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Bristol Type 72 racer, Avis 1/72


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The chubby silhouette of the Bristol Racer at first sight doesn't look like a wonderful choice for a streamlined speed machine. Nevertheless it was thought that by encapsulating the whole engine some gain was to be had. Surface area vastly increased, though, and produced an aerodynamic shadow that spoiled the efficiency of wings and tail.

In any case, that strange choice has given us one of the most distinct shapes of early aviation, besides being irresistibly cute, and having you wanting to pinch its cheek.

So much in love I was with this thing that I ventured years ago to build a not particularly good vacuformed kit of it, posted here at BM.

Some years later I even got a special set made by Arctic Decals to go with the kit (that provided no decals whatsoever, and had many other shortcomings. But hey, it was, after all a Bristol Racer, and who would kit it anyway?

Well, Avis just did!!!

 

But first, here is the old beast made with the vac kit

 

After the nice experience with Avis' Short Satellite, I just had to retrieve the box from the vault and start it.

One of these has already been built and posted here at BM by @Unkempt, who did a wonderful job.

 

So, let's see where this goes.

The box, known already by many here:

IMG_5215+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Contents:

IMG_5215b+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Detail:

IMG_5216+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

IMG_5217+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

IMG_5218+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

IMG_5220+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

The biggest parts are removed and cleaned up a bit:

IMG_5221+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Some parts will need your attention. I had to remove material from the inner rim on the part on the right, to let the relief on the part of the left get inside. Also the locating key has to be sanded a bit to allow the parts to be joined:

IMG_5222+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

A small issue on this kit is the position of the fore legs of the L.G.

I joined the parts just with a blob of Plasticine from behind to show what's going on here.
As you can see there is no recess for the fore legs, as it should be, because it intersects the ventilation canals. What is wrong here is hard to tell: are those canals too long or too aft? is the LG position -or other parts- out of wack?:

IMG_5223+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

 As you can see the master maker started to carve the recess for the legs, but encountered the issue and did not proceed further:

IMG_5224+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

But, if you align (fill) the two lower canals to match the external ones, you may create just enough room for the recess to be carved and so comfortably accommodate the LG legs:

IMG_5225+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

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Gotcha!!

Well, it always pays to research!

What do you know, here is how things are in reality:

https://www.agefotostock.com/age/en/Stock-Images/Rights-Managed/MEV-10992554/1

So no full circle where the wheel fits in, a different hot air exit vent arrangement, a long fairing between the legs' insertion at the belly of the fuselage, and so many other details!

Out now with the pencil to try to figure out the corrections!

 

 

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OK, so there is a cross member between the two LG legs, and of course there is a corresponding notch/recess on the fuselage skin to accept it.

The fore leg actually crosses the carved air vent right in the middle, but I can see only one vent, and not two like in the model.

It looks (this is an early evaluation) like the wheel goes into the wing in a way that does not need a full circle clearance to lodge into that massive fairing/Karman.

So exciting to hunt for the truth!

More observations will surely bring corrections/adjustments to all this.

Fun!

 

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Moa,


It almost seems to me that the new injected kit is going to be just as labor intensive as the vacform kit that you built, but does have the advantage of maybe being slightly easier to work with than the mixed media of the vacform. I guess if the RAF had accepted one, it would have been a Blowfish Mk1a. 😜

Mike

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34 minutes ago, 72modeler said:

Moa,


It almost seems to me that the new injected kit is going to be just as labor intensive as the vacform kit that you built, but does have the advantage of maybe being slightly easier to work with than the mixed media of the vacform. I guess if the RAF had accepted one, it would have been a Blowfish Mk1a. 😜

Mike

Hi Mike

Not so! This is so much better!

The only correction needed is in the LG area, which, by the way, was the same problem with the other...plus the rest of the mani issues of that horrid vac.

I am happily launching into this one.

 

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Drawing on the recent experience of @Unkempt (Thanks!) I avoided some of the potential pitfalls.

The seat needs to be moved forward a bit in order not to interfere with the upper shell.
Some parts need thorough checking and refining on all the contact surfaces, and frequent dry-runs are advised before committing to gluing anything. This is especially valid for all the front assembly of the model, constituted of many parts that have to achieve a good fit without gaps:

IMG_5232+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

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Oh, this'll be good. I'm almost glad I didn't find the plans with the undercarriage problems because I had enough trouble as it is. Looks like you managed those rods a great deal better than me, too  - have you test fitted them yet? They have to fit in behind the engine back plate and I'm pretty sure the length they give in the instructions (11mm?) is too long.

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I’ll be watching intently as I’m currently wrestling (almost literally) with the LG area myself. I have pretty much figured out the undercarriage, but not the housings/engine ducting underneath the nose. Now I can work out most of it from overlaying the gear doors in the fuselage and figuring out how the retraction mechanism has to work but it would be great to have some guide to the details like the ducts which at the moment are at best educated guesses.

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3 hours ago, Unkempt said:

Oh, this'll be good. I'm almost glad I didn't find the plans with the undercarriage problems because I had enough trouble as it is. Looks like you managed those rods a great deal better than me, too  - have you test fitted them yet? They have to fit in behind the engine back plate and I'm pretty sure the length they give in the instructions (11mm?) is too long.

Did not yet try the fit of those rods against the front bulkhead, but I actually drilled the holes where the rods go, to have a firm anchoring. I thought too I would have to shorten them a bit, but that shouldn't be a problem. The heads up is highly appreciated nevertheless.

At the moment I am interested in trying to figure out the way the wheels retract in that half circle seen in the photo of the link. I am so glad I found that photo on the Net, but it still leaves much to guessing.

I can see what I believe are other cutouts on the skin in the area.

There is a (big) scale model of this plane in a museum somewhere in England (I can see a few images on the Net) that looks bonafide. Wish I could have a look under that one!

It's never a straight road to the end, isn't it? 😜

But I am happy with the kit, another cute and well molded product.

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These two kit parts need to be added to the fuselage. The instructions are not absolutely clear (to me at least) but if you follow the contour of the fuselage you will get it:
IMG_5233+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Never work on a model late at night!
I messed up the drilling of one hole for the exhausts, so had to glue a styrene rod in place...

IMG_5234+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Then cut if flush and re-drill. Phew!

IMG_5235+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

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The single most important step for a very good fit of these parts is to carve a bit the inner side of this part, very carefully, with a rotary tool and a spherical bit or similar. This will allow enough space for the protrusions on part 8 to get all the way in. Otherwise part 14 sort of "rocks" on part 8:

IMG_5237+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Very good fit now:

IMG_5236+%25281280x960%2529+%25282%2529.

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Brilliant.

Having just ordered this kit and the 'Cockle' from my LMS (couldn't wait 'till Christmas), this and @Unkempt threads have come along nicely. Very interesting build and especially looking forward to see how the legs fit.

What's rather interesting is that the boxart shows that the kit has 'only 500 pcs', where are the other 469 parts then?! :rofl:

 

Stuart

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8 minutes ago, Courageous said:

Brilliant.

Having just ordered this kit and the 'Cockle' from my LMS (couldn't wait 'till Christmas), this and @Unkempt threads have come along nicely. Very interesting build and especially looking forward to see how the legs fit.

What's rather interesting is that the boxart shows that the kit has 'only 500 pcs', where are the other 469 parts then?! :rofl:

 

Stuart

Yeap, same here. Notice it also has 500 pcs.

IMG_5238+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

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This is an interesting thread - no Bristol racers for years and then three almost together!!

 

Fascinating as usual to see how you solve some of the trickier problems associated with these rarer types. Will be following as usual with much interest.

 

P

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27 minutes ago, Moa said:

Notice it also has 500 pcs.

Heh. When I first started reading this, I wondered if you were showing a jigsaw puzzle, but I then saw the 1:72 note in the other corner :shrug:

 

I do love your choice of subjects; early and golden age aircraft are most interesting to me. :popcorn:

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1 hour ago, dnl42 said:

I do love your choice of subjects; early and golden age aircraft are most interesting to me. :popcorn:

Very happy to hear that.

A magic era of wonder sorely underrepresented in the hobby.

So much to offer, such elegance and garb, daring and sophisticated, strange sometimes and sometimes funny.

So different in intentionality and achievements, to the detriment of none, and to the benefit of all.

 

Lunch time now and a break from the building board, going for Mexican tamales, to the horror of His Ignorancy, Master of Vulgarity, Chief of Lies, aka Spanked on a Stormy Night.

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Unkempt said:

Oh, I could have used some of those. Are they from a kit or some sort of generic set?

Nope, not from the kit, the kit provides no P.E. set as you know; I used the same solution on the vac model I posted here some time ago: the right size elements from a generic spoke set meant of course for wheels.

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I retrieved from the files the Arctic Decals set I had purchased long ago to replace the one I had made myself and applied on the vac kit. I never got around to do it, though.
Now it could be used. The kit's decals look fine, and in all very similar, but the AD set provides as a plus the writing for the wheels. Regarding translucency or opacity of the white in both decals, I won't know until I apply them. The AD set of course contains extensive useful info, as usual:
IMG_5244+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

It is goof to know that if you botch the decals you have spares or could buy ones!

IMG_5245+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

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I understand now how the wheels get into that half circle cutout under the wing, it's simple and clever. The wheels are lifted vertically through the straight edge (closer to the fuselage, and as the first half has went in, it rotates outwards, thus necessitating that half circle.

In consequence, the inner half of the circular cutout on the wing has to be filled, but leaving the cut in its middle to allow the retracting strut to operate.

Ah, nothing like figuring it out, n'est pas?

Once the paint has dried, I will proceed with this minimal corrections needed to have a more accurate model.

Cheers!

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Disks are cut:

IMG_5246+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Then bent on a curve:

IMG_5247+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Marked:

IMG_5248+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Then cut and adjusted in position. Later on, when they are firmly glued, a small length has to be cut mirroring the aft LG legs for the fore LG legs. And what do you know, the anchoring position for those fore LG legs is indented in part 8, just behind a small tooth it has for locking part 14.
So the riddle is, theoretically, solved now:

IMG_5249+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

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