Avro Anson 48th scale *finished*

[Howard Moon]

I thought I would share my latest project with you all:

 

 

I built the late version of this back in 2011 and really enjoyed it. At the time, I received some help from @galgos who has also built a couple of these. Here are the contents of that flimsy box, first the plastic bits:

 

 

 

 

...and some quite nice resin:

 

 

...and finally some etch and a nicely printed decal sheet:

 

 

 

Not the biggest parts count for a model of this size. First job was to cut the fuselage halves off the sprues and clean up for a bit of test fitting. Being short run there are quite a few of these to deal with:

 

 

I also cleaned up the resin side walls and test fitted with the floor:

 

 

I have decided to bond these separately into the fuselage halves as I did with my previous build to ensure they align correctly. Here they are in situ and a trial run with the clear parts looks promising:

 

 

More to follow shortly 🙂

[galgos]

Always good to see another Anson being built Howard, I'll be following this one closely and of course we know the pitfalls don't we?  .  I've started a 1/32nd scale vacuform one and I'm using some of the parts of the 1/48th Anson like yours that I have in the stash as a "pattern".  Looking forward to further instalments!!

 

Max

[bigbadbadge]

Hi Howard this is great.  I have the Special Hobby boxing of the later screen type in the stash so will be watching with interest too for hints and tips .

 

Keep up the good work. 

All the best 

Chris 

[Silver Fox]

I built one of the late windscreen version a few years ago as my late father was a tool maker for Avro and made machine tools to built the Anson and Lancaster. He always loved the Anson.

Your resin looks so much better than mine and the clear parts look excellent as well. In both cases mine were broken and cracked.

 

If you follow Galgos you will have the best possible way forward. Looking forward to following your build.

[galgos]

That's very flattering Andy! 😳  For anybody who may be interested in seeing the problems and one or two solutions for a short-run kit, my build was here:

Regards

Max

PS Sorry for the thread hijack Howard! I'll get my coat now.  

[bigbadbadge]

Brilliant thanks for posting that I  will add to faves so I can use along with this thread for when I build mine. 

Thanks for sharing. 

All the best 

Chris 

[woody37]

Looking forwards to this

 

[Howard Moon]

21 hours ago, galgos said:

Always good to see another Anson being built Howard, I'll be following this one closely and of course we know the pitfalls don't we?  .  I've started a 1/32nd scale vacuform one and I'm using some of the parts of the 1/48th Anson like yours that I have in the stash as a "pattern".  Looking forward to further instalments!!

 

Max

Hi Max, your 1/32nd one sounds very interesting, I have yet to venture into the world of vacuforms. Will you be posting any pics up?

 

20 hours ago, Silver Fox said:

I built one of the late windscreen version a few years ago as my late father was a tool maker for Avro and made machine tools to built the Anson and Lancaster. He always loved the Anson.

Your resin looks so much better than mine and the clear parts look excellent as well. In both cases mine were broken and cracked.

 

If you follow Galgos you will have the best possible way forward. Looking forward to following your build.

Hi Andy, great to hear from you again. The clear parts are very brittle and on my last one I ended up cracking the cabin section so will be proceeding with caution. The resin isn't as good as the last one tbh and have already had to replace part of the tubular fuselage sections. I will try and put a picture up later.

 

19 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Brilliant thanks for posting that I  will add to faves so I can use along with this thread for when I build mine. 

Thanks for sharing. 

All the best 

Chris 

Hi Chris, hope you find it useful. It is one of Classic Airframe's easier kits to build from my experiences.

 

19 hours ago, woody37 said:

Looking forwards to this

 

Hello Neil, nice to see you drop by. Surprised you have got time with that gargantuan task you have set yourself with the Stirling 

 

I have made a fair bit of progress with the interior but haven't had a chance to post any pics up today as real life events seem to have taken over. I've been on this for about a week now and have been making steady progress. Deffo get some pics up tomorrow. 

[galgos]

Just to whet your appetite a bit Howard:

 

[tank152]

Hi "H"

A nice change of subject, will be good to follow this build.

 

 

[Howard Moon]

  

 

Some great photos there Max, I don't think I've seen any of those before.

 

17 hours ago, tank152 said:

Hi "H"

A nice change of subject, will be good to follow this build.

 

 

Hi Kurt, thought I would dig one out from my Classic Airframes stash, when you going to finish that Sea Fury?

 

As of yesterday, this is how far I'd got. The side walls are attached to the fuselage halves and have been painted as have most of the fixtures and fittings for the interior. I have also glued in some tabs to the lower fuselage to try and prevent getting a stepped joint:

 

 

I've also built up the internal structure of the turret. There aren't any locating aids and care is needed to ensure everything is square(ish) and the transparency fits over it without fouling anything. It's all pretty straightforward though :

 

 

 

As a slight diversion, today I thought I would clean up the engine nacelles. Max @galgos explains this in his build thread posted above but thought I would show you myself. They are beautifully cast and quite delicate but attached to a very large pour block at the front of the cowling:

 

 

After carefully detaching with a razor saw, you are left with this. The opening should go right back to the start of the blisters. On the inside I use a marker pen to indicate how much resin needs to be removed and then carefully chibble away at it with a new blade taking care not to go beyond the line;

 

 

 

Finally I finish off with a bit of wet and dry wrapped round something suitable, the handle of a JLC saw being just right on this occasion:

 

 

 

So back to the fuselage. I decided to follow the same methodology as used on my 2011 build so glued the seats in place and then attached the floor to the port side. I then trapped it between the fuselage halves to ensure alignment. At this stage I started becoming quite concerned about the state of the upper framework. As you can see. it looks quite ropey apart from the port rear upper section which has already been replaced with a bit of brass tube. Generally the port side follows the correct contour to sit inside the cabin glazing but doesn't look very pretty. The starboard side however, bows out to the right. You can probably see where it has snapped in a couple of places too:

 

 

These are the overhead cross members and bracing which should join everything up. That's not looking to clever either is it? The chance of this piece of deformed resin pulling together the other bits of warped resin are decidedly slim 

 

 

Anyway, with the comments of yesterday's lengthy conversation with the Sky Engineer still in my mind, ("let's sort one problem at a time") I chose to look at something else. There is a single cross member with a "vee" brace that needs to attach to the rear bulkhead. The instructions would have you attach the "vee" to the bulkhead and the other ends to the cross member between my fingers in the photo above:

 

 

There is a photo in the walkaround section on Britmodeller shows it the other way round. I cut a piece of brass tube to the right size and drilled a hole at the mid point. I could then pin the "vee" to the tube, leaving enough sticking out the other side to attach to the other brace once I had removed the resin cross member. Here it is before just before I cut the cross member off:

 

 

A touch of Mr Paint and in no time its in place and setting up. To say I was happy is an understatement:

 

 

 

So, overcome with my success. and the resin looking increasingly shabby, there was only one thing to do. Cut it out! Or am I being too hasty?

 

 

Tomorrow's plan is to get the fuselage closed up with all the internals fitted and all the cross members replaced. Oh, and everything square and true.

 

Thanks for sticking with this, I will let you know how tomorrow goes 

 

 

[galgos]

It's all looking good Howard, those resin bits are so fiddly and so often warped.  I think I replaced some sections on my build with plastic rod, especially the sections under the "roof", or is it a deckhead....anyway you can't see it once the top is painted!!  Those photos are good aren't they, so many little details to take note of.

Max

[Howard Moon]

Yesterday, I replaced all the cross members with brass tube as planned although it took more time than I anticipated. At least everything is now more or less symmetrical so am glad I did it. Looking at my 2011 build which is still sitting on the shelf behind me, I didn't get this result by using the resin as supplied in the kit:

 

 

 

The transparencies have now been attached and I'm glad I could get an Eduard set of masks to help the job along. I have ended up with a slight step at the rear of the cabin and there is a sizeable gap at the front of the windscreen which I have filled with a scrap of plasticard. Finally, I've applied milliput front and rear and will start blending it in tomorrow. Once this is done it should be quite a quick and straightforward build. Then it will be onto the fun bit - painting!

 

 

 

 

 

Another update tomorrow hopefully, thanks for looking in 

 

 

[Azgaron]

Very nice work so far!

 

Håkan

 

[galgos]

Quote: " ....it should be quite a straightforward build....."  Let's hope so Howard but don't forget you've got the pesky undercarriage to sort yet!!  Have fun.

 

Max

[Howard Moon]

Ha ha good point! Got some ideas for this, I will share tomorrow. I’m still enjoying it so far but there’s still time for that to change.  How’s your 32nd scale one doing Max?

[galgos]

9 hours ago, Howard Moon said:

Ha ha good point! Got some ideas for this, I will share tomorrow. I’m still enjoying it so far but there’s still time for that to change.  How’s your 32nd scale one doing Max?

It's in a box right now Howard though I hope to progress it over the winter months......trouble is there though that I've already ordered and paid for HK's 1/32 Lancaster which is due for release at the tail end of the year! 

[bigbadbadge]

Great work Howard. Looks fantastic. 

Dug myou kit out of the stash and had a look. I was tempted to start it,  but then realised that I must finish the Mossie, Typhoon  and Tiggie  first. 

Keep up the good work 

All the best 

Chris 

[Howard Moon]

7 hours ago, galgos said:

It's in a box right now Howard though I hope to progress it over the winter months......trouble is there though that I've already ordered and paid for HK's 1/32 Lancaster which is due for release at the tail end of the year! 

I'm really interested in the Lanc but loathe to buy one until I've seen it in the flesh so to speak. I was disappointed with their Mossies and will be interested in your opinion once you've cast an expert eye over it.

 

6 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Great work Howard. Looks fantastic. 

Dug myou kit out of the stash and had a look. I was tempted to start it,  but then realised that I must finish the Mossie, Typhoon  and Tiggie  first. 

Keep up the good work 

All the best 

Chris 

You've got your hands full then . Was admiring your trimotor the other day, very nice 👍

[Quietstorm7]

That looks great !, and a serious amount of masking !

 

[Howard Moon]

1 hour ago, Quietstorm7 said:

That looks great !, and a serious amount of masking !

 

Thanks, there is a lot which is why I was grateful Eduard made a set for this kit. I think Montex do a couple as well 

 

Today has been a bit of a slog with a lot of sanding and rubbing down but I'm getting there:

 

 

 

As you can see, the upper deck for the turret is on and the clear nose section has also been added. To enhance the spotlight, I have stuck a Little Cars lens in it:

 

 

Earlier, Max @galgos made reference to the tricky undercarriage so thought I would share how I tackle it. The kit is very lacking in this area and basically this is what you get for each side:

 

 

You have to cement the bulkhead to the teardrop shaped bay insert and then the legs are supposed to sit between the two lugs. Finally. the rear arm which is cast in resin, locates on that dimple with the front fork attaching to the axles. All very vague and difficult to line up and not particularly strong either. I drill out two grooves to locate the gear legs and this now offers the ability to slightly adjust the undercarriage before committing to glue. I also drill out the dimple and pin the end of the resin arm so that it now has a positive locating point, like so:

 

 

Here it is dry fitted:

 

 

And again, dry fitted in one of the wings:

 

 

Hopefully this has proven useful and would be interested to hear how others have approached it. I've still got a fair amount of work with the fuselage and tomorrow I will be working on the underside as my attempt to avoid a stepped joint wasn't a roaring success. And finally, one more look at where I've got to:

 

 

Thanks for dropping by and hopefully I will have some more progress to share tomorrow.

 

 

[Howard Moon]

Modelling has taken a back seat for the last couple of weeks but I am slowly making progress. I finally got to a stage where I was pretty happy with the fuselage and gave it a coat of Tamiya fine surfacer decanted from the can and shot from my trusty Tamiya airbrush. Still a bit of work to do but here is how it was looking:

 

 

 

The wings were next, the construction being quite simple. The trailing edges are horrendously thick and despite a judicious amount of scraping and sanding still don't look brilliant. They are a simple butt joint to the fuselage and the seams were pretty good on the upper side. The same couldn't be said for the lowers with the joint running through the bomb doors. Eliminating the seam meant losing all the detail. The ribs were replaced with styrene strip and everything else needed a re scribe which is something I hate doing as it never seems to go well. Here it is before a check coat of primer and the re-scribe:

 

 

 

The wings and tail planes have now been primed and apart from a few tweaks and a bit of fettling I am close to the stage where I can start to paint, hopefully this weekend when I should have another update. I might even be brave enough to show you my re scribing efforts 

 

 

Thanks for looking in,

 

Howard 

 

 

 

 

[bigbadbadge]

Very nice work Howard.  This is really coming together now. Thank you for posting the undercarriage assembly tips that's very handy. 

Keep up the good work 

All the best 

Chris 

[mackem01]

Nicely detailed work and it's come on so quickly. I was particularly impressed with the engine cowling work.

Looking forward to you throwing paint about.

[galgos]

Well done Howard, super job. I see you've wisely amputated the rudder balance till a more suitable time! 

Max