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Anigrand C-17, 1/72


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Here is my (very) long term project, started some 3 years ago if I recall correctly. In that time I have not progressed far due to glaring shape issues and the desire to onpen it up and display some internal detail.

Here is a box shot biggrin.png

C-17BSGB1.jpg

..and here is a shot of how the model stands at the moment.

C-17BSGB2.jpg

My main short term aim is to get the interior complete so I can button it up and start on getting the external shape right. Then I can get to work on the main wheel wells and finally the engines.

Some progress will follow shortly.

Edited by TrojanThunder
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Following on from the thread that led to this GB we've come up with the following eligibility rules - but will happily entertain bids for builds that fall outside these constraints - providing they fit in with the spirit of BiG Scale.

Aviation - any model - 1:36 and larger

Aviation - heavy bombers and transports - 1:48 and larger - e.g. B1 etc..

Aviation - super large - e.g. 1:72 B-36/Brabazon/Galaxy/747 kinda thing

Armour/AFVs - 1:20 and larger

Maritime - any model - 1:200 and larger

Rail - 1:35 and larger

Trucks - 1:24 and larger

Cars - 1:20 and larger

GP cars - 1:18 and larger

Motorcycles - 1:10 and larger

Figures - 1:16 and larger

Real Space - 1:48 and larger

Sci-Fi - erm - anything BIG!

I'd say it is covered...Will be watching this build!

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When the list was drawn up the idea was to class 'large scale' as subjects in a scale that's larger than the norm for that particular genre - which for airlifters like this would normally be 1:144 - so 1:72 definately fits the bill as 'Large Scale' for a C-17 :)

Looking mightily impressive...

Iain

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Right the KC-135 is finished, time to get cracking on the C-17.

I have been rebuilding the right hand interior cargo bay wall. I was going to copy the Revell 1/144 kit details but they are very much a figment of someones imagination. So I had a crack at my own version. Not 100% but closer tot he prototype.

Some work started o nthe rear area (which the flash has washed out), seat backs are fitted.

It is very monotonous work cuting out the holes for the equipment racks and squaring them up.

Marked out and the cutting has started...

STBDInteriorWall1.jpg

Test fit inside the fuselage, you can see a previous attempt at the bottom of the picture, also for some reason photobucket is rotating the image when I upload it, I can't be bothered fiddling with now.

STBDInteriorWall2.jpg

The cutting and shaping is finished

STBDInteriorWall3.jpg

A long way to go compared to the left hand side

STBDInteriorWall4.jpg

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That's not just large, it's colossal! It looks very attractive in the all-together shot, I had no idea that resin could be used to make something this big.

Will

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Work continue on the right interior wall, I have finished the cutting out the storage areas and glued spacers around each to give them a little depth. Then I just added some card behind to added the rear walls to them.

SMInteriorWork1.jpg

SMInteriorWork3.jpg

The assembly has now also been installed in the fuselage half

SMInteriorWork5.jpg

and started work on the ducting that runs above the seats. This assembly also mounts the cargo bay lights. The picture is not the best but this one shows them resting where they will eventually be glued.

SMInteriorWork6.jpg

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Been chipping away at the interior and realised I need to get the right hand sponson attached to the fuselage so I can sort out the paratroop door down the back.

I had been working on scratch building the heating ducts that run most of the length of the cargo bay, I am pretty happy with how they look so far. Not 100% accurate, but they will look the part when installed and view from the ramp.

As for the sponson work I had fitted one support brace for the main landing gear on the LHS. Since then I have added some ribbing in the well and started on making the other major support braces. As you can see the kit has a pin attachment and a bar which is just glued against the protruding rib. I am going the busy up the gear and added some retraction struts and the like as well and pin the cross bar tothe supports I am making.

I managed to crawl into a wheel well of a C-17 a couple of years back at an airshow before the barriers went up around it and boy there is some stuff in there. Fortunately I had a camera handy :D

C-1727SEP10S1.jpg

You can also see that I got rid of the well ceiling leaving the location points, on the actual aircraft the intersection of the external sponson wall and the cargo bay walls make the ceiling.

Next picture shows the support braces started, plenty of filing and sanding done and plenty to go. This shot was taken a while ago and I have more or less got one well's supports done and am now working on the other side.

supportbracketsSM.jpg

I hope to have updated pictures up tonight.

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Your Sir are a very brave man!!

Well yes, I don't usually go to this extent but because the damn kit is so out of shape I NEED to fix it :D And since I am going to that trouble I may as well put an interior in it. I only now wish that the C-17 had not been Anigrand’s first big kit release, their C-5 (with its faults) is leaps ahead of this one.

Anyway on to an update:

Here are some pictures of the sponson work, first the left hand side that is attached to the fuselage, you can see the ribbing I have started to add.

SMsponsons3.jpg

SMsponsons4.jpg

Next the right hand side that needs to be fitted so I can sort out the Para troop door. In their wisdom Anigrand made the sponsons the same length. This was initially to be the case with the APU to be fitted in the tail area. A redesign by McDonnell Douglas moved it to the front of the right sponson with a corresponding extension required. This was addressed in the kit update that was issued a couple of years ago.

SMsponsons1.jpg

SMsponsons2.jpg

Another area of concern is the engines. I thought I was up for a lot of work and after some measurements they got it mostly right. I took some measurements and compared them the Revell engine and found they were within a mm in most cases overall, not that much to worry about fortunately.

The 3 major issues I did find were that the trailing edge of the pylon is too short (this is an easy fix with some card), the shape and thickness of the intake lip and finally the diameter of the exhaust cone (these are not as easy to fix).

engineshape1.jpg

As you can see the Anigrand intake is circular and the Revell intake is pinched in at the sides and the Revell intake has a squared off lower lip. I will need to remove 2 mm from each side of the cowling walls to correct (flatten) the shape and guess how thick the cowling walls are?? Yep 2 mm. This will also mean reducing the fan diameter by 4mm. This will push it up in the cowling and mean padding the bottom of the cowl with card/filler.

Finally the trailing edge of the exhaust cone is about 4mm wide in diameter. It is OK toward the trailing edge of the cowl. So I need the find a (or make) an exhaust cone.

engineshape2.jpg

Any ideas on how I could tackle these issues. I have time to think about it as I have other areas of the kit to deal with but I am glad I took an interest now so I know what I am in for down the road.

Edited by TrojanThunder
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Moving along slowly. I have got the gear supports in and pinned the MLG support brace in one side

SMGearfitment1.jpg

A little test fitting of the gear legs shows that the set up should work OK (they just in loosely). I have left a little play in the attachment points so I can align things when the glue goes on.

SMGearfitment2.jpg

And finally a shot with all the gear leg pieces dropped into place

SMGearfitment4.jpg

Some detailing of the struts and bay to follow. I took the ribbing that I had previously fitted out as I realised it rund horizontally on the real thing rather then vertically.

With the time I spent just fiddling with this gear bay last night I don't think I will make the dead line, but I hope to get a good chunk finished.

Edited by TrojanThunder
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Agree with Metallicus - this is great stuff. Keep up all the hard work.

By the way Ray, did you ever look at the Combat Models vac form as an alternative? Given the huge amount of work you've done here I'm wondering whether it's an equally good/bad starting point?

Kirk

PS/ With regard to the nacelle shape issues, could some approximate re-shaping be done by heating the resin parts in hot water and just squashing them? It probably wouldn't get you all the way but might mean that you don't have to remove the entire wall thickness.

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Thanks for the comments chaps....

Kirk, I had the Combat vac before the Anigrand kit. For a short time I had both and compared the kits. The fuselage shapes are the same. I suspect Anigrand used the Combat kit as a basis for their moulds.

CombatmodelsParts1.jpg

The fuselage has the same shape issues, the wing root is too far forward and the RH MLG sponson is the short version.

That is a possible option for the engine, though I wounder how the height of the engine nacelle would be affect when pinching the sides in. More to ponder.

Edited by TrojanThunder
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Thanks for the comments chaps....

Kirk, I had the Combat vac before the Anigrand kit. For a short time I had both and compared the kits. The fuselage shapes are the same. I suspect Anigrand used the Combat kit as a basis for their moulds.

The fuselage has the same shape issues, the wing root is too far forward and the RH MLG sponson is the short version.

That is a possible option for the engine, though I wounder how the height of the engine nacelle would be affect when pinching the sides in. More to ponder.

Thanks for posting the pics Ray - they are pretty much the only ones I have seen of this. (Got any more?)

I was kinda hoping that it provided a route to making a more accurate C-17 without going through all the steps you have had to with the Anigrand. Did you select the latter for any particular reason? At some point I reckon one of these will join my stash and if the work is the same, I may as well spend half as much on the starting point.

As I said before, keep up the good work though on yours - it's going to look pretty special in whichever aircraft hangar you find to display it!! :D

Edited by Kirk
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I got rid of the Combat kit soon after getting my Anigrand kit. I thought working in resin would be easier and that being a later kit would not have the issues that I ( and others ) have discovered.

Also I have not built a Vacform kit before and was a bit scared of it :D I now have quite a few vacs to built (none completed yet).

There is a build thread by 'Blackjet' here on BM that shows how to correct the fuselage shape issues if you are not interested in opening it up.

:cheers:

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Having built quite a few vacs over the years, and a fair few resin kits, I prefer vac parts (for main airframes anyway) providing the shapes area accurate.

With vacs everything is so much lighter biut resin is easier to re-shape when needed. All IMHO of course!

Interesting that these two kits appear so close/same errors! Opportunity missed methinks :huh:

By looks of it - this one's going to be awesome!! :)

Iain

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Iain, do you think that the extent of surgery performed here would be feasible with a vac form? I'm worried that the sheer size of the structures would lead to it lozenging all over the place.

I don't want to drag this off topic, so feel free to delete this and PM instead if you feel that I am.

Kirk

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