PK-127 : De Havilland Twin Otter - Canadian Rescue Service (Revell rebox 1/72)

[jrlx]

This was my second entry to the 2022 Matchbox GB.

 

As usual, I didn't manage to finish the build within the GB's timeframe. So, the thread is now moved to the WIP area.

 

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Dear all,

 

this is my second entry to this GB: Revell's rebox of Matchbox's Twin Otter in 1/72. I'll build the Canadian Rescue Service version with skids.

 

Here's the box:

IMAG7547

 

There are 3 light-grey plastic sprues and 1 transparent parts sprue:

IMAG7551

 

IMAG7552

 

IMAG7553

 

There are parts for three different versions: wheels, wheels + skids and floats.

 

The decals look excellent:

IMAG7555

 

I haven't started this build yet but expect to start it in about two weeks after I make some substantial progress in my Westland Lynx.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

Edited July 17, 2022 by jrlx
Thread moved from the Matchbox GB area

[JOCKNEY]

Well done Jaime

 

I had no idea the kit originally came with sheets of kitchen roll ! 

This has proved to be a really popular subject, which just makes it all the better.

Best of luck with this one

 

Cheers Pat 

 

[jrlx]

14 minutes ago, JOCKNEY said:

I had no idea the kit originally came with sheets of kitchen roll !

I always insist that my kits come with kitchen paper. It's really useful during the build!

 

[Rabbit Leader]

On 3/1/2022 at 10:37 AM, JOCKNEY said:

I had no idea the kit originally came with sheets of kitchen roll ! 

 

You are a nutter Pat! 

Nice choice Jamie, this Matchbox Twotter is sure popular and that's a great looking decal sheet supplied with that box. Best of luck mate. 

Cheers.. Dave 

[jrlx]

Hi again,

 

I didn't manage to finish this build in the Matchbox GB, which is perfectly normal with me... The build is now in the Aircraft WIP area, where I'll press on till it's finished.

 

I did progress a bit during the GB, though I didn't manage to update the thread. I'll do it now.

 

I started work by removing the fuselage parts off the sprues. The panel lines in this kit are represented by raised lines, so I rescribed them. The following picture shows the rescribed lines on the fuselage half on the top area of the picture. The fuselage half on the bottom still has the original raised lines:

IMAG7580

 

The bulkheads behind the cockpit and behind the passenger cabin were glued in place:

IMAG7589

 

Next, the interior was painted medium grey:

IMAG7601

 

The cockpit parts were also painted: instrument panel, cockpit base, control column and seats:

IMAG7602

 

There are decals for the instrument panel and seatbelts. Here's the set-up for applying the decals:

IMAG7604

 

The decals were applied. The instrument panel decal doesn't correspond exactly to the raised detail on the instrument panel part:

IMAG7617

 

and the cockpit parts were glued together:

IMAG7618

 

Next step: assembling the wings and engines. First, the raised panel lines were rescribed, after which the wing halves were glued together:

IMAG7624

 

Then, the engine cowlings where glued in place:

IMAG7625

 

As can be seen, fit of the parts could be better and some filling with putty and sanding will be needed:

IMAG7626

 

IMAG7627

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Jaime

 

 

 

 

 

[Tomjw]

Excellent. I have this one in my stash so I hope you don't mind if I tag along?

 

Cheers,

 

Tom

[jrlx]

8 minutes ago, Tomjw said:

Excellent. I have this one in my stash so I hope you don't mind if I tag along?

 

Cheers,

 

Tom

 

Thanks a lot for your interest, by all means please do!

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

[Vesa Jussila]

I will follow. Looks good so far.

[jrlx]

27 minutes ago, Vesa Jussila said:

I will follow. Looks good so far.

Thanks!

[NMS Models]

One of my favorite regional passenger planes, looking forward to this one.

[Hairy Stickler]

On 01/03/2022 at 00:52, jrlx said:

I always insist that my kits come with kitchen paper. It's really useful during the build!

 

Kitchen paper is a sore subject in my house.  Apparently,  it's not meant for modelling. 

 

Just wait until next time Mrs Stickler goes to use a cotton bud!!🤣

[Scooby]

Looking forward to your build, I served in both the reserve squadron (418) that flew these Twin Otters and the regular force squadron (440).

 

We had 7 Twin Otters in Edmonton, Alberta and two in Yellowknife NWT. It was a great plane to maintain, it never broke. We’d tow out all seven Twin Otters each day so we could set-up the volleyball courts in the hangar.

 

Sadly we lost two aircraft, 808 while on UN Peacekeeping in Pakistan, it was destroyed when an Indian Hunter bomber it. No casualties on the ground.

 

And Rescue 807, crewed by 418 Squadron at time of crash. They were searching for another SAR aircraft (civilian) that had gone down looking for an overdue light plane.  The aircraft flew into the side of a mountain, killing all on board: pilot Capt. Ted Kates, co-pilot Capt. Wayne Plumtree and 5 observers and one flight engineer. The crash was caused by an optical illusion.  Color of rocks in mountain combined with sun angle at the time of the crash made a large ledge impossible to see.  I knew both pilots well, great men, fathers, husbands, and very experienced aircrew.

Edited July 18, 2022 by Scooby

[jrlx]

Hi @Scooby,

 

Thanks for your interest and for the real life details of operating these aircraft. I'm very sorry to know about the loss of the 807 aircraft and crew...

 

Just a question: was it usual to fit these aircraft with floats instead of a regular landing gear? Or there were a few permanently fitted with floats? I ask this because I couldn't find a picture of the 806 box art aircraft with floats but I found pictures of 802 in both configurations.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

[Scooby]

13 hours ago, jrlx said:

Hi @Scooby,

 

Thanks for your interest and for the real life details of operating these aircraft. I'm very sorry to know about the loss of the 807 aircraft and crew...

 

Just a question: was it usual to fit these aircraft with floats instead of a regular landing gear? Or there were a few permanently fitted with floats? I ask this because I couldn't find a picture of the 806 box art aircraft with floats but I found pictures of 802 in both configurations.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

Thanks for the condolences.

 

Floats we’re only on in the North West Territories during the summer months. We mainly put them on to go fishing. When we still did SAR, any of the nine Twin Otters could be put on floats, although I think 802, 803, and 809 were the favorites for mounting the floats, as the bolts lined up the best on them. We put the floats on 809 for the Queen when she visited Vancouver in 1987. You could flip the 6 and make it 809. 809 was a replacement for 808, so it was the newest and had the lowest airframe hours. The markings in the kit are for this era.

 

After the SAR role was dropped, the markings changed substantially to what is called FIP markings, RESCUE was dropped from the side, a different Canada font was used, and Armed Forces was dropped from around the roundels. At this time, 801, 806, and 809 were sold.

 

The current squadron is only based in Yellowknife and flies 802, 803, 804, & 805. Again, 802 & 803 are mainly used for floats. In the winter months all the aircraft are typically ski equipped. Tundra tires (big fat cartoon like balloon tires) are also on most of the time in the north. The Twin Otters main role now is to ferry Canadian Rangers around the north or to transport scientist studying the climate. For these schemes you’d need new decals, Caracal does have them planned for the future (all eras). I know because I supplied the info.

[jrlx]

Hello @Scooby,

 

Thank you very much for the details about floats and landing gear. I was planning to build 806 with skids around the wheels, like in this picture:

 

 

 

It would be a bit out of the ordinary. But I'll consider the idea of building 809 on floats.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

[TheBaron]

Nice to see you at work on this Jaime. That bird is going to have a most striking plumage.

[Paul J]

Nice subject. You could take a look here:  twinotterarchive.com

[jrlx]

Hi again,

 

I've been away from BM as an active contributor for a long time now because I haven't done any modelling for a while. I intend to resume work on my shelf of doom in January but I still have some updating to do on a few WIP threads. This is one of them.

 

The work below was done back in July and August.

 

The lateral windows were glued in place. The fit was flimsy and the gaps were filled in with Revell Contacta Clear:

IMAG7637

 

While the glue cured, I glued the engine faces in place. A lot of work will be needed to remove all the seams, steps and gaps:

IMAG7638

 

I decided to mask the windows with the fuselage still open, so that I could glue back in place any window that I pushed in by accident in the process. Strips of masking tape were applied:

IMAG7639

 

... and the excess was removed using a sharp nº 11 blade:

IMAG7640

 

The cockpit was glued in place:

IMAG7641

 

The instructions recommend using 20g of weight on the nose, to avoid a tail seater. I used lead shot held in place by milliput. Since the nose didn't have enough space for all the shot, some was installed under and right behind the cockpit:

IMAG7642

 

Before painting the milliput and lead with interior grey, I masked the inside of the windows and the cockpit:

IMAG7645

 

Here's the result after painting:

IMAG7648

 

Finally, the fuselage halves were glued together:

IMAG7653

 

Next, I glued the cockpit front windows in place and decided to paint black the weight in the nose:

IMAG7655

 

The alignment of the fuselage halves in front of the cockpit was poor. So, I inserted a piece of sprue in the front opening to force a better fit while the glue cured:

IMAG7656

 

The fit of the front window is also quite poor and the gaps were filled in with Revell Contacta Clear.

IMAG7657

 

A lot of work on the seams and gaps will be needed.

 

The WIP thread is now up to date.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

 

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

Nice to see you back a this one Jamie