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Heather's Workbench - Faithful Annie, 1/72nd Avro Anson


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Nice save with the glazing Heather, always a heart stopping moment when that happens. I dropped my 48th Merlin, whilst working on the rear end. Both cockpit seats came loose plus some of those in the  cabin. One contributing factor was, I had used Kraft (sic) glue, it had set hard with no grip.

 

Colin

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Today was a bitsa kind of day. Bits of this, bits of that, most if it meaning I was out of the house dealing with life stuff. Bleh. It wasn’t until late afternoon that I could settle at the bench.

 

SH Anson


If I was about to get serious about filler, it made some sense to install the Anson's nose. Special Hobby provide it in transparent guise, although only some tiny bits are actually transparent when you’re done. The particular variant I’m building has a large landing light in the nose. To recreate this, a conical bucket is provided in the resin parts. I blobbed some Molotov Chrome inside it.

 

SH Anson

 

Gluing the bucket into the transparent part posed a problem. Resin won’t react with polystyrene cement, and CA would inevitably fog the clear parts. I settled on some PVA, which at least dries mostly clear. As you can see, the masking had been applied.

 

SH Anson


I will fess up, and admit to getting busy with the filler around the turret area while the nose part was setting. Despite my best efforts, the various joins around the tail end of the greenhouse and turret fairing were ghastly.

 

SH Anson

 

Using the dry marker technique to see how far things had got. The idea is the marker goes into dips and hollows, and a quick rub over with the sanding sticks will leave dark areas that need more work.

 

SH Anson


This took a while. It looks dreadful, but you’ll have to trust me when I say this is a major improvement over where I started!

 

SH Anson

 

Eventually, I was satisfied. What I mean is I couldn’t make it any better and decided to just go with it. It was about now I realised I had forgotten to fit the pilot's gunsight inside the cockpit canopy. Oh well. I have decided to brush paint this model, as I can’t be bothered attempting to mask around the various fragile sticky-out bits that will be going on by the time I’m finished. I like the hairy stick method, as it can be done at the bench without a lot of prep and cleaning up when I’m done. A couple of light coats of Humbrol 78 Cockpit Grey-Green acrylic have been applied, which highlighted some further areas that needed tidying. Wings and bits next, I suppose.
 

Fairly pleased with progress. It won’t be a competition winner, but I will be happy with it.

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On 10/11/2021 at 1:10 AM, Heather Kay said:

The moulded plastic looks really nice, especially the fabric treatment on the control surfaces.

They are interesting and I think they are correct. However the wing was made of plywood, not concrete pavers! No seams, no rivet lines no ribs visible.

 

Looking good so far and I am sure it will be another winner!

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On 28/09/2022 at 10:52, Ed Russell said:

However the wing was made of plywood, not concrete pavers!


You are not wrong, Ed. You sent me scuttling off to seek images of real planes to see what I could see. Sadly, period images tend either not to clear enough to show much detail, or rarely show wings in plan form.
 

There are some good shots, however, of a preserved MkI in flight. Caveat emptor and all that, but there was some serious panel work on display in one image. It gave every impression of a metal skin over a wooden frame, with "oil canning" and rivets like they were going out of fashion. Now I’m even more confused, because even reading up on the construction method used for the wings doesn’t make it clear whether the surfaces were plywood or metal, or whether what I saw was an artefact of keeping an 80-plus-year-old airframe flying.

 

And then we come to the leading edge landing lights or not. The SH kit includes a lovely clear part, a reasonable resin part, but no slot in the port wing. There’s no mention of the landing lights in the instructions, either. Again, scuttling off to the images, I find all kinds of variations on the theme: early planes with the nose light, but no wing lights, but then some with the wing lights. Later planes without the nose light must have had wing lights. With a type in such long service, there may well have been examples of retrofitting over the years. 
 

The thought crept into my noddle that the kit parts may be for another variation, and not MK-V. The clear sprue does, after all, include the windscreen and canopy for the earlier sloping variant, and alternative non-lit nose caps.

 

With the impending Airfix 1/48th kit also covering MK-V, I had a quick squint as to what their research had kicked up. I’ll not bother with markings yet, as that’s a whole different kettle of fish, but the Big A have included wing lights. 
 

:frantic:
 

Unless actual 1940 photos of N9732 show up - something I haven’t found for such an apparently celebrated aircraft, oddly - and unless there’s something definitive concerning wing lights and build batches, I am leaning towards leaving them off the model. What does the BM Massive think?

 

Meanwhile, I hope to get some wing construction done today, between the chores.

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About halfway down this page there is a good description of the Anson wing. The description is that of the tailplane but the wing was of similar construction.

https://acesflyinghigh.wordpress.com/2013/03/09/restoring-an-avro-anson/

 

From Wikipedia

The Anson Mk I was furnished with a low-mounted one-piece wooden wing, composed of a combination of plywood and spruce throughout the wingbox and ribs. The fuselage was composed of a welded steel tubing framework which was principally clad in fabric; the exterior of the nose was clad in magnesium alloy.

 

Previous models

The original Airfix kit had sort of panel lines which were approximately the contours of the invisible ribs, they later revised it to have fabric covering which was quite wrong. The SH kit has gone for panel lines about where the ribs etc are. I have seen several real Ansons and no model has yet captured the surface finish correctly.

 

The Mad Modelling Ninja (aka Moa) did a pretty good job here

 

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Thanks Ed! That’s actually helped. I read the Wiki entry, and the crucial bit missing to my reading was what actually covered the wooden wingbox and ribs. Now it’s obvious it was ply.

 

I was aware of the Airfix Anson mangling. No idea what possessed them to do that. Strange times. And I try to keep up with Moa via his blog, but it generally lacks the back and forth his threads here always engendered. Anyway…

 

Checking the SH box art, they’ve painted the wing lights in. This leads to a problem, because there is no hint as to how to locate a slot if the builder has to make one. So, I’m going to go with the lazy way out and ignore the lack entirely. I have no proof the aircraft I’m modelling even had the lights, so who is to argue? And if it turns out later I’m wrong, well so be it. I’m big enough and ugly enough to take it on the chin!
 

Equally, I think I’ll quietly ignore the engraved panels all over the wing surfaces. I do want to finish this build one day. :lol: I really don’t fancy filling everything and then having to carefully sand around details that are supposed to be there. 
 

(I did check, and my Modeller's Licence is current.)

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Would you believe I got a little styrene bothering done?

 

SH Anson


I had fettled the lower wing section a while back, to ensure it was a nice fit into the fuselage. The next job was to fit some internal bits in the nacelles. As is typical, there are no location ledges or marks, and the instructions wave in a distracted sort of way to stick them sort of in there, ish. A bit of dry fitting, head scratching and decisions to just go for it and hope followed. I mean, it’s not like the location of the bulkhead is important, such as somewhere the main undercarriage locates. :shrug:

 

I spent a good while making styrene shavings in a vain attempt to thin the trailing edges. Eventually… 

 

SH Anson


The upper wings were attached, and once the cement had hardened, the joins were tidied up. Then it was an attempt at fitting it all to the fuselage. I found I needed to remove a fair chunk of the upper wing halves in order to achieve an okay fit. The first go had the wings dead flat, when there has to be a slight dihedral. Much cursing and filing later and this is the best I managed. To work out how much material to remove, I dry fitted as best I could, then ran a fine pencil along the fuselage wing root to leave a witness mark on the upper wing. A big file made short work of the excess, testing for fit as I went, The horizontal stabs are not attached yet. I’m still pondering whether I want to trust a butt joint or to make and fit brass wire pins.

 

SH Anson

 

SH Anson


Not at all pretty, and quite the ledge on the fuselage side to be dealt with. Some of that nice engraved detail may have to be sacrificed, once filler and sanding has been deployed.

 

SH Anson


Happily, underneath isn’t too bad. Not great, but not too bad.

 

Much filler has been applied to the wing roots, and I shall get some sanding sorted out before I stop for this session. It nearly looks like an Anson.

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I decided I needed to reach a sort of milestone. Best Beloved and I are away this coming weekend, and it would be nice to see some actual progress on Annie before I pack everything away.

 

SH Anson

 

SH Anson


With everything winglike filled and sanded, I attached the horizontal stabilisers. I decided to go the pin-and-glue route. While I’ve not had major issues with other builds, there’s always the risk a butt joint breaks at a critical juncture, with the potential to upset one's equilibrium.

 

SH Anson


A little Perfect Plastic Putty along the tailplane joins, and I could get a coat of something on to act as witness primer. As I’ve done before on a brush-painted model, I use Humbrol Matt 29 Dark Earth acrylic. The batches I have in stock brush wonderfully straight from the pot, and it’s a quick job to get a reasonably dense layer of paint on things. Once it dried, I’ll inspect and make good anything painfully obvious. There’s a little step between the cockpit greenhouse and the cabin roof, but I’m going to not see it. Despite best efforts at careful fitting, something is a little misaligned somewhere and it’s too late now.

 

I suppose I had better get on with proper work now.

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The wing joints appear to have turned out ok, at least from this distance.

 It's definitely not too late to get rid of that lip on the cockpit. I did it on the Heinkel 111 - remove masking, file down with a half round jeweller's file, and polish with micromesh. You'll be able to get it practically invisible.

 

If you have the fight left.......

 

Ian

 

 

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37 minutes ago, Brandy said:

If you have the fight left.......


I wish! The masking won’t survive removal and replacing. If I’d had the sense, I’d have scanned the sheet and created my own with the Silhouette. I don’t have the sense!

 

After a bit of day job work, I’ve just scrutinised the Anson. A couple of little holes need a spot more filler, and I must not forget some of the external greeblies that really should go on before I get serious with the paintbrushes. Otherwise, I see an end in sight. Not this week, but sometime next week at least.

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You know how it is. Leave a model near the bench and you can’t help tinkering.

 

SH Anson

 

I started greeblifiying things. There are lots of PE actuating parts provided in the SH kit. These are hinge parts, but the actual lever parts are going to be very vulnerable and I’ll leave those until after painting and transfers. 
 

SH Anson

 

I am also trying to use as many Flightpath PE bits as I can. The fret provided nicely detailed rudder hinges, and the counterweight/antenna base thingy at the top. I wasn’t convinced it would actually fit, but with a bit of tweaking I think it’ll be okay. Like many PE parts, although made of two pieces glued together, it still looks a bit two-dimensional. I’ll live with it, mainly because the kit styrene part is terribly anaemic and nothing like the real thing. Like the wing details, the elevator and rudder actuators will be fitted post-painting.

 

I think I shall turn attention back to the engine and cowling detailing.

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I felt in the mood for some more tinkering.

 

SH Anson

 

Can you see them? Tiny Flightpath details to flesh out the engines. I’m not at all sure what they represent, but could be part of the fuel pump system or an oil pump. They’re in now. I need to paint these critters soon. I’m also going to attempt to construct the oil cooler radiators from the Flightpath set. They will, hopefully, look a whole lot nicer than the resin mouldings in the kit.

 

SH Anson


Flightpath provides radio mast and direction finding loop. The mast is three parts, formed and carefully soldered together. The DF loop is four parts, again soldered. I didn’t trust CA for this job. Not fitted is a laminated pitot, which I will fit when I do some detail work under the nose.

 

I reckon that’s it for this session. 

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Today, Best Beloved had a Covid booster booked mid-morning. He's not in the first flush of youth, and has various infirmities, and although we are married and I am effectively his career, I didn’t think I was eligible for the booster yet as I’m not in the current target age. I was still offered it, so I willingly stuck my arm out! As luck would have it, the seasonal flu jabs were also being done and we both got a dose of that as well. A very satisfying morning, and no major ill effects either.

 

With the day disrupted, and expecting some minor reactions as before, I decided to play with Annie.

 

SH Anson


Well, hello there. A pair of Cheetahs painted up, cowled and glued on the nacelles. Still some filler needed on the leading edge wing root on the port side.

 

SH Anson

 

The Flightpath PE oil radiators. They look fabulous, and will be even better after paint. It was while working out where these lived under the engines that it became very obvious the illustrator of the SH instructions didn’t really have a clue where anything went. Much poring over photos followed, which also led me to add a couple of bits of brass tube in the nacelle sides to represent what I think is the hole for the handle to wind up the inertial starter. I have a pretty good idea where the exhaust pipes go, and the stub ones don’t go where SH think they do.

 

I have some detailing to sort out under the nose, and then the adventure of the undercarriage to come. I’m not really looking forward to sorting that out. Things are coming together pretty quickly now. 

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Like the radiators!  Very smart.


I had a similar experience with the booster last week.  My wife was booked for a jab, me not as I’m a little younger.  I drove her to the medical centre, she got her booster, then the staff there virtually dragged me in out of the car to have me vaccinated.  But wasn’t I too young?  “No problem” says they.  So I didn’t say no…

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Thanks Dave. I am very happy that I managed to construct the radiators without crushing anything while I did it.

 

Almost by accident, I fitted the exhaust pipes. The PE pitot tube has been fitted, as have a couple of runners for the bomb aimer's panel to slide on. The kit provides resin parts, but I made some from Evergreen strip.

 

SH Anson


The double vaccines decided to have a bit of a party today, so while I was feeling a bit sub par I brush painted the camouflage Dark Green. I’ve found Revell Aqua No 68 brushes nicely, although it usually needs two coats. I’m having to be extra careful now, because the various sticky-out bits are vulnerable to my hamfistedness. You can just make out the needle pointer for the pilot's ring gunsight on the nose. I’m miffed I forgot the ring sight inside the canopy, but my excuse is it’ll be folded up out of the way. :winkgrin:

 

SH Anson


A start was made on the aluminium undersides. Aqua No 99 brushes fairly well, but does need a couple of coats for dense coverage.

 

SH Anson


However, for a working airframe that was used for coastal patrols, I’m happy for a slightly "faded" effect. The bit under the rear fuselage needs masking to give a neat demarcation, but I shall wait a day to let the paint harden properly.

 

I have begun fettling the undercarriage parts. I hope they work out nicely, as limited run kits can so often be let down by iffy landing gear. Apart from that, the turret fittings, and the delicate actuators on the wings and tail, the construction is mostly done.

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4 minutes ago, Brandy said:

Are you still planning another Battle at some stage?


I am. The Ffrom kit is promised for the spring 2023 - held up somewhat due to some unpleasantness in Eastern Europe right now. They hope to produce three boxings, and I shall acquire an RAF and Belgian one when they’re released. My bodged Belgian Airfix job can then be retired. Apparently there will be a Greek one, too, but I’m not sure the credit card will stretch to three kits!

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Camo looking good Heather what were you thinking to double dose on a vaccine that hasn't been prove! I'm sorry, it doesn't work for me! (That's another discussion)

The Annie looks to be a very nicen kit even with the small problems.

 

Colin

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33 minutes ago, heloman1 said:

The Annie looks to be a very nicen kit even with the small problems.


Yeah, it’ll look like an Anson when I’m done. That’s all we can ask, really. 
 

As for the other thing, yeah, let’s leave it at the door on the way in. :wink:

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