Dermo245 Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 (edited) Morning all, Decided to give this one a go which will be my first Vacform kit - eeek! When Ireland entered the European Community in 1973, a 'nautical economic zone' was set around the island at 170 miles, later extended to 200 nautical miles. This covered a total area of 132,000 square miles. In order to patrol it, the Government of the time initiated a tender for a suitable aircraft and after evaluation, the Super King Air was picked. This was the first turbo-prop aircraft in Irish military service and only the second US-built one - the first being the Lockheed Hudson which was also used for Maritime Patrol & Reconnaissance during the war. The first Super King Air entered service in 1977 with the second joining in 1978. Both were operated by Maritime Squadron, No. 1 Support Wing in the fishery protection and maritime surveillance role. A third joined the fleet in 1980 but was used for pilot conversion & training, Air Ambulance and no surprise, Ministerial Transport 🙄 In the Maritime role, a typical flight lasted approximately 4 hours, covering an area of 10,000 square miles and flown at altitudes around 5,000 feet. If anything needed closer inspection, the a/c would descend to 500 ft or lower, which over the wild Atlantic in winter probably didn't make the for nicest of journeys for the crew of four - two pilots and two observers. Super King Airs also acted as top cover for SAR missions. Two of the more notable missions included the Fastnet Race disaster in 1979 and the search for an Air India 747 which crashed 100 miles S.W of Ireland in 1985 after an inflight explosion. The airframe had a lifespan set at 5,000 hours given the low level flights and Atlantic conditions. A/C 232 was retired in 1990 with 5,322 hours on the clock while A/C 234 followed her a year later with 5,229 hours. The third plan A/C 240 soldiered on and did get to fly the Atlantic in 2003 when it commemorated the 75th Anniversary of the first East/West flight of the Atlantic by pilots Herman Kohl, Baron Von Hunefeld and navigator James Fitzmaurice of the Irish Air Corps. You can read more about this remarkable man here. The Maritime Patrol duties have now been taken up by two Casa CN 235s which entered service in 1994. Thanks to Joe Maxwell & Patrick Cummins for all the background info on the Super King Air, from their excellent book - The Irish Air Corps; an Illustrated Guide. Edited March 22, 2019 by Dermo245 Forgot text! 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 (edited) Very interesting subject ! Rareplane's vacforms were among the best around, if you have to build a first kit of the type these are a good choice. Edited November 29, 2018 by Giorgio N 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grey Beema Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 (edited) Like to see this one go together- we have their CASA replacements pass overhead most days.. Edited November 29, 2018 by Grey Beema 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Stuart Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 A great choice of subject, and an interesting story to go with it - welcome to the build 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 Looking forward to this build - I like the sound of this one. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazey Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 An interesting choice – good luck with the build. I haven't yet tackled a vac form kit, but I must admit to becoming somewhat vac form-curious. Regards, David 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Alpha Yankee Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 Nice one Dermot, I have a resin King Air build stalled (though not in this scheme) and I might finish it one day. Hope you have a fruitful experience with your first vac form build. I have decided on my entry and it will also be a part vac form build, hope it goes smoother than my last attempt. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted December 1, 2018 Share Posted December 1, 2018 Good man Dermot I am delighted you have chosen this Group Build to lose your Vacform Cherry , lots of people on here have built vacforms before, so there is lots of advice to be had if needed. My first vacform was much more modest and also a Rareplanes kit, which are one of the best as they contain a lot of detail. Don't get concerned if something doesn't fit correctly, it just takes a bit more thought and ingenuity to build the kit than the "boil in the bag" injection kit. A lot of Rareplane kits didn't come with decals, do you have the correct ones for your aircraft ? Popcorn at the ready with you all the way cheers Pat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theplasticsurgeon Posted December 2, 2018 Share Posted December 2, 2018 A great subject, wishing you well with it Dermot. I lost my cherry with a Rareplane Meteor in the Vacform GB, 2009. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted December 13, 2018 Share Posted December 13, 2018 I flew King Air 300s and took a whole load of detail photos with a view to building a similar kit. If any of that is relevant to the one you're building I'll happily send them to you. The pics are of a mid 80's 300 which I flew up until a year ago. Ian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted December 16, 2018 Author Share Posted December 16, 2018 On 12/13/2018 at 3:02 PM, limeypilot said: I flew King Air 300s and took a whole load of detail photos with a view to building a similar kit. If any of that is relevant to the one you're building I'll happily send them to you. The pics are of a mid 80's 300 which I flew up until a year ago. Ian Cheers Ian - any pictures of the interior cabin would be great. Won't promise I'll be scratching a full interior though - just keen to see what it's like! Many thanks, Dermot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 PM me your email and I'll send them to you. There are too many to post here. The interior will certainly be different as ours were set up as 9 seat commuter airliners. Ian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelh Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 I have that kit or had. I seem to remember Aeroclub produced white metal u/c for it. I may even have them somewhere. I took some pictures of one on a visit to Baldonnel but never got inside. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted December 23, 2018 Share Posted December 23, 2018 Come on Dermot, stop being such a tease Show us your bits ! Whoops that didn't come out well, I didn't mean to pinch one of your chat up lines cheers Pat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephLalor Posted December 23, 2018 Share Posted December 23, 2018 (edited) On 11/29/2018 at 1:03 PM, Dazey said: An interesting choice – good luck with the build. I haven't yet tackled a vac form kit, but I must admit to becoming somewhat vac form-curious. Regards, David There are vacforms and vacforms. I wouldn't even think of trying a Combat Models or ID Models kit due to still having rather limited scatchbuilding skills even after decades in the hobby, but something like Dynavector's Wyvern is eminently buildable. Some would consider building a vacform in preference to some short run injected items. Edited December 23, 2018 by JosephLalor 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazey Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 5 hours ago, JosephLalor said: On 11/29/2018 at 11:03 PM, Dazey said: An interesting choice – good luck with the build. I haven't yet tackled a vac form kit, but I must admit to becoming somewhat vac form-curious. Regards, David There are vacforms and vacforms. I wouldn't even think of trying a Combat Models or ID Models kit due to still having rather limited scatchbuilding skills even after decades in the hobby, but something like Dynavector's Wyvern is eminently buildable. Some would consider building a vacform in preference to some short run injected items. Thanks for the advice. I think I know what you are getting at with the variability in "short-run" kits, but I find myself leaning toward that style of kit a bit more, at least when they have finer engraved details. Regards, David 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted January 6, 2019 Author Share Posted January 6, 2019 On 12/23/2018 at 9:54 PM, JOCKNEY said: Come on Dermot, stop being such a tease Show us your bits ! Whoops that didn't come out well, I didn't mean to pinch one of your chat up lines cheers Pat Finally, a photo of me 'bits and pieces to keep Pat happy! Have already outlined all the parts with a felt tip pen. RarePlane Beech Super King Air (2) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr White metal u/c and a couple of vac-form canopies. RarePlane Beech Super King Air (3) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Scoring, cutting more scoring, (some cursing!) and finally getting parts out RarePlane Beech Super King Air (4) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Cheers, Dermot 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted January 6, 2019 Share Posted January 6, 2019 Interesting - mind if I tag along? It’s a while since I saw a Rareplanes vac form being built. I was a guest of the IAC one day in 1983 and snapped away quite merrily that day. I hope these pix of 232 may be of use? Trevor 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted January 6, 2019 Share Posted January 6, 2019 Looking great Dermot Already looking forward to the next instalment cheers Pat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted January 7, 2019 Author Share Posted January 7, 2019 Super pics @Max Headroom thanks very much for sharing! Cheers, Dermot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted January 8, 2019 Author Share Posted January 8, 2019 Anyone got advice for this Vacform Virgin on cutting the parts out? Wings or anything with a straight-ish edge is ok but for the more complex shapes I'm a bit stumped... Also - is Rareplanes plastic normally so tough? Seems to take forever to get through it to a point where i can gently snap the excess off... Many thanks in advance. Dermot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted January 8, 2019 Share Posted January 8, 2019 Can’t help with the practical side of obliterating the 100% flash around the parts, but Rareplanes had the reputation of using plastic that was thick enough to be sturdy when assembled. Trevor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BKirwan Posted January 8, 2019 Share Posted January 8, 2019 1 hour ago, Dermo245 said: Anyone got advice for this Vacform Virgin on cutting the parts out? Wings or anything with a straight-ish edge is ok but for the more complex shapes I'm a bit stumped... Also - is Rareplanes plastic normally so tough? Seems to take forever to get through it to a point where i can gently snap the excess off... Many thanks in advance. Dermot Dermot By the look of your progress shots you are doing what u need to do; long straight edges score and snap and small complex parts get up close and personal with the old Xacto knife and score and break them off - sand down the excess after removal from the backing sheet. There are not that many complex shapes in the kit anyway and white metal parts cover the smallest of them. For the internal bulk head you could always just make them up out of Evergreen instead of killing yourself getting them off the backing sheet? A quick outline on paper using the vacuform as guide and you can make up the parts out of sheet easy peasy and details will be sharper. BTW have dug out my copy of this kit and have started to cut out everything so this is all your fault. I did cheat thought as I also picked up the Mach 2 not-so injected kit which probably needs more clean up than the vacuum form kit. Also the Rareplanes has 2 copies of the cockpit windshield which will come in handy on the Mach2 kit as the clear parts are horrible. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex77 Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 Interesting choice of subject. Can't help with the help getting the parts out, no experience here so looking forward seeing this one being build. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 Cut them out the same way as the rest, you don't need to get close to the part at this stage. Once they're released from the main sheet you can trim the excess off and sand the backing down until you reach the black marks. By then any excess will have been removed too. Ian 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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