Planet Models BFW M.20b2, resin, 1/72nd scale

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

9 hours ago, Courageous said:

Another build Moa, do you ever sleep.

What? Is this not a dream then?
 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Doors corrected:

 

 

The instructions have the wrong nose color pattern, look above and to instructions:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Furthermore, the registrations for PP-VAK are the wrong font, as the real thing has letters with rounded ends, not the ones on the decals with angular ends:

 

If you are choosing D-2026, the instructions are also wrong, it had a reg on each wing, above and below, so you will be two regs short:

 

 

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The decal sheet provides a circular Varig logo for PP-VAK that I could not verify, or that is a not very accurate rendition, but here is the logo that should be on it, that corresponds to that time frame:

[Brandy]

It looks as though the under wing regs on PP-VAK were hand painted and a little rounded, but the fuselage ones appear to be the usual square ended ones. Good eye for detail!

 

Ian

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

50 minutes ago, limeypilot said:

It looks as though the under wing regs on PP-VAK were hand painted and a little rounded, but the fuselage ones appear to be the usual square ended ones. Good eye for detail!

 

Ian

Hi Ian

The rounded letters were also used by German planes it's just a different font, and not the product of less than careful painting:

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-junkers-g38-54107056.html

The ones on the fuselage are also rounded!

Magnify this image to look at them:

http://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac5/ROW Civil A/PP-VAK.html

And this one:

http://cmtebordini.blogspot.com/2012/06/8-o-vazamento-dagua.html

 

Research is everything!

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The nose had some air intakes, so those are drilled:

 

A scratch seat is made to replace the one missing in the kit:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

A funny story about Aceguá that I translated from here:

http://cmtebordini.blogspot.com/2012/06/8-o-vazamento-dagua.html

 

Supplying the radiators of these planes with water at each stop was a common and expected thing. One day, however, I took off from POA with Aceguá, having as co-pilot the “old” Greiss and ten other passengers. In the first ten minutes of the flight, I noticed that the indicator of the amount of water in the engine, which was located over the nose of the plane, was showing that we had a large leak and that the radiator was almost empty. I needed to land as soon as possible, otherwise the engine could seize and force me to make a critical emergency landing.

It was close to the small town of Tapes, on the edge of Lagoa dos Patos, where, I knew, there was an old and small airstrip built at the time of Military Aviation. I headed straight there, as it was the only landing strip, even precarious, that existed, in addition to the advantage of the existence of water in the lagoon.

I located the strip, landed the Aceguá without any problems and touched it near the edge of the lagoon. There was wind and it was cold, but there was no choice but to go there to fetch water in person, as Greiss was too old for these adventures and preferred to stay on the plane. I left my post, went to the cabin to explain to the passengers what was happening, which they accepted patiently and with the courage and goodwill that characterized the passengers of those heroic times. There was a single vessel on board: a bucket that sometimes served as a latrine in the small compartment at the tail of the plane that served as a pseudo-toilet. I picked up the bucket, took off my clothes, leaving only my underwear in front of the tolerant passengers, and went out into the lagoon to the waist to wash and fill the bucket. Then I went up with some difficulty to the radiator cap and poured the bucket as best I could. I had to make about three trips to complete the water level and finally dry myself out as I could, to finally start the engine and take off towards Pelotas. Just ahead, however, the radiator was again almost empty, and I had to make another unexpected landing in another improvised strip that existed on the bank of the Camaquã River. Finally, after these two unforeseen and dangerous scales, we arrived in Pelotas, where we were able to fill the holes in the cylinder water jackets in a precarious way, in order to be able to return to POA in a flight “without stopovers”.

In Porto Alegre, with the company's Board of Directors, I made a tremendous din against the dangerous use of that old and rotten plane, which put the lives of passengers and crew members at constant risk. The "tantrum" paid off and the old Aceguá was sold to a junkyard, certainly turning into aluminum pots and pans, in which it did not offer life risk to its users.

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The metal parts did not have pins, so these are added:

 

Photos show a fire extinguisher attached to the instrument panel pedestal, thus one is fabricated:

 

The door that separates the radio/navigator station is also carved on the kit's part, thus completing the interior dividers. Because what's the point of that interior if you can't see it. This way at least some peeping can be done, leaving all those doors and hatches opened:

 

I have mulled and searched wide and far regarding this radio operator/ navigator position. It was present only on the M.20b version, and can be found in some drawings. It has two bullseyes, one at each side of the fuselage, and its own door.

The kit supplies a wood table for it. My guess is that it was used mainly as baggage stowage.

This position is absent in the the M.20.

I guess at this point is necessary to clarify which were the differences between these two versions, in order no to be fooled by references and the usual mislabeled photos (which are an Internet plague).

The M.2O had a flat top that started at the wing trailing edge, a different engine with different exhausts, a different vertical tail, a two-blade prop, and the windows start immediately after the cockpit, no "radio/luggage" space.

The M.20b2 had a slanted top that started at two thirds of the chord, the windows start after the above-mentioned additional space, usually a four-blade prop (and different engine and exhaust), a particular vertical tail.

Other details differed too.

 

 

[billn53]

“There was a single vessel on board: a bucket that sometimes served as a latrine in the small compartment at the tail of the plane that served as a pseudo-toilet.”

 

There’s your toilet, Moa. Easy. 

 

🤪

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

1 hour ago, billn53 said:

“There was a single vessel on board: a bucket that sometimes served as a latrine in the small compartment at the tail of the plane that served as a pseudo-toilet.”

 

There’s your toilet, Moa. Easy. 

 

🤪

This plane went to Varig do Brasil after been used by Lufthansa in the late 30s. Once there it served for a long time in the most demanding conditions (South America in the early and mid forties, when no spares could be obtained).

Repairs were mostly field repairs, and the original parts replaced or, in the case of luxuries, just striped once they reached the point of no return.

Thus a plane that started in Germany for the transport of the well-to-do with luxury trims (the M.20 had leather upholstery...on the cabin walls!), ended -as many others- servicing in dire circumstances small towns, rural and semi-rural areas in the other corners of the globe.

A bucket is no surprise, especially flying into a town called "Pelotas".

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

A laminated wood prop is carved (two two-blade props across each other) as per original:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Another note on accuracy:

Neither D-2026 nor PP-VAK had a mast antenna and wires as described on the box.

It is very likely that D-2026 had colored wing and stab tips, possibly red. Other M.20s had them, and I see a faint change in hue in photos of D-2026 that seem to indicate that.

 

 

The seat positioned at the access cabin door is of a different type, much smaller, made so to facilitate access:

 

Interesting notes on features that corroborate some of my guesses can be found here:

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

As mentioned before Planet has the exhaust going outside the nose, whereas it goes partially into the nose and discharges a bit back at the fuselage bottom:

 

That's how it should go (I cut a portion):

 

I wasn't completely satisfied with the first prop, so another one is being made (these two below will go one across the other):

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

There, better:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

For a more realistic look I decided to do away with the kit's exhausts, and use tube and rod for a tidier, more convincing installation (not to mention true to reality):

 

 

Also the newly made stacks will later be positioned accurately, at the fuselage belly, behind the firewall:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Good news: the fit of the sides, nose and tail is very good:

 

Some sticks are seen in photos protruding from that position, they are marked in the kit, so I drilled to get a firmer grip for them:

 

The roof is also a very good fit:

 

Adding  the aileron control horns and control lead entry, absent in the kit. Drilling the position for the Pitot, absent in the kit, Repairing some crumbling of the resin on a center batten on the fuselage top. Drilling the new (correct) exhaust locations. Drilling the anchoring point for the (now pinned) landing gear legs. Enhancing the location of the tail struts, marked in the kit but a tad faint:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

You need three bean can ventilators, but the kit provides only two. And the instructions are inaccurate regarding the position of the elements on the fuselage back. Three ventilators are made:

 

We saw that the cabin access door chair was different, and so was the one barring the access to the restroom. Those are made:

 

A new ceiling is made that will have lights, thus hiding the seam of the union of the fuselage halves:

 

Parts being prepared for a priming and painting session:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Making a stepladder:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Et voilà:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Primer coat:

[Andrew.S]

Nice progress there. That´s the funny part - interior!

[Andwil]

The boarding stairs are a lovely little model in their own right.

 

AW

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Different colors are applied:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Photos show battens where the fuel tanks are, so those are added: