Gone Birding - the Azur Fleet Finch

[Tweener]

Now that I am properly home from Uni for the first time in some months, I decided to break into the kits again and see what could reasonably be built over the following few days. While I might have liked to build another Fury, Gladiator, or Siskin, those and their Aftermarket decals are all stashed away still, so for now, the Azur Fleet Finch that recently arrived will have to be good enough. 

First inspection of the sprues shows that the earlier Fleet Model 10 can also be built from this kit, and I did briefly consider doing so, but the Portuguese Model 16 Scheme included won me over. The cockpit consists of a floor, seats, resin sticks, and instrument panels that sit inside of a separate upper fuselage section. The sidewalls are detailed from the box and nothing was added to this section.

 

 

 

In no time at all, this was closed up, and the engine was built while it all dried. This consisted of attaching 5 separate cylinders to a central part, and I must admit that I will avoid ever building an engine like this in the future if I should be able to. I think I finally got the pieces aligned well enough after my third try, and in any case, they are now staying however they are.

 

 

After this, the engine was attached to the front and the vertical tail set into place. The gear legs then followed the lower wing into position. Tomorrow I will add the horizontal tail, exhaust units, and attach the upper fuselage section before filling in the few small gaps I expect will arise. With any luck, I'll finish building this by Thursday, so that I can start on another new arrival shortly after. I'd love to get cracking into the AMK 1/72 L-29, but considering the amount of aftermarket I bought for that kit and the amount of time it'll take to make progress, that will be put off for now.

 

Thanks all,

Tweener

Edited November 23, 2021 by Tweener

[Tweener]

After some quick work today, I was able to fair in the upper fuselage decking, attach the remaining tail surfaces, place the exhaust pipes into position, and add the top wing. The Finch is now ready for paint. Hopefully I can get to that over the next holiday break, but don't count on it. If not, it won't be until April, as I'll be abroad for 3 months. 

For now, it looks like this - 

 

 

 

Some of you will doubtless notice a section of my next project - more to follow.

Thanks all,

Tweener

[bigbadbadge]

This looks a lovely little model,  gone together very quickly too , looks great so far.  I am intrigued as to the next project???

Chris

[AdrianMF]

The engine looks huuuuge! Looks like you have got it all together very cleanly.

 

The next project looks like a regular fin that’s been extended because of some extra frontal area being added. Spitfire on floats?

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Tweener]

5 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

This looks a lovely little model,  gone together very quickly too , looks great so far.  I am intrigued as to the next project???

Chris

I was quite surprised by this one, everything fit very well other than the upper fuselage part, which was slightly too wide and a hair too short in length. As @AdrianMF guessed, the next project is a Float Spitfire. I picked up the Eastern Express kit of one - it consists of the 1960's FROG MK 1/V Kit, which lacks any interior, with new floats and tail surfaces. This means that I am limited to making the very first Float Spitfire unless I care to rescribe the wings. Perhaps the BrenGun kit would've been better...

 

As for the engine, it does look large. I think the Finch looks like something of a cross between a Tiger Moth and a Stearman, and I rather like it.

Edited November 26, 2021 by Tweener