Avro 504K, 1/32, Scratchbuild

[Bandsaw Steve]

Damage Repair

 

Upon completing my model of the Avro 504 I could not wait to post it in RFI. So I did that a couple of weeks ago fully aware that I would need to come back and make a couple of posts in this thread just to fully document the project.  I did something similar with both RMS Carpathia and the AE2 project, so this is becoming my normal Modus Operandi and a few hardy hangers-on seem to read these, making the process worthwhile. 

 

So now to the step that needed to occur after the rigging effort. During the rigging there was a lot of handling of the model, a lot of rigging holes had to be rebored and some bits got knocked off and needed to be repositioned. Glue got spilt and bad language used. As a consequence the poor old Avro suffered a fair bit of surface damage that must now be repaired.  @pheonix & @limeypilot are recommending monofilament and @Michael M on the maritime pages is doing incredible work with stretched sprue so maybe my long-standing relationship with EZ line might be coming to an end?  

 

Anyhow, Here's some of the stuff that needed to be cleaned up:

 

Damage to the Starboard roundel following a glue spill and sand back.

 

Enlarged rigging holes across the top of the wing complete with visible rigging line stretching between them.

 

Same problem on the underside.

 

The answer is simple enough, apply small dabs of Vallejo putty in the affected spots...

 

Sand appropriately,,,

 

Mix up some matching colour and...

 

Respray over the affected areas. And brush paint 'royal blue' over the roundel's damage. 

 

The result - thank goodness - wasn't too bad, but it was a lesson in the dangers of making home-made colour mixes (in this case the PC10). It's tricky get an exact match second time around, so if you are not going to work straight out of the bottle at least record which paints and the ratios you used.  Here the match is not perfect but I think I got away with it because a slight variation is shade is probably realistic in this case. Paint technology in WW1 was not anything like what is today and I'm sure that even on the best manufactured and maintained aircraft there would be some variety in each colour.

 

 

In any case a quick spray with some flat top-coat tends to level out differences in sheen and even slight differences in colour so hitting the model with this worked in my favour.  I tend to use rattle cans for the final varnish. They might not give the absolute 'best' finish (pretty damned good though) but at this stage I don't want to risk airbrushing something on that leaves a chalky residue on the surface. That could be catastrophic. With a rattle-can at least you know what you are going to get. The main risk is that you will get the odd 'spatter' or  'spit' or varnish on the model, so keep the can well back (say half a metre or so) and if possible spray slightly uphill so any droplets fall below the model.

 

Once varnish is going on, things are generally close to the end.

 

Here she goes at the end of this penultimate post. Damage repair complete.

 

All she needs now is a propeller.

 

Bandsaw Steve

 

 

[RichieW]

Brilliant, great tip to spray from the rattle can upwards. Simple solutions are always the best so why do so many of us (well me at least) never think of them? 

 

This is a masterclass in model making!

[pheonix]

The finish you have on the model (including the touch-ins) is excellent. I agree that aircraft at the time most probably had variations in colour - after all they were repaired and repainted too - yours looks very OK from here. Certainly one I would be very happy to have on my shelf.

 

P

[JohnWS]

Looks great, Steve! 

 

2 hours ago, Bandsaw Steve said:

... With a rattle-can at least you know what you are going to get. The main risk is that you will get the odd 'spatter' or  'spit' or varnish on the model, so keep the can well back (say half a metre or so) and if possible spray slightly uphill so any droplets fall below the model. ...

I like using a rattle can for the clear top coats as well, for the same reason.

 

I've found that frequently wiping off the nozzle with a paper towel helps reduce & minimize the splatters & spits.

 

John

[Bandsaw Steve]

8 minutes ago, JohnWS said:

I've found that frequently wiping off the nozzle with a paper towel helps reduce & minimize the splatters & spits.

 

Yes. That also helps greatly.

[hendie]

7 hours ago, Bandsaw Steve said:

All she needs now is a propeller.

 

sheesh - does that mean there's going to be yet another post in this long running saga?

 

 

 

7 hours ago, Bandsaw Steve said:

but it was a lesson in the dangers of making home-made colour mixes (in this case the PC10). It's tricky get an exact match second time around, so if you are not going to work straight out of the bottle at least record which paints and the ratios you used.  

 

I have started keeping any left over custom mixes sucked up as much as I can into a pipette - squeeze out the air and stick a cocktail stick in the nozzle.  I've had paint keep for weeks, if not months like that.

 

Avro is looking good though

 

 

[Bandsaw Steve]

12 hours ago, hendie said:

 

sheesh - does that mean there's going to be yet another post in this long running saga?

 

Yes - I'm afraid it does Hendie.  I have to agree that these long-running threads are generally just woffle.  When sorted by order of 'number of replies' the longest, most woffly threads can be easily identified.
 

This Avro 504 one is marked in red below has 780 posts.  The Lysander tome in orange beats mine though with 781 posts...  I wonder who's responsible for that even longer, woffiler 'long running saga'.  🤔
 

That one’s like bloody ‘War and Peace’.

 

[Bandsaw Steve]

Propeller

 

Well folks, this is it. The last substantive post in the WIP thread! As Hendie says above, it's been a saga, but now it's time to draw it to a close. 

 

The last thing that needed to be finished was the propeller.  I have never scratchbuilt a propeller before. In the past, I've scratchbuilt two propeller aircraft; a Spitfire and a Westland Whirlwind (WW2 fighter not the helicopter), however on both of those occasions the aircraft was shown in flight with the propeller turning so I only needed to make the spinners. This time I will need to make the blades. Fortunately this is only a two-blade propeller. More than two might be 'challenging'.

 

Right at the start of this thread I said something like 'get more plans than you will need and then be prepared to get more when you run out anyway'.  Well, despite having  eight copies of the original plans I did indeed run out. So I reverted to using a set of backup plans - enlarged to 1/32 scale - copied out of a magazine that a mate of mine lent to me. Here's the nice coloured print that the propeller shape was taken from.

 

Ohhhh…. Look at this!  When the plans are in colour you get a kind of sneak preview of what things are going to look like when finished. 

 

If you have ever followed any of my builds you will probably be able to guess what happens next.  Stick the bit of paper onto a sheet of wood (plywood in this case) and then cut the shape out with a scroll saw. Please note that a hand-held fret saw is almost as good. You don't need fancy tools for this work, but they do speed up the process.

 

Same with this bench sander. Not absolutely necessary - but nonetheless extremely helpful when making fine outline adjustments. 

 

And now start carving with a chisel - being careful to preserve the red trailing edge.

 

When the chisel gets too cumbersome for the final finishing use a Stanley blade for a bit of fine tuning.  Just to reinforce the point above about not needing all of these tools, when I was a kid doing this I really only used three tools: a fretsaw, a Stanley knife and sandpaper. It's amazing how much can be done with just those three tools.  Back in those days I didn't even have access to a bandsaw! 😱  That's a thought that doesn't bear thinking about though.

 

And here's the finished shape after a bit of sanding. No real problem making this. The hole in the middle had to be drilled out of course.

 

Spray on some filler-primer.

 

Inspect, fill, sand... Inspect, fill, sand... spray some Tamiya dark yellow and... inspect, fill, sand...

 

Once you have a nice even layer of Tamiya dark yellow, brush on some burnt sienna oil paint. Make sure that some brush-marks remain visible as to my mind they make a nice simulation of wood grain.

 

About a year ago the local doll's-house and miniaturists society here in Perth had a swap and sell meeting. I interloped and for the princely sum of about $5.00 picked up this absolute gold-mine of watchmaker's bits and pieces.  It was in here somewhere that I found something that sorta resembled an Avro 504 propeller boss / hub thingamajig.  By this stage the propeller was already glued in place so with a dab of superglue to hold it in place on went the propeller boss.

 

And that was that! Job done...  

 

 

 

So now the project is done and fully documented. 😀

I am happy with the outcome - but I am also very happy that it's complete.   

 

This is my favourite photo of the finished product. For some reason I think the model looks best from this angle, perhaps because it emphasises the variety of colours in the final scheme.

 

If you are a straggler and have not yet seen the RFI thread, please feel free to use this shortcut...

 

and by the way, if you like this scratch-building business, please feel free to have a look at my next project - a modern NATO self propelled gun - right here...

 

Very best Regards to all and thanks for all the support along the way,

Bandsaw Steve

 

 

[hendie]

great job Steve.  

Props on the prop. I do like that last shot above - it really brings out the best in the shape of the Avro from that angle

 

 

[Bandsaw Steve]

Yep I agree. For some reason, to me this model has always looked at its best from this angle. Initially I thought that it was just because the engine and cowling had not been fitted but even now that the whole thing’s complete I still think it looks best in this view. I think it’s something to do with the proportions of wings and fuselage and perhaps how because of the forward stagger on the wings allows an uncluttered view of both wings. As mentioned above, it’s also something to do with colour.