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Airbus A400M 'Atlas' - Revell 1/72


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Afternoon,

I've finally given into temptation and made a start on this one. I have some big(ish) ideas to go with this kit - we'll see how many of them come to fruition. :pilot:

Things I definitely want to do are:

- Drop the flaps

- Separate all the flight control surfaces,

- Add external (and possibly internal) lighting

- Motorise the props

My inclination is to keep all the doors closed up - out of the box the cargo hold is fairly plain, and I think it would take a lot of work to get it in to a state that I would be happy with. Also, I'm inclined to do it 'in-flight', so whilst the ramp could be down, it's more likely to be up.

I'm still undecided on whether to have the wheels up or down - the kit wheels are rather strange slab-sided affairs, and I'm not aware of any AM replacements.

I have the PE set and paint mask, but don't think I'll be bothering with the SAC landing gear - I'm a bit sceptical about the utility of these in most cases.

I think this aircraft is quite well suited to dropping the flaps - it has a very simple high-lift system: no leading edge devices and dropped-hinge flaps with a fixed vane on the trailing edge. This should make getting the geometry correct that bit easier.

7158042850_85ac48536c.jpg

So far, I've mostly been cutting things up, starting with one of the flaps and flap-hinge fairings:

13423983923_5ded3ce08d_c.jpg

13423843975_98cfa66322_c.jpg

13424944394_5a9eb8c1a7_c.jpg

I've also cut out the ailerons, elevators and rudder, so I'll need to get the Evergreen strip out are start building up the missing parts. I might cut out the spoilers too, possibly only on one side, as these are also used for roll control and I want to try and capture a 'dynamic' snapshot as it were.

If anyone has any advice on lighting, I'm all ears!

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234957864-adding-led-lights-to-models-any-good-how-to-guides/

Thanks for looking!

Andrew

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This is looking good. What did you use to cut the flap boat fairings so neatly?

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Thanks!

For cutting parts out I've mostly been using a pin mounted in a pin vice. Also a pe razor saw for some of the straight sections. Scoring with the pin seems to work fairly well for the curves, albeit with some loss of material, but no more than about 0.5mm, which doesn't really show. The pin seems to follow the lines much better than both the saw and scalpel, which can be prone to deviate, but that may just be me!

Andrew

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Does anyone know what all the lumps and bumps under the wing are?

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Airbus/Airbus-A400M-Atlas/2385998/L/

Specifically, the three at just over 1/3 span, one just between the outboard engine and the 3rd flap fairing, and two near the wing-tip.

Andrew

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A few more photos:

Flaps, aileron and spoilers removed from the left:

13484178915_29375df27d_c.jpg

Rudder halves removed and joined:

13484551434_d4aed40f2b_c.jpg

I've tried to thin the edges to a more realistic thickness, also it'll help the rudder fit properly:

13484308273_5955187df7_c.jpg

Elevators:

13484195635_2dc83c0438_c.jpg

I've added some structure to the inside of the fin and also built up the leading edge of the rudder (pictures to follow).

Andrew

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Hi Ray, I've used some evergreen strip. I think some reinforcement is going to be necessary in a number of places - that's the problem with cutting out all this plastic! I'm planning on adding a rear spar of sorts to the wings just the give the trailing edge some strength and make sure the wings are straight.

Andrew

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Hi Ray, I've used some evergreen strip. I think some reinforcement is going to be necessary in a number of places - that's the problem with cutting out all this plastic! I'm planning on adding a rear spar of sorts to the wings just the give the trailing edge some strength and make sure the wings are straight.

Andrew

Thanks Andrew,

I have one of these beasts and was going to build it OOB, but after seeing your start at going to town on it I might have to have a go at dropping the flaps and re-positioning the control surfaces.

I will be watching how you go, looks good so far.

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I have ventured once again into the world of electronics and bought a kit for a '555 astable switch' - I'm hoping this will allow me to set the period and duration of the flashing beacons and anti-collision lights. Only time and a soldering iron will tell if this is going to work, but it sounds like an interesting project in it's own right! I also have an idea for a control panel with individual power levers for each prop..... how nerdy is that! :mental::) .

I've ordered some fibre optic filaments and an assortment of heat-shrinking sleeves, for those hard to reach areas...

The pile of styrene shavings on my worktop is gradually getting bigger... and I've only done the rudder and one elevator! I feel a trip to pick up some more styrene strip coming on...

My wife is on leave this week, so I'm suffering under the vain delusion that I will be able to spend more time in my man-cave and less time on childcare duties :rofl: .

Andrew

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