825 Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 I'm joining in with this Revell boxing of the Matchbox DHC Twin Otter. Not not satisfied with the complexity of a floatplane I am going to attempt a fairly complex civil livery of this TMA aircraft that we flew in on holiday a few years ago Though this task has been made a lot easier with these 26decals transfers. The set includes a template for the extra door window and a set of masks. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted October 10, 2019 Author Share Posted October 10, 2019 There's a fair few pieces but for an elderly kit they are well moulded And no denying it's Matchbox heritage. Small but clear set of transparencies, I'll dip them in Kleer The kit has a lovely transfer sheet. Apart from the IP and seat belts it won't be used. Comprehensive set set of instructions going over a few pages. Now to get some paint on. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme H Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 As a long time dispatcher of Twotters in the '80's and '90's will be following this one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob_C Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 Nice little kit and great markings, should look good finished. I do like a Twotter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 That looks rather cool. Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrlx Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 Hi 825! Welcome to the GB! Nice choice, great looking scheme! Good luck! Jaime Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted October 13, 2019 Author Share Posted October 13, 2019 Thanks @jrlx, @Courageous, @Bob_C and @Graeme Hfor your kind words. I'm already enjoying this build enormously. There is very little flash or ejection marks. And the fit is really good. Now some paint on. Revell suggest a light grey for the interior. However my photos show the cockpit is light grey but the main cabin is a beige/cream colour from just below the windows and a very dark grey above. I've used Humbrol Hu237 Desert Sand for the cream and Light Aircraft Grey for the light grey. Need to have a think for the dark grey. Glued a number of major parts together, a small amount of filler is needed around the engines and the nose. There is a small mould depression at the rear of the floats. But the fit is good as can be seen from the float top joins. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrlx Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 Great start! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme H Posted October 14, 2019 Share Posted October 14, 2019 The interior was covered in formed plastic, that was normally the beige/cream colour from new, and the original cockpit interior was a turquoise green not a lot different to the Russian interior colour on their MiGs etc, so that dark grey would be a repaint somewhere in it's life, and I wouldn't overthink it, but with a dark grey I would be inclined to go a bit lighter than what you think it should be. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted October 15, 2019 Author Share Posted October 15, 2019 18 hours ago, Graeme H said: The interior was covered in formed plastic, that was normally the beige/cream colour from new, and the original cockpit interior was a turquoise green not a lot different to the Russian interior colour on their MiGs etc, so that dark grey would be a repaint somewhere in it's life, and I wouldn't overthink it, but with a dark grey I would be inclined to go a bit lighter than what you think it should be. Thanks Graeme. The cockpit definitely looks like a light grey as can seen here. It looks quite fresh so it's probably a repaint. I've given the cabin a first coat of dark sea grey which looks about right. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme H Posted October 15, 2019 Share Posted October 15, 2019 Wow, that's not just a repaint, but a whole new cockpit, those LCD displays are something from the here and now not anything that DHC put in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted October 17, 2019 Author Share Posted October 17, 2019 On 10/15/2019 at 10:19 PM, Graeme H said: Wow, that's not just a repaint, but a whole new cockpit, those LCD displays are something from the here and now not anything that DHC put in The cockpit certainly looks modern although the cabin was fairly basic. Litle square seats, worn black leather (or mock leather), on an angle steel frame, very 'used' lap belts, and the luggage carefully piled up at the back of the cabin restrained by a net. Not built for comfort and it was a quantum leap from the Emirates A380 we arrived in Mali on. The flight was about 30 minutes and I loved every minute of it. Both ways. And on the way back we got the bonus of an extra take off and landing at another atoll. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted October 17, 2019 Author Share Posted October 17, 2019 The TMA Otter needs an additional window in the door. I'm never good at these sort of things but here we go. First marked up and a hole drilled in the centre. A series of small holes were chain drilled round the edges, cut out with a knife and tidied up with a selection of needle files to give this Which is not too bad. Not perfect but should pass muster. Another addition for later are additional float supports with steps across them. I have enough photographs to be able to knock these up later from plastic strip. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted October 17, 2019 Author Share Posted October 17, 2019 Revell give you transfers for the IP and seat belts which I duly popped on before going out to work yesterday. Left them to dry and set about putting the cockpit together only to find that I have applied them to the wrong side of the IP. Doh, what a dummy. Mind you from the photo above it doesn't represent wha the IP looks like now, so I added a bit of paint to the crest side and dry fitted the cockpit. And hardly anything can be seen. So, I'll proceed with that. Ive also glued up the wings, added the engine nacelles and smoothed them all off. I also added the flap actuators. One is missing on each side as it is likely to be where the masking for painting the nacelles will go. They can be added near the end. Also added the finlets to the tailplanes. The fit has been great. A little bit of filler was needed around the nacelles but not too much. Oh and the interior has been painted. And on dry fit almost nothing can be seen. So no need to add more detail. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrlx Posted October 17, 2019 Share Posted October 17, 2019 Progressing really nicely! Cheers Jaime 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted October 24, 2019 Author Share Posted October 24, 2019 The transparencies were dipped in Kleer and left to dry. I gently removed them from the sprue with a scalpel and trimmed the sprue gate off and fixed them in place with a smear of Krystal Kleer PVA around the window edge. Lifeted the window with tweezers and gently dropped it into position with any adjustment done using the back of the scalpel blade. Did them one by one alternating between the fuselage sides. The new door window will be added using Krystal Kleer after painting. Once dry I got carried away and popped the cockpit in. Added the rear bulkhead also. Now with the bit between my teeth I thought' 'is there any reason not to close up the fuselage?' And the answer is NO. So closed up. Nose on as well, will need a little filling. That seam along the top of the fuselage looks worse in the photo than it is. It'll need a small amount of filler and some gentle sanding and polishing. There's no panel lines on the fuselage top to worry about so I should get a good finish. I taped the wings on to see what it looks like and boy it's quite big. You can also see the plastic strip used to tidy up the nose join. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrlx Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 Shaping up really well! Cheers Jaime Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted October 25, 2019 Author Share Posted October 25, 2019 Today's work was to add filler, sand it down and polish it all up. It took a little time but no real problems. Well apart from one thing. I half filled the nose cone with Liquid Lead to prevent a tail sitter. I fixed it in with some superglue and it was fine.. when I was sanding all I could hear was some rattling as a number had worked loose and were running down the interior. Luckily I had not fixed the windscreen so I've been able to tip most of the loose ones out. Hopefully not too many as the Twin Otter does have a massive tailplane. The fin and rudder puts a Tornado into second place as a 'Mighty Fin'. I'll put some Mr Surfacer on to check there's no flaws. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 1 hour ago, 825 said: hear was some rattling as a number had worked loose and were running down the interior. Don't you just hate it when that happens, fortunately they had a way out. Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 I’m a fan of liquid gravity but some of it always seems to get away. One or two of my models sound a bit like maracas. Nice work on the Twotter, following along and looking forward to more of it 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme H Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 A few things to consider also, the wings as Matchbox made them have no dihedral, which is very wrong, most don't bother to correct this, as it means you have to fix the length of the wing struts, also they have put two circles on the fuselage on the starboard side, which match the 2 on the port side, these are the fuel filler caps, and they are only on the posrt side fill the ones on the starboard side 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted November 7, 2019 Author Share Posted November 7, 2019 On 10/25/2019 at 11:18 PM, Graeme H said: A few things to consider also, the wings as Matchbox made them have no dihedral, which is very wrong, most don't bother to correct this, as it means you have to fix the length of the wing struts, also they have put two circles on the fuselage on the starboard side, which match the 2 on the port side, these are the fuel filler caps, and they are only on the posrt side fill the ones on the starboard side Thanks for the heads up @Graeme H I didn't realise about the dihedral so went looking through my photos and sure enough although it's not obvious from the side views, in one shot I have from directly behind there is a clear dihedral. I've tried to find a way of posting it but have not found a way from my phone to my iPad. You don't have idea of how much it is? I think I can manage it with some laminations at the fuselage end of the wing strut and filler in the wing joint but if you know how much an extension would be needed? The extra filler points can be swiftly sanded off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorfinn Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 On 10/25/2019 at 6:18 PM, Graeme H said: A few things to consider also, the wings as Matchbox made them have no dihedral, which is very wrong, most don't bother to correct this, as it means you have to fix the length of the wing struts, also they have put two circles on the fuselage on the starboard side, which match the 2 on the port side, these are the fuel filler caps, and they are only on the posrt side fill the ones on the starboard side Just a reminder -- if it hasn't already been logged -- that many of the Twin Otter models had props that feathered automatically on shutdown. Check photos of your particular a/c to be sure. Great work so far, love the build! Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme H Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 On 08/11/2019 at 12:28, thorfinn said: Just a reminder -- if it hasn't already been logged -- that many of the Twin Otter models had props that feathered automatically on shutdown. Check photos of your particular a/c to be sure. Great work so far, love the build! Cheers. It's a feature of the PT engine on dozens of different aircraft Not sure of the exact dihederal let me check my references when I get home next week 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 Hi 825 This is coming along very well indeed. Great progress so far. This is a lovely kit l built the Matchbox Aurigny Air option a few years ago and really enjoyed it. Keep up the good work. All the best Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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