Dora Wings Percival Proctor Mk.III (72014) - 1:72 Dora Wings

[Julien]

Percival Proctor Mk.III (72014)

1:72 Dora Wings

 

 

The Proctor was developed by Percival from their Vega Gull in response to an Air Ministry Specification for a radio trainer and communications aircraft. Percival made the fuselage 6 inches longer and incorporated larger rear windows. Modifications also had to be made to the seats in order that parachutes could be worn. The prototype first flew in October 1939 and was put into production fairly quickly. Over 1000 aircraft were built, the original 222 by Proctors, with the remainder by F Hill & Sons of Manchester. The original marks of Proctor (I through III) were very much of the Gull design, later ones were enlarged, but the larger aircraft suffered in terms of performance. After the war the aircraft were dispersed to various operators. The fleet was grounded in the 1960s due to concerns about the glued joints in the airframe; though some have been rebuilt with modern glues. They still make good light aircraft and inherited the Gulls folding wing which can make storage easier.

 

 

The Kit

Dora Wings is a new company to us, and have kindly agreed to send samples for review.  Information and help was gratefully received in the production of this kit from John Adams formally of Aeroclub models which can only be a good thing. It is also this reviewers opinion that Percival Aircraft made some of the best looking Civil Aircraft in the UK, so these new kits are more than welcome. Initially Dora Wings have given us The Vega Gull and followed this up with the Proctor as Percival did. Now the Mk.III is with us. The kit arrives on three sprues of nice hard plastic, detail is good raised and recessed where necessary. The ribbing on the wings is nicely restrained. There is a clear sprue, a sheet of PE and a set of masks (not shown). In other boxings the instrument panel markings were on a film sheet, they are now on the decal sheet. Construction is fairly simple just like the real aircraft.  The tail wheel is the first part to be made up and then put to one side. We then move to the cockpit. The instrument panel is made form a plastic part with the film and PE making the front of the panel. This is then added into the coaming. 

 

 

 

Just to go off on a tangent the wings then put together, these are of convention left/right & upper/lower construction. Separate flaps are included as are landing lights for both wings. Now that the wings are done we can move back to the main cabin, Controls and seats are put in place, followed by the front firewall and instrument panel we put to one side earlier. The fuselage can then be closed up, and the canopy added. At the rear the rudder is added along with the tailplanes, and at the front the engine front and propeller. The wings can then be added along with the main landing gear. 

 

 

 

Markings

The decals are from Decograph and look good with no registration issues, there are five decal options provided;

 

• LZ766 RAF as seen at Duxford 2017. 
• 605 Royal Danish Air Force, Karup Airfield, 1946/47
• Z7237 RAF, 1942 (its worth noting that these markings seem post war not WWII)
• RAF Serial HM300 but USAAF Markings 1945.
• W-1 1315 Communications Flight Royal Netherlands Air Force, 1947.

 

 

Conclusion

It is high time that we had some modern toolings of British aircraft from this period.

 

Very Highly recommended.

 

Review sample courtesy of

 

[Ptmvarsityfan]

Nice review, thanks. Purchased this kit at Telford and it looks

good. I recently made the Vega which I am pleased with

although I had a struggle with the glazing.

Z7237 is certainly in post-war markings not 1942. As I mentioned 

in an earlier thread I found a photo on the net of this aircraft 

dated 1950. 

Cheers, Paul

[Rod Blievers]

I stand ready to be corrected here, but I thought the Proctor also had a wider fuselage than the Gull series? The front seats were side-by-side in the Proctor, staggered in the Gull.

[Ptmvarsityfan]

Hi, Proctors I to III had the same external dimensions as the Vega, the Proctor IV and later civil V had the bigger fuselage and I think slightly more wing area. The IV was originally going to be called the Precepter as it was virtually a new design but the Proctor name was eventually retained. Front seats were side by side in the Vega, Proctors had various interior layouts. According to the Air-Britain Percival book Proctor Z7237 was built as a II and later modified to a III. All a little confusing, especially the interiors of Proctors!

Cheers, Paul

 

[Julien]

7 hours ago, ptmvarsityfan said:

 

Z7237 is certainly in post-war markings not 1942. As I mentioned 

in an earlier thread I found a photo on the net of this aircraft 

dated 1950. 

Cheers, Paul

Thanks for the info. 

Do you have any info on the camo colours of the Danish Example, I fancy building this one.

 

Julien

[Ptmvarsityfan]

Will look in the Air-Britain book for Danish birds, cheers Paul

[Paul J]

I've seen several pics of post war RAF Proctors. MK III and IV.  All in overall silver dope and D type roundels with a variety of codes and serial numbers. That box art is very weird with a mix of B type top wing roundels and D type down the sides.  Hmm....

[Ptmvarsityfan]

2 hours ago, Paul J said:

That box art is very weird with a mix of B type top wing roundels and D type down the sides.  Hmm....

I suppose it is feasible, types B, C and D all seem to have been used early post war especially on eg the Meteor.

Can't find any pics of the upper wings so down to personal choice I suppose. Definitely D's on the fuselage

though for the box art aircraft. Type D's are provided on the decal sheet for the upper wings.

Cheers, Paul

[John Aero]

Just a note in passing. The changes made to the RAF's Proctor from the Vega, did not include a 6" longer fuselage. This is an error that even appears in David Gearing's seminal work. The cabin retained the same dimensions but the luggage shelf at the back was made 6" deeper in the Proctor, to accommodate a future Radio fit. This change is visible from the outside by the size of the external compartment port side door.

The RAF demanded the windscreen be changed to the rounded shape and this also appeared on the last of the Civil Vega's. There were other detail changes such as a stronger floor.

 

Regarding the fuselage widths, the Vega was wider than the previous Gull 4 and Gull 6. The Vega has the longer span wing due to the wider fuselage and centre section. Again the change is visible by the rectangular centre windscreen panel of the Vega which the Gull 4 and 6 do not have. The Vega tail plane span is also greater.  The Vega is a true four seater with the earlier Gulls being two, occasional three seaters.

 

Jean Battens aeroplane is a Gull Six, and not as it's often called a Vega Gull.

 

As I have written else where, the differing published lengths for the Proctor are due to the early RAF deliveries not having spinners. The reason is that for a time DH's had a problem with the spinner structure. Similarly The Vega had at least three types of propeller but the length that is always quoted, is the prototype fitted with the small Fairey Reed type. Vega's did not normally have a tail light but Proctors did.

 

There is a lot of confusion regarding the final version of the Proctor IV/V. This was the Fat Lady singing, which finally brought down the curtain on the Gull family. The fuselage and rudder were bigger and deeper, but having a similar windscreen it gets confused with the earlier Proctors (I, II, and III). The quick visual give a way is the rear side windows are long and narrow. The old Frog Proctor is a IV and as such is quite a good representation but it is not easily converted to anything else.

 

These and the other original researches I made freely available to Eugen at Dora wings, but if any person quoting anything I would appreciate  some acknowledgement as research takes a lot of time and effort.  I was helped by John Tregilgas, a gentleman, who is rebuilding four Proctors and who made many structural drawings available to me. I redrew every former and converted all the dimensions and radi from Imperial Fractions to Imperial decimal, hence to Metric. What at first appears to be a boxy fuselage with a rounded top is in fact quite a complicated structure especially the transition from the windscreen frame to the back of the radio compartment. I was not involved with the CAD side nor the Military markings

 

As with other investigations I have done it's more difficult to change peoples minds away from what's in the books on their shelves.

 

John

[Rod Blievers]

John Aero: Sincerely thank you for that succint and highly informative posting - you've certainly clarified the Gull/Proctor lineage for me.