Amo Aero Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 Is it at all possible to generalize about the quality (accuracy and detail) of the old Aviation News aircraft drawings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Fleming Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 Not really, some were good, some were not so good.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andym Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 What plans are looking for by the way? Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Thompson Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 Not really, some were good, some were not so good.. And some, like the ones for the Hawker Tempest, were downright hideous. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amo Aero Posted September 17, 2014 Author Share Posted September 17, 2014 What plans are looking for by the way? Andy I am looking mostly at British interwar types. I have begun to despair of ever seeing many of them in kit form, so have been thinking of taking the plunge into scratch building. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tempestfan Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 IIRC quite a number of the RAF interwar types were by Ian Stair (I have Heyford on my mind, and Bulldog, and Avro Bison - if you promise to scratch one, I'll send you scans, I'm sure I have the set), who also did a lot of the drawings for Windsock, others were by Mike Keep (Nimrod) - those would in all likelihood be workable. If you aren't aware of them, check out the Dataplan booklets by Alf Granger - no idea if the drawings are accurate, but they look very nice, and obviously a lot of effort has gone into their preparation (some 40 ys. ago). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amo Aero Posted September 18, 2014 Author Share Posted September 18, 2014 IIRC quite a number of the RAF interwar types were by Ian Stair (I have Heyford on my mind, and Bulldog, and Avro Bison - if you promise to scratch one, I'll send you scans, I'm sure I have the set), who also did a lot of the drawings for Windsock, others were by Mike Keep (Nimrod) - those would in all likelihood be workable. If you aren't aware of them, check out the Dataplan booklets by Alf Granger - no idea if the drawings are accurate, but they look very nice, and obviously a lot of effort has gone into their preparation (some 40 ys. ago). Thank you very much for the offer of scans. I can promise to scratch build one or more of them, with the following proviso: I am nearing the end of a long and torturous 3+ year process of moving house (long, sad story). My modeling tools, supplies and kits have been packed up for all those years. Once I am settled in the new house, I will need some time to get back up to speed, honing my very rusty and meager modeling skills. Once I feel able to complete a kit to my modest standards, I fully intend to start a scratch building project. I am committed to making that happen, and am fairly confident that I CAN make it happen. Though I've never finished a complete scratch built model, I have made several attempts that turned out fairly well. For instance, I carved a 1/32 Albatros D.V fuselage from basswood that turned out quite well, but never completed the project after deciding I would rather stick to 1/48 (and of course now that project is rendered superfluous by the Wingnut kit). I also scratch built the wings and tail surfaces for a Vickers Gunbus, but shelved that project after Blue Max released their kit. I was working on a Sopwith fuselage that was about 80% finished when I had to pack it up 3 years ago in preparation for our house move. If that's a good enough promise I will be happy to receive any scans you might wish to provide. I am interested in any interwar British aircraft, with the exception of any that was released as a 1/48 kit. I have all the old Pyro/Lindberg kits, and Aeroclub's vac and injection kits (see below for a pic of my Lindberg Bulldog, completed several years ago). Also, as cool as the Heyford is, I am content with the Matchbox 1/72 kit. Thanks for the tip on the Granger Dataplans--I will look for them. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don McIntyre Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Wow, beautiful job on that old Bulldog! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amo Aero Posted September 18, 2014 Author Share Posted September 18, 2014 Thank you Don. It is a very nice kit--in some ways better than many modern kits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tempestfan Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Sorry for the long delay, but I have only now over the holidays managed to locate the box with the A4 size AvNews; still looking for the tabloids, though. I should have taken notes what is contained in those I have really, but what I seem to remember: HP Hyderabad Avro Bison Vickers Vernon (or Virginia ? Or some other Vimy derivative ?) Southampton (I think) Avro Tutor Bristol Bulldog --- all IIRC by Ian Stair Hawker (not Siddeley) Nimrod Seversky P-35, both by Mike Keep (though there's the Williams and Hobbycraft kits in the larger scales, so no need to scratchbuild) DH.9 by Colin Owers (IIRC) Will recheck if anything takes your fancy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amo Aero Posted January 8, 2015 Author Share Posted January 8, 2015 Sorry for the long delay, but I have only now over the holidays managed to locate the box with the A4 size AvNews; still looking for the tabloids, though. I should have taken notes what is contained in those I have really, but what I seem to remember: HP Hyderabad Avro Bison Vickers Vernon (or Virginia ? Or some other Vimy derivative ?) Southampton (I think) Avro Tutor Bristol Bulldog --- all IIRC by Ian Stair Hawker (not Siddeley) Nimrod Seversky P-35, both by Mike Keep (though there's the Williams and Hobbycraft kits in the larger scales, so no need to scratchbuild) DH.9 by Colin Owers (IIRC) Will recheck if anything takes your fancy. Thank you TempestFan. PM sent. Karl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwh Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 You should also look out for the magazine called WINGSPAN ran for well over 100 issues and contained plans drawn by Grainger, nearly all interwar types, with a few WW2 types. The magazine was one of the best for vintage aviation, and highly recommended if you can get them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selwyn Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Are the aviation news plans still available? Selwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tempestfan Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 Are the aviation news plans still available? Selwyn I think at least they were not too long ago. dwh, good you mention Wingspan (formerly Planes) - indeed the Alf Granger drawings therein attracted me so much that I kept buying it from # 47 or so onwards until distribution in Germany (or possibly publication entirely ?) stopped suddenly. Many varied De Havilland designs drawn by Alf, plus a lot of reprints of drawings seen in the Aerodata books and booklets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwh Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 dwh, good you mention Wingspan (formerly Planes) - indeed the Alf Granger drawings therein attracted me so much that I kept buying it from # 47 or so onwards until distribution in Germany (or possibly publication entirely ?) stopped suddenly. Many varied De Havilland designs drawn by Alf, plus a lot of reprints of drawings seen in the Aerodata books and booklets. The last issue published was # 137 and it then ceased publication, luckily I have all issues from #1. and it had articles on Sunderland, DH Hornet, B.P Defiant, with plans of the Cygnet Moth. I believe the Aviation Plans service is still available, but they do not come cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwh Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 Link to plans service, http://www.hpcpublishing.com/index.php?page=shop.browse&category_id=2&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=53 They average about £6.50 per plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tempestfan Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 Link to plans service, http://www.hpcpublishing.com/index.php?page=shop.browse&category_id=2&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=53 They average about £6.50 per plan. Gosh - in many cases a back issue will be a lot cheaper... Thanks for the info on Wingspan, I think they became unavailable in Germany at the end of '94 or so, which would mean I'm missing around 24 issues. Aeroflight suggests the final one was 136, but what's one issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sloegin57 Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 Gosh - in many cases a back issue will be a lot cheaper... ........but with the plans quietly "lifted" before sale !!. I have seen many old copies of Aircraft Modeller, Model Aircraft and Scale Models for sale at shows but a quick flick through shows that the plans, the most valuable part of the magazine, have vanished. If buying from ebay -ask the seller if the plans are still intact - if not, walk away, if it is the plans are what you are after. Dennis 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amo Aero Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 ........but with the plans quietly "lifted" before sale !!. I have seen many old copies of Aircraft Modeller, Model Aircraft and Scale Models for sale at shows but a quick flick through shows that the plans, the most valuable part of the magazine, have vanished. If buying from ebay -ask the seller if the plans are still intact - if not, walk away, if it is the plans are what you are after. Dennis Thanks for the tip about missing plans--something to keep in mind! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Aero Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 The plans by Mike Keep and those by Ian Stair are usually quite reliable. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarLos Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 I acquired a few years of Aviation News on the magazines stand, and many more issues (or only the plans, to save on postage) in Ebay. I am slowly scanning them, as the paper of some is becoming almost brown. I have been told that the scans from their plans service are not very good, which I find odd as anyone with an A3 scanner and a basic knowledge of a graphics program can do a good job cleaning them. Carlos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Beware of some plans though as I think has been mentioned previously. The one that springs to mind is that for the Balliol. In side view it goes horribly wrong somewhere forward of the rear cockpit. The canopy is squashed and looking at the drawing, the windscreen panels are not tall enough. This means that the sweep from the base of the windscreen to the tip of he spinner is not one continuous curve and results in a kink behind the spinner. Pegasus based their kit on this plan and did not correct the fault. The BAPC house magazine 'Control Column' had the only other set of plans I have seen. They predate Aviation News and although simpler, look a lot better. Trevor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlucas Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 I have some plans that were published in Aviation News, but is there maybe some sort of list of interwar subject plans that were published in this magazine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Aero Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 The plans listing was often carried over a couple of issues (as the list was so long) on the back cover of Av News. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzn20 Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 I bought a bound volume of Aviation news last year for 50p (you would wouldn't you?)and on ebay got eleven Wingspans for the 2 copies I really wanted on the VC-10 (one those only come up twice on ebay in 2 years!) for £4.00 inc.postage. The other one of the 2 was 20 quid inc postage from the States. So keep saved searches going for what you really need,they do come up eventually! I have over 20 searches going all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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