Aero commander 680, Comet 1/81

[Nikolay Polyakov]

Excellent work, @Moa! An interior looks very lovely. 👍

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

42 minutes ago, provencenut said:

My dearest Mr. Stern; just in case that you decide to choose the Questor Survey livery for your Commander, I have already done decal artwork for that, although not in 1/81 scale. But that is easy to resize...

Mika

Arctic Decals

Heavenly bodies and celestial objects! You have done it now, Mika!

You have revealed my other secret identity. It won't take long before someone finds out who Mr. Stern actually is, potentially revealing my third secret identity!

In any case, you are forgiven because of the good news, and yes, I will gladly purchase the Questor decals from you. Will further communicate through the habitual channels to set up the details.

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

10 minutes ago, Space Ranger said:

So "Moa" is actually the incredibly talented but publicity shunning Gabriel Stern who possesses modeling skills far surpassing those of mortal modelers and is able to leap tall piles of styrene in a single bound?? Many have wondered where he's been hiding out, and now his secret identity has been exposed! Mwah-ha-ha (evil laugh)!

Darn!

Do you know how laborious it is to create a secret modeling identity? Now I may have to wear a suit, glasses, work in a newspaper and pretend that I am a wimpy that can't build even a meek snap-together kit. And the worst part will be trying to explain to my wife why do I have a girlfriend called Louis Lane.

Geezzz! you guys have done it.

 

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Some instruments added, the LG legs' scissors, seat belts, etc.:

 

Housings are fabricated and added for the nose lights:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Plenty of weight is added to avoid a tail-sitter, especially considering the long tail-boom that needs to be added for the Questor version:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The windows are added. They just popped in place perfectly, again something you seldom see in much modern kits. Why o why.

 

Now the fuselage can be assembled:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The hole for the stand is filled:

[VH-USB]

On ‎5‎/‎9‎/‎2019 at 2:09 PM, Moa said:

That´s no doubt a sweet memory for your brother.

I have never built before a Comet kit, but this particular one is a mixed bag, and the surface detail (saved those "etched decals) is quite good, having corrugated surfaces, inspection hatches, door, and even the position of lights marked too. The fit is better than some contemporary kits. And the surfaces are shinny and smooth (must be that "Lustrex" plastic advertised on the box, which I googled and indeed was a "thing" then, being used for kitchenware, containers and such).

This always makes me wonder about the erratic and seemingly illogical steps of the kit industry, capable of producing this extremely nice (in some regards) product, and even today insisting in barely buildable spawns. I am aware (although not really knowledgeable) of the different production methods and their costs, but sometimes I feel I rather build an old kit, even with it's faults, than a kit that is so lacking that is pain to build, produced just a few years ago to "high sub-standards".

Happy to hear you really like the old Comet Aero Commander kit. It does look like it has some nice features, even with the lack of landing gear.

It's refreshing to see a builder who doesn't shy away from very old kits and appreciates them and what they have to offer, even today.

The old Comet Beech 18 kits are also a favorite of my brother and he has built a couple of the 1/60 scale versions. They too lacked landing gear which had to be scratch-built.

I am really enjoying this build and thanks for sharing it with us all.

 

Tim

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The magnetic anomalies detector that is attached to the tailcone in this version is fabricated:

 

The last bit of the tailcone is going to be chopped, the new part glued on and blended. The new part is partially hollowed to minimize weight and help not to having tail-sitter (besides the weight added to the nose).

 

 

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Sensor added with a connecting plastic rod peg:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The windows are masked, so the process of blending the tail piece, priming and treat the surface can begin:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

And now the ugly and tedious part, puttying and sanding:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

A general dry-fit before proceeding to prime the parts individually at first, to easy handling and correction of blemishes:

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Lights on the fin are reproduced:

 

More details are fabricated according to photos:

 

Some antennas:

 

Some sensors on the belly:

[StephenCJ]

looking very good Moa.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The first coat of primer as usual revealed that some work lies ahead:

[busnproplinerfan]

An attractive plane, model's looking good.

[Courageous]

2 hours ago, Moa said:

The first coat of primer as usual revealed that some work lies ahead:

I know you're sitting on top of the thing but it doesn't look as a bad as I thought it would, good job.

 

Stuart

[Jonners]

Great project.  I'm obviously too late, but I was going to suggest this Aero Commander 680 as an appropriate subject:

 

 

(Photo taken from Tony Chater's excellent book 'The Falklands').

Owned by the Argentine newspaper Cronica, it crash-landed just outside Stanley, near Eliza Cove, in the Falkland Islands during a British ministerial visit in 1968. Any attempted political protest was quickly quashed by the rapid attendance by the resident Royal Marines and Falklands police (seen in the photo above), as well as, reportedly, the Governor and Minister armed with a rifle!

 

The registration can be seen in this pic from John Smith's fascinating 'An Historical Scrapbook of Stanley':

 

 

A quick internet image search for Aero Commander LV-JGE will find a superb colour photo of the crashed aircraft that clearly shows the colour scheme. 

 

As an aside, also obvious in the second photo above is the piston-engined Whirlwind helicopter from HMS Protector. One of these remains in the Falklands at Salvador settlement, where it has remained since suffering an engine failure, and another is preserved by the Yorkshire Helicopter Preservation Group at the Aeroventure museum, Doncaster. 

 

Anyway, as you're already well on the way to modelling a totally different aircraft, I thought I would post this for interest's sake.

 

Jon

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

6 hours ago, Jonners said:

Great project.  I'm obviously too late, but I was going to suggest this Aero Commander 680 as an appropriate subject:

(Photo taken from Tony Chater's excellent book 'The Falklands').

Owned by the Argentine newspaper Cronica, it crash-landed just outside Stanley, near Eliza Cove, in the Falkland Islands during a British ministerial visit in 1968. Any attempted political protest was quickly quashed by the rapid attendance by the resident Royal Marines and Falklands police (seen in the photo above), as well as, reportedly, the Governor and Minister armed with a rifle!

The registration can be seen in this pic from John Smith's fascinating 'An Historical Scrapbook of Stanley':

A quick internet image search for Aero Commander LV-JGE will find a superb colour photo of the crashed aircraft that clearly shows the colour scheme.

As an aside, also obvious in the second photo above is the piston-engined Whirlwind helicopter from HMS Protector. One of these remains in the Falklands at Salvador settlement, where it has remained since suffering an engine failure, and another is preserved by the Yorkshire Helicopter Preservation Group at the Aeroventure museum, Doncaster.

Anyway, as you're already well on the way to modelling a totally different aircraft, I thought I would post this for interest's sake.

 

Jon

Interesting, Jon, but is nevertheless the wrong type, the engine nacelle end clearly shows the "flattened" (whale's tail) version, unlike the kit's, with has a fishtail end.

[Jonners]

30 minutes ago, Moa said:

Interesting, Jon, but is nevertheless the wrong type, the engine nacelle end clearly shows the "flattened" (whale's tail) version, unlike the kit's, with has a fishtail end.

So they are. Oh well. 

 

Yours is looking great, by the way. Engraved markings aside, it seems to have the basics of a good, solid little kit. 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

11 minutes ago, Jonners said:

Engraved markings aside, it seems to have the basics of a good, solid little kit. 

I believe it is. And as we realized during the build the fit is good.

 

I will take advantage of this point to ponder a bit about the kit industry.

 

It's way too much to wish for, but if a company would find and rescue these molds, and obliterate the engraved decals' location only, it would be a nice kit (save the odd scale), and an aftermarket company could concoct a detail set for interior and landing gear.

This is a very old kit as VH-USB pointed out, and yet the plastic employed, the fit, the subject and the very nice surface engraved other detail make this one an oddity in the sense that much later kits are well below its standards.

To my unlearned eyes it seems that there is an enormous disconnect within the kit industry, that seems to re-invent the wheel every so years. The disparity of quality is gigantic. The gap in decades between between an old but good kit and a new but bad kit is head-scratching puzzling.

Another example are the vehicles from Jordan Highway Miniatures, made decades and decades ago, in a scale smaller than 1/72. Superb kits, highly detailed, molded cleanly, high parts count, affordable prices, and nothing comparable even nowadays.

I conclude those excellent old and good manufacturers were from Mars, and some Earth manufacturers did not get the hint.

Now CAD appeared together with never seen before access to information and other manufacturing associated technologies, yet we get a lot of models with somewhat hard or simplified volumes, very poorly researched, and with detail that many times had no real correlation in reality, designed on a computer by people surely able in that media, but not always necessarily knowledgeable in aviation. Or we have very detailed masters rendered "soft" and inaccurate, and ill-fitting parts due to "poor man's" molding technologies.

 

"I have been building kits for five decades, and I approve this message" 😉😁

 

 

 

[Space Ranger]

For those seeking an Aero Commander in a "regular" scale, may I suggest Croco Models' Aero Commander 520 and 560 kits in God's Own Scale (1/72)? These are beautiful resin kits with complete interiors and even engines inside the cowlings, and they include decals for both civil and military examples. Here's a review of the 520:  https://leighedmondslittleboxofstuff.com/2019/04/06/croco-models-1-72-aero-commander-520/

 

Please note that I have no affiliation with Croco Models, a Lithuanian company, other than as a satisfied customer.

 

I now return you to "Another Installment of Modelling Excellence" by the peripatetic and secretive Moa of California. This has been a public service announcement.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

11 hours ago, Courageous said:

it doesn't look as a bad as I thought it would,

What do you mean "Doesn't look as bad"????

It look fantastic!!!! 😋

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

2 minutes ago, Space Ranger said:

For those seeking an Aero Commander in a "regular" scale, may I suggest Croco Models' Aero Commander 520 and 560 kits in God's Own Scale (1/72)? These are beautiful resin kits with complete interiors and even engines inside the cowlings, and they include decals for both civil and military examples. Here's a review of the 520:  https://leighedmondslittleboxofstuff.com/2019/04/06/croco-models-1-72-aero-commander-520/

 

Please note that I have no affiliation with Croco Models, a Lithuanian company, other than as a satisfied customer.

 

I now return you to "Another Installment of Modelling Excellence" by the peripatetic and secretive Moa of California. This has been a public service announcement.

Thanks Space Ranger (If that's indeed your real name)

The company was also cited above by Mika from Arctic Decals when he noted -because the photo I posted- that he designed the Questor set for these very models (the set that, conveniently re-scaled, I will be using)

Cheers