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Avro 504K, 1/32, Scratchbuild


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Looking superb Steve. This has spurred me in to getting a 504k for the stash it is however a Smer kit so might be challenging I’m also going to make a night fighter version out of it which will involve removing one of the cockpit( I think they put an extra fuel tank in to extend the range so as to be able to intercept zeppelins) and lengthening the fuselage ( to restore the CG)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Doing a Jig...

 

All my model building buddies tell me that putting the upper wings on a biplane is easy... 'you just use a jig' they say.  This seems like an incomplete set of instructions to me. For example, if asked 'how do  you drive a car?' would 'you just use the steering wheel' be a complete and adequate answer? I would suggest not.

 

So, I believe that using - and by implication making - a jig is necessary step toward affixing the top wing, but I don't think it's the whole story.  It is, however, the whole story for this particular post.

 

Take a nice flat sheet of plywood and mark off the wingspan of the Avro. 

MG9VhDl.jpg

 

Cut the plywood sheet nice and square and add two upright end plates as shown. I also added two balsa blocks to hold the fuselage in the correct position but later removed them as they were making getting the aircraft in and out very difficult.

8IDsIHt.jpg

 

Carefully measure the distance between the lower wing and upper wing leading edges.

BL41lJc.jpg

 

Transfer that distance onto the plywood and mark the two respective positions.

gqnna54.jpg

 

Measure off and plot the position of the upper-wing's wing-tips on the vertical end plates of the jig and...

eaUL8dG.jpg

 

glue two bits of wood into the correct positions so that the upper wing will have something to rest on.

GUFXnax.jpg

 

At 8.05 in the evening rest the upper wing in its correct location and check that it's sitting correctly.

9L7v4m1.jpg

 

Exactly one minute later add the aeroplane underneath.

pPf4DKl.jpg

 

Note that sticking the aeroplane underneath, at this stage, pushes the upper wing up about 8mm and raises it off the correct position on the jig. That's because the cabane struts have still have a big horizontal slab holding the front and back strut together for strength. When I finally put the upper wing in place that plank will be cut out leaving narrow cabane struts that will engage with the relevant slots on the top wing.

Z2ebWYR.jpg

 

Carefully plot the position of the leading edge onto the end-plates as shown.

kyU4kNw.jpg

 

Glue a little block on the jig just ahead of the wing tip so that the wing sits in the correct spot.

3b7LdjP.jpg

 

So that's about it.

The Jig is up as they say...

I wonder what I'm supposed to do next? 

 

Bandsaw Steve

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Hi Steve

Hope you are well and sorry I haven't been along in a while, not enough hours in a day what with work and the house and family etc. 

I have had a catch up on the last couple of pages and what a beautiful model, great paintwork and tips. I was aware of the use of Klear when masking but running your thumb over the remaining ridge after the masking removed, that's fantastic and I will have to use this.

Thanks

Keep up the good work

All the best

Chris

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Here I awake on a somewhat dull and chilly Sunday morning to find that Bandsaw Steve has made one of his rare missives to the masses via the electron sending machine. There were times long past when this was an almost ritualistic occurrence but now these communiques are becoming rarer than a Northern hairy nosed wombat. 

 

But we had one of these uber-rare syzygy like events this morning. (wasn't sure if syzygyian was a word)

Unprepared I was. Completely.

However, when I read the title my heart skipped a beat... Jig!  He was going to do a Jig!  Oh Wonderful days. I do love a good jig.

 

I quote for you here his very words my friends. Proof of his claim to be doing a jig..

 

7 hours ago, Bandsaw Steve said:

Doing a Jig...

 

See!!!  Told you!

 

and all I see is some scribbles about plywood and struts and some photos of a fancy clock ..

 

8 hours ago, Bandsaw Steve said:

I wonder what I'm supposed to do next? 

 

isn't it obvious man ?.....

 

 

 

 

Never have I been so disappointed in one of your posts Sir.   I would report you to the misleading title department if we had one. But we don't.  So I can't.

 

 

 

PS -  You went and bought a clock to show us how fast you work ?   

 

PPS - Wouldn't a calendar have been more appropriate ?

 

 

 

 

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Cripes! That's a fair flaming I got there from old @hendie!  😨  I didn't think that last post was quite that heinous. :shocked:

I can assure you all that if you ever saw me actually do a jig - or indeed any other kind of dance - you would immediately regret the experience.  Compared to my moves, this little penguin is a regular Fred Astaire! :penguin:

 

Still - all that talk of Avros and syzygys and calendars tickled my subconscious until I realized I owned a copy of this sensational painting by Michael Turner.  This shows an inter-war Avro 504N flying over Stonehenge. 
 

Even today the true purpose of Stonehenge remains a mystery, however many modern scholars hold that its original intent was to allow ancient druids to count the seasons between Britmodeller updates of Hendie's 1/32 Pullman rolling stock project.  Hendie started that project in the early bronze age and persists with it - unfinished - to this day...  

WsFBvs7.jpg

Bandsaw Steve

 

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On 01/12/2019 at 17:51, bigbadbadge said:

Hi Steve

Hope you are well and sorry I haven't been along in a while,

 

Thanks

Keep up the good work

All the best

Chris

See @hendie - that’s called polite that is! 
See, that’s a polite post! 👍A sign of character.


Chris is to be congratulated on his politeness.

 

Thank You @bigbadbadge

I wish you and your family a very merry and safe Christmas and a wonderful new year. 🎅🏼

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As usual beautilful work that is wonderfully structural at the same time. However having done the jig thing and come out the other side I stick with my tried and tested method....

 

49063248456_a18577684a_z.jpg

This is what I call the cardboard box method, (although it is tuppreware here) which I hate to say it, works just as well as the biplane jig, only you're going to need  an awfully big cardboard box for the 504.

 

And ducks as antipodean woodwork comes hurtling in his direction :) 

Edited by Marklo
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That was a lot of work to produce the jig - mind you with a wood model a strong jig would be necessary to hold the weight! I am with Mark in that I use lighter materials and whatever is available at the time on or around the table where I make my models. Still there are some good ideas there which I will be keeping in mind if I do decide on another giant sized project in future.

 

In answer to the question "what do I do now?" I would suggest finishing what is an excellent model in progress!

 

P

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The Pullman may not have got anywhere near to Stonehenge but it will surprise most people (and some archaeologists) just how close a railway came to the stones. RAF Stonehenge was surved by a spur of the Larkhill military railway with the buffers only a few hundred yards from the stones.

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6 hours ago, John Aero said:

I don't know, except by looking through all the posts, if any one has told you, but the bird is an Emu and the same marking is on a Sopwith Pup in RAAF Point Cook museum. Nice to see the wood working skills.

 

John

Hi John, 

 

Thanks for that. I have just googled ‘Point Cook Sopwith Pup’ and see what you mean! I was unaware of that marking. I’ve gone back to my references and can confirm that the - stork? -on my Avro and the emu on the Pup are definitely different designs (Assuming the references are correct of course). The body of the stork is much more slender and upright for example. But the two markings are in such a similar style and colour that it cannot be a coincidence.

According to the small amount of info I have been able to glean ‘my’ aircraft represents an airframe from 8 flying training squadron RFC / RAF, so my suspicion is that some of that unit’s heraldry has found its way to the antipodes and then been altered to a more Australian flavour.

The markings look great on the pup!
Thanks for chipping in. I see a trip to Melbourne in my future!

 

Steve

 

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Hi Steve.

 

I don't want to be a spoiler but other Avro 504's bearing the same marking, (called an Emu), of No 8 Training Squadron (Australian Flying Corps) were based at the main UK based Training school  at Leighterton  Gloucestershire.  Source awm.gov.au  The photo D00467 taken in 1919 is printed backwards by the way, on the Government website Australian War Memorial.  I think that the original Pup as copied in the Point Cook Museum was also at Leighterton.  

 

I suspected that Leighterton or Harlaxton, which was another Aussie Flying Corp station (which I know well as it's not too far from here) might have something to do with it.

 

John

 

Photographed in 2009 when James Kightly very kindly arranged a private visit for me to Point Cook.

 

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Hmmmm!

 

OK- sounds like I might have unwittingly made an AFC 504 with a weird upright stance emu!

 

Bugger! I was happy with that bird too! Now I might have to re-do him as a proper emu.

 

Still as I always say ‘inaccuracies are great talking points - they draw out people who know about the subject’ and that has clearly happened here. Thanks for letting me know.

 

I should not have trusted that damned profiles book! 🤔

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Sorry old bean, it's just coincidence  that I came across the  Pup photo a couple of day,s ago as I'm sorting out my computer storage.  I'd do a bit of fine brush work to sort it out. I don't have that profile otherwise I might have spotted it earlier.

 

Cheers

 

John

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