How do I build a Devon out of this?

[k5054nz]

Hi all,

A few months ago a friend gave me this:

 

And, by chance, another mate's Dad is paring down his stash and I acquired this from him yesterday:

 

So now: how do I produce an RNZAF Devon from these two items? The vac came as-is - no instructions nor even a clue as to who made it - and I'd like to replicate this airframe:

 

Any and all leads, links and wisdom will be gratefully received!

[David Womby]

Try finding Airfix Magazine January 1967.  Alan W Hall converted a Heron to a Sea Devon.  You could follow his article but use the vac fuselage.

 

David

[RJP]

The Alan Hall article included drawings by Richard L Ward, a useful thing to have.  The article was probably less a challenge for modellers back then - 55 years ago! - than now since the entire fuselage was carved from balsa and the grain sealed with talcum and dope.  I suspect, in this day of resin and aftermarket, the skill needed is an unopened - or burnt and buried - book.  I know I never mastered the art.

 

Ian Huntley had useful drawings in SAM September 1986.

[stevehnz]

Your fuselage looks like an Airmodel one, they were a range of vac conversions from Germany back in the  1980s-90s. The quality was variable. The furthest I ever got with one was the Sikorsky S-15, Westland Dragonfly kit, if you can call rear fuselage halves & clear cockpit halves a kit. My cockpit has gone yellow. Good luck with a build, the suggestion of using this fuselage with the Heron kit in a conversion makes a lot of sense. I've a couple of fuselages already cut out, sing out if you'd like them.

Steve.

[modelldoc]

Why this hard work?

 

Search for that:

 

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/amodel-72334-dh104-devon--1096951

 

and you have these result:

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/21603181@N08/47937957042/in/photolist-2g37yuJ

 

modelldoc

[bentwaters81tfw]

Magna did one in Resin as well, I have one.

[kev67]

When I was a teenager I converted the old Airfix Heron into a Devon, with quite good results for me at the time 

[k5054nz]

10 hours ago, modelldoc said:

Why this hard work?

Because these were gifts, I have no money and I'm keen to challenge myself?

[e8n2]

15 hours ago, modelldoc said:

Why this hard work?

modelldoc

Because they are A-Model kits, which are not always the easiest to build.  Ask me how I know.  I have several of them in the stash and have built four of them.  The TU-128 needed lots and lots of filler and sanding, the Avanti turned out OK, but the decals are not the greatest.  What got me was that a 72nd Avanti is about the same size as an F-16!  Plan on building the MiG-9 later on this year.

Later,

Dave

[Graham Boak]

I have recently made the AModel I-17 and Bf.109X, both very early AModel kits and definitely somewhat crude.  However neither of them caused as much trouble as the recent Airfix Blenheim (shelved partway for future struggles) or Hurricane.  (Not quite true about the Bf.109X, but that's a long and irrelevant story involving a conversion.  Self-inflicted, no fault of the kit.)   I can well imagine the problems with a Tu.128...  However the Dove is more recent, and I would expect it to be similar to their Jetstream which I do have,  Still not exactly Tamiya, but even at their previous standard there's no comparison to the problems presented by Airmodel conversions.  

 

However, as the OP has said he doesn't have the money for the AModel kit and is prepared to work with what he's got, how good AModel kits are becomes irrelevant.  Personally I'd sooner save up a bit longer, but everyone differs.  The more important thing now is to find out what is still needed, for example does the kit come with the correct canopy for a Devon?  Aer there differences in wheels, engine cowlings etc between Herons and a Devon?  Did Devons differ among themselves (bet they did)?.

[Admiral Puff]

I've got the Airfix Magazine that David Womby  mentions - if you want a copy of the Sea Devon article, pm me your email and I'll scoot across a scan.