1-72 Airfix-It Concorde plus Extras

[Caerbannog]

Hi all.

Beeing more brave than clever I throw in the infamous 1:72 Concorde by Airfix/Heller with extras from Airwaves, Extratech and Aroclub. Oh - and a DIY visor.

Edited for pictures:

Here are the box and the contents:

And of the extras pus what I did to the nose section before this GB started:

I am currently on holiday camping with my wife and son so pic upload will be delayed. Which is a pitty as I did not start with the cockpit!

Instead I glued the fuselage pieces of either side together, repositioned the fwd and main u/c bays.

Will update asap.

Cheers from south Germany,
Rene

Edit 2: I am using some reference I gathered long ago like an article from Gavin Parnaby which is very informative.

[Pin]

Any planned modifications ?

[moaning dolphin]

That sounds a tricky one! I bottled it on mine and traded it in for more stuff. It'll look mighty fine when finished........its just getting to that final point!

Good luck!

Bob

[pinky coffeeboat]

Oh good grief! ! Good luck with this one.

[Sheepie]

I'm keeping a close eye on this one! I've got one in mid build at the moment (well, the 2nd one as the first one failed...) shout if you need any advice or heads up on things to look out for, it's a tricky one

[Graeme H]

There has to be at least one brave soul to take on this kit, bravo, were here to help,

well I have never actually built one, and the one I did have I sold to the mod on this GB, so I may not be a lot help, well, none really, but bravo

H&S warning, don't forget eye protection is needed.

[Caerbannog]

Thanks guys. I managed to upload some pictures. This is my mobile man cave for this and next week currently located near Rothenburg op der Tauber in Germany:

So here what has been done so far:

First I once started on the (for me) most obvious flaw - the nose and visor. I scratch the interior parts which are missing completely in the kit and made a new visor frame from etched metal (the etching was done for me - I only supplied the artwork).

This was done some years ago before this went on the shelf of doom. Now to what was done this week so far. I cut all bulkheads in half and assembled the fuselage sides.

Next I repositioned the nose gear as below:

Followed by the main gear:

The next step will be to cut up the part with the main gear as the bottom of the fuselage on this piece is too wide, too deep and lacking a good deal of the fuselage curve (this should be ending close in front and aft of the main u/c). As this will effect the fit of many other parts it will become an entertaining task.

Any help and hints on this build are highly appreciated.

Rene

[pinky coffeeboat]

Wow, modelling on holiday! I think I read somewhere that there's hardly a part of the kit that isn't wrong in some way, but you're showing us how to overcome those problems and achieve great results.

Jeff

[Pin]

Are you going to do anything with cabin windows and belly fairing?

[Nick Belbin]

Another lesson in the making.

Good stuff, Rene. It's the flat sides for the windows that have stopped me so I'll be interested to see your solution.

Can I buy a copy of your etched brass, please?? and any other goodies you come up with . . .

Nick

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

Taking notes here Rene I have this one to build, but it will be gear up and in formation with some 'friends'

I will still make some mods to mine though.

[stevej60]

Gonna enjoy this one Rene,great start.

[CliffB]

Some serious work here Rene

Cliff

[Caerbannog]

Thanks guys!

I started to check where to cut the belly. The answer seems to be "everywhere". For reference I use pica from a book I have taken with me and pictures I took in Sinsheim Museum a few years back plus a 1-144 Revel kit which is the clearest reference gut maybe not super correct. From what I make out the best thing would maybe be to scratchbuild a master and vacuform the complete part. But the size is impossible to handle forme.

I left this problem for later and cut the flat areas for the windows out which is rather simple.

Picas will follow.

Rene

sorryfor the typos. - I am writing on an iPad and the mobile version is not working so well.

[Pin]

My approach was somewhat radical:

The idea is that the "belly bump" is about 5mm high and can be cut from a single thick sheet of plastic

Also pay attention to the area marked red - the shape is wrong

[moaning dolphin]

Some nice work going on here, I knew the Airfix kit was inaccurate but not that inaccurate! Glad I sold mine on now! Keep up the good work.

Bob

[Caerbannog]

We decided ro visit the museum in Sinsheim on our way back where they have a Concorde. Last time my camera batteries did not last so the number of reference pictures was a bit low. DespiteI have lots of Concorde pics from the net, there are some open questions for me which I hope to get answered ar Sinsheim.

Rene

[Caerbannog]

Sorry for the delay in updates. My holidays are over tomorrow and I hope to send more progress soon.

We have been to Sinsheim and had a lot of fun at the museum. Weather was great too and I took almost 200 pics of the Concorde alone. God bless digital cameras...

The underside of Airfix Concorde is really horrible - I doubt the people who did the engineering for this kit ever saw a good picture of the underside let alone check a Concorde. Everything between the engines is of the wrong shape and position. Even the u/c doors and bays are the wrong shape and dimensions (so my Extratech etch set for a lot of money is of questionable use). I am afraid that just cut and shut will not do the trick. My suggestion of a master for vacuforming the complete middle section is probably the best idea - but not practical in that size for me. Maybe in glassfibre.

Another thing which seems to be wrong is my etched visor. Better than the kit part for sure but it seems a bit long at the moment to me. My visor ends shortly before a seam which is correct- ifthat seam was not too far forward of the kit compared to the real thing. So I guess my visor will still look too long.

More updates and pictures next week.

Rene

[Caerbannog]

Finally some pictures.

To start with this is the Concorde at Sinsheim:

Wrong livery but otherwise

Here is a picture of the flat window area and the window shape. At the bottom you see the kit halves and what I cut away with close ups below. I cut a 5 mm wide stripe which will be filled with clear plastic. The transition from clear flat plastic sheet to the round fuselage at either end of the stripe will be sanded to shape.

I cut two 5 mm wide stripes from a VIVAK board (Bayer trade name for PET) but I am not sure if I will use it as I learned by now that PET can yellow. Maybe I will cut some new stripes from clear PS or PMMA.

Below is a picture of the belly. I marked how this should be changed before I went to Sinsheim. I think it can be a bit wider at the main U/C but you get the idea of the needed work. Apart from the width this area is way too high too. Needless to say the scibed panels are not correct either.

Further more the wheelwells and gear doors are the wrong shape too (as already noted in my previous post):

So this area will be a hell lot of work for me - at least I have not found an easy way to fix it

Thanks for looking,

René

[Pin]

I would not worry much about potential yellowing. The windows are TINY - smaller than on 1/144 airliners. With that size yellowness, even if it shows, will not be visible

[moaning dolphin]

Looking good so far, but you look like you have your work cut out!

Bob

[Mike]

Jimminy Cricketbats! That looks like a lorra work. I think I still have one of these I picked up cheap somewhere years ago. I'll be following this just in case I win the lottery and have enough room to display a 1:72 Concorde some day

[Caerbannog]

Looking good so far, but you look like you have your work cut out!

Bob

Well I cut out quite a bit but not work actually - only a short hibernation on this one. I am sneaking around the Concorde and try to make out how to attack it best ;-)

I did a bit of work on my other kit in the Fw 190 GB, but also not much as this week is quite buisy for me. Hope the weekend will get be back on track with the Concorde.

Rene

[Caerbannog]

Guess who is back.

After weeks of thinking about how to tackle the belly best I decided yesterday that all the good ideas will not work for me as too complicated or they would need machinery which I do not have or have access to. I guess there is no clever/simple/easy way to do this other than simply leave this kit alone. So I said "Death or Glory" and pulled the razor saw out and have a go at the ill shaped kit part.

First I pulled a piece of chipboard out on which the kit part was layed and surrounded the part with tape. Just roughly as the fit of parts is horrible anyway. My plan at this time was to cut the entire belly from the part so it would be split in three. But after the tape was applied I already decided to leave a small bridge at either end of the belly area to keep the over all dimensions. At least for now.

Here is the 50% altered part after rejoining:

And this is a litte preview on comming attractions - a new gap which will need to get filled somehow.

I have a few plans how to shut that gap but not sure yet which will work best. I now take one step after the other. Same for the area which terrifies me most: The round shape of the fuselage which must be extended on either end to the U/C bay doors. But this will another story for later.

René

[Pin]

Rene, I see you have reduced the width - have you reduced the height?