1/72 Airspeed Consul - Union of Burma Air Force

[Tweener]

   Now that construction of the FROG Bristol 138A has completed and she is being prepared for her colors, I decided to start another project while I wait for my basement to become available for spray painting again. Recently, I have taken something of an interest in the British Airspeed Company - some of you will know I am searching for a kit of an AS.5 Courier. A few months ago, I purchased the FROG kit of the Oxford, as well as Print Scale Decals with which I intended to build an early Indian Air Force aircraft. On inspecting the decals, the Indian roundels and tail flashes were either poorly printed or seemed to have been poked with a needle, so this was a non-option. Then, yesterday I came across this image -

 

   It's a photo of an Airspeed Consul, a post-war, nominally civilian airliner version of the Oxford. Some, however, were refitted with military equipment and sold abroad to several nations including Israel and the Union of Burma. The aircraft in the photo is one of the latter air-forces birds, and is outfitted with the Oxford Mk.1 / Anson style Turret, Machine Gun Pods, and what I believe are 25 or 60 pound rockets. In the background is an Avro Ashton, an interesting aircraft itself. Immediately I knew what I wanted to model. The Print Scale sheet also includes Burmese roundels and serials, and my aircraft will be UB345. The only thing I need is the larger UB codes for the underside of the wings. 

   At first, I was worried about how I would obtain a turret, but then I remembered that I had a spare one left over from a failed attempt at building the Airfix Anson. Using this, I cut out a hole on top of the fuselage. Then, I found an even better solution - the Tasman Models Oxford / Anson turret update set. Now, my model budget for the summer was supposed to have been used up, but I knew I would kick myself if the set got away, so I purchased one. It should be here in 3 to 5 weeks, but considering both of my last 2 packages from down under were both rejected by customs and had to be sent twice, there is a chance they'll instead make for a pleasant Christmas gift! As a bonus, I'll be able to use the second turret for another Airspeed project I have planned, and the engine and other parts will be used for the second Anson in my stash. 

 

 

   Right then, how's the progress so far? Some of you well know how barren the inside of the FROG kit is - a (too small) floor with 2 seats and 2 pilots. That's it, and of course, that wouldn't do. So I looked up @Heather Kay's build of the Pavla Oxford and used sheet plastic and rod to add a floor, framing, instrument panel, and bulkheads. The original seats were used, as well as a spare from the bin. The left-side door was cut out, and a replacement was scratched. Finally, new props were taken from a Heller DH.89, and gun pods were sourced from a Heller Texan. These will be trimmed down and the twin barrels replaced with a single one later.  There is still quite a bit to add to the interior before I dare start painting, including more framing, a raised floor beneath the turret, a control stick, belts, and likely more. On the outside, I'll need to source or produce additional intakes on the bottom of the cowlings, better wheels, and the rockets. On the topic of the rockets, does anyone have any recommendations? I was thinking about using spare rockets from a Tamiya Mosquito, but I'm open to other (likely better) ideas.

 

 

That's all for the moment.

 

Thanks,

Tweener

[bigbadbadge]

Nice idea, I love the pretty looks of the Oxford.  The Tasman sets are a godsend for the old Frog kits.  Looking forward to seeing this develope.  The Admiral or RS kit of he type is a lovely kit although quite expensive now and Marabu do a photo etch detail set for it too which is very nice indeed. I built a Royal Navy post war Oxford using the Admiral kit and it was very enjoyable. 

Good progress on your interior so far and hope you manage to get the Tasman set before Christmas!!! Thisvis certainly an interesting build.

Chris

[RidgeRunner]

A nice project :). Something different 👍

[stevehnz]

8 hours ago, Tweener said:

I was thinking about using spare rockets from a Tamiya Mosquito, but I'm open to other (likely better) ideas.

I think the Academy Spitfire XIV has rockets in this configuration, it may be worth asking in the wanted forum. For my part, I'm keen to see this go together, I've a couple of these squirreled away.

Steve.

[AdrianMF]

Goodness me - that is the most warlike Oxford I’ve ever seen.

 

The FROG Oxford has a few accuracy issues. If you are interested, I tried to address some of them in this build. Although it’s a nice looking model without the mods too.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Tweener]

On 6/25/2021 at 3:14 AM, bigbadbadge said:

Nice idea, I love the pretty looks of the Oxford.  The Tasman sets are a godsend for the old Frog kits.  Looking forward to seeing this develope.  The Admiral or RS kit of he type is a lovely kit although quite expensive now and Marabu do a photo etch detail set for it too which is very nice indeed. I built a Royal Navy post war Oxford using the Admiral kit and it was very enjoyable. 

Good progress on your interior so far and hope you manage to get the Tasman set before Christmas!!! Thisvis certainly an interesting build.

Chris

I'm curious as to whether or not the Falcon replacement canopy for the Tasman Oxford would be useable for the FROG kit, as the supplied canopy has several very deep cuts in it. If nothing else I know that the turret will fit, and that's the most important part for me right now. 

 

On 6/25/2021 at 5:39 AM, stevehnz said:

I think the Academy Spitfire XIV has rockets in this configuration, it may be worth asking in the wanted forum. For my part, I'm keen to see this go together, I've a couple of these squirreled away.

Steve.

Looking over the parts, it does! I made a post in the wanted section, but I may end up just buying the kit and trying to convert the Spitfire itself into a Seafire XV, and giving it Burmese markings as well. 

 

On 6/25/2021 at 8:28 AM, AdrianMF said:

Goodness me - that is the most warlike Oxford I’ve ever seen.

 

The FROG Oxford has a few accuracy issues. If you are interested, I tried to address some of them in this build. Although it’s a nice looking model without the mods too.

 

Regards,

Adrian

I considered trying to fix the shape of the top of the fuselage but ultimately decided I didn't want to risk things. I am looking over your build for inspiration on the last parts of the interior, however.

 

Thanks all - more updates later today.

[Graham Boak]

Buying a Mk.IX and doing that as a Burmese one would be easier than trying to convert the Academy kit into anything.

[bigbadbadge]

1 hour ago, Tweener said:

I'm curious as to whether or not the Falcon replacement canopy for the Tasman Oxford would be useable for the FROG kit, as the supplied canopy has several very deep cuts in it. If nothing else I know that the turret will fit, and that's the most important part for me right now. 

I am not sure to be honest as mine was done using the Admiral Kit, it may be worth posing a question on that, as far as I know though it was designed for the Frog kit so should be okay!!! 

Chris

[Tweener]

Some progress! I found another nice cutaway of the Oxford, as well as a selection of detail drawings. With these, I added oxygen bottles (made from the bombs from the Airfix Bulldog), a battery pack, the start of a radio rack, an extension to the box that covers the wing spars, and I cut away part of the left nacelle so that I can later add an oil tank. Now I only need to finish the radio rack, add more framing to the right side of the fuselage, source new wheels and the underwing rockets, and I should be set. What I am most happy with is my solution for the modified air intakes on the bottom of the engine cowlings - I recently bought Quickboost Wellington intakes meant for the Trumpeter kit, I believe simply because they were cheap. They're being used on the Consul now, and while they aren't perfect, they're certainly better than anything I have a hope of scratching.

 

Painting was also started, which revealed a few areas that will need touch ups. 

 

 

That's all for the moment,

Tweener

[bigbadbadge]

Looking good, some nice additions added . Great work 

Chris

[alancmlaird]

I thought a mention here might get the interesting project back to the front, but anyway, I have a question for all you chronologically challenged kit bashers out there - Is the Tasman Oxford just a re-hash of the Frog/Novo etc Oxford. I ask, because that fuselage inner moulding looks awfully familiar!

[Tweener]

On 11/10/2022 at 12:53 PM, alancmlaird said:

I thought a mention here might get the interesting project back to the front, but anyway, I have a question for all you chronologically challenged kit bashers out there - Is the Tasman Oxford just a re-hash of the Frog/Novo etc Oxford. I ask, because that fuselage inner moulding looks awfully familiar!

I do keep pulling this one back off the shelf to have another go, but for whichever reason I plainly can't get the two halves to match. I know they fit just fine before the added work and they seemed to fit just as well once it was nearly done, but something gets in the way now, and no amount of messing about with it seems to reveal a solution. I may finish up the wings to make progress elsewhere.

As for the Tasman kit, I would be inclined to say it's a re-hash with some slight corrections and added detail. I've used Tasman detail sets for this and IMO at least, they weren't particularly worth the cost, so I don't imagine the kit itself would be either. 

[k5054nz]

What a fantastic photo! I'm very excited to see your model progress.

[Dave Swindell]

On 10/11/2022 at 17:53, alancmlaird said:

Is the Tasman Oxford just a re-hash of the Frog/Novo etc Oxford.

 

13 hours ago, Tweener said:

As for the Tasman kit, I would be inclined to say it's a re-hash with some slight corrections and added detail.

The Tasman Oxford kits are low pressure short run injection moulded with Vac canopies and white metal detail parts, they're not the Frog mouldings with extra details like they did with the Heller Rapide. I've not seen the update set mentioned above, but I'd hazard a guess it's based on vac and wm parts used in the full kits.

[alancmlaird]

Update: I borrowed a Tasman Oxford kit from a friend for a look at it, and it is a completely new more accurate moulding (in a yellow plastic) with a very good vac canopy and white metal bits. It looks fair dinkum I must say! However, he did tell me that he had previously bought an earlier Tasman kit which was the Frog moulding with some additional parts and decals. He disposed of the earlier one when the 'new' Tasman issue appeared.

I assume the 'Admiral' kit is a completely new and unconnected product (which might be the same moulding as the AZ issue).

I built the Frog one 50+ years ago straight from the box and it was perfectly acceptable!

Great work on your interior - I never did add any extra internals to mine.