1/48 - de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk T.10 by Airfix - released

[John B (Sc)]

Has anybody heard word of a Lycoming conversion kit yet? 

 

Quite a few civil Chipmunks here in the UK , especially for glider towing, and of course the current Portuguese Air Force Chipmunks use Lycomings.  I am tempted to do a scratch built conversion unless I can find an old 1/48 Piper or Cessna to cannibalise for a cowling which could be modified for a 180 HP Chipmunk.

 

 

[Paul J]

I'm having a bit of bother the same as Andy Robbins with regard to fit and have ensured everything else is all correct. Also despite removing the locating pins on the wing halves I still get a bit of a downward curve but more to the tips... it give s a sort of down wash curve /shape.  It might need to be given some gentle heat treatment persuasion to straighten up.  The crew figure s are undersized too but doesn't bother me.    I'll persevere with the build and see how it turns out... hopefully like those that have been shown here already.

[TEXANTOMCAT]

Perhaps the crew figures are air cadets?

 

TT

[john224]

8 minutes ago, TEXANTOMCAT said:

Perhaps the crew figures are air cadets?

 

TT

Back seat maybe, but never the pilot!  No bone dome either.

[TEXANTOMCAT]

Fair dos - I think PJ Productions do one if I decide to populate my Chippie - looking for a mid hurl/green looking ATC figure if anyone has one in 1/48

 

TT

[gunzo]

On the subject of aircrew, anyone know of 1/48 pilots in simple overalls ?

[petetasker]

Hannants are listing a new Xtradecal civvy sheet for the Chipmunk this morning - X48226. No picture yet

 

de Havilland Chipmunk In Civil Hands (6)
de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk 22, G-BCPU, seen at Turweston, UK, March, 2012.
de Havilland Chipmunk T.10, G-BXGL, seen at Bournemouth Airport, UK, June, 2012.
de Havilland DHC-1 Chipmunk 22(Mod), G-BBNB, seen at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Netherlands, August, 1976.
de Havilland Chipmunk T.10, G-AOTR, seen at Compton Abbas Airfield Airport, Shaftesbury, UK, August, 2016.
de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk 22, D-ELLY, seen at Berlin Schoenefeld, Germany, May, 2006.
de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk 22, D-ELLY, of QUAX Historical Flight, seen at Flugplatz Bienenfarm, Germany, June, 2019. 

 

[Adam Poultney]

On 17/08/2021 at 16:30, john224 said:

Back seat maybe, but never the pilot!  No bone dome either.

Perhaps they stole the plane for a joyride

[VMA131Marine]

On 8/8/2021 at 1:19 PM, Andy Robbins said:

Mine’s arrived, but I’m seriously considering binning it if any of you want to buy it? I’ve tried dry fitting and can’t get the wing on. Is the centre part supposed to be raised? If it is, then that’s a start.  Without the cockpit in place the front sort of matches, but not quite. With the cockpit in place (and correctly located) the fuselage is too wide and the front of the lower wing is too narrow, so it’s forced backward because of the taper. I’ve got the main spar fitted correctly, so is not a fit issue there. The curvature of the rear fillet doesn’t match the fuselage fillets either. If the front seat is in, then the fuselage is even wider. If anyone can advise, I’d be really grateful. I’ve waited a long time for this kit. If not, then I’ll sell it to the first person. I would write to Airfix, but their standard reply is ‘nobody else has complained.’ If I can work out how, I’ll post pictures.

One thing I noticed with mine is that there appear to be ejector pin marks on each fuselage half at the front of the recesses for the cockpit tub. These were raised areas and prevented the tub from seating properly. It was clear that they would cause difficulty in getting the fuselage halves to join up properly at the front. A few minutes scraping with my hobby knife cleaned out the recessed areas and now everything fits perfectly, including the wing to the fuselage. I also removed the innermost locating pins on the wing and it seems the wings will be straight too.

Apart from those little niggles, assembly has been straightforward. 

[Filler]

I received an email from Hannants about  their decal sheets being in stock this morning. When looking at the sheets again, I noticed most of the 80’s red/white/lag versions have a note about the aircraft having the later Canadian heater/exhaust fitted. Is that in the kit?

[Rabbit Leader]

11 minutes ago, Filler said:

I noticed most of the 80’s red/white/lag versions have a note about the aircraft having the later Canadian heater/exhaust fitted. Is that in the kit?

Good news about the availability of decal sheets, however there is only one exhaust provided in the kit and it’s not the Canadian option. 
Cheers.. Dave 

[Filler]

44 minutes ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Good news about the availability of decal sheets, however there is only one exhaust provided in the kit and it’s not the Canadian option. 
Cheers.. Dave 

As I suspected. Looks fairly easy to scratch though unless I’m missing something? A small inlet pipe in the front bottom right and cover the rectangular exhaust slot and stick a new exhaust pipe into that fairing?

[Rick Brown]

After contacting Jadlam a new clear sprue arrived safely in the return post.

Excellent service, as usual!

I also purchased the 3D Kits World cockpit set too.

Looking forward to this build!

 

Rick.

[MikeC]

On 8/26/2021 at 9:54 AM, Filler said:

When looking at the sheets again, I noticed most of the 80’s red/white/lag versions have a note about the aircraft having the later Canadian heater/exhaust fitted.

I'd take some of the Xtradecal captions with a pinch of salt.  For example X48222 says WK642 of Cambridge University Air Squadron was "based at RAF Woodvale, UK".  RAF Woodvale is about 200 miles from Cambridge, that's rather a long way for UAS students, and indeed instructors, to go for a training sortie in a Chippie!  I suspect this was a summer camp, in which case the correct term would be "detached to" or "operating from" - they were still "based at" Cambridge Airport.

[luis pacheco]

On 8/17/2021 at 1:40 PM, John B (Sc) said:

Has anybody heard word of a Lycoming conversion kit yet? 

 

Quite a few civil Chipmunks here in the UK , especially for glider towing, and of course the current Portuguese Air Force Chipmunks use Lycomings.  I am tempted to do a scratch built conversion unless I can find an old 1/48 Piper or Cessna to cannibalise for a cowling which could be modified for a 180 HP Chipmunk.

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ipms.portugal/permalink/1266806410383078/

[Britman]

On 8/17/2021 at 2:59 PM, Paul J said:

I'm having a bit of bother the same as Andy Robbins with regard to fit and have ensured everything else is all correct. Also despite removing the locating pins on the wing halves I still get a bit of a downward curve but more to the tips... it give s a sort of down wash curve /shape.  It might need to be given some gentle heat treatment persuasion to straighten up.  The crew figure s are undersized too but doesn't bother me.    I'll persevere with the build and see how it turns out... hopefully like those that have been shown here already.

Hi Paul, Alpha Delta's picture of a Chipmunk from the rear puts the wing issue to bed for me. Like you I had reservations about the apparent downward angle of the outer wings and have been looking at all kinds of photos to see what was going on. A recent Aeroplane or Flypast magazine illustrated a crop dusting Chippie from the front at low level and this suggested to me that all is ok with the kit. Alpha Delta's photo confirms it for me.

 

Keith

[Julien]

 

[VMA131Marine]

Just to show it can be built. I really didn’t have any major problems with assembly. I noticed that Eduard has photoetch cowling panels on one of their sheets for this kit. They would be a significant improvement as the kit parts are clearly overscale in thickness; I guess you could thin the edges to give the appearance of a thinner part.