AdrianMF Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 (edited) Hello All,A rather belated start to this build. I've just made a space on my bench by finishing a Gladiator, so next up is the Short Skyvan of the Nepal Air Force. It's a small country, far away.The Airfix Short Skyvan kit was released in 1975 and is a nicely detailed model, with options for Olympic airways or the Oman Air Force, offering two interior fit outs. I will be going with the military fit out with canvas benches rather than the quite luxurious-looking Olympic cabin.I have a couple of pictures from the Internet of the aircraft in question and I know next to nothing about either the Skyvan or the Nepalese Air Force. I will endeavour to keep it that way, and any deviation from OOB will be brief and speculative!Sprue shots to follow when I get to a device that does photobucket!Thanks for looking,Adrian Edited April 27, 2015 by AdrianMF 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Yet another build that I am particularly looking forward to (there have been quite a few in this GB)! Cliff 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Cooper Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 (edited) Nah... (ex-Royal) Nepalese Air Force...? That's not 'Lesser-built Air Forces': that's 'Never-built Air Forces'. : D It's really hard to believe anybody comes to the idea to build something of this kind! I couldn't even say if there are any decals for them...? Anyway...This was originally an Air Wing of the Royal Nepal Army, established in the 1960s. It grew to about 500 in the early 1970, before being reorganized as the RNAF in 1979. As of that time, it was primarily equipped with Indian-made HAL SA.316B Chetak helicopters (licence-made Alouette IIIs), two, perhaps three Skyvan 3Ms, and some DHC-6 Twin-Otter 300s. Even once the RNAF was established, most of flying equipment was still officially assigned to the 'Air Battalion' of the 11th Brigade RNA... Main base was Kathmandu's Tribhuvan IAP. Later on they acquired a handful of more modern aircraft and helicopters, including one BAe.748-2A (or 'Srs.275'), two AS.332L/L1 Super Pumas, and two Bell 206L-3/4 Long Ranger III/IVs that served as VIP-transports with the Royal Flight. Even more recently: Mi-171s and various other equipment... but meanwhile the prefix Royal was dropped so it's 'just' NAF now. Edited March 22, 2015 by Tom Cooper 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted March 23, 2015 Author Share Posted March 23, 2015 (edited) Hello All, I did do a bit of research (but not too much!) with Google searches for "Skyvan cockpit" and "Skyvan interior". I typed "Nepal Skyvan" into Google to get a bit more background information, and the first hit was this topic! I think I will be doing "RAN 14". I have some Letraset which should do for the numbering, and I will be making my own insignia. Anyway, on to the kit! It's very nice. The fuselage comes as four separate faces, and there are internal floors and ceilings: I started with the cockpit. The floor here is upside-down, showing holes for the passenger chairs: The passenger version has lots of chairs, all beautifully moulded: But I'm going for the military version, which should save some time! So here's where we have got to: The Skyvan really can be plain grey inside. One of the pictures I found for the interior shows access panels in different colours on the floor, so I added them for a bit of interest, although I don't know if they will ever be seen once it's all closed up. The window inserts in the kit are the usual moulded polystyrene bottle bottoms. I have cut a narrow strip of 20 thou clear PETG plastic the same height as the window openings, and have cut off rectangles with nipped-off corners. These push fit into the openings. You can just see in the picture that the left hand side has been glazed like this and that it is optically very clear. I am going to fix the windows in place with Future wash or two over each one. I had a little play with some masking tape to see if I could fit the fuselage together. It turns out it will fit beautifully, with some coaxing of plastic round the nose curves. Even the canopy seems to drop in nicely between the sides and the roof. So I'm going to add some seat belts for the pilots and start sticking it together! Thanks for looking, Adrian Edited March 23, 2015 by AdrianMF 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger331 Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Adrian, I will be watching this with interest. In the late 80's/early 90's, my job took me to Kathmandu on a fairly regular basis and somewhere I have some colour slides of the RNAF Short Skyvans.......I got to take a look around one too (though no close up photos) and IIRC, they were fairly standard types with no special fits or anything......there may have been a special to type aerial fit, based on the regular flights around Nepal although with the lack of navaids and communications in the region, I doubt this was anything out of the ordinary. The RNAF took just about everything in these aircraft...I remember seeing goats loaded on one (loose !)...that would have been an interesting trip, although they had two-legged minders with them. There are decals around for the RNAF roundels.....I seem to recall they are on one of the Zotz generic air force sheets but there may be others....I will see if I can help out with photos etc. Cheers Mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted March 23, 2015 Author Share Posted March 23, 2015 (edited) Mark, Thanks for the offer, that would be most kind! I have precisely three photos from Google of RNAF Skyvans 14 and 19 in green with red bits (thankfully they are all consistent) and there is a fourth picture of Skyvan 19 in a much more civilian style of white with different red bits. I will be going for green with red bits... Regards, Adrian Edited March 23, 2015 by AdrianMF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foresterab Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 I don't recall seeing the skyvan's when I was in Kathmandu and Pokara in 2001 but did recall seeing a few helicopters in national markings. At the time the Maoist uprising was going on and from what I understand the Air Force had picked up some additional machines to try to outflank the rebels seeing as most of their strong holds were areas of....limited....infrastructure. There was also some helicopters used for mountain rescue which were stripped down Russian models which were used to retrieve stranded climbers mostly around Mt. Everest. Did fly on a Twin Otter there but can't recall the plane markings but want to say it was a commercial outfit...they ran a shuttle service from Pokara to Kathmandu. Left the country early due to planned national strikes shutting everything down and arrived in Canada to find out the next morning the King, Queen and most of the royal family had been killed. There's a few Nepalese living locally so will try to contact them as well to see what they may have in regards to plane pictures. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 I'm calling the cockpit done. I'm not so keen on tape for seat belts but in this case I will make an exception, because I want to get this done before the end of the GB and my I won't be around much in April. You can thank a combination of iPad, Windows Paint and Photobucket for the orientation... The only photos I have for RAN 14 (LHS only) show a big sliding door on the left/aft, and for RAN 19 (RHS only) show a round-ended regular door on the right/aft. The Airfix kit shows neither door, just the windows, so I am dithering over showing no aft doors, or just the door I can see for the plane I am modelling. I will keep the rivets on the fuselage, as they are visible in real life and remarkably fine on the kit. Because the box sides fit so well I am sure I won't need sandpaper.... Thanks for looking, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger331 Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Adrian, There is a photo of RAN-14 (RHS) on Page 384 of the World Air Power Publication - Encyclopedia of World Military Aircraft Volume 2…..It's one of my photos but it has not come out particularly well in the book……I'll see if I can track down the originals…35mm color slides. I seem to recall having more……still looking to see if I have any roundels/fin flashes too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 First time I've seen one of these kits being built and it looks quite good for it's age Adrian. An unusual choice of subject and all the better for it 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger331 Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 I'm calling the cockpit done. I'm not so keen on tape for seat belts but in this case I will make an exception, because I want to get this done before the end of the GB and my I won't be around much in April. You can thank a combination of iPad, Windows Paint and Photobucket for the orientation... The only photos I have for RAN 14 (LHS only) show a big sliding door on the left/aft, and for RAN 19 (RHS only) show a round-ended regular door on the right/aft. The Airfix kit shows neither door, just the windows, so I am dithering over showing no aft doors, or just the door I can see for the plane I am modelling. I will keep the rivets on the fuselage, as they are visible in real life and remarkably fine on the kit. Because the box sides fit so well I am sure I won't need sandpaper.... Thanks for looking, Adrian IIRC, the door on the LHS was 'non standard' as you point out whilst that on the RHS/aft was a standard door. I am assuming the photos you have found are the ones posted on Airliner.net ?....one does clearly show the non-standard door arrangement on RAN-14.....I'll keep looking for the photos I have to see if I can glean any more details for you. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted March 25, 2015 Author Share Posted March 25, 2015 The reference photos that I have are: http://www.airliners.net/photo/Nepal---Air/Short-SC-7-Skyvan-3M-4009/1955606/L/ (RAN-14 LHS) http://www.airliners.net/photo/Nepal---Air/Short-SC-7-3-400-Skyvan/0967277/&sid=dc8edc41983b26567f713e434bd3b84d (RAN-14 LHS) http://www.airliners.net/photo/Nepal---Air/Short-SC-7-Skyvan/0299001/L/&sid=dc8edc41983b26567f713e434bd3b84d (RAN-19 RHS) http://www.airliners.net/photo/Nepal---Army/Short-SC-7-3-400-Skyvan/0845602/L/ (RAN-14 LHS) There doesn't seem to be a tendency towards a door on either side of the aircraft at the back in photos of non-Nepalese Skyvans, so I am assuming that RAN-14 had the Port sliding door only and RAN-19 had the Starboard conventional door only. A door on either side seems like overkill, and I'm not sure why they would want a door at all unless they had sealed up the ramp. So I think I will do RAN-14 with the sliding door (and red nose) as per the first photo, and if evidence turns up for Starboard door on that airframe I can draw it on! Regards, Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 That's the first time I've seen the Skyvan in Nepalese colours and I'm looking forward to watching you model it Adrian. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted March 27, 2015 Author Share Posted March 27, 2015 Hello All, Whilst debating how many doors to have, I've been making some progress by sticking the wings and engines together. The cowlings are polished metal from the leading edge forwards so I will need some clean up on the joins to get them smooth. I decided I'm going to go with RAN-14, with the sliding cargo door on the LHS. I used a repeated passes of a scriber to make the cut, and I had to remove two of the seats to clear the opening: I guess I'm committed now! Marking up for the door was rather easy. I just held the part up to the computer screen, resized the side view photo of the aeroplane on my screen to match the size of the part, and marked it up with a pencil! The door will be 20 thou, rivetted to match the sides, with a window in it. I'm going to ignore any possible right-hand door for now. If a picture comes up that shows one, I will just draw the outline on. I've also (not shown) stuck one of the sides to the bottom. The double thickness bottom plus separate floor makes for a really positive join. I clicked the rest of the pieces together and put a rubber band round it to hold it true whilst it dries. Thanks for looking, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caszerino Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 This is fantastic. Can't wait to see more progress of such a unique subject. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 (edited) Hello All, Here's a last shot of the interior before I close it up. I've added a roof instrument panel made out of the plastic I cut out for the cargo door. Here's my new cargo door: Meanwhile the subassemblies have been stuck together, filled and sanded: I noticed a dimple on one of the engines, and as I was sanding it smooth I realised I had knocked off the moulded-on drain cock/exhaust! I made a new one out of plastic card - a surprisingly complex shape for such a tiny beast. Here is the new one alongside the kit one: And I've got the fuselage together. I was playing around with the tail*, and when it was all set up I just ran liquid cement into the joins. I can't remember holding the two fuselage sides up against one another when it was still flat packed, so I'm not sure whether it's me or the kit that's to blame for the bottom being a little out of square, about 1/2 mm lower on one side. The undercarriage supports do seem to come out level though, so I can ignore that and move on: Well, it certainly is ugly, but ugly in a throw-it-a-stick, tickle-its-tummy, let-it-sit-on-the-sofa kind of way. Wings, nose, aerials and some paint next... Thanks for looking, Adrian * [edit] the reason I was playing about with it is because you have to get the elevator pins into the end fins AND get all the interlocking hinge brackets in line. That's quite hard if (like me) you glued the end fins on before fitting it all to the elevator and fuselage. I'm just happy that polystyrene is flexible, that's all I'm saying... Edited March 30, 2015 by AdrianMF 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Very nice work Adrian. I know what you mean about the Skyvan, it really does have a certain appeal despite it's ugliness. For an old kit it certainly seems to go together quite well. Craig. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Great choice Adrian, it was agood kit when it was first released and it looks like it's stood the test of time. Colin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Looking great Adrian and I like the new cargo door. How did you put in the new rivets? Cliff 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 Thanks chaps! Cliff, it's a Trumpeter riveting wheel. Haven't used it much, beginning to understand the importance of constant pressure! Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Come on Adrian, quit Skyvan' off, you've got a Nepalling amount of work to do yeti. I know, terrible. I'll get me 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaddad Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Come on Adrian, quit Skyvan' off, you've got a Nepalling amount of work to do yeti. I know, terrible. I'll get me Good grief! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Moff Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 great stuff - these replaced the balloon as an easy way to carry out Parachute continuation training - all good fun in a Leyland Van with wings! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted April 27, 2015 Author Share Posted April 27, 2015 Hello All, I've just got back from a week in the sunny Lake District (top tip: don't drive up the M40/M6 on the Thursday before Easter) and two weeks of work travel: Nevada, which was hot; Denver, which was snowy. Random view from the plane showing the Valley of Fire State Park and a much-depleted Lake Mead: So I got to the bench on Saturday and glued the wings on: I assembled everything else except main wheels, aerials and propellers, then started painting the wingtips, using dark earth as a base for an orangey-red colour. More coats will be required: I also "accidentally" started and almost finished an Airfix S6B over the weekend as a spontaneous blitz build, so here it is with the Skyvan (not an everyday pairing!): I have a cunning plan to get some bright national markings on in the next day or so, and I'm hoping to finish before the 3rd. Thanks for looking, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 'The Odd Couple' personified. Good luck with home straight Adrian Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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