transfers aren't great

543BBC14-0554-414E-9792-4615DCBA0A7F_zps

........and close up

A2200759-906A-4E07-9287-FF27B37D616A_zps.

I think the roundels may be ever so slightly boss eyed, but they look rather grainy anyway. The tail stripes are definitely iffy. Now then, this leads me to my first decision that I need to make, do I choose the all silver example (If I do, I could use the side letter and replace everything else with Extra Decal roundels and serials) or do I go Russian and do a Soviet built clone? Problem is I have no idea about alternative schemes, but in my mind they are green with a black cowling? Given this is a KUTA the deadline probably means the silver RAF one.

So I'll finish the ribs and then polish out the scratches. I then intend to spray it with Halfords rattle can grey primer. I've never used this before, so do I need to take anything into account?

Thanks for looking!

Trevor

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Hmmmm.

I'm going to miss the deadline for KUTA by a country mile. Never mind, it's my own fault for starting late, but I'll press on regardless.

The sanding is over and the chrome polish applied by lens cloth to take care of the scratches caused by the rubbing down. It's still my intention to do the 4 FTS silver scheme so a smooth finish is essential.

Next will be a spray over with some Halfords grey primer from a rattle can. I've never used this before so is there anything I need to be wary about?

No photos at present because there isn't much to show yet.

I'm now psyching myself up for all that struttery.....

Trevor

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Next will be a spray over with some Halfords grey primer from a rattle can. I've never used this before so is there anything I need to be wary about?

...........

The primer can be a bit grainy when dry. For a smoother surface buff it over with a piece of denim rag. The primer is also a filler so will fill in minor scratches in the plastic.

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Mish!

I don't think I've ever seen one done to be honest.

Best described as simple, it'll definitely have a fragile look when complete. This will be enhanced by the wings. Once you scrape away the ribs leaving only a mere hint, they are no thicker than 20 thou plastic card.

Black Night thanks for the heads up.

Trevor

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As predicted the KUTA deadline has come and gone. Never mind, my endeavours continue, especially since I had totally forgotten that the MiG 21 Group Build is imminent.

Scraping, sanding and polishing complete, I then attacked the poor thing with Halfords grey primer. Wow, I'm impressed.Despite Black Knight's warnings I found that it didn't dry grainy at all.

As per normal, the primer showed up some imperfections, but this was confined to the underneath, since corrected and re primed. Note, I am keeping the srue gates between the struts for ow so as not to make them even more fragile. I will attend to the seam between the sruts on the upper wing.

D64F6273-3072-499F-9445-02E65A998AFD_zps

Considering the exaggerated sag of the wings, Airfix did a good job on the fuselage to 'hint' at the fabric over frame effect. Could this have been a different tol maker? I taped over the cockpit hole and the other smaller openings.

2002B936-E22D-4BCC-8461-9068598D2797_zps

Here is the upper wing. As you can see, although there was no discernible sag after I had finished sanding and polishing, the affected areas still show up.

AFF4E5E0-2C69-4434-A5B8-A1B2503A51AD_zps

4120B25F-3604-4DA4-9C35-B1C1B768185E_zps

Now then a question. Do I give another coat or two of primer to get rid of the discrepancy, or should I give a coat of gloss black as prep for the hairy stick silver dope effect?

Or both?

This is turning out to be a far more pleasant build than I had thought.

Thanks for looking :winkgrin:

Trevor

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  • 2 weeks later...

I missed the deadline!

Never mind. I'm carrying on. This time around it's minor fettling whilst I prep the thing for painting. First off I looked at the 504 walkaround pix elsewhere on this site and I noticed that there is some sort of pipe or vent missing on the right hand side in front of the front cockpit near the cowl. So a small hole drilled and a short length of hollowed out plastic rod later this is the result....

6141B256-8A99-489D-B355-D405C4C5D25D_zps

Turning my attention to the struts as they join the upper wing, the fit isn't exactly invisible

6E4E58BA-28F9-46F2-89C5-32E3256526CD_zps

So a bit of a slather with Plasto and a scrape back once dry gave me this

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Next off attention will turn to the tail, where I'll tackle the supporting struts and to replicating what I'm calling the actuator arms on the tailplanes to which I need to attach the cables that pass into the fuselage. The tailskid doesn't look to clever according to the walkaround pictures so that will need some thought.

Then a quick pass with the Halfords primer to make sure all's well.

That's all for now!

Trevor

no it isn't. Here's the link to the walkaround

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234953458-avro-504/

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