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1/72nd Avro York of 241 OCU Mach 2 kit


Mr T

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Well that was a very interesting catch up. Good luck with this one, though it sounds more fun than a shake the box build.

 

BTW, I did like the look of that radial engined York.

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If I had the time, the radial engined York would have been interesting. I wonder if going with a York as a stopgap powered by the Hercules might have more sense or been more attractive to airlines than couldnt afford the dollars for US equipment. 

Other wing on now and has been left go harden over night. My plan is to clean up the joint and then add the horizontal tail and central fin. I can then do a any filling with Miliput as its strength and minimal shrinkage will be a help with the final finish. I have only one pack of Miliput and I want to make the most efficient use of it as no one  knows how long the current situation will last. Plenty of other supplies I think. 

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Wings and tail on and about to have some Miliput on the joints. Inner engine nacelles together and being cleaned up and other bits like Undercarriage legs have had mould lines removed. Looking again at the radiators, I am  pretty certain that although some early airframes had standard Lancaster cowlings, by the time the airframe I am modelling was built the tropical cowlings and radiators were in use. This is a bit of the nuisance as the cowling fronts are now very firmly attached. I have reshaped the outer engine cowlings and I think they are OK, but there is a lot of scraping to do.

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Picture showing issue with wing root, port wing has some inelegant packing in place, but the starboard wing had not been finally attached yet, but shows how much was needed to be packed to get a straight wing.

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Beginning to look like a York now. The orange tape is just some masking tape to protect the windows. The cockpit was uncovered as i was trying the canopy fit .

 

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'Just shot a coat of primer and looked inside' (Steve Earle 'Copperhead Road').

 

Rubbed the joints down and put some primer to see what still needed doing. Going to need more filler as the fuselage joint is still a bit obvious in places, where the depression was between the fuselage halves. Cleaned up the resin wheels I bought and primed them, they look so much better than the kits and cleaned up just over half the six stub exhausts. For some reason (realisation that not all parts are likely to be usable?) the kit provides ten exhausts when only eight are required. The air intakes need sorting. The kit offerings are actually not bad. As the Airfix original had them as integrally moulded with the nacelle halves, this is an improvement. This is a long job. 

Off to make a paella and an apple and blackberry Crumble for tea. Using up the last of the apples stored in the garage (still have the ones I froze to go at).

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More progress, although not at the speed I would like as everything in the kit needs work either in removing mould lines or flash, reshaping, filling joins and cleaning up the surfaces of odd bumps and marks. The canopy has been cleaned up and polished, but it is not as clear as I would like. The canopy now on the aircraft and the fit is tolerable after a bit of sanding around the cockpit opening. It will still need a bit of filler around it, but I have seen 'mainstream' kits that are no better. I have sanded the first coat of primer down, that revealed a whole host of surface imperfections on the wings. Painting of the undercarriage is underway and the engine nacelles have had the air intakes added. Most of the intakes have some shrinkage and the fit to the nacelle is not good. I am going to need to have these faired in before the nacelles go on the wing, so a few days before the airframe is complete.

The photo below shows one of the outer nacelles with the air intakes as they come and the reshaped radiator intakes, that I  think fit the photos better.

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Engines on and filler applied as some nasty gaps especially on the inner nacelles and fins on, it is really beginning to look like a York now. Mrs T using the study/occasional bedroom as her virtual surgery today so photos later. Overall I am beginning to like the kit despite its issues. Might have a go at the Argosy, Comet or Britannia I have stashed. 

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As promised some photos of the York with its engines and fins on. The first two show how much rubbing down and filling has been required. The last photo shows the York after I had applied some more primer. There is still some areas that need attention, but otherwise not bad. Started work on masking the windows, this is going to take some time, but as lockdown is likely to be with us for a while longer, not a problem.

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Hopefully some paint on it by the weekend. 

 

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I have done some more work on the York. A bit more fettling and by tomorrow should be ready for the last bit of primer. Some details added (Bases of pitot tubes and windscreen dicer/washers) and holes drilled for various aerials. windows masked, astrodome and teardrop window added on starboard side. As I can get near the computer today, I have taken the opportunity to print the decals I will be using, Printed out and a light spray of acrylic gloss varnish which is stinking the house out as it is from a can. The roundels from the kit look to be usuable

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I agree, this York build is looking so good. Lovely use of home printed decals as well, I really should get myself started on this process. 
Cheers.. Dave 

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After another round or so of filling and priming, the York has had a coat of paint. Not my favourite finish, the 'silver' finish is Vallejo Metal Color 'White Aluminium'. It goes on OK, but is I have found it difficult to get a consistent finish over large areas. In this case I was not so bothered as a lot of the photos of aircraft used in the Berlin Airlift, including my reference photo of MW285, shows that the finish was a bit shabby as the aircraft were very hard worked. That is my story and I am sticking to it. I have also found that a semi matt final varnish coat makes it look better.

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Since the pic was taken, the radiators have been painted. I have also made the small antenna array tha goes on either side of the nose near the cockpits. this was a noticeable feature of RAF Yorks of the period, but not on the later civil aircraft. spacer.png

Beginning to feel their is light at the end of the tunnel on this build and it is looking more like a York. Ready now for the decals

Thanks for looking.

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The York had persistent problems with undercarriage collapses, I think due to the change in wing position and that landing weights were much higher than the Lancaster (makes sense as the whole point of a bomber is to come back empty). 

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You've done a damn good job on this, can't wait to see the finished result. Mine's gone back in the loft for the time being, got a lot more less 'difficult' projects to go at. But it will be done, I do like the York, not that much into transports but I think it's the Lancaster lineage that does it!

 

:goodjob:

 

Davey.

 

Edited by DaveyGair
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57 minutes ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Impressive work Mr.T, can’t wait to see it with some decals on. You’re really making me want one! 
Cheers.. Dave

Thanks, I am hoping to get some decals on this evening. I was going to use the kit roundels, but think some Modeldecals or similar will look better. Still a bit to go added the details, but about another week or so will see it done. Depends on what Mrs T finds for me to do. I sometimes think things get broken etc to ensure I am occupied instead of frittering away my time on doing unimportant things like modelling. 

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I spoke too soon. Mrs T has told me our bed needs fixing where one of the sides meets the bed head. She is right and not just a case of tightening up the bolts one if the fixings has suffered a fatigue failure. Lots of metal epoxy and then a new bed when this is all over. 

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The York has had its decals applied. The roundels are from an old Modeldecal sheet (and by old I mean about 35+years), but worked quite well over the kit supplied backing discs. I managed to get a slight misalignment on a wing roundel that will need a bit of a touch up. The home made serials, codes and unit badge went on very well. i managed not to put too much varnish on the decal sheet and so were quite thin and bedded down well. The leading edge of the fins have what like black de-icing boots. some airframes have and some do not and MW285 appears to have them from the photo I have. The photo also shows that MW285 did not have any underwing roundels. Most photos of Yorks where the undersides can be seen have them, but not all. The photos are not brilliant as they were taken about ten minutes ago on the dining room table.

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The end is in sight.

 

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Having watched this from the beginning, I never thought you’d get it to look this good, it is quite simply superb. Well done for your perseverance and skill to beat it into a lovely York :)

  

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