bar side Posted December 19, 2020 Author Share Posted December 19, 2020 Before closing up the cockpit I need a driver. So I thought I would use one of the crew left over from the Herc - the kit doesn’t include and people. So I found the sprue Not sure if the Islander pilots wear helmets or not, so could always transplant ahead from one of the other bodies. So trying him in the seat Ok so he doesn’t fit inside the airframe. Always had the feeling this is a little on the small side. So I went to find one a little nearer to 1/50 scale. This jet jockey fits in although his fear would need to come off or his backside shaved down. All rather unpleasant surgery! So I compared pilot one & pilot two The Airfix guy seems to have massively long legs & huge boots! But the body seems ok. I doubt an Islander pilot would have mask & visor down, so may go back to surgery on the Airfix guy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted December 20, 2020 Author Share Posted December 20, 2020 Bit of leg surgery on the pilot today. Cut a good 3-4mm out of the legs and thinned down the behind & back Added the arms and now he / she looks more at home Needs painting , control panel needs fixing in place and nose weight adding them I think I can close up the fuselage 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fubar57 Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 Very cool project. In the early '80s, I used to fly in a non-turbo version into a B.C. west coast logging camp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted December 20, 2020 Author Share Posted December 20, 2020 Cheers @fubar57 it was always one of those aircraft that was about. I always remember the Red Devil’s army parachute team having a red one that was around the airshow circuit. You could probably tell me if there is anything else ou would find in the cabin. Nice detailed panel & seats in the kit but nothing else really Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted December 21, 2020 Author Share Posted December 21, 2020 This kit wants to test me! I tried to sort the motors out & pretty much super glued one motor solid. I have filed even more off the pilot to get him to fit. The main body is going to need quite a bit of filler to sort it out, but the kit comes with etch overlays for the pedals. It’s a real mixed bag. No idea how much nose weight is going to be needed, but the undercarriage looks like it has little chance of supporting the weight See that little T shaped parts by the wheels? That is the main wheel axel. And the faired over legs have of course no locating pin. So I am thinking of make a soldiered wire T bar from the nacelle through the leg fairing to the wheels. You can also see the u shaped front wheel leg - that looks a bit flimsy too. Might have to replace that too 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFlogger Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 To buy israeli islander was in my head fir a while. I admit your build encourages me. Great work! Waiting for the result... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted December 21, 2020 Author Share Posted December 21, 2020 15 minutes ago, TheFlogger said: To buy israeli islander was in my head fir a while. I admit your build encourages me. Great work! Waiting for the result... Cheers. An Islander was always on my wish list, so want to make some more progress with this. It certainly doesn’t fall together & I have over complicated things with motors & lights. Fighting the temptation to go off & build something else, and Christmas without all of the usual socialising could just be what this build needs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted December 22, 2020 Author Share Posted December 22, 2020 Got the pilot painted and the nose weight fitted. No idea if it is enough weight, but I can’t get any more in there So blurry photo but the fuselage is together. Drilled out the main undercarriage leg fairings and made up wire T bar to fit the wheels too. There is an etch hinge over where the shock absorber would be that will hide the worst of my soldering. Painted the props too On to filler on the body tomorrow then 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted December 23, 2020 Author Share Posted December 23, 2020 The body halves went together and had the night to dry. So now to see how things stand. I slotted in the tail and needless to say it was far from level, or smooth fitting So out with the file until the gap started to go & the horizontal surfaces sat level So let’s fit the nose. What could be wrong there? Yep, hardly seamless fit. Not really close. Usual nose job solution of a piece of plasticard as a spacer and the nose on the front & hope that will blend in Front rudder section removed & replaced with the thin strip And bits added underneath So now off for some serious fillering 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted December 23, 2020 Author Share Posted December 23, 2020 Back from the first coat of filler. Just a small spot here & there Luckily the nose now fits after that shim of plasticard Tail is attached, wings & engines on with blutac. Starting to look the part at long last And drilled a hole in to the bottom of the nacelles to test fit the legs. Think that will work Still think the centre of gravity is marginal. It wants to tail sit. Might need to have some lead baggage on the first row of seats 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted December 28, 2020 Author Share Posted December 28, 2020 Even with the filler I wasn’t sure the seams were smooth so I put some liquid green on. Well my liquid green isn’t liquid anymore but it still spreads with a trowel. I think that this needs a quick primer coat to check it before the etch bits go on I have had one motor working in one engine on & off for a bit but not been quite happy about the set up. So I wired up 2 new motors today. This is a test with the two blutaced in place. And yes they are running off the two AA batteries behind Now if I can get them fixed in place with the nacelles on I think that will work. Just some lights fitted & then the wings could come together. Starting to look ok I think 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fubar57 Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 Some great fixes there. I took this picture back in '83 with a small point & shoot camera so not the best Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted December 28, 2020 Author Share Posted December 28, 2020 That looks great @fubar57 barely looks to be an airstrip but it seems to be doing the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fubar57 Posted December 29, 2020 Share Posted December 29, 2020 (edited) Just measured the runway on Google Earth; roughly 629m/688yds long. Not bad when you're landing from the ocean side but the one time we came down river, the pilot flew at tree top height and once we cleared the trees, he briefly pointed the nose at the runway and then pulled up with all he had until we touched down. Edited December 29, 2020 by fubar57 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted December 29, 2020 Author Share Posted December 29, 2020 (edited) Sounds a bit tight! Now regretting putting motors in! I got them running ok & all set so I glued the nacelles in place. Then one stopped working. No apparent reason. One feed is common, one is to each motor. So with the furthest one running two of the three wires must be ok. So off came the nacelles again. Still can’t see why one has stopped. Might just pull it and replace it. I had provisionally got the lights together as well, so was looking at getting the wing halves together. Going to leave it all until tomorrow and start fresh on it then. The body got a coat of primer & on the surface it looks ok. All wheel halves are together & will need drilling to fit to the new undercarriage legs. So it’s progressing but still putting up a fight Edited December 29, 2020 by bar side 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted December 29, 2020 Author Share Posted December 29, 2020 Leave it until the morning I said. Yer right. Started playing with it again & the second motor came back to life! Think it had got stuck & freed off when I hand spun it. Anyway, primed body Light positions. Left & right tip lights & central light panel to implicate the cabin Need to thin the bulbs down a little but should work And the two motors running, one with the nacelle on, one not. Both now have then fixed on so I can get on tomorrow with the undercarriage legs attached The screen just needs masking & it can get glued in & filleted around the edges 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted December 30, 2020 Author Share Posted December 30, 2020 Got more time on the Islander today & got some big steps completed. So first up on her legs and she is still a bit of a tail sitter. There is a small stick on wheel weight on the cockpit keeping her nose down. More of that later These are the legs attached to the nacelles. The metal rod T frame needed some attention too. I have shorted them & levelled them up. Of course the heat of the grinder caused the soldiered joint to come apart, so had to redo the joints. The lights have had some work with the leds thinned down so that they fit snugly inside the wings. Wing tips also coming along Motors both still working thankfully Test fit of the wheels. Legs all need painting & plan to add a brake pipe too as they seem to be clearly visible. So time to get the wing together - time to raid the clothes pegs! While that was drying I started the photo etch under the body. Slightly adapted from the instructions as this one has a couple of other bulges underneath Another bit of etch on the side & bits on the top Some very fiddly etch on the nose wheel leg And that extra weight. I spotted a picture of an Islander with a yellow dingy packed behind the pilots seat. So I sprayed the weight yellow & drooped it in. Every little helps So that is most of the main parts together. Next up I think is prime, preshade & paint. Not that the garage temperature is much good for spraying at the moment. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fubar57 Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 Progressing nicely despite the issues. If you want to model it as the aircraft I flew in, have the right brake shoes dangling away from the wheels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted December 30, 2020 Author Share Posted December 30, 2020 Did wonder about those brake shoes, but the RAF ones seem to have them facing in to the leg. Can’t see any that don’t on these shots https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/registration/ZH536 Probably going to finish her as ZH536 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted December 31, 2020 Author Share Posted December 31, 2020 More work done on the undercarriage legs. All three have the tongue links fitted and the mains have a brake cable too. Fiddliest photo etch ever! Wheel centres also painted so just the tyres to paint. The wings have had hinges & bits added underneath and the wing fences fitted on the top. All had a primer coat too. Not adding the remaining photo etch Ariel until the wing & body are joined So the win assembly balanced on the body. It’s getting there. So more still to do. Possibly ready for decals in a couple of days. Happy New Year & thanks for looking 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted January 1, 2021 Author Share Posted January 1, 2021 Got a quick preshade done and then painted the underside light aircraft grey. The top will be Humbrol 64, same as the primer coat the nacelles will be grey 64 as will the legfairings. Once the body has its top coat I will be able to join the wing to the body. Then I can add the remaining ariels & antenna and finish off the top side paint 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted January 1, 2021 Author Share Posted January 1, 2021 Well a near disaster seems to have been avoided! I pushed on to get the top paint done today & got the parts back in. I was just putting them away when I dropped both the wing and the body from about waists height on to a wood floor. As the both skidded off in different directions I feared the worst. Especially with all of that lead in the nose. But it seems they bounced. The only issue I can find is one missing piece of photo etch in the middle of the underside. Even the underwing pitot survived So just need to paint the cabin roof section and the wing can go on. A few more photo etch bits, paint the tyres black & fit them and I think she may be ready for decals. Phew! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted January 1, 2021 Author Share Posted January 1, 2021 (edited) Further to the dropped fuselage, looks like both control columns have come off. Both are loose in the body so not lost. Might try to pop the windshield off in the morning and see if they can be reattached. And just been checking photo references & the wing tips are on upside down. Another fix for the morning! Edited January 2, 2021 by bar side Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianwau Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Enjoying the build story. Have one of these in early days of construction (without the mods) and lots of great pointers on the build. I am considering gold for the nose weight as its denser than lead - and main u/c needs a similar solution to yours. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted January 2, 2021 Author Share Posted January 2, 2021 To be honest @ianwau what it needs for nose weight is this Seriously though i am doing the shortest, pointiest nose version so it is a struggle to get enough in there. Good luck with your build 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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