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Short Solent Mk.IV in 1/72 - how?


k5054nz

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6 hours ago, k5054nz said:

Looking at ZK-AMO - I intend to build her as she is today - I'm thinking Tempest V spinners with either V or VI props...thoughts on that?

Hi Zac,

 

This is a close up of the Solent Propeller Cone, it's really more bulbous than a Tempest Prop Cone

Solent+Props+and+Prop+cone+copy.jpg

 

This from MOTAT some years ago, info about the actual propellers

Solent+Propeller+Info+copy.jpg

 

3.81m equals 52.91mm in 1/72 scale - not sure if the Tempest Mk V/VI props are that length?

 

These are the Bristol Hercules Engine Specs - note the diameter of the engine.

52in =18.33mm in 1/72. The Rear section of the Airfix Sunderland wing Nacelle is 20mm,  your Nacelles

will be only slightly larger, you might need to adjust

 

Solent+Hercules+Engine+specs+copy.jpg

 

 

Not to re-ignite the Engine alignment debate (should have used these previous (blame

Photo bucket)), if you look from the rear in this photo, you can certainly see the "Straight"

set up and not "Toed out" - apologies for the wrong info previous

 

Solent+Engines+alignment+copy.jpg

 

Hope that helps you?

 

Regards

 

Alan

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The toe out is better for engine out performance.  I measured the alignment of the engines in the photo and I see 2 1/2 degrees toe out on each side.  Could be straight, and certainly not as extreme as on the Sunderland/Sandringham.  I would like to have a photo from higher above, There is some distortion in the photo because the focal point is too close and it is not exactly above the centerline of the airplane..

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18 hours ago, LDSModeller said:

This from MOTAT some years ago, info about the actual propellers

Solent+Propeller+Info+copy.jpg

 

3.81m equals 52.91mm in 1/72 scale - not sure if the Tempest Mk V/VI props are that length?

 

Hope that helps you?

 

Regards

 

Alan

Thanks Alan, all the photos and info are a great help. I am in NZ but unfortunately can't afford a trip to MOTAT any time soon so these are a welcome reference. The fact the type shares propellers with the Freighter is very, very good to know.

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I started a few years ago on an Ansett Sandringham IV and a TOA Solent III from the Airfix kit. I used my own tail and nose, with some spare parts I had and extended the Sunderland fuselage using a second old kit for the Solent, but hadn't ever got around to the hull extension, anyhow here is about where they got to. Engines for the Solent III came from an old Paragon conversion for a Mark II Lanc (I think ) but I also had a set of Aeroclub ones that would have been better shape for the Mark IV (right of wing) and was going to use a Bristol Super Freighter tail as a base for the Solent. This project will get off the shelf again some day, but sanding off all those rivets destroyed me at the time.

 

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Edited by 72nd SQN
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Here are some images I got of the Solent 3 that is still in Oakland, USA. It flew in Australia for a few years and then went to the US. This is the Flying boat in Raiders of the Lost Ark. The Hercules engines had no spinners and were close to  Halifax/Beaufighter in cowl shape.

 

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Edited by 72nd SQN
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  • 2 months later...

I actually built a Solent 4 flying boat back in 1996, using the Airfix Sunderland III as the base model. The fuselage was split forward of the wing and lengthened and portholes in the hull were filled and new windows/frames constructed out of 1.5mm ply and very thin perspex sheet.  Nose and tail cones were made up out of balsa and treated with 'everdure' which is a marine grade epoxy wood sealer. A complete interior was costructed, based upon photos and visiting ZK-AMO at MOTAT in Auckland NZ. There is even a map of the  upper North Island and the Pacific Islands sitting on the navigators table, behind the Captain's seat on the port side! The engines were actually Centaurus engines taken from 4 Matchbox Tempest kits. When originally painted up, the model wore the livery of ZK-AMO from 1960 worn by the aircraft now and when she was on the Coral Route. 

 

By 2018, the model was beginning to show its age, much of the filler compound used was 2 pot polyester 'bog' and was beginning to crack and break away. I took the opportunity to  restore the model and correct some of the features which I didn't acknowledge when I originally built the model. The horizontal tail planes were extended  and the propellers shortened to conform with the props used with the Hercules, smaller diameter than the Centaurus props. Unfortunately, the engines remain toed out. If I was to do this conversion again, I'd probably tackle if differently... The aircraft was re-finished as ZK-AML in livery from 1954 (photos attached).

 

49737212371_600035fe31_o.jpgUntitled by Harry Follas, on Flickr

 

35932546336_831e451b0d_o.jpgold_1 by Harry Follas, on Flickr

 

35932546326_c77ae2a2c0_o.jpgold_3 by Harry Follas, on Flickr

35133936324_66313e43b6_o.jpgAML_4 by Harry Follas, on Flickr

 

35133936334_880f120c8f_o.jpgAML_3 by Harry Follas, on Flickr

 

35133936344_edcc0fc170_o.jpgAML_2 by Harry Follas, on Flickr

35932546316_bd08368e59_o.jpg1 by Harry Follas, on Flickr

35160297633_c13cc7f5b0_o.jpgsolent by Harry Follas, on Flickr

Edited by follasha
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  • 1 year later...
On 1/20/2020 at 12:06 PM, Paul J said:

The Kermit Weeks one is actually a Sandringham/ Sunderland... not a Solent.

The aircraft in Oakland was owned by the Grant family and is indeed a Solent III. Kermit Weeks owned (owns?) a different aircraft. I live only an hour from the Oakland aircraft and once lived only 5 minutes from the museum.

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3 hours ago, SilverWings said:

Kermit Weeks owned (owns?) a different aircraft.

 

As Paul J mentioned in his post (you quoted), The Kermit Weeks owned

Aircraft is a Sandringham/Sunderland (Sundringham), formerly an RNZAF

Sunderland MR5 (Mk V), it was sold in 1963 to an Australian Airline (Ansett), and

flown to Rose Bay in NSW Australia wearing the new Australian Serial VH-BRF

 

NZ4108/VH-BRF Arriving at Rose bay NSW

 

There at Rose Bay, the Sunderland was converted to a Sandringham, though

because the conversion was not done by Shorts, it couldn't be classified as a

Sandringham.

 

VH-BRF Conversion to Sandringham

 

- Many still refer to Kermit Week's aircraft as a Sunderland, and many

make the mistake of referring it as a reference to build Military Sunderland models.

 

TEAL (Tasman Empire Air Ways Limited) Operated the Mk IV Variant of the

Solent - Photo by my Dad circa 1961 at RNZAF Lauthala Bay, Fiji of  Solent ZK-AMO

70deeaa0-1ba9-4e75-b4e3-09fcef0dc0a4.jpg

 

 

Solent ZK-AMO here in Auckland at MOTAT We have the only remaining Mk IV Solent in the World

d49706ac-c8d8-4710-bf47-31bbce65588d.jpg

 

Regards

 

Alan

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 7/17/2021 at 5:15 PM, LDSModeller said:

 

As Paul J mentioned in his post (you quoted), The Kermit Weeks owned

Aircraft is a Sandringham/Sunderland (Sundringham), formerly an RNZAF

Sunderland MR5 (Mk V), it was sold in 1963 to an Australian Airline (Ansett), and

flown to Rose Bay in NSW Australia wearing the new Australian Serial VH-BRF

 

 

Regards

 

Alan

I agree Alan. We are on the same page.

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