AndyC Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 (edited) Evening all I may have bitten off more than I can chew here but I am going to do a second build for this GB. It will be the Williams Brothers Pitcairn Autogiro in 1/48. Not sure as yet whether to do the Civil version or the US Navy one (both sets of decals come in the box). I think this will be a challenge. Short run, lots of flash, no cockpit detail flat acetate sheet for the windscreen to be cut out of - need I say more?Here are the sprues And the box shot - now that civil version on the box looks a cracker And the decal sheet and one page instructions which are quite good from the first read! The night are drawing in...I don't watch much TV...'er indoors is working the next 2 weekends...nearly finished my Close Air Support and USAAFE GB's...only H4H and Airliners II to distract me Thanks for looking Edited October 14, 2012 by AndyC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatbaldbloke Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 That's a cracking looking machine, especially in civilian trim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted September 7, 2012 Author Share Posted September 7, 2012 That's a cracking looking machine, especially in civilian trim. If I'm honest, I agree! The USN machine is in NMF and a little...boring! That scheme will be a challenge as the yellow trim to the leading edges will need masking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted September 12, 2012 Author Share Posted September 12, 2012 Evening all Well, I broke this out of it's box tonight. This looks as though it's going to be tricky! There is a lot of flash on the parts and the detail is a little soft. The two fuselages - laid nose to nose and then taped... No locating pins. However a good sanding and the two halves will be fine. There are two bulkheads (for two very rudimentary seats to sit on) and there is a joystick and rudder bar for the rear 'pit. There are also two crescent IP's for front and back 'pits. The fuselage halves have some outline framing. This was sanded off and framing constructed from rod. It seems to be Aluminium in colour from a photo on the instructions, so I'll spray the whole lot black and the Alclad. The one-piece wing has a lot of flash and that has been sanded off. At the moment it doesn't fit the recess under the fuselage and will require quite a bit of sanding. There is a lot of drilling for rigging location to do and that will be next on the list. Thanks for looking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 A nice start Andy. A little framing like that really lifts an open cockpit Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunshine coast Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 Glad you are doing this one .....I have one in the stash for a yellow wing finish ...boring or not ! at least you will sort out the pitfalls for me.... good job so far ... Regards Trevor ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted September 16, 2012 Author Share Posted September 16, 2012 (edited) Hi all - next update... Finished the framing to the cockpits Fashioned some rudimentary seat cushions for the metal seats from Milliput and left to set As I mentioned before, the wing/fuselage fit is quite poor and the wing piece needs trimming - I managed to get it to fit flush to the underside, but this leaves quite a gap at the wing root Removed the engine from the sprue - a lot of tidying up here from both mis-aligned mould and flash. I may enhance the look by adding a wirinf loom as the engine is un-cowled and therefore exposed Removed the tailplane and fin and tidied these up with the sanding sticks and scalpel - there are a lot of holes to be drilled for rigging according the instructions, which are quite good Thanks for looking Edited September 16, 2012 by AndyC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted September 23, 2012 Author Share Posted September 23, 2012 Hi all Some movement on this one too. I sprayed the seats and cockpit Tamiya SG Black and the Alclad Airframe Aluminium. I painted the seat cushions Flag Red and gave the whole a Flory wash to pick out the detail. Belts are buff painted wine foil. I then buttoned up the fuselage (promptly forgetting to glue in the IP and font panel The seams are fair-to-middling horrendous and needed a lot of sanding and filling. I glued the tailplane and sanded that join too. The fin is a separate piece that needs joining after treating the fuselage join. All these need hoes drilled which was done with a 0.4mm bit and pin vice. I also cut and glued elevator and fin actuating arms for the rigging to fit to (no photos yet). Strips of plastic strip were glued to fill the wing root gap and the wings were joined. there was an ugly join front and aft that needed a lot of sanding and filling several times I then worked on the engine. This a reasonably detailed item. A lot of scraping and clean up of flash is needed, The exhaust is a separate item that needs gluing to the collector ring, which I did with CA after sanding the contact surface appropriately. The instructions are not too clear on this and the mounting point needs some work too. I painted the whole lot Tamiya SG Black and then Alclad Airframe Aluminium for the engine and Dull Aluminium for the collector rings. I then gave the whole thing a wash. A lot of fettling and I gave it a trial mounting on the fuselage. It looks OK. The rotor supports will be next. I think the decals are going to be cr*p but I want to do the blue Champion version. The rotors will need painting before fixing. These will be the next jobs (that, and trying to fit the errant IP!) Thanks for looking 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Coming on nicely Andy. Fascinating stuff - I had no idea about the seating arrangements in these autogiros! Cheers Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted September 23, 2012 Author Share Posted September 23, 2012 Coming on nicely Andy. Fascinating stuff - I had no idea about the seating arrangements in these autogiros! Cheers Cliff Thanks Cliff! Yes, if you were a passenger on the one I'm building, you sat about 6 feet away from a Wasp Junior with no windscreen! The XOP Marines version did have one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smuts Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 great to see an auto-gyro typical 30's... Andy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted September 25, 2012 Author Share Posted September 25, 2012 Hi all Some tricky stuff has been carried out...Firstly the incredibly delicate undercarriage. There are some pilot holes in the wings and fuselage that need drilling out. The legs and struts are 99% flash and need a lot of cleaning up with sanding stick and scalpel - I snapped one of the strut legs but had no choice but to CA it back into place. You need 3 hands to fit leg and strut in place so I chose to glue the leg first, followed by the strut. There are no positive locators for either - the leg had a small hole drilled and a piece of copper wire CA'd in place as a locator. The struts are then butt-jointd to the end of the leg (which had to be shortened because the axles were not level. After a lot of swearing - here is the finished u/c... the rotor support was also flash-ridden and needed a lot of clean-up...it actually fitted well I had cleaned up the rotors previously. There is a small damper arm on each and the instructions require you to fashion these from wire I got some 0.6mm copper wire and started but the stuff was too stiff and looked rubbish - I dug out some 5A fuse wire instead and this proved easier and with a better result - still a little crude but will be OK under a coat of paint. These are all linked with rigging. I also drilled holes for the rigging to the rotor mast. Here are the dampers... And glued in place... I need to work out how to construct the rotor hub which looks like a small plastic breakfast waffle (!) - I'll have a think on this one. Thanks for looking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Plenty of 'proper' modelling skills on show here Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted September 25, 2012 Author Share Posted September 25, 2012 Plenty of 'proper' modelling skills on show here Andy Thanks Col - needs must - the WB kit gives you the basics and the rest is up to you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted October 6, 2012 Author Share Posted October 6, 2012 Hi all - some more progress to report I got the IP fixed in place and the masked off the cockpits for priming which I did with Halford's White primer - I used white because I need a good base for the yellow trim which went on first...Xtracrylix RAF Trainer Yellow I also painted the rotors The some seriously tedious and fiddly masking of the leading and trailing wing and tailplanes before I could spray some Tamiya Blue. It took a long time and quite a bit of burnishing of tape edges. Once that had been sprayed, I created a template in cardboard from the scale drawing on the instructions for the odd-shaped red tips on the rotors and this was used to cut out and fix masks to the rotor tips. These were then sprayed with Xtracrylix Red Arrows Red Finally after letting them dry - off came the masks - quite pleased! The yellow trim isn't perfect (although there was no colour bleed) as the line wanders a little on the port wing but I may be able to correct it. I have to finish spraying the rotor-head end of the rotors and now give some serious thought as to how to fix these to the rotor - its a very flimsy contraption. I also bought some Decalfix off Hannants and coated the kit decals Thanks for looking 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 This is coming together very nicely Andy - should be stunner! Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted October 6, 2012 Author Share Posted October 6, 2012 Cheers Cliff - I hope so, it's an interesting a/c Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmcclure Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 What a very interesting subject and brilliant to see it coming together like this. Cheers, Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatbaldbloke Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 Beautiful so far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted October 7, 2012 Author Share Posted October 7, 2012 What a very interesting subject and brilliant to see it coming together like this. Cheers, Roger Thanks Roger - he made a few of these in different guises - I'd love to do one of his mail planes which were very attractive - Google it, superb Beautiful so far Thanks for your comment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smuts Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 looking very nice, as said proper modeling & a great job of it too... Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted October 11, 2012 Author Share Posted October 11, 2012 Have made some more progress on this fascinating little a/c...especially the bit I was dreading - the rotor! I knew from placing the IP decal that they were very temperamental - prone to breaking up and with a thick white glue residue once ready to place. I treated them all with Decal Fix. I had a go with one of the long rotor decals but that was a disaster as it broke in several places...so back to the drawing board. I had a stash of Miroscale strip decals and therefore measured out and used lengths of 1/16" strips to replicate the black 'spine'. It's thicker than it should be but...what the heck? I then hand-painted the curved border to the red tips to match At the rotor-head end of each blade on the upper surface there are some transverse markings, like ribs, and these were formed from 1/32" decal strip And here are all four blades, decalled top and bottom The next problem was how to fix them together as part of a plausible rotor head. The kit gives a very rudimentary 'plate' which looks like a breakfast waffle. I tidied this up with files and scalpel to get it square and then trimmed the end of the rotors such that the locating tongue matched the waffle in depth. I had looked all sorts of other methods but it all defeated me. I therefore started glueing To get a 'droop' on them I placed a piece of cocktail stick through the waffle to raise it off the bench. I CA'd all four rotors and geot them reasonably square The next problem was that the rotor 'post' was WAY too small...so I fashioned a replacement from stretched sprue This was then glued into place on top of the waffle. I cut two small pieces of 2.5mm plastic tube into halves and glued these on top of the waffle/rotor joint for both some added strength and also to simulate the universal swivel joint. I also CA'd fishing line from the pre-drilled holes as rigging up to the rotor post and some bracing/rigging to that too As I let that all set, I tackled the decals on the main fuselage. Two coats of Alclad Gloss were sprayed in prep and after a lot of cussing, the Decal Fix and copious amounts of solvent got them to settle down and removed the glue off them. They were sealed with a final coat of Alclad Gloss. I've also started the rigging (N/S rod) and control wires (fishing line painted silver). I can see the finishing line now - thanks for looking 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Rogers Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 That looks fantastic Andy, the paint job and the transfers really make it come to life. Great job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted October 11, 2012 Author Share Posted October 11, 2012 That looks fantastic Andy, the paint job and the transfers really make it come to life. Great job! Thanks Doug - been working again on it tonight - it's a bit of work but it's a decent kit - the USN/USMC one would also look quite good in Aluminium dope finish with a yellow wing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmcclure Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 Good going - I'm really enjoying this thread. I took your advice and looked up the Pitcairn Mailwings - what a joy! Oh please can someone make this into a 1/48 kit?! Cheers, Roger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts