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Avro Anson Mk.1 (Airbourne Interception) 1/72 - UPDATE


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I made a stupid mistake with the upper nose filler, forgetting that the light green putty would be highly visible inside the windscreen, above the instrument panel. Doh!
45374950395_a922d4ccfa_o.jpgAnson (17) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr

So the putty has been dug out in front of the windscreen, fortunately it can be carved easily with a sharp knife blade. The resulting trench & lower windscreen has now been painted matt black, and when it is dry the trench will be re-filled with fresh putty. Meanwhile the sanding of the turret area seems to have gone well, and a trial coat of green primer has been applied. On the real Anson the turret fairing is a subtle but complex shape, with the sides continuing the ribbed fuselage detail, while the upper surface has its own ribbed fairing but with the smooth upper front fuselage continuing backwards. Hard to describe, and perhaps this sketch might explain it better?
44471084800_3e0470ebec_o.jpgAnson (18) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr

At least that is what I think, as best can be gleaned from photos.

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Had been meaning to ignore Airfix's incorrect flat underside, but finally gave in and mixed another large dollop of putty;
31362125727_f52f0ac242_o.jpgAnson (19) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr

Also filled in the cockpit windscreen trench, which from the inside now just looks a black part of the instrument panel. Further detailed improvements made to the gun turret fairing, etc. It all looks a mess but everything is now smooth in the right places;
31362125557_e7fae921bf_o.jpgAnson (20) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr

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The new underside has been sanded to shape, and some rib detail added (it is quite prominent here on the real thing)
46276348892_bb36dd0acb_o.jpgAnson (21) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr

With the wings still off, the cockpit framing has been painted. This took two goes as published plans don't match photos of the complicated framing, particularly the escape hatch in the roof above the pilot. Then at long last the wings and tail planes have been glued on
45414095555_bea5a87abe_o.jpgAnson (23) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr

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Great work!

 

How well did the clear parts fit? Was it the original Airfix parts?

 

I always had an good eye for the Avro Anson and Dragon Rapide as beautyfull British aircrafts they are!

 

Cheers / André 

Edited by Andre B
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On 15/12/2018 at 17:21, Andre B said:

How well did the clear parts fit? Was it the original Airfix parts?

 

Cheers / André 

Many thanks for the comments, and yes, I've used the original Airfix transparencies. The side glazing fits well, but it is important that the roof is glued firmly down and its two sides are level, otherwise the canopy doesn't match.

 

My latest disaster is the undercarraige. I just located it as per the kit, but it is splayed outwards, far worse than on my original Airfix Anson. The wheels are also wonky. I've tried bending it to the vertical, but that ain't working. So I've deliberately broken it off, snapping it at the rear end. The rescue 'plan' comes from my scrap box, where resides an Anson wreck poorly built by my nephew, but with an intact undercarraige and straight wheels. I've torn the wings apart to get it out. and after cleaning and painting, it will be glued to my Anson in the correct upright position.

 

So if you are doing an Airfix Anson (but I wouldn't recommend it!), leave the undercarraige off and adjust and fit it later.

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After cleaning and painting the 'new' legs are now in place, and also lengthened to the correct height (they sit too short if glued as per Airfix).
32499055888_2dfe2a4fe3_o.jpgAnson (26) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr

So the model is now fully assembled, and many holes have been drilled for aerials, etc. The big question being where and how to place the Radar aerials on the wings, as there is no reference material at all. I've opted for the 'Beaufighter position', about one third in from the wingtip. The nearest match I can find for the Beaufighter aerials is from Airfix's Blenheim Mk.1F night fighter, with one aerial trial fitted in this photo;
46319886552_408d96e9ac_o.jpgAnson (25) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr

Painting the model will be next, and I won't post photos until this is done.

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13 hours ago, Martian Hale said:

That ribbing on the underside looks very effective, how did you do it?

 

Martian 👽

Thanks Martian, and to do the ribbing I first sanded the milliput to shape, and then used a long strip of masking tape to guide the blade that scored the ribs. Moving the masking tape each time to do the next rib. It was all then sanded again to subdue the effect.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Progress has been slow over the holidays, and not helped by the yellow paint taking two days to dry between coats. At least one more coat of yellow is still needed, so my hope of finishing the model in 2018 has gone.
31602663727_7a050e21c7_o.jpgAnson (28) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr

But it is starting to look quite sporty, for an Anson.

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Problems with the yellow paint continued, and there are now five coats in some areas, all taking two days to dry! But finally got past that stage, and progress being made again;

45738682065_3bf9dc88b1_o.jpgAnson (29) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
The two long exhaust pipes have been scratch built and added, these go with smooth cowling versions of the Anson. Also the two oil coolers have been added, but Airfix had got the port one on the wrong side of the engine, so this has been altered to the correct side.

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  • 4 months later...

An update to this project to create an Airbourne Interception trainer version of the Anson. Earlier on in this thread I had discussed the complete lack of information regarding the internal layout, and then went on to 'best guess' what the layout might have looked like.

 

I have now found a description of what went on inside, and I'm pleased to say that I almost got it right.  The description says that one pupil plus the instructor sat in front of the two radar scopes, with the instructor viewing the same radar return, and guiding the pupil towards a successful interception. The second pupil sat alongside the pilot, and listened to what the instructor/other pupil were saying, while also seeing visually the target aircraft (another Anson), and thus understanding how its position related to the radar tracking.

 

So the layout and crew positions in my model seem to be correct, although the 'instructor figure' that I have shown alongside the pilot should be facing forward, and he should be a pupil.

46217449951_b68bfcc0cf_b.jpgAnson (12) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr

 

I hope that this is of assistance to anyone thinking of doing a similar conversion in future.

Edited by Acklington
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  • Acklington changed the title to Avro Anson Mk.1 (Airbourne Interception) 1/72 - UPDATE
  • 1 year later...

Hi Acklington 

This is very useful information indeed and will help me with one of my next projects.  So thank you very much

Chris

On 5/26/2019 at 5:09 PM, Acklington said:

hope that this is of assistance to anyone thinking of doing a similar conversion in future.

 

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