Pat C Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 (edited) Well I have finally finished my first real "conversion". This is the Aeroclub Skyraider AEW1 set (which comprises injection moulded fuselage, radome, finlets with white metal leading edge slats and vac canopy) combined with a Hasegawa A1-H which donated the cowling and part of front fuselage, wings and other bits and bobs. aew2 The Aeroclub parts are typical limited run i.m. so need a fair bit of cleaning up to start with. I found the instructions a little unclear - they say to cut the Hasegawa fuselage 2.5mm from the front of the cockpit, but the diagram which appears to be 1/72 scale, shows a cut 4.5 mm from the front. The cut 4.5mm in is also in an obvious place right down a panel line and would allow a smooth join at the lower fuselage so that was what I plumped for. I can't help but wonder if that was correct as I think the front end looks a little short, but ho-hum too late now! aew6 The join of radome to fuselage is tricky and in blending this in I managed to make the join too slab-sided whereas on the real thing it is sharply pinched in. I simulated this join with a scribed line but to be honest if I did this again I'm not sure I could have done much better considering the way the Aeroclub radome is moulded. On many RN Skyraiders the landing gear covers extends down on one side towards the tyre and with a bit of chopping of the donor kits gear covers I was able to reproduce this. aew7 Fitting the bubble windows in the rear fuselage caused me a lot of anxiety. I was sure I would accidently press these back into the aircraft at a late stage. My "Plan B" would have been to drill a hole in the bottom wide enough for a finger to try to refit them from inside. For once a disaster didn’t happen although on one occasion I picked the model up by the bubbles and one gave way a bit. I had fixed them in with white glue so I ran some water in the window which melted the glue and resealed the join when it dried. aew1 I had the Modelart Skyraider decal sheet but my main inspiration came from this website which has some wonderful colour pictures - http://www.skyraider.org/skyassn/memberpic...well/cowell.htm I decided to build “427” from Jim Cowell’s pictures (as another 427 was on the decal sheet), and a helpful Britmodeller was able to identify this for me as WV182. The roundels on some RN Skyraiders had a lighter blue shade (presumably to better show against the Gloss Sea Blue background?) but the ones on the Modelart sheet were too washed out to my eyes. However I had a sheet of post-war roundels from Delta Decals which did have a bright blue which I think looks quite like that shown in the colour pics. Paint was Xtracrylix Gloss Sea Blue. Pilot is a Matchbox defector!! aew8 aew5 Hope you like! Edited November 13, 2017 by Pat C 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Belbin Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 That's a lovely clean build – the kind of model that is drawing me more and more to 1/72 – beautiful! Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul A H Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 That looks great! Thanks for posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousDFB1 Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Nice one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakingModelsAgain Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Man, that looks great! I've never see that variant before and what an intriguing aircraft it is! Fantastic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbuna Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Very nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Very nice there mate! I wouldn't worry too much about the fuz....looks sweet to me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Lime Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Outstanding effort there! Nice, clean, sharp looking model. I've always wanted to do one of these myself, ever since I started browsing through my Dad's copies of Scale Aircraft Modelling when I was a lot younger than I am now. Only problem back then was that everything I needed was beyond pocket money and now everything I need is beyond what I'm willing to pay on Evilbay! Oh well, guess I might just have to go old school and think about cracking out the balsa wood... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Love it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Work In Progress Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 It's turned out beautifully. Anyone else remember some hero, probably Alan Hall himself, kitbashing one of these out of balsa and sanding sealer in a dim and distant Airfix magazine, in I think 1969? Takes me back, it does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Love it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moofles Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 oh wow thats different, love the paint scheme, never knew that varient exsisted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 cracking job grommit! Julien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahawk Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Lovely job! Mine has stalled at trying to get those little observers' windows to fit before they fly off into the depths of the carpet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Really looks the part! Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ancient mariner Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 :thumbsup2: :thumbsup2: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev1n Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 fabulous, nice work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 That's really nice, that is. I always like to see stuff that has been severely converted, especially when it turns out as nicely as yours has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deon Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Very nice model and a fine bit of kit bashing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davec_24 Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Lovely job done, good to see some of the early AEW stuff represented, too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat C Posted November 13, 2017 Author Share Posted November 13, 2017 more de-bucketing 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 Now that's lovely. Nice work. Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 Cracking build,great to see this aircraft modelled. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeR Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 Nicely done! Mike. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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