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Skyvan


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My second build will be the Skyvan. According to Scalemates this was originally released in 1974, this boxing is a 2002 re-release. I've built this kit once before, around 1982, and my (hazy) recollection is of a kit that went together pretty well but was a resolute tail-sitter. This is one of the first kits that came to mind when this GB came up.

 

Box shot, plus the decals and PE I'm going to use:

Airfix Skyvan

 

The Royal Thai Police decals are from Siam Scale. I've used their decals once before - on the Royal Thai Air Force 737 in the 737 STGB - and was pretty happy with them, so I'm hoping for more of the same. One slight concern is that there are no cut-outs for the windows. I think I'll deal with this by painting the fuselage sides before assembly, then adding the decals that go over the windows and cutting the windows out with a sharp knife. I'll then be paranoid about damaging the decals for the rest of the build.

 

The PE is from IPMS Austria (but made by Eduard) and looks quite nice. There's a colour fret (which you can see here) for the cockpit and another fret with bits for the rest of the interior. Perhaps this will prompt me to build it with the cargo ramp open. Not sure yet.

 

A couple of other things I need to think about are the rivets and the windows. It's covered in rivets but they're fairly subtle - not the massive ones some old Airfix kits suffer from - and I'm tempted not to remove them. It'll make accurate assembly crucial, so as to avoid having to use sandpaper, but from other builds I've seen online this seems to be possible.

 

The other thing is the windows - these aren't flat, they're all a bit concave. I could leave them as they are, but I'm tempted to try and do something about them. I'm wondering whether to fill the concave bits and use them as masters to cast replacements in clear resin. Anyone got any tips on that?

 

All this will probably have to wait - as I said in the Caravelle thread, I have a busy week ahead of me then off travelling for a month - so this is really a placeholder for now.

 

Thanks for looking

Z

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Great addition Z, the Skyvan really is another Airfix classic. 

I was seriously contemplating one of these, however couldn't get my hands on one in time - still haven't found one but I'm happy to wait. 

Who would have thought that there's a PE fret available for this rare bird. Must be one available for almost every kit. 

I'll enjoy watching this build, so please get your travelling over with and back to the modelling bench ASAP!!  

 

Cheers.. Dave 

 

 

 

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I've never even seen a 'real one' - never mind the kit - looks interesting and that Olympic livery makes me yearn for a week or two on a quiet Greek beach - heaven 😍

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Yes, agree with the other comments a great choice and a kit I've just acquired (thanks to a fellow BM member) hoping to do it for the possible 'The year I was born' GB so I also will be watching with interest.

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16 minutes ago, MarkSH said:

Yes, agree with the other comments a great choice and a kit I've just acquired (thanks to a fellow BM member) hoping to do it for the possible 'The year I was born' GB so I also will be watching with interest.

Great choice Mark, and it will be great to see this kit as part of that other GB that (if it get's up) I'll be heavily involved with. 

Cheers.. Dave 

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will be following this one - always have a soft spot for the shots skyvan, but never managed to get hold of one...off to look at eBay    

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  • 1 month later...

I've made a start, but not got a lot done so far (very little enthusiasm today, thanks to the jet lag). Decided to get rid of the rivets, so 10 mins with a piece of sandpaper dealt with that. Apart from that, a few minor bits of assembly done and I've started painting the fuselage sides white in preparation for adding the cheat line decals prior to assembly.

 

No photos yet - I'll take a photo when there's something worth seeing!

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11 hours ago, zebra said:

No photos yet - I'll take a photo when there's something worth seeing!

so that's where I'm going wrong :doh:

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I have one of these to do as an Argentinian Navy one from the Falklands war so thanks for the heads up on the etched set as I didn't know there was one for this kit.

 

Following with interest

 

All the best

 

Ben

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I was watching kingsmen the secret service over the weekend and I think there was one of these in it - or was it a 330?

 

Anyway, looked very graceful for being such a boxy shape....

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Can’t have been a Skyvan if it looked graceful! I think the 330 and 360 were much better looking aircraft - the stretch and the curve of the fuselage helped. Never thought they were all that nice to fly in as a passenger though - pretty noisy, and with the lack of pressurisation they always seemed to do something unpleasant to my ears!

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So far I've built up some of the interior (but not photographed it) but the main job has been to paint and decal the fuselage sides - this was necessary because the cheat lines in the Siam Scale decals are solid, with no apertures for the windows, so I've painted up the fuselage sides, added the decals and then cut out the windows with a sharp blade. So from here on I'll be paranoid about damaging the decals!

 

Skyvan WIP

 

thanks for looking

Z

 

 

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Great markings choice, very 'exotic', although I share your sense of trepidation at having to apply them so early on. Did you decide on which option for the windows? Crystal Clear type glazing might be an option. I used it recently on some fairly large flat windows and the result was better than I had hoped for. Relatively quick and painless too :)

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56 minutes ago, Smudge said:

Great markings choice, very 'exotic', although I share your sense of trepidation at having to apply them so early on. Did you decide on which option for the windows? Crystal Clear type glazing might be an option. I used it recently on some fairly large flat windows and the result was better than I had hoped for. Relatively quick and painless too :)

I'm leaning towards using the kit's windows. They're not as bad as I'd first thought. But still undecided.

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Quite a lot of progress with the Skyvan today. I started by installing the windows - decided to use the kit windows in the end - and then masking over the decals to protect them. I did this by using strips of post-it notes (on the basis that the low-tack post-it notes shouldn't damage the decals) over the decals themselves, with masking tape over the top to help keep the post-its down. Then assembled the interior and added some weight - I had planned to use lead foil but couldn't find it, no doubt it will leap out at me next time I go in the garage, but filled the area under the cockpit floor with liquid gravity and added 3 Australian 5 cent coins on the floor behind the cockpit, where they can't be seen from the front. The centre of gravity of the fuselage seems to be comfortably in front of the main wheels, so I think I've added enough.

 

Then assembled the fuselage - this was fairly straightforward, a little sanding at the edges was needed to blend everything in but no filler needed. Not bad for a 1975 kit. Did need some filler in a couple of spots where the nose cone meets the fuselage though. I'll add the windscreen once I've sanded down the filler.

 

I've also assembled the wings (but will add the flaps later), engines, tailplanes and fins. Next step will be to paint the natural metal parts of the engines, then mask them off and attach the wings, but not the wing struts - I'll paint them separately and add them on the end, as I think painting and decalling will be easier without the struts in place. I'll also attach the tailplanes but won't fit the fins until after painting - again, I think it'll be easier to paint the fins separately.

 

All coming together pretty quickly - should be painting soon.

 

thanks for looking

Z

 

 

Skyvan WIP

 

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Not as much progress on the Skyvan today - focussed more on the Caravelle, Beaufighter and cooking a curry (no WIP photos of that one!). I got the nose blended in, windscreen on and masked, and painted the engines aluminium - I used AK Extreme Metal for the first time for this, and was pretty pleased with it - used it again later on the Caravelle.

 

Skyvan WIP

 

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Not only is the post-it notes a good idea, but that's a novel way of getting rid of all those useless Aussie 5c pieces as well!! This Skywan us looking really good Z, I must look out for one should I ever be lucky enough to see one. 

 

Cheers.. Dave. 

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Finished the grey and white on the upper and lower surfaces today. A bit of work with micro mesh was needed to blend them in, but seems to have worked. The post-it masking left the decal largely unscathed but pulled off some of the roundel. Fortunately there are more roundels on the sheet than I need, so I have a spare. Didn't do as good a job on the windscreen as I thought I had - it's not as bad in real life as it looks in the photo though.

 

Need to paint the wingtips and rudders orange next, then a few touch-ups, final assembly and decals.

 

Skyvan WIP

 

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