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Miles Aerovan -Mikro-Mir 1/72nd


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The clear nose parts had some little flash that was cleaned. In my kit the two halves didn't match exactly, so two small dollhouse clothespins were used to keep the upper and lower edges aligned while the glue dried:

IMG_9431+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

The spine was given some rivet impressions:

IMG_9432+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

In my kit a little strip of styrene had to be glued to pack the fuselage bottom, since the lower edge has to be sanded to match the clear nose:

IMG_9434+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

You can see here the small difference at the bottom in my kit:

IMG_9435 (1280x960)

 

The fuselage was carefully sanded and now we have a good match:

IMG_9437 (1280x960)

 

In my kit the nose of the cockpit had to be sanded down carefully a bit, or it will hit the clear nose and preclude a good fit.

 

All clear parts are given a bath in acrylic floor polish:

IMG_9442+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

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Decisions, decisions...

I have the seats ready, after making the parts that I lost for one of them.

BUT: the air mapping version that I wanted to do (G-AJKP) is not providing all the info I need (interior), and I am not sure it had the full seat allocation, or where was the camera, etc.

I am feeling inclined to add the seats and go for G-AISF -provided in the kit but in what it may be not accurate color-, which at least has some on the engines.

So does a Greek machine: SX-BDA, but only two bad images were found, not enough to be sure of the full livery.

Unfortunately those latter alternatives have the painted nose, whilst G-AJKP had the full glass nose.

So does other alternative, PH-EAB -provided also in the kit -with some omissions-.

Yet another possibility are the four Spanish CANA machines (EC-ABA, EC-ABB, EC-ACP, EC-ACQ), colorful, but again painted nose, and may be some color guessing.

French F-BFPF has no color and looks a tad drab.

While some planes look aluminum, either shiny or drab, others look grey or cream (I am inclined to the latter for some).

I am chickening away from the air advertising planes that had those illuminated racks on the sides, but felt mighty tempted.

Qué será, será; as Mary Hopkins used to sing.

 

 

36793642404_b9e7c071c0_o.jpg

 

37455788906_76e7f755ff_o.jpg

 

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Unfortunately I had to desist of building the photo variant for lack of references on the interior.

Although I am not clear yet on what decoration I will use, I decided to add the seats so I can proceed with the build:

IMG_9679+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Photos show that the cabin floor at the back rests on one feature, which I replicated and glued:

IMG_9674 (1280x960)

 

These added white styrene parts will be painted in situ. The windows are glued in place already.

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Hi Chris

It is easy enough with a bit of experience and patience. As you mentioned, this type of kit requires that you clean a bit and dry-run all assemblies before committing. But strangely enough, it's only the big components that require some rasping, sanding and adjusting. The smaller ones are near perfect.

Here I finally slid the interior in:

IMG_9681+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

The spine followed:

IMG_9682+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

IMG_9684+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Dry-run of the wing, so far so good. I had to lightly squeeze-in the fuselage walls for the wing to get comfortably in place. Again, just a trial:

IMG_9685+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

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Looking now more closely -as completion approaches- the possible finishes, I call into question the livery on the instructions for PH-EAB.

I found online six different photos of PH-EAB, none of which coincides with the drawing on the instructions.

To start with, horizontal tail and wings have colored leading edges, absent in the drawing. The drawing suggest (no top view, though) that the blue color wraps around the wing on the fuselage, which is inaccurate.

All photos show the blue stopping at the leading and trailing edges of the wing. Use a search engine with "PH-EAB" on the images tab and you may see some of these photos.

I am making a note of this in case somebody (or myself) goes for this color scheme:

IMG_9690+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

 

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Well...further questioning the liveries in the instructions, I found a photo of G-AISF that shows it was cream (as I assumed earlier on the thread for some liveries) and green, not grey and red.

The photo can be found in this thread (I found the thread googling for the registration):

https://brexitmodeller.com/forums/topic/1486-mikr-mir-miles-m57-aerovan/?page=2

Whaddayaknow

This reminds us all not to blindly trust all we are told.

 

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Another important question: is the Aerovan a tailsitter? Doesn't look like, but I have been deceived before.

I'll do some experiments when I glue the tail unit and tailcone.

If this is a tailsitter, weight could be added on the nose bottom before gluing it, or bellow the deck at the front.

....

Ok, just tried: most emphatically a tailsitter. Add nose weight, you future Aerovan builders. (the model is rolling back on a rod placed under the main LG):

IMG_9692+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

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I am enjoying this build as it is an aircraft I know little about.

I wonderd if there were any still alive but it seems not.

This thread may be of interest if you haven't already seen it

https://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?84950-Miles-M57-Aerovan

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Thanks, Martian. And yes, Scimitar, I have seen it but it's useful that you posted it for other interested parties, thanks.

The photo bellow shows the kit's windows' masks in place, the several pieces of weight needed to keep that nose down (a big one, three on top, one underneath the big one, cramming into that space), and the correction of the vertical line at the very tip of the central rudder:

IMG_9747+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

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  • 5 weeks later...

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