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

[Heather Kay]

It is probably my turn.

[jackroadkill]

1 hour ago, Max Headroom said:

the Briterati

 

You need some kind of award for that.  Not only a fantastic title but also a very tasty portmanteau.

 

I shall write to the C-in-C about it - definitely worth a Mention In Dispatches at the very least.

[Heather Kay]

With the Optivisor and some good lighting, I managed to fit all the cylinders to the engine blocks.

 

 

To save swear words, I measured the base of a cylinder with my vernier, and measured the moulded hole for it in the block. From that I gauged the holes needed a quick spin with a drill bit of 1.8mm. A couple of light twists, and the cylinder nestled into the hole nicely, carefully aligned, and then a drop of CA to hold it. Repeat thirteen more times.

 

The instructions were none too clear about the cylinder orientation. So, I sought a photo of a real Cheetah on t'interweb.

 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Armstrong_Siddeley_Cheetah_X.jpg
 

There’s a way to embed that image that defeats me, so I’m afraid you’ll have to click the link to see it. Sorry.

 

What it showed me was the cylinders are orientated with the two little pegs at the top towards the front. The two pegs are, I assume, where the valve push rods fit. These are, of course, not in the kit. Obviously. Now, I could have made them from lengths of brass rod, stretched sprue, styrene rod … there are suitable location holes around the gear case for them. However, I have a detailing set.

 

I wondered if it would fit. Well, yes, it does. Sort of. It is the one on the right. It's, of course, designed for the Airfix kit, which has the engine moulded inside the cowling and which is a millimetre or so less in diameter. The push rods on the etch don't quite meet the pegs on the cylinders, and they also don’t sit at the characteristic V-shape. Nevertheless, I think that something approximating the push rods in the gloom of the cowling is better than nothing, so I shall give the engine a lick of paint and then decide whether to fall back on scratching the detail myself.

[Heather Kay]

Nope. It’s rubbish. Scratching the pushrods is the way forward.

 

But that will have to wait for a convenient break in my busy schedule.

[Head in the clouds.]

While I was rustling up my Cheetah engines Heather I came across these on Evil Bay;

 

They are Armstrong Siddeley Lynx engines and look very similar to the Cheetahs fitted to the Anson, I purchased a set for a future build. If those kit items pump up your blood pressure these are maybe worth a thought. And as you say, once surrounded by the cowl who would know the difference.

 

Nice work by the way.

[Heather Kay]

1 minute ago, Head in the clouds. said:

They are Armstrong Siddeley Lynx engines

I understand the Cheetah was a development of the Lynx. I’m a bit surprised that SH didn’t bother to mould the pushrods, but then again I shouldn’t be. 
 

While I can’t use the PE rods, I can use other parts to lift the cast jobs a bit. I also rather expect other parts may not fit the Special Hobby kit easily, but I kind of expected that. A lot of the greeblies can be used, though, as well as interior details.

[dogsbody]

This is the Cheetah from the link Heather posted above:

 

 

 

 

 

Chris

[heloman1]

Oooh, PE detail sets, sometimes they are great others not so! I like the resin interior detail and those tiny cylinders, going to be a tad fiddly I think Heather?

 

Colin

[Heather Kay]

Apologies for not updating things here. I’ve been tempted by a build in the Matchbox Classic II group build. I am a bit of a GB-a-holic, and I’m trying to wean myself off the addiction. I hope to get some progress going here again at some point.

[Navy Bird]

2 hours ago, Heather Kay said:

Apologies for not updating things here. I’ve been tempted by a build in the Matchbox Classic II group build. I am a bit of a GB-a-holic, and I’m trying to wean myself off the addiction. I hope to get some progress going here again at some point.

 

Whichever you build, we're happy. I've been thinking about pausing my Phantom build to head on over to the MB Group Build with my 1:72 Wellesley. Tempting.  

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. Just remembered that I signed up for the F/A-18 Group Build as well. Hmm...I may have to multi-task.   

[GlueDad]

This is interesting stuff so I’m belatedly going to follow along. 

[Heather Kay]

*clears throat*

 

Is this thing on? Can you all hear me out there? 
 

It’s been a long time since I last updated anything here, and if I’m honest it might be a while until the next time. My excuse for not updating was mainly I got stuck into an entry for the Matchbox Classic 50th anniversary group build. You’ve probably seen the result, the Heinkel He115, elsewhere. I also spent a good deal of time trying to complete a commission job. I was adamant I wanted that out of the way before I would let myself play with styrene planes again.

 

 

This is the beast in question. It’s O gauge, 1/43rd, 7mm to the foot scale. Lots of detail, body modifications and a full repaint. Happy that it’s done. I hope the image works, as I’m playing with the Flickr iOS app for sharing.

 

So, Ansons. I dragged the box from the Shelf of Doom, blew away the cat fluff and cobwebs, and tried to figure out where I’d got to last time.

 

Engines. I was going to superdetail the engines. I thought it might be a good idea to see if the engines actually fitted into the cowlings. They didn’t. The backlighting was intentional here, so you can see how thin the cowlings are. No room to grind out space to fit the engines, so the cylinder heads would have to be sacrificed. All the lovely pushrod detail converted to resin dust.

 

 

The one on the left has been "adjusted". The upshot, of course, would be no nice location points for wire pushrod detailing. I decided to press on anyway.

 

 

There are moulded location points around the gear case, so I drilled them out, as per the one on the left. I tried to glue some lengths of 0.5mm brass wire in to replicate pushrods. I got annoyed because there was nothing to locate them with apart from a hole. I gave up the idea. No pushrods. I hope I can still use some of the fine PE detail from the Flightpath fret for things like the fuel pump and suchlike. They’ll need to wait for a bit. I decided engines were too much faff, and went back to the start of the instructions.

 

 

Before I pile into why I think this build will get shelved more often than actually worked on, I’d like you to spend a minute or so studying this snap of the interior detailing parts from Mr Parkins. Lovely, innit? Can you see the navigator's tools? Parts 25, 26, 27 and 28. Excuse me for a moment. I think my brain has drained out of my left ear.

 

Having the Flightpath PE, which is designed to enhance the Airfix classic kit, I needed to figure out which parts could be usefully used or adapted to fit the Special Hobby kit. Technically, none of it will be useful, but some of it is way better than the SH stuff. The instrument panel and radio equipment, for example. The navigator's tools…  It took a while, comparing the SH instructions with the FP bits and pieces, but I think there’s a way forward.

 

The SH instructions Step 1 can be sidelined for now, as it’s building up the kit's IP. I think I’ll leave that to see whether I can make the better FP parts fit instead. Step 2 concerns the seating arrangements, and I shall use the kit parts, along with most of the rest of the interior cockpit parts in Step 3 and 4, plus FP navigator and radio parts   Sadly, the resin side frames are somewhat damaged, but I think they can be rescued with some deft repairs.

 

 

At this point, I’m afraid my brain rebelled. I’ve spent a while deflashicating the side frames, and identifying all the parts to make up the radio set stack. And I’ve decided to put it all back in the box and choose something simpler to build until my head can deal with the self-imposed complexity!

 

Well, I said it would be a slow burner. 

 

[AdrianMF]

25 minutes ago, Heather Kay said:

And I’ve decided to put it all back in the box and choose something simpler to build until my head can deal with the self-imposed complexity!

Amen to that one! I know exactly what you mean.

 

That locomotive must have used quite a lot of your complexity budget for this year. You could tell me it was your real thing reference photo and I’d believe you. It looks marvellous.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Heather Kay]

4 minutes ago, AdrianMF said:

You could tell me it was your real thing reference photo and I’d believe you. It looks marvellous.

Happily, I had actual photos of the actual loco in real life in the condition the client wanted, so it was just copying that, really. It turned out okay in the end, with the inevitable compromise here and there.

 

I am currently scanning my stash for a build that will be a palate cleanser. Unfortunately, they all want to be built, and many are almost as complex as the Anson! I could start the Pavla Miles Master MkI, as that would complete my British trainers. Then again, it's a Pavla kit - need I say more? The Revell Ju88A-1 has been shouting at me for a while, but it’s a big build. Likewise, all the French twin-engine bombers need putting together. A nice big Italeri Sunderland would be fun, but I literally have nowhere to put it while under construction or when completed. I’ve several Dutch Fokkers that should be built. Then again, I could build something without wings, such as the IBG Scammell Pioneer and Milicast 3.7in Heavy Anti-Aircraft guns.

 

Hmm, I think I'll hit the Fokkers, and play around with the vehicles a bit.

 

Isn’t it nice to have so much choice?

[psdavidson]

Wow, that 37's an absolute corker

[Steve Coombs]

Just a small observation, but if you've lost so much from each cylinder head, the PE pushrods might now be long enough (or close enough for government work under the cowling).

[Heather Kay]

4 minutes ago, Steve Coombs said:

the PE pushrods might now be long enough (or close enough for government work under the cowling).

Ooh, good idea! Unfortunately, I scrapped the ones I attempted to use. They didn’t survive removal, sadly.
 

To be honest, I doubt much will be properly visible in the cowling at this scale, so what is provided by SH may well be sufficient.

[Dave Slowbuild]

1 hour ago, Heather Kay said:

*clears throat*

 

Is this thing on? Can you all hear me out there? 
 

It’s been a long time since I last updated anything here, and if I’m honest it might be a while until the next time. My excuse for not updating was mainly I got stuck into an entry for the Matchbox Classic 50th anniversary group build. You’ve probably seen the result, the Heinkel He115, elsewhere. I also spent a good deal of time trying to complete a commission job. I was adamant I wanted that out of the way before I would let myself play with styrene planes again.

 

 

This is the beast in question. It’s O gauge, 1/43rd, 7mm to the foot scale. Lots of detail, body modifications and a full repaint. Happy that it’s done. I hope the image works, as I’m playing with the Flickr iOS app for sharing.

 

So, Ansons. I dragged the box from the Shelf of Doom, blew away the cat fluff and cobwebs, and tried to figure out

 

 

1 hour ago, Heather Kay said:

 

Heather,

when I zoomed in on the loco photo my jaw dropped to the floor....   just sublime!  It’s hard to believe it’s not real.  Outstanding work!
 

Also great to get an update on the Annie

 

Dave

[Brandy]

Of course you had to remove the cylinder head detail, it fits up inside the little domes around the cowling - that's what they're for! 

 Still doesn't make it any easier to fit the push rods though. 😁

 

Nice train thingy!

 

Ian

[Heather Kay]

17 minutes ago, Brandy said:

it fits up inside the little domes around the cowling - that's what they're for! 

Well, duh, obvs.  I suppose the engine moulding gets used for some other kit, or SH wouldn’t have bothered making them not actually fit. I just find it a bit disappointing when detail has to be sacrificed in order to actually build a model.  

 

25 minutes ago, Dave Slowbuild said:

It’s hard to believe it’s not real

Thanks Dave. One does one's best.

 

1 hour ago, psdavidson said:

Wow, that 37's an absolute corker

Ta.

 

In other news, I’ve resurrected a dormant thread on Dutch aircraft. See you there.  

[Navy Bird]

Fantastic work on the locomotive. Be duly chuffed!     👍

 

Keep on keepin' on with the Anson. Having built this kit myself, I can assure you that a) pretty much nothing fits without modification and b) it will eventually be finished.   

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Heather Kay]

1 hour ago, Navy Bird said:

it will eventually be finished.

Amen to that. It just needs my head to be in the right place, and I’ll be away and done before I know it. 

[TheBaron]

Genuinely took that photo of the train to be the full size original Heather: as Bill rightly says:

1 hour ago, Navy Bird said:

Be duly chuffed

- it looks amazing!

[heloman1]

On 1/19/2022 at 7:17 PM, Heather Kay said:

Apologies for not updating things here. I’ve been tempted by a build in the Matchbox Classic II group build. I am a bit of a GB-a-holic, and I’m trying to wean myself off the addiction. I hope to get some progress going here again at some point.

Hi Heather, nothing wrong with being a GBholic. I'm in that group too. I think it pulls the members together, that if there is good banter between the builders.

Currently, I'm in the Falklands 40th Anniversary GB with a Wessex HAS Mk3 Humphrey.

 

Colin

[Heather Kay]

It was time, once more, to drag the box off the Shelf of Doom, blow off the dust and evict the spiders, and then spend a while trying to work out where I had got to last time.

 

 

I kicked off trying to finish up the engines. Some fine nickel silver wire found a use as the push rods. There are some fiddly bits of the Flightpath PE that will add some further clutter inside the cowlings. Not perfect, but it’ll do.

 

 

Some plastic got glued together. This is the cabin floor, plus the compartment at the back for the turret. The resin port side frame is supposed to go on next. It needs to be subtly curved to fit the floor, but the instructions are very vague about how the thing sits against the floor. Some fumbling about with fuselage halves wasn’t particularly clarifying. Margins for error abound. I am still feeling uncertain about whether I want the faff of replacing the framing that sits behind the glazing.

 

Feeling a bit frustrated, I decided to start putting together some of the rest of the interior.

 

I have made a rod for my own back in trying to use the superior detail parts from Flightpath - intended, as you know, to improve and enhance the old Airfix Annie. There is always a risk the FP bits won’t fit the SH kit. Anyway, I spent a happy while building up the multiple layers of the instrument panel, which is a typical Mr Parkins work of art. The grey bit is a resin part from the kit, which has throttle levers and will have the trim wheel. Originally, the IP was a single part, but of course it doesn’t fit into the kit fuselage. Obviously. I split the thing, so at least the main part will fit. I suppose I could attempt to grind out the plastic nose area to give a bit more space, because it would be really nice to fit the right-hand half.

 

This build was always going to be a slow burn, but I really feel I’ve fallen out of love with it. Perhaps, attempting to replace kit parts with details intended for a different kit was a step too far. I keep finding I spend ages just staring at the parts on the bench, idly attempting to fit them together, but failing to make it work. I think, sadly, I’m going to stick it all back in the box and consign it to the SoD for a bit longer. Perhaps I should step back a bit and just use most of the parts Special Hobby supplied, and just replace things if I think the Flightpath parts work better.

 

Apologies for a rather downbeat update. Having just finished two builds that were a bit complicated, I should maybe have picked a simpler, more mainstream kit to cleanse my modelling palate before trying to get all clever and modellery again.