Bristol M.1D racer - Avis 1/72 injected plastic kit

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The civil derivatives of the Bristol M.1 monoplane are attractive little planes, perhaps not as well known as they deserve or as much as their military counterpart.

Avis is doing a wonderful deed releasing a series of civil machines that are elegant, fairly priced, well detailed and produced to a nice standard.

I have recently built and present here the Bristol Racer, the Short Cockle, and the Short Satellite. All very pleasant to build kits that produced satisfying renditions.

This is the last of the series -that I am aware of- for now, and since I saw the beautiful model posted by @Unkempt

 

I decided to post a WiP, for those of you who have the kit or are thinking of acquiring it.

Avis released many variants of the M.1, but I was drawn to the civil "D" racer kit.

The parts have some flash that requires some careful clean-up (the previously-mentioned kits had very clean molds), and be sure you check the fit, since this particular kit, unlike all the others, may need some extra attention.

After the sprues were washed with mild detergent on lukewarm water and dried, most parts were released and, as said above, carefully cleaned up. The plastic seemed to me a bit harder than all their other kits, more in line with their former releases (Crusader AG-4, Mig Utka, that I also built and posted here and were just a teeny tiny coarse).

A very complete interior -for the scale- is provided, as well as the Lucifer engine.

There was a very beautiful inline engine version that perhaps may tempt Avis for a follow-up kit (VH-UQI) and other civil registrations that differ a bit on details (G-EAVO, G-EASR, M-AFAA).  May be the aftermarket industry will come up with some nice decals.

For a change, there is plenty on the Net to see and learn from, especially photos.

I recommend you do it, especially to fix a couple minor things on the interior.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, my!! An evil kit? (curiosly, Luficer is literally "light-bringing"):

 

Some plastic gasping seems to indicate so!:

 

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

A locating device (added note after construction: may double as one, but it is a fuel cap). Notice that some little filing will be necessary for the parts to match front and back:

(Dry run)

 

Most parts separated and cleaned up:

 

The multiple-part interior and engine, all assembled now. Again, look at photos of the real thing on the Net, some little changes are necessary (which I discovered after I took the photo, those changes will be shown later):

 

 

[Marklo]

Lovely, will watch intently as this is one of my candidates for my 1/32 racer collection after I`ve built the Gee Bee.

 

Edited October 30, 2019 by Marklo

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

I had a prop I carved some time ago (middle), but the shape was not quite right, so I am carving another, laminated, as per photos:

 

I will replace the kit's seat with a photo-etched item:

 

 

[Learstang]

A very nice selection for a build, Claudio! I too like what Avis are doing - I have their Bristol Racer which I will get back to once I complete at least one of the 1/72nd scale Shackleton models I'm currently working on (I figure with three going, I'll complete at least one. Right?). A nice one for Avis to do, if they're watching/listening, is the Short Silver Streak.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

3 hours ago, Learstang said:

Short Silver Streak

I raise you a Short Mussel, or a Short Scion

[Unkempt]

Oh, I was waiting for this, the aforementioned 'Braver man than me' who will do justice to that rat's nest of pipework up at the front. Looking forward to it!

[Marklo]

I find paper laminated together with ca is really good for props, although I’ve only made them in 1/48 not sure if 1/72 would work so well

 

 

Edited October 30, 2019 by Marklo

[Learstang]

9 hours ago, Moa said:

I raise you a Short Mussel, or a Short Scion

Now the Scion I'd heard of, but the Mussel was a new one for me. I know I've written this before, but if they're doing Short aircraft, I'd love to see a Short Calcutta/Rangoon. In the One True Scale, of course.

 

Best Regards,

 

Jason

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

4 hours ago, Unkempt said:

Oh, I was waiting for this, the aforementioned 'Braver man than me' who will do justice to that rat's nest of pipework up at the front. Looking forward to it!

You have done a great job with that kit, your model is beautiful and, as you have seen, an inspiration.

I think that if the manufacturer would have included those six exhaust pipes as part of a separated front exhaust ring, it would have made life a bit easier for us.

Cheers

 

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

4 hours ago, Marklo said:

I find paper laminated together with ca is really good for props, although I’ve only made them in 1/48 not sure if 1/72 would work so well

 

 

I like to carve them from wood, more like the real thing:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Some parts are painted in preparation for further assembly.

Photos show the plane with and without a small spinner (provided in the kit), so I am making the two props to chose later:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The part in the sprue -that goes through the holes on the fuselage sides- is replaced for a section of aluminium tube (NOTE: after posting these images of a replacement part I noticed -see photo way below- that this plane had the intake pointing downwards. So eliminate the kit part and you -and me-  will have to scratch a replacement following the photo I posted later):

 

Since it is not a piece of wood as stated in the instructions, but the metal tube intake for the carburetor:

 

The small instrument panel shouldn't be attached inside the wooden structure, but outside of it (there is space, since the fuselage wall is curved):

 

Link to photo of cockpit:

https://imgproc.airliners.net/photos/airliners/0/5/3/2477350.jpg?v=v40

[Courageous]

20 hours ago, Moa said:

or are thinking of acquiring it.

...I think that's me and hopefully I'll have one soon.

As to this build, great progress and enjoyable to watch.

 

Stuart

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Double flying wires, note forked Pitot on left wing:

(Photo and link from Wikipedia):

 

And see G-EAVO (quite different arrangement):

https://www.baesystems.com/en/heritage/bristol-77-m1d-monoplane

 

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The racer did not have, after all, the intakes on the fuselage sides as the kit has them, so those holes have to be plugged.

It seems that an intake was underneath the nose.

https://www.prints-online.com/image.php?large=10633300

 

https://www.prints-online.com/image.php?large=10633298

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The smaller parts are removed and cleaned up. You may replace the exhausts with solder wire or similar:

 

I lost the spinner (I knew I would) so I made another one seen in photos somewhere above, but I thought I would make another and show how in case you need one.
Chose a piece of sprue of the right diameter and sand the end:

 

Roll a hobby knife carefully to make a perpendicular cut:

 

Part of the interior in place.
Shown below is a way to make wicker seat, printing the pattern on both sides of a stiff paper or gluing to printed sheets back to back.

 

Cut the seat back and glue to a shaped and painted piece of styrene:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

For those historically inclined: the Bristol M.1C was the second plane to cross the Andes (first was by an Argentinean)  as described below (from Wikipedia, must be true!):

-First flight by an airplane across the Andes: Luis Candelaria flew from Zapala, Argentina, to Cunco, Chile, on April 13, 1918, reaching an altitude of 4,000 m (13,000 ft).[104]

-First flight across the Andes above highest peaks: Teniente Dagoberto Godoy crossed from Chile to Argentina in a Bristol M.1C, on December 12, 1918, reaching an altitude of 6,300 m (20,700 ft), without oxygen.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

8 hours ago, Learstang said:

Now the Scion I'd heard of, but the Mussel was a new one for me. I know I've written this before, but if they're doing Short aircraft, I'd love to see a Short Calcutta/Rangoon. In the One True Scale, of course.

 

Best Regards,

 

Jason

I am afraid Jason that the future may bring something...completely different (and, by the way, I built one):

 

[Andwil]

The only surviving Bristol M1 is here in South Australia, preserved in a small glass fronted building in the centre of the Main Street of Minlaton, a small country town.  Capt Harry Butler purchased the aircraft following the end of the First World War, painted it red and with the civil registration VH- UQI used it to fly around the country.  This aircraft made the first over water flight in the Southern Hemisphere according to Wikipedia.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:'Red_Devil'_plane_at_Minlaton.jpg#/media/File:'Red_Devil'_plane_at_Minlaton.jpg

AW

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

A slightly different exhaust arrangement:

https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/mr-l-l-carter-winner-of-the-aerial-derby-handicap-with-his-bristol-picture-id3421158?s=2048x2048

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Sure enough, the carburetor intake in this particular plane was below the nose, going right down and cut at an angle to face incoming air, located between the long exhausts and tied to them through a heat-exchanger in the form of a short sleeve. It looks as if only one pipe exits the heat exchanger, photos are unclear.

Research always pays off.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

And if you want to depict the plane as it flew the Aerial Derby in 1922, a number "2" is needed:

 

Furthermore, a Bristol M.1C flew the 1919 Derby with the number 12 (G-EAER):

https://www.tooveys.com/lots/295139/aviation-seventeen-photographic-postcards-relating-to-flying-at-hendon/

 

 

 

16 hours ago, Andwil said:

The only surviving Bristol M1 is here in South Australia, preserved in a small glass fronted building in the centre of the Main Street of Minlaton, a small country town.  Capt Harry Butler purchased the aircraft following the end of the First World War, painted it red and with the civil registration VH- UQI used it to fly around the country.  This aircraft made the first over water flight in the Southern Hemisphere according to Wikipedia.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:'Red_Devil'_plane_at_Minlaton.jpg#/media/File:'Red_Devil'_plane_at_Minlaton.jpg

AW

 

I believe it originally was the one I mentioned above, VH-UQI, that had an inline engine:

https://www.goodall.com.au/australian-aviation/mma-1/Bristol-UQI-PF-30s-CAHSSA-KKK.jpg

 

https://www.goodall.com.au/australian-aviation/mma-1/Bristol-UQI-flying-Nico-Braas-KKK.jpg

 

https://www.goodall.com.au/australian-aviation/mma-1/Bristol-M1C-UQI-with-DH85-UUL-Naracoorte-1.38-Justin-Good-KKK.jpg

 

That was returned (more or less...) to its original state:

https://www.goodall.com.au/australian-aviation/mma-1/Bristol-M1C-G-AUCH-The-Red-Devil-Kevin-O'Reilly-coll-KKK.jpg

[Learstang]

1 hour ago, Moa said:

I am afraid Jason that the future may bring something...completely different (and, by the way, I built one):

 

Okay, now Avis are just getting... weird. Bless 'em! I want them to do a Stipa! The Stipa makes the Bristol Racer look like an F-104.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

7 minutes ago, Learstang said:

The Stipa makes the Bristol Racer look like an F-104.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

Stipa I hear you saying?: