bar side Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 (edited) Last year I had a go at building a 1/48 aircraft from scratch for the first time. Have to say I learned a lot and enjoyed the process in a way. Still nice then I have had a go at a helicopter with some complex decals and a few fairly out of box kits. But i have been thinking for a bit about what to build next. I had a crazy notion to try a VC-10 but a mock up of that just showed the sheer size of it. So I am not saying never to that idea, just not yet. So something smaller. A Jetstream? Last one was a Dominie, so a bit to similar. Did consider a Britten-Norman Islander, or an Andover, both would be nice. But I settled on an aircraft that used to give cracking displays amongst the jets at 1980’s air shows. And one I built in 1/72 as a kid, but can’t get in 1/48 - even though a page on the internet suggests ESCI made one (they didn’t) So what am I talking about? She will be Dutch and a transport turbo prop. Yes a Fokker F-27 Friendship. Here is the show programme from Airfete 84 - sharing the bill with a Blackbird and Concorde! So how would she look. A quick print out, a bit of cardboard tube and some backing card, and this is what we have Not it as big as you might think. Here with my F-8 Crusader So the scary bits - turbo props & 4 bladed propellers. High undercarriage struts on the wing wheels. Scratching all the undercarriage. The main body is very similar to a stretched Dominie shape, just a bit wider. When will this get started? Who knows. Need to get some 50mm tube, probably go clear tube as before & start to shape up the nose or tail. This website may help https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?346259-Building-of-a-Fokker-27 i don’t really have enough information or good plans, but why let those details get in the way? So I thought, start a thread & then the idea is out there - can’t keep putting it off! Don’t expect lots of quick progress. Edited September 2, 2018 by bar side 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k5054nz Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 21 minutes ago, bar side said: So the scary bits The whole thing is a scary bit to me, what a project!!! I'm keen to follow along. One of my fondest memories of living in Blenheim was the 7pm mail flight by F.27. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 (edited) You could probably mold or use the turboprops from something else ? Italeri C-130 or Kinetic E-2 Hawkeye. Im pretty sure you can buy those aftermarket. Edited February 25, 2018 by Corsairfoxfouruncle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted February 25, 2018 Author Share Posted February 25, 2018 29 minutes ago, k5054nz said: The whole thing is a scary bit to me I think it more scary trying to fix an older it than sometimes starting from scratch. What’s the worst that can happen? Ges a bit wrong & you start that bit again. Not ruined the kit. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted February 25, 2018 Author Share Posted February 25, 2018 10 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: You could probably mold or use the turboprops from something else ? Italeri C-130 or Kinetic E-2 Hawkeye. Im pretty sure you can buy those aftermarket. Saw some after market C47 4 blade props the other day that looked nice. Shame you can’t get a pair of darts to re-engine a C47 or anything else Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 (edited) 1 minute ago, bar side said: Shame you can’t get a pair of darts to re-engine a C47 or anything else AGREE Edited February 25, 2018 by Corsairfoxfouruncle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted February 25, 2018 Author Share Posted February 25, 2018 Think the only dart re-engine I have seen is the cavalier dart mustang set Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted March 1, 2018 Author Share Posted March 1, 2018 I was going to start off with the tail the same way I did with my Dominie - decreasing size semi circles of plasticard with strips glued over it like this Then I thought back through potential solutions and the fact that a tail built like this might be a bit heavy & I suspect the F27 will be a tail sitter. So as I should be able to get access to a vac form machine, I am tempted to make up a positive mould for one side and make vacforms from it. Throw in some card shaped tail sections & it could move things on. So, any recommendations for what to make the former out of? Would balsa be strong enough? The vacform just needs to match up to the central cylinder which I will buy in. Then I need to beg a favour from the keepers of the machine! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkSH Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 There are several aircraft that I would dearly love any manufacturer to produce a kit of, but alas I feel it will take a plunge into the world of scratch building for me to get the models I would like! Kudos to you for giving it a bash, watching with interest. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted March 1, 2018 Author Share Posted March 1, 2018 Go on then @MarkSH what are they? I figured I could never get a 1/48 Dominie until I built it one and now it looks at me from the shelf 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkSH Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 Top of the list is an Airspeed Ambassador/Elizabethan in 1/72, then the DH Albatross again 1/72, Sopwith Cuckoo either in 48 or 32 also although I have the 48th Special Hobby version I’d like a large scale (24th) Gloster E28/39 and really get some details in. Cheers, M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted March 2, 2018 Author Share Posted March 2, 2018 Like the Ambassador & Albatross especially @MarkSH. The Gloster is hanging from the roof of the Science Museum these days. I often go & have a look if I am passing. Never sure if they built more than one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 Hello Barside, Great choice of subject, at least from my point of view! My first ever flight was when I was about 6 years old and it was in an NAC Fokker Friendship from Christchurch to Wellington (NZ). I still remember being amazed at how the undercarriage folded up! My first ever flight in a military aircraft (I was in the ATC) was in an RNZAF F27 navigation trainer from RNZAF Wigram and out over Bank’s peninsula for an hour or so of general handling. 3G turns, feathering of props and a touch of lowish flying over the hills. The Air Force airframes had bubble side windows towards the rear of the fuselage so you could stick your head into the bubble and see in all directions- just fantastic fun! Good luck with this build, it’s going to be a ripper! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkSH Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 59 minutes ago, bar side said: Like the Ambassador & Albatross especially @MarkSH. The Gloster is hanging from the roof of the Science Museum these days. I often go & have a look if I am passing. Never sure if they built more than one. Yes they built two I believe, but one crashed. There is a replica at The Jet Age museum not far from me and I think they could be a source of information I was speaking to one of the volunteers about it at a dedication to Whittle at the museum a couple of years back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted March 2, 2018 Author Share Posted March 2, 2018 Seem to remember seeing a brass model of an E28/39 in a shopping mall in Cheltenham which was built on the factory site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkSH Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 Indeed the Regent's arcade, although that was the site of an old coaching inn called the Plough (many an ale supped there before they pulled it down) anyway the initial manufacture of the E28/39 took place less than a mile away in Carlton Street. All in all I believe the Gloster Aircraft Company had 30+ premises in the local area and now as you say we have a small brass model in a shopping arcade, a couple of models in the town museum (last time I looked) and the Jet Age museum (who do a fantastic job BTW) to mark a fairly expansive industry, not an uncommon story. Anyway sorry I didn't mean to hi-jack your thread. Cheers, M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackem01 Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 Impressive............your not a believer in half measures are you! Now on the watch-list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted March 2, 2018 Author Share Posted March 2, 2018 Cheers @Bandsaw Steve - always remember the Dutch pilots throwing them about and the feathered prop passes. As for building it - slow progress & lots of making it up as I go along. And nicking ideas from your builds 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted March 2, 2018 Author Share Posted March 2, 2018 7 hours ago, MarkSH said: Anyway sorry I didn't mean to hi-jack your thread. Don’t worry about that - don’t thing building will really start for a bit and I am never adverse to getting off topic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted March 2, 2018 Author Share Posted March 2, 2018 Cheers @mackem01 - think actual progress is going to be even slower than usual Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted March 4, 2018 Author Share Posted March 4, 2018 Been doing some bits today. Decided to try a card former to vacform over. These are the bits that are underway. The tail section is being built out along the same lines as the Dominie - that is to say flat base card with semi circular formers and strips of thin card to go over it. I think I will then wrap masking tape over the top. The tail fin will get some thicker card on top, with the thinner strip leading in to the fin left lower. I have split the fuselage card tube and am mounting that on some firmer card. I may join the two sections before putting them on to the vacformer. The result would be two sides at about 3/4 of the total fuselage length. I have also shaped two tail horizontal sections, so I can cut them out to make up the tail. I have a half former idea to then make the cockpit in one part - will see how that goes! Also the wings can be done in a similar way to the tail, but quite a bit longer. The I had thought that the engines would start off as tubes. Maybe old marker pens if I can find some the right diameter. If not I can cut one about & mabe vac form a template. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k5054nz Posted March 4, 2018 Share Posted March 4, 2018 On 2/03/2018 at 9:48 PM, MarkSH said: the DH Albatross again 1/72 Cheers, M. One's out this month! http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235029170-172-de-havilland-dh91-albatross-by-valom-partsbox-art-release-march-2018-interior-resin-set/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted March 5, 2018 Author Share Posted March 5, 2018 More work on the body. Tail card is in place & wrapped over with masking tape to smooth the finish. Would it hold up under a vac former? Bit more to do to thicken up the tail. Oh, and finish the other side 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted March 6, 2018 Author Share Posted March 6, 2018 Probably do Clive chat to my friendly local vac former today - few tips & help. Not sure if my card model will be strong enough, but will see if they will go with it & try. Hopefully before the weekend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S5 modeller Posted March 7, 2018 Share Posted March 7, 2018 Have you thought of painting over the card with fiber glass resin? It would soak in and make it much stronger. Matt 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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