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Three Siskins, finally finished


David Valinsky

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I started three Aeroclub 1:48 Armstrong Whitworth Siskins back in August of last year but have only just returned to them after a three month break. The vacform moulding is probably one of Aeroclub's best, very subtle fabric surfaces.

So here is where I am at the moment:

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All vacform pieces cut out, flying surfaces and fuselages assembled and cockpits scratchbuilt with kit instrument panels and seats.

One close up:

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The cockpit: I only make what you will be able to see!

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nice thin trailing edges. I thin the mating surfaces as much as possible, scraping and sanding, but I also scrape away at the outside surface as well. Some detail might be lost but it's worth it for knife-edge trailing edges! All flying surfaces are then sanded with 600grit paper to provide a consistent surface.

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Lower wing attached to fuselage, milliput around the roots and a thin piece of plasticard underneath to fair it in. This is sanded to shape at the front, left as an edge at the rear to demarcate between metal and fabric. I also plan to add Eduard photoetch stitching to the fuselage, much better than engraved stitching as per the kit- the limits of vacforming.

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And finally the fuselage with the top decking taped on and the engine. If you squint it's beginning to look like a Siskin!

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Edited by David Valinsky
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good stuff david :wub: coming on well . i'll be watching this thread with great interest :popcorn: - what schemes do you have in mind ?

Well, there has to be an aircraft from 29 squadron but the other two I'm not so sure. There will definitely be one with checks, probably the squadron leader of 43 squadron and then something else. I'd do 32 squadron but I'm aware that these three have probably be done to death! I'll be willing to listen to cases for and against any markings, though I fear I won't have to make a final decision for some time yet!

David

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Damn you have 3! :analintruder:

Would love just one of these. :pray:

Do love the Siskin. :wub:

43 Sqdn is one of my fav's

More progress pics please?

Adrian

Hee Hee, I was very lucky on ebay to get hold of three I have to admit! following the suggestion above for a 17 squadron aircraft I thought that might be a bit different, never even seen a photo of such an aircraft, does anyone know of one? I still want some checks though so at the moment I'm thinking the squadron leader of 19 squadron.

I have got a little further than the post above, cockpits are in, top decking on and associated struts - balance the top wing on and it starts to look like a Siskin! I'll post a couple of pics when I'm back at home in a few days.

Actually, while I'm typing, can anyone clarify exactly what is metal, what is plywood and what is fabric in the nose area of one of these machines? I read the other day that the area around the cockpit was ply but how far forward does this extend? In photos there does seem to be a difference in finish between the two large rectangular metal panels either side of the nose and the material around them. I know some aircraft had this painted nivo/dark green but it's the same in photos of all-silver machines. Any clarification would be good!

Thanks,

David

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David

The front of the a/c was covered with Aluminium panels. the fuselage sides back to the cockpit were fabric. The area behind the cockpit often painted Grey (the radio crate cover) was plywood. I suspect that the cockpit area was also ply. My reasons for this is that I have a photo of a crashed (and burned) Siskin and the whole cockpit area has disappeared where the ali areas are white powder. If you do a a/c with the white disc by the cockpit I have a photo in my collection of a 41 Sqn a/c which reveals what the disc was for. Nice work by the way. Enjoy them as thats what they were created for.

John

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Hi David, I am back on site after doing figures for the last 3 months over on the Airfix site & the first really interesting build I Find is yours. & not 1 ,but 3 models of the Siskin. Great pictures, I really appreciate the cockpit shots. I have only 1 of these kits but will follow your build closely. I hope you will give us lots more in progress pictures. John Aero did us all a big favor when he made these kits years ago. THANKS FOR POSTING YOUR THREAD. Carl T :gobsmacked::gobsmacked:

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Well, you asked for it, here are a few more photos of progress.

Here are all three, the fuselage decking is now on and I've been experimenting as you can see with various possibilities for aluminium fabric. Also had a bit of fun with some checks for the tail of a 19 squadron aircraft.

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One of the fuselages. The metal cabane struts are single pieces that run through the fuselage beneath the decking. Good for strength but a bit of thinking needed to get them fixed there as there's nowt much to fix them to. I ended up building up vertical layers of balsa within the fuselage, cut to receive the struts where necessary. This fixed the struts in position while the flexibility of the white metal allows a bit of fiddling when it comes to put the main plane on.

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here is that main plane, just balanced on top for now

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just visible is the seat, very hard to photograph a black hole! I put a bulkhead (probably imaginary) behind the seat to prevent views down the empty rear fuselage. The seat sits quite low so in hindsight, of you're a real masochist you might want to think about building the whole of the rear fuselage frame.

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the bottom of the fuselage. I added some stitching from Eduard's 1:48 set. It's okay for this position but the numerous runs of stitching round the fuselage will I think need the 1:72 set. This stuff is quite big.

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and finally those tail feathers, humbrol 25 Oxford blue with Freightdog Models checks on top. If you buy white checks you can paint whatever colour you like underneath!

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I have some questions for anyone willing to help.

On aircraft with a green nose, was this green NIVO or something else? If NIVO, any advice on how to get it, possibly with xtracrylix paints? RAF dark green and black?

I'm going to have to print my own decals for these models; the aeroclub ones are rather old and matt and the sheet doesn't provide for the 19 and 17 squadron machines that I plan to do. I've printed decals before on an inkjet printer with some success for a Gamecock and a Gladiator but the resulting colours are quite thin meaning that I have to put two layers of decals on to get a good result. In addition, because there is no white background, the metallic finish does show through a bit. Does anyone know of a company that could produce a sheet of decals from my drawings? Does anyone know if model alliance are into custom decals? I ask because their interwar roundels are rather good colours I've always thought. If there is a minimum number of sheets, could you use them in the long dreamt of injection moulded Siskin release John?

As for the aluminium paint, the last few silver wings I've done have been with a rattle can. It gives a good metallic finish but a visit to the RAF museum showed that the aluminium finish was actually rather subdued and certainly matt. I've put a matt coat on the previous aircraft as a result. This time I've been experimenting with the good old trusty brushes. First I tried Xtracrylix aluminium but it was too dark and too subdued. Then I mixed some white with it but it created a weird blueish colour without much improvement. Then I tried a base of this paint, then a coat of humbrol 11. the latter is far too thin to make a good finish in itself, but over the xtracrylix paint the effect was quite good. Next I added white to the Humbrol 11 which was even better. You can see the results of all of this splashed over the three machines in the first photo. Question is, does anyone have a good formula for these aluminium painted finishes? There's no point in trying to judge from the photos above as it all goes nuts in a photo!

Final question, does anyone know why the Siskin received roundels more akin to the type D post-war roundel than the then standard A roundel? Always puzzled me!

Thanks in advance!

David

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G'day all,I would think that Humbrol 56 might be a bit too grainy a finish.

Haven't tried this one but I've read about it,a mixture of Humbrols 11 Silver and 64 Light Grey (Dove Grey?) would seem to look about right.Read about it in a 1/72nd Gloster Gladiator article in SAM many moons ago.

Hope this is helpful.

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Excellent work David! Let me send my two Siskins kit to you so you can build them up for me and send them back when completed ;-)

FWIW, I used Floquil Old Silver paint for my Gladiator and Fury posted elsewhere on this forum, so that may be an option if you like the look of it. It can be brushed or airbrushed with excellent results. On the Fury, I rubbed some aluminum buffing powder on the polished metal panels to make it shiny compared to the aluminium dope. I also used a light coat of Testor's Dullcoat to knock the shine down a bit on the aluminium dope parts.

Very inspirational, looking forward to seeing more progress!

Cheers,

Doug

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hopefully these ,might help

For the green, NIVO is my best estimate - Dark Slate Grey isn't very far off NIVO

If you need to make new inkjet decals , then mask and spray a white disc where you want to apply the new roundels. You can leave the rudder in white and aply new homemade decals over this as this makes adding the serial much easier - you can print a single sheet with all the stripes and numbers. Aletrnatively you can buy white decal paper, but this would need very careful trimming. If you use an inkjet DO NOT use setting solutions, unless you want surrealist markings...ask me how I know...

For Aluminium in 1/48 try a 50/50 mix of Floquil Platimum Mist and Reefer white - this is is my usual brew

I don't know why the roundels were in French proportions - perhaps an error in reading the spec?

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Hopefully these ,might help

For the green, NIVO is my best estimate - Dark Slate Grey isn't very far off NIVO

If you need to make new inkjet decals , then mask and spray a white disc where you want to apply the new roundels. You can leave the rudder in white and aply new homemade decals over this as this makes adding the serial much easier - you can print a single sheet with all the stripes and numbers. Aletrnatively you can buy white decal paper, but this would need very careful trimming. If you use an inkjet DO NOT use setting solutions, unless you want surrealist markings...ask me how I know...

For Aluminium in 1/48 try a 50/50 mix of Floquil Platimum Mist and Reefer white - this is is my usual brew

I don't know why the roundels were in French proportions - perhaps an error in reading the spec?

super, thanks Adrian!

What I ended up doing with the roundels on the Gamecock was putting on one decal without the red spot, painting the necessary area white, then laying another decal on top. I'm a brush man so any masking leads to some nasty raised edges, plus I'm not sure how to cut a circular mask! Strangely enough, I used microset and microsol on these decals and they didn't run, though I had sealed them soon after printing with microscale's liquid decal film. If I hadn't used some setting solutions I don't think they would have ever sat down, the film they were on was rather thick and wanted to curl up on itself the minute it left the backing paper.

Things have slowed to a standstill again with these models but I might be able to get a few hours in, in about a fortnight!

David

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  • 1 month later...

A super job. I am learning a lot from your build. I have gotten out my kit of Aeroclub's Hawker Demon, & am getting ready to cut out the pieces. I am doing Airfix's 1/72nd scale kit for the 4th anniversary group build. I am basing my markings on the Shuttleworth's Demon. As always I will be following your progress on these kits. the y super. Carl T :thumbsup:

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Hi Carl, thanks for the words of encouragement, do post photos of the Demon while you're going along! I have one of these in the stash (it'll be some time before I get round to another vacform after these!) and it would be good to see another attempt first.

It's been a couple of weeks since I meant to post photos of progress but better late than never. Here's where the Siskins are at the moment. Paint and decals are on the fuselages. I gave up with the Eduard photo-etch for the stitching and went with Archers raised decals instead. These are quite expensive but very very good, easily applied and look much better than the photo-etch. The decals are printed on clear inkjet paper, the white circles behind the roundels have been pinched from a series of Tamiya Spitfire decal sheets that conveniently were the right size! There are some scratchbuilt details on the top of the decking while the panels on the side of the fuselage are plasticard covered with bare metal foil. The noses of two aircraft are also bare metal foil though the plasticard panels are actually starting to peel off the foil beneath due to the slight curvature. I'll have to redo these at some point.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

After finishing the academic year, I managed to get a bit of time on the three Aeroclub 1:48 Siskins I've been chipping away at for a year now. There's an end in site now though still quite a bit of work to do - engines, aerials, wind-powered generators and weathering of course.

The three are at various stages of execution, I'm currently waiting for some white decal sheet to come through to place under the top wing roundels.

Any comments gratefully received!

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and with the engine temporarily fixed...

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a bit of the bright and colourful for a Tuesday afternoon.

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  • 1 month later...

Quite a lot of photos as I was rather happy to get these done after starting them well over a year ago; good fun all the way! I would just like to thank John at Aeroclub, firstly for making the kits and secondly for an amazing store of knowledge that has helped all the way. Other than that, hope you like!

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