Jump to content

The tale of two Empires. 1/72 Short S.23 and S.21


Pin

Recommended Posts

The subject speaks for itself.  Beautiful CMR kit of S.23 and old Contrail Maia S.21 vacform. 

 

I have already built Mercury

IMG_1534.JPG.d58d167968bdaf995b46436477f

 

so Maia awaits! WIP and more pics: 

 

Chances that I will complete these two in time are negligible but I usually use GBs to start kits, not to finish them :)

 

Content of the boxes:

 

IMG-20220211-181817.jpg


IMG-20220211-181835.jpg


IMG-20220211-181900.jpg


IMG-20220211-182003.jpg


IMG-20220211-182035.jpg


IMG-20220211-182146.jpg

 

I have cut the fuselage and wings to perform some measurements and accuracy assessments 


IMG-20220306-100217.jpg

 

S.23 is slightly longer, as expected


IMG-20220306-100944.jpg


IMG-20220306-101015.jpg


IMG-20220306-101050.jpg

 

It also should have wider wingspan 


IMG-20220306-142359.jpg


IMG-20220306-142409.jpg

 

Fit is OK for vacform


IMG-20220306-220430.jpg


IMG-20220306-220512.jpg

 

Kit drawing measurement gives a correct span of 480 mm that roughly matches 114 feet in 1/72 


IMG-20220307-140217.jpg

 

But .... 


IMG-20220307-140309.jpg

 

Some 9 mm are lost on each side. Where?

 

1. Wingtip is about 5mm too short

 

IMG-20220307-140358.jpg

 

Another 4 mm are lost at wing root
IMG-20220307-140414.jpg

 

I haven't measured S.23 yet, but it seems to me the wingspan should be slightly wider too
IMG-20220307-144018.jpg

 

 

I don't like the nose, cockpit should be moved ~10 mm astern. I am not sure about the wing, need more careful studying but it may need to be moved astern too. All the cabin windows are way off


IMG-20220307-173742.jpg


 

  • Like 14
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Pin changed the title to The tale of two Empires. 1/72 Short S.23 and S.21

Should be a splendid subject, I will watch with interest:thumbsup:

 

Does anybody mould a Short G Class - now that would be a spectacular build, particularly in RAF service with 2 x 4 gun BP upper turrets?

 

Pete

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whatan excellent subject.  This should be an epic model and will be one of the biggest and most British things ever. 

I hope you can complete this during the Group  build. 

 

I searched for your mercury build article but cannot find any.  Can you post a link or some more pictures of her. 

 

Colin 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Colin W said:

I searched for your mercury build article but cannot find any.  Can you post a link or some more pictures of her. 

 

Colin, the link is in the very first message, just click on it  :)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, CliffB said:

Will you be staying 'full hull', or water-lining them?

These are planes, not ships. Even waterlined ships seem somewhat castrated to me 

  • Like 2
  • Haha 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Added two inserts to increase wingspan to match the scale

 

IMG-20220315-165928.jpg

 

IMG-20220315-183828.jpg


IMG-20220315-183833.jpg


IMG-20220327-172440.jpg

 

Panel lines are drawn according to photos. Moved windows but some proportions are off and cannot be fixed without major surgery


IMG-20220327-172503.jpg

 

Strips of transparent plastic, sanded smooth and polished
IMG-20220403-204403.jpg

 

Copied engines, props and cowlings from S.23
IMG-20220403-205252.jpg

 

  • Like 14
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Nice to see an S23 in progress. Interesting to see it next to the S21 - it seems bizarre to me that Shorts designed a whole new aeroplane to act as a launcher for the Mercury. 

 

I have a home made S23 vac sitting on my printer waiting for me to pick it up again, but I will watch yours instead for now! 
 

Regards,

Adrian

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think an Empire would have had trouble getting off the ground with a fully loaded Mercury on top.  A bigger wing and more powerful(?) engines would make a lot of difference.

 

Oops.  Water, of course.  Change to "getting into the air",

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I will follow your build with interest. I also have the Maya (the Aircraft in Miniature version, with thicker black plastic) and the CMR Empire to make. The Maya have the parts already cut and sanded, if I remember well. May be its time to bring it closer to the work bench.

 

Carlos

Edited by CarLos
typo
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...