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PK-127 Twin Otter Maldivian Air Taxi +++FINISHED+++


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5 hours ago, Ray S said:

The teardrop-shaped hole is for the wing/fuselage strut, but the squareish hole is an odd one...

Someone else here told me that the square holes are air vents (or maybe I saw it in a photo), but they are massively oversized compared to the real things. Not accurately to scale at all.

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@psdavidson and @JOCKNEY, Thanks for those very kind comments.

 

@Jeff J, cheers for reminding me, I knew I had seen something somewhere. Oh for a walkaround!

 

One thing that has been concerning me (aren't there loads!) was the demarcation line between the red and black finish on the nacelles. The transfer sheet I am using has the white lines as decals, but really accurate masking has always been another minus point in my skill set. I had decided that I would try to mask the lines over the white primer with some 0.7mm Aizu tape. The question is, would it curve okay and flatten down properly or not? Only one way to find out - try! So-

 

DSCN8619

 

I had a go, things looked okay compared to a side-on image I have, and I popped a first coat of Humbrol 60 enamel thinned with ColourCoats naphtha thinner. I will give it at least one more coat before a gloss coat of Humbrol 220 Italian Red.

 

I feel happier about this now, and I am now hoping that nothing has leaked under the Aizu tape. I will find out soon! Of course, there is still potential for issues, as the other side of that self same Aizu tape will be gloss black.

 

Thanks for looking, the likes, and for the comments, they are all really appreciated.

 

Ray

 

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Hello all. Over the weekend I managed to get a few bits and bobs done, including masking the replacement transparency. The frame lines were slightly raised on the Aerocraft part, and they were visible under the Tamiya tape, so I was able to trim that quite easily. This was where I had finished yesterday:

 

DSCN8620

 

The underside of the tailplanes had two coats of matt black followed by one of gloss, the red on the nacelles was two coats of matt red Humbrol 60, followed by two coats of Humbrol 220 Italian red gloss enamels. The transparency was masked, and I even remembered to paint the control panel that fits under the cabin roofing - I eventually glued that on with Glu'N'Glaze.

 

Today's first job was to do a little bit more masking. The wing uppers on the Maldivian Air Taxi were black, and that wrapped around the leading edge to the first panel line. The nacelle parts that are not red/white were black too, and I assumed a small section of the wing was too alongside the nacelles, as in all my other Twotter builds. The remainder of the underside stays white:

 

DSCN8621

 

After a short while, thinned Humbrol Matt Black 33 enamel had been brush painted on (bet you couldn't guess that!):

 

DSCN8622

 

I am always horrified when I see that first coat, but since my rather time-delayed conversion to using thinned paints (for over 50 years I just painted from the tinlet, oh the shame), I am gradually getting used to seeing this effect, and that it does get better each coat. While that dried, I finally decided to add the glazing. I had left this off for quite a few days to let the CA fumes vent from when I added the underside of the replacement cockpit. Test fitting the glazing showed that a little sideways pressure was needed to get the glazing to not overhang the fuselage side, so I used a couple of small spots of CA gel at the front of either side of the glazing and held that in place for a couple of minutes to get it to set - I decided to risk using the CA as I am not sure if it might fog resin clear parts as it can do so with plastic ones. I also used Glu'N'Glaze to fit the remainder of the part at the same time, then used more G'N'G to fill the gaps that I think I accidentally caused when sanding the part to shape:

 

DSCN8623

 

The top of the glazing stands just slightly proud of the upper fuselage, so some sanding will be needed tomorrow (with me wearing a dust mask), but I am happier doing that rather than having to blend in overhanging glazing.

 

Last night I had a terrible night's sleep, but I was productive. @AdrianMF has mentioned in some of his builds that he sometimes gets up and does some to his projects if he cannot sleep, me, I just think about what is ahead. Well, last night it occurred to me that I had a second set of floats and associated struttery, which meant I had something to practice on. As you know, I have been concerned about adding the floats to this. I have seen in another thread that someone (I think @rob Lyttle) mentioned about adding pins to his floats, and I thought that was a good idea, but could I drill into the diameter plastic that the Twin Otter had? I used the spare struts, got a needle in a pin vice and pressed a hole into the centre of each mounting point and was amazed that I actually DID get it in the centre , then used a small drill to open that hole a bit, then a drill which would take some 0.5mm brass rod and I drilled in to about a 5mm depth to hopefully give some added strength and finally CA'd in the rod:

 

DSCN8625

 

That worked quite well, and it gives me a lot more confidence for when the time comes, I will trim the brass rod to length before I glue them to the floats. I am going to work on the floats for a bit next as I want to upgrade the lumps on them into bitts or whatever the things are called where the float can be tied to something, and also to paint the prop warning stripes rather than using the transfers supplied (the Portuguese transfers don't seen as good as the Italian ones that Revell also use).

 

That is it for today, it has been a good day for this build, 

 

Thanks for looking and the comments and 'likes',

 

Ray

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Nicely done, Ray..... But it wasn't me 😇

My Twin Otter got the wheels fitted as an IOS Skybus. The stub axles are tricky enough and would benefit from a metal replacement in some way. 

My floats action was on the Norseman and they would be improved with metal pins and struts for sure! I resorted to the ski arrangements in the end, but I have been fiddling with the float parts and may have another go, very much along the lines of what you have done here. 

Hope you got some sleep after this achievement..... 💡😴💡

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Amateurs! Pros like me just wing it with blu-tack and cocktail sticks...and crossed fingers...and cussing...and then doing it again...twice...

 

Seriously though, that pinning idea looks cool.

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On 4/18/2022 at 9:47 PM, rob Lyttle said:

Nicely done, Ray..... But it wasn't me 😇

My Twin Otter got the wheels fitted as an IOS Skybus. The stub axles are tricky enough and would benefit from a metal replacement in some way. 

My floats action was on the Norseman and they would be improved with metal pins and struts for sure! I resorted to the ski arrangements in the end, but I have been fiddling with the float parts and may have another go, very much along the lines of what you have done here. 

Hope you got some sleep after this achievement..... 💡😴💡

 

Hi Rob, I knew it was not done to a Twotter but a Norseman, but completely forgot to mention it in my post. It is great to know that your build was my inspiration for the idea so thanks for that. And, yes, I did sleep!

 

On 4/18/2022 at 10:50 PM, Jeff J said:

Amateurs! Pros like me just wing it with blu-tack and cocktail sticks...and crossed fingers...and cussing...and then doing it again...twice...

 

Seriously though, that pinning idea looks cool.

 

Jeff, yours succeeded and very well too, mine still has not been done, and I am not tempting fate.

 

16 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Hi Ray nice work fella,  the fuselage  and wings looking good and great to see the pins in the supports.

Great work 

Chris

 

Cheers Chris! I did wonder what the wings would look like when the masking came off. I had used thinned enamels with a brush and I know that the paint can get just about anywhere when masking is involved, and those curves on the nacelles were pretty bendy for the Aizu tape (I did not want to use the Tamiya tape for curves) and I was not sure if I had bedded it down enough. This morning I had a few minutes to spare before the grandchildren arrive and put a stop to the more important things in life (model building!) so I thought I would see just what a mess had occurred:

 

DSCN8626

 

On the lower wing above, there is a small 'dimple' just above the panel line on the right hand side near the wing tip. That has been on all of my Twin Otter builds, so does anyone know what it represents on the real thing? There are no parts to fit there and I have not seen any good 'from above' images to show if it was a filler cap or vent.

 

DSCN8627

 

DSCN8628

 

DSCN8629

 

Hmm, not too bad after all, I think. There were a few bleed through areas on the white sections of the nacelles, but even though it was enamel paint, I was able to scratch it off with a wooden cocktail stick. I know I am tempting fate by painting the wings and fuselage separately, but I think that is the safest way with this scheme and the potential fragility of the floats, and I will accept that the wing to fuselage join will be a dodgy one. I need to give the wing uppers a bit of a micromeshing to smooth off the paint surface, and it will eventually get a satin varnish coat, which I think will look more in keeping that a gloss finish.

 

It will probably be Monday before I get another chance to do anything to this, but that will soon go.

 

Thanks for looking, for the inspiration and comments,

 

Ray

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Right.... Got you now! 

Yea, anything that helps the assembly process and offers a bit of support can be a bonus. 

That's a great looking colour scheme on the Maldives plane. Your brush painting and masking is  coming up well. 

I'm going to a show on Saturday and I'll be looking out for another DHC-6, among a couple of other "wants". Might be lucky 🤞🍀

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6 hours ago, Ray S said:

On the lower wing above, there is a small 'dimple' just above the panel line on the right hand side near the wing tip. That has been on all of my Twin Otter builds, so does anyone know what it represents on the real thing? There are no parts to fit there and I have not seen any good 'from above' images to show if it was a filler cap or vent.

No dimple on mine. :shrug:

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On 4/20/2022 at 5:26 PM, Jeff J said:

No dimple on mine. :shrug:

 

Cheers Jeff, the mystery deepens! I bought my four Twin Otters over a four or five year period, so they are probably not the same batch, as possibly confirmed by having Italian- and Portuguese-printed transfers, but all of them had that little recess in the upper starboard wing near the wing tip.

 

22 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Oooooo the nacelles and wings look wonderful Ray, what a cracking job.

Chris

 

Thanks Chris, very kind.

 

I have been doing a little more to the 'Twaxi' today. I have started to try and remove the step between the Aerocraft glazing and the upper fuselage, and also found a few areas around the glazing that needed some extra filler. I then got on with the floats. First, I remembered the name of that thingy where it can be tied up, not 'bitts' as I thought in a previous post, but a 'cleat'. I removed the raised bump which was Matchbox's effort (a good one in 19-- when it was tooled!), drilled a couple of holes into the float and popped in some 0.3mm plastic rod into them. I realised that gravity even acted on something like that when by the time I had got the glue ready, the 0.3mm x 5mm plastic rod had fallen into the float! It had seemed to have been a friction hold when I put the rod in, but the Earth must have had a strong pull! Anyway, second time was luckier (the more you practice, the luckier you get!), and soon I had this:

 

DSCN8631

 

The cleat may be a little tall, but it is equally tall on the other float, so at least I was consistent. On the other hand, I may take it off and re-do them lower, and on a .5mm sheet base. The other thing done today was to add the red warning stripes on the side of the floats to alert people to the hazards of a spinning propeller. I decided against using the supplied transfers for the warning stripes for two reasons. First, the markings I have were printed in Portugal, and the instrument panel did not settle down very well, unlike the Italian-printed ones I had had before, and these needed to settle into the grooves in the float (which actually appear raised in my photographs of the real thing), and secondly, the transfers were to go over the top of the float, which again does not show in my own photograph, and I was wary of cutting the markings. I went with masking and painting. I decided the width of the stripe would be 1mm, especially useful as I had 1mm Aizu tape in stock. I laid that down, and then put down some Tamiya tape right up next to either side of the 1mm tape:

 

DSCN8632

 

The reference photo shows what I meant about the raised lines on the float, and also another cleat on the outside of the float about mid way along. And I am wondering how to deal with those steps up from the float to the entry door. The 1mm tape was then removed, leaving the gap for some paint:

 

DSCN8634

 

A couple of coats of Humbrol 60 Scarlet acrylic and a satin varnish later, a spot of tape removal produced this:

 

DSCN8635

 

And before anyone politely suggests that I open the panel in the wide float support seen in the second image above, I won't! It does look as though there is a plastic pipe coming out and water being pumped out, and it is surprising how many dinks there are in the float too. Maybe next time...

 

There will be more masking for the dark grey walkway and the black nose to the float next time I get a chance.

 

That is it for today, thanks for looking and the comments,

 

Ray

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Google "Twin Otter Buttonville" for lots of Twotterish photos. Not much in the way of close-ups 'Walkaround' stylee, but I've asked a Canadian friend of mine to keep a look out for them so he can take photos for us.

Fingers crossed!

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22 hours ago, Ray S said:

all of them had that little recess in the upper starboard wing near the wing tip.

I just checked the mortal remains of the one I built last year. There is a slight shadow in that position which is probably the same as dimple you are seeing.

 

/P

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On 4/22/2022 at 6:00 AM, CliffB said:

The fine masking has worked beautifully Ray :thumbsup:

 

Thanks @CliffB, I was pretty happy with the result. I have always been wary of masking, but I am getting more adventurous with it now, and it has opened up a number of schemes I would not have attempted before!

 

15 hours ago, Jeff J said:

Google "Twin Otter Buttonville" for lots of Twotterish photos. Not much in the way of close-ups 'Walkaround' stylee, but I've asked a Canadian friend of mine to keep a look out for them so he can take photos for us.

Fingers crossed!

 

Thanks for that Jeff, there are some great photographs, and yet another fabulous range of schemes. I hope your friend is able to come to the rescue in the future, give them my regards and thanks whatever happens. I will have to get a few more of the Matchbox issues into my collection.

 

13 hours ago, psdavidson said:

I just checked the mortal remains of the one I built last year. There is a slight shadow in that position which is probably the same as dimple you are seeing.

 

/P

 

P, thanks for checking. I do wonder if it is supposed to be there for 'detail', it seems to be too neat to be a blemish.

 

Yesterday evening I was able to get the top of the floats masked and some dark grey acrylic was put on, it is just the black tips now and the extra cleat to be added to them. I still need to spray the fuselage but that will be done Monday, with luck.

 

Thanks for looking and for the comments and 'likes',

 

Ray

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Hello all, I had a little time before work this morning to get the float tips painted. In my reference photographs the tips were black, so that is what I did. It took a little doing to get the masking symmetrical for both floats, but it worked in the end.

 

DSCN8636

 

DSCN8637

 

The next time I get a chance at the bench (Monday, probably), I will see about drilling the location points in the floats for the brass rod I put into the support struts. I also have to figure out how to attach the rear one to the fuselage - in the instructions it shows them fitting into holes in the fairings, but there were no holes there. It would just be a butt-join otherwise. The extra cleats will wait until I have added the floats to the fuselage, I can imagine what would happen to them if I added them prior to that.

 

That is it for today, short and sweet, I know. Thanks for looking,

 

Ray

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On 4/24/2022 at 6:37 PM, bigbadbadge said:

Floats are looking great Ray. Nice work on  those cleats.

Chris

 

Cheers Chris! Two more to do, once the floats are fitted.

 

I was able to get the fuselage and support struts for the floats primes with Light grey, followed by white. There are still some blemishes where the filler has not been dealt with correctly, but it will stay that way now. I have photocopied the transfer sheet, and am about to cut out the cheatlines and see if I can get that area set and masked for the red upper fuselage paintwork.

 

Fingers crossed,

 

Ray

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Okay, here goes. The first thing was to cut out the cheatlines from the copied sheet. A fresh blade and a cleared cutting mat helped. The cheatlines were then attached to the Twotter with a few dabs of masking tape:

 

DSCN8638

 

This is the first time I have tried this, but have a few other builds that will need the technique. I am not sure really what to do, but I decided to add a few (lots!) of very light pencil marks along the top edge of the lines:

 

DSCN8639

 

Then I popped some 1mm Aizu tape just below those dots, as they will (should) be covered by the black transfers:

 

DSCN8642

 

As my brush-painting skills do not extend to having a steady hand, I reinforced the masking tape with some 6mm stuff below the 1mm:

 

DSCN8644

 

And then added the first brushed coat of thinned Humbrol 60 Scarlet enamel as an undercoat:

 

DSCN8645

 

As usual, it looks horrendous after the first coat, but that should hopefully improve with a couple more applications, before adding the Humbrol 220, Italian Red.

 

I hope I have not made a mistake when doing this, but there is usually something I do wrong, and many of you may remember from my other builds. I know there is a white line above the black on the transfers, but I hope to have taken that into account. I will find out soon! I did toy with the idea of masking the cheatline for paint as I did with the Yeti Airlines Twin Otter earlier in this GB, but the zig-zag dissuaded me. Perhaps I should have been braver.

 

One thing I did find though is that the 1mm Aizu tape does bend around curves well, it certainly did so around the nose. That bodes well for the anti-glare panel, which I want to do before I add the transfers.

 

Anyway, that is it, thanks for looking,

 

Ray

 

PS, The window masking will come out before I do the next coat, that will help me get the window frames painted somewhat better than this attempt.

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Some really impressive work going on here Ray, that’s marvellous progress and your masking skills are extremely impressive. This will be yet another Twotter Classic build, its all heading the right way. 
Cheers.. Dave. 

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15 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Some really impressive work going on here Ray, that’s marvellous progress and your masking skills are extremely impressive. This will be yet another Twotter Classic build, its all heading the right way. 
Cheers.. Dave. 

 

Dave, I will defer judgement on my masking skills until the transfers go on! I know what I am like, and am prone to making foul-ups!

 

This evening I added the next coat of enamel Humbrol 60 Scarlet, thinned with ColourCoats Naphtha Thinners, about 50/50 and painted on with a wide, flat brush. The internal masking came out easily enough, and the window surrounds have had their coat of Scarlet too.

 

DSCN8646

 

I think I will do one more coat of Scarlet before popping on the darker Italian Red that is suggested in the transfers instructions.

 

That is it for now, thanks for looking and for the encouragement,

 

Ray

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Hello all. I got the 3rd coat of Scarlet onto the plane yesterday, and the first coat of Humbrol 220 Italian Red on today. It seems to have brushed on quite well all things considered, but the poor joint 'clean up' shows quite a bit. 

 

DSCN8652

 

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Looking at the photograph I took on our honeymoon shows there was no white line between the black and red on the fuselage, but this was not the plane we flew in. I have another photo of the tail end of 'our' plane when it was tied up at a floating wood platform, and there was a white division on that one. Further checking through the honeymoon photographs showed about 50:50 aircraft with/without the white division. As you can see, I have popped the serial under the port wing. This was the first time I have used Modelcraft transfers, and I am impressed (with certain reservations); they are lovely and thin and settled over the raised panel lines very well, with no silvering. However, when you look very closely at the lettering:

 

DSCN8656

 

The letters and numbers are a little ragged. I am not that worried about it, but it is a shame. I am more than happy with the way it settled though, and I have more confidence with the rest.

 

The biggest problem area that I have had to contend with with this model is the float structure. This afternoon I bit the bullet and dealt with it. I got some blu-tack, settled one float onto my cutting mat and aligned it with the grid. I fitted (dry) the two cross support struts, then slid the other float into place and pressed it down into it's own blu-tack. All looked reasonably square from the side, top, and from in front, and then I committed glue:

 

DSCN8653

 

DSCN8654

 

DSCN8655

 

Measuring the float width centre/center fore and aft produced a result of 55mm, so they are the same distance apart front and back. Hopefully a good sign. All I need to do now is get it off the blu-tack without them coming apart! It will be interesting to see what happens with that back strut when I do lift the floats, it looks as though it is curved upwards.

 

I need to add at least one more coat of Italian Red, then I can varnish and get the fuselage transfers on and get the glazing done before adding the floats before the wings and tailplane. That should hopefully allow me access to try and build the steps which were continually attached to the aircraft. I am still trying to work out how to do it. My preferred option at the moment is to get some white paper, soak it with thin CA and then cut and fold it to get the steps. That will then take paint and also not need much in the way of glue to attach them to their supports.

 

That is it for today, I am very pleased with the progress. Thanks for looking,

 

Ray

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Looking very promising so far, Ray. Nice methodic approach on the floats. Your wire additions have paid off. I've got steps to deal with on the Norseman but really they are more like little ladders, so you have a whole different thing to sort out here, I guess 

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