2 x Part Built / Incomplete PK-127 to make a “Quad Otter”

[Rob S]

Owing to a number of factors not the least of which have been an enforced House move and then a still undiagnosed illness I haven’t been able to do much of anything let alone some modelling and taking part in this fantastic GB.  

 

However having been feeling a fair bit better in the last week or so I was sorting through some of the damaged Matchbox kits that I “inherited” and one of these kits happened to be a Twin Otter that had some (well maybe more than “some”) parts missing as well as damaged parts.  This combined with having bought a Twin Otter that was supposed to have been unbuilt but upon inspection at home after shelling out the cash for it it proved to have been largely built and badly at that.  

 

So what to do with these two “Bitsas”?  

 

Well nothing initially other than both kits being reduced to parts but then I happened to be wandering through some old Air Internationals and opened the September 1980 issue that I had “used” before by enlarging the plans of the BAe concept for the AST 403 to make a 1:72 model of it.  Funnily enough another article in this issue was on the DHC Dash 7 which even though the Dash 7 was a favourite aircraft I hadn’t read the article only looked at some of the pictures (where have we heard that phrase before?).  Anyway to cut a rather long story short the article detailed the “road” from the Twin Otter to the Dash 7 and included a small early Plan of the 1967 concept for the Dash 7 that looked literally and figuratively “midway” between the Twin Otter and the Dash 7. 

 

Hence the seed was sown for the idea of a “Quad Otter” from the bits and pieces of the two Twin Otter “bitsas”.  

 

I’ve made a bit of a start and will post photos in due course but just to mention that as this has progressed I haven’t been bound by either Plans of the early concept or the Dash 7 but have made up a number of things along the way simply because it worked out “easier” to do something that way when hacking up the kits to sort of fit in with the concept/s but most of all have a bit of fun with it to try and get back into the swing of things without being bound by accuracy or rivet counting.  

 

Till next time and the photos or it never happened ... 

 

[Rabbit Leader]

Good to see this thread up and running and I’m not surprised it’s taken something as quirky as this to get your modelling mojo running. Having seen some small progress photos, I can vouch to the others that work is well and truly underway. Looks interesting and quite good! 
 

Cheers and best of luck with how far you get.. Dave 

[P-3s rule]

Good to see you back at your modelling desk mate. Your mojo is returning!

[Ray S]

I am looking forward to seeing how the 'Quatter' turns out, and it sounds a great idea!

 

All the best with the build, Ray

Edited May 24, 2022 by Ray S
corrected spelling

[Galligraphics]

Ooh - interesting... 

[Rob S]

OK I finally got the Apple to talk to the Orange and then got the Orange to upload the Potatoes ...

 

In other words some photos or it never happened ... 

 

So first off here is the offending Air International that planted the seed of madness :

 

 

 

And this is the Article that I actually read years ago and blew up the Plans to make the BAe concept for AST403 :

 

 

 

And if you are wondering how big that turned out in 1:72 well the basis of it was a Matchbox Tornado F3 basically cut in half and widened to spread out the engines and the cranked delta was made from Mirage 2000 and F-111 wings.  Yes that's how big it was! 

 

So to the Article I never actually read at the time but held the all important "road" to the Dash 7 from the Twin Otter :

 

 

 

Which of course had the all important three view Drawings of the early concept of what the Dash 7 might be like  :

 

 

 

If that's blurry then you need Glasses ...

 

And of course it also had three view Drawings of the real Dash 7 :

 

 

 

Which might come in handy later if I get the "must build it" bug as well as being able to be used as a "Guide" if I want this Quad Otter (or Quotter as Ray termed it) to look more like a Dash 7 than the early concept for the Dash 7. 

 

The next step was to blow up (on the Printer that can be incrementally enlarged and not with a stick of Gelly) the early concept Plans and see what it looked like :

 

 

 

This was basically sized in relation to what a "circularised" Twin Otter Fuselage would look like. 

 

The next step was to take the Fuselage pieces and cutting one up to use just the constant cross section fuselage and cutting the other up to accommodate this constant cross section as a fuselage extention as well as kicking up the Tail to see what it might look like :

 

 

 

Note that the "Bitsa" kit/s - particularly the one used for the constant cross section fuselage extension - have some degree of damage that did create some issues as the build progressed but as the "Bog" Saying goes "In Bog we Trust" hopefully the Bog been able to remedy any damage. 

 

So to be able to pick it up and "play" with it I taped the bits together and my it looks like it might be a thirty something seater :

 

 

 

Well that might do for starters.  I will update this further tomorrow (today now as it's waaayyy after midnight so I better not feed myself as who knows what I'll turn into!) and more after that as things progress. 

 

Again the important thing here was to have some fun. 

 

[JOCKNEY]

Great to hear you are on the mend Rob.

 

The Dash 7 looks brilliant but, you are definitely going to need bigger floats 

 

Good luck mate.

 

Cheers Pat 

[Rob S]

Thanks Pat.  It'll probably take another 3 to 6 months depending on what it is but hopefully I'll be properly back on deck by then. 

 

This one is going to have Undercarriage and Wheels a bit like a Dash 7 and not the Tandem setup of the early Concept - so sorry no Floats even though I probably could have made ones big enough from the Floats from both Kits! 

 

[Rob S]

OK so some more photos to add fuel to the fire ...

 

One of the next things to do was to start hacking some of the Kit/s plastic and just as well it's good 'ol hard and tough Matchbox plastic as there is lots of hacking and sawing and not to mention bogging to come down the track. 

 

So with the premise of trying to hack every required part out of the existing Kit/s I looked at the Wing and tried to work out the best (read easiest) way to produce what was required which in most cases meant only using the Plans as a Guide as if the part/s being hacked in an "easy" way didn't match the Plans perfectly it didn't matter.  To the Wings then :

 

 

 

Using the glued together set from Part Built Kit (PBK) and the upper surfaces (the only available parts of the Wing) from the Missing / Damaged Kit (MDK) the basic planform of the Wing was established. 

 

Sorry rudely interrupted there for about half an hour but to continue ... 

 

As you can see the PBK Wing was used for the "Wing Box" with the Straight Leading Edge saved for the new angled Leading Edge (and as you will see not successful) and the Upper Surfaces from the MDK used for the Double Slotted Flaps. 

 

Next the broken Tail Section of the MDK was used to hack out the new highly angled Rudder and then promptly set aside until much later : 

 

 

 

It was at this point that I probably had an urge to exhibit what a lot of Aircraft Modellers do but won't admit to and that is make some droning aircraft engine noises accompanied by swishing the offending part through the air.  This was done under the basis of checking out the future engine installation and alignment thus :

 

 

 

Having partially satisified that urge I realised that the Leading and Trailing Edges weren't going to cut the Mustard so bit the Bullet and used suitably sized Rod for the Leading Edge and thick and strong enough Strip for the Trailing Edge / Flap "Housing" :

 

 

 

Strip not visible there but can be seen here where I have decided to "strip" the Fuselage to line it up a bit better :

 

 

 

Also as you can see as well as increasing the Chord of the "Wing Box" the Span has also been increased :

 

 

 

That's it for this update so until next time we sing the traditional song of "Bog, Bog, Bog, Bog, Bog, Bog, Bog, Bog" sung to the tune of Disney's Mickey Mouse March (and no I'm not paying any Royalties to them!). 

 

Edited May 26, 2022 by Rob S
Interruption.

[Rob S]

So as if to make it appear that this is moving along faster than a speeding - well almost speeding - common Garden Slug here's some more photos and explanations. 

 

Those studying for their Observation Badges Stage III will have noted that the moving parts of the Tail Planes have been cut out from a set of the existing Tail Planes. 

 

So taking the plunge and putting together the Fuselage on the strip "runners" resulted in this photo (again if it's blurry you need Glasses) :

 

 

 

And as if this was a case of "Spot the Difference" carefully note the cutting out of the upper Fuselage "Spine" including another cut out to run around the vertical Fin :

 

 

 

And again as a Supplementary to OB Stage III note the Fillet to the vertical Fin. 

 

And so it was back to the old Tune of "Bog, Bog, Bog, etc" as the Fuselage and Wings were layered in Tamiya Basic Filler :

 

 

 

Again there are some more Supplementary Observations to be made if you want that highly sought after OB Stage III. 

 

Here is a photo of my "Offsider" otherwise known as "Number Two Driver" who sometimes answers to "Jock" :

 

 

 

You can see how quickly he has grown from when I picked "Snoopy" up from the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm last September :

 

 

 

Till next time - it never happened unless there are photos to see! 

 

[Ray S]

At the rate that this is going, this is going to be the 'ultimate' PK-127 build!

 

Incredible work, and an amazing co-pilot too.

 

Ray

[Rob S]

46 minutes ago, Ray S said:

At the rate that this is going, this is going to be the 'ultimate' PK-127 build!

 

Incredible work, and an amazing co-pilot too.

 

Ray

 

Thanks Ray.  It is pretty rough though so won't be anywhere near as good as your "twin" Twin Otter builds. 

 

And yes He is an amazing Co-Pilot but very demanding - like having Kids all over again. 

 

[Wings unlevel]

I’ve been waiting for the PK-254 Quad Otter to join the Matchbox GB! 

[Rob S]

So onto the next phase in the build and remember that "Bog, Bog, Bog, etc" tune?  Well it's about to get even more enjoyable or annoying depending on your love or other of Modelling Filler ...

 

From both set of Plans you can see that the Fuselage sides are at least curved in the early Concept and basically circular in the case of the "real" Dash 7.  So something has to be done about three of the Fuselage sides of the modified Twin Otter Fuselage.  I could think of no other way other than to make suitably curved ribs basically in line with Fuselage Frames and to make the Windows obvious use cut Tube to demark where they are with the possible intention of filling them with White Glue or Krystal Kleer to see if I can get some sort of Window effect.  Also the use of scrap Strip and Rod around them should minimise the use of the inevitable Filler. 

 

So onto the photos or it didn't happen ...

 

Hang on!  I must mention first that as a distraction I started on the Undercarriage which I had decided was going to be Dash 7 / Dash 8 style twin wheel (albeit non-retracting) rather than the Concept's Fixed Tandem Wheel arrangement.  So again sticking to cutting up what was in the Kit/s I shaved the Legs from the Ski parts with a supporting strut from the Kit's Fuselage to Wing Struts and added suitable thin rod from the Float Support Framework thus :

 

 

 

Onto the making of the curved Fuselage and I'll let the photos do the "a Picture is worth a Thousand Words" bit ...

 

 

 

 

 

And of course there is then the other side which I took more of a step by step photo approach to  :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't know how you feel but I'm exhausted just looking at that now so until next update : "Bog, Bog, Bog. etc". 

 

[Rob S]

17 minutes ago, Wings unlevel said:

I’ve been waiting for the PK-254 Quad Otter to join the Matchbox GB! 

 

 

Just imagine what "Series" it would have been in if Matchbox had done something like a Dash 7, Mohawk, or F-50. 

 

[Rob S]

OK final update for tonight and to somewhat bring it up to date as I have literally bogged down on the build (Boom Boom Tish Thank-you!  Thank-you!). 

 

To the Spine on the Fuselage "Roof" was added some different size Rods behind suitably sized curved "Ribs" (but not as many Ribs as on the sides!) :

 

 

 

The Wing Box location was then determined mathematically based on the Weight Distribution and the Aerofoil section being used (Oh Yeah!  Sure!) and the required cuts made :

 

 

 

The "Base" of the Wing Box was then fabricated and placed in position to see what the "fit" was like.  Later the Wing Box was completed after the Kit locating Tabs on the Wing Roots were enlarged  : 

 

 

 

The Bogging process was then started on the "Roof" and the partially sanded Wings were fitted to make more Aircraft Noises and Swooping - I mean Test Fitting and check for basic wing dihedral and also just the size of the thing :

 

 

 

 

 

The next update will be a lot smaller as as above when I cracked the Joke that Won the War it's a bit bogged down but will include hopefully solving the problem of only having two Engines and Props and only two more Engine "Faces" - somehow the rest of the Engine parts and Props were missing and/or destroyed unfortunately.  Then again I could just steal them from another Twin Otter Kit and turn it into being powered by something else?  Small Turbofans a la Do328JET? 

 

[Rabbit Leader]

I was gonna say “photos or it never happened”, however I think you’ve more than made up for it in these last few posts. Certainly something not exactly common, however that’s what probably made this whole project so appealing. Keep going (and sanding!!). 
Cheers.. Dave 

[Rob S]

On 5/27/2022 at 9:29 AM, Rabbit Leader said:

I was gonna say “photos or it never happened”, however I think you’ve more than made up for it in these last few posts. Certainly something not exactly common, however that’s what probably made this whole project so appealing. Keep going (and sanding!!). 
Cheers.. Dave 

 

Thanks Dave  SANDING being the operative word! 

 

[Rob S]

Like that line out of "Lord of the Rings" - "And so it begins ..." ... SANDING that is and not Battle. 

 

But before that I had to solve the issue of not having enough components for the third and fourth Engines. 

 

Basically all I had for them was the Prop/Intake Faces and the Upper Wings which are a little distance from where the Prop/Intake Faces are. 

 

So out came the Packets of Tube and a suitably sized diameter of Tube fitted both the Prop circle and the Intake "circle" however obviously they intersect so one had to be sliced longitudinally on a Chord of the Circular cross section.  So that solved the gap back to the Wing.  I should have mentioned that I called these "third and fourth Engines" when in fact they now have to be the first and second Engines as these one have to house the Undercarriage.  So from the "double bubble" Tubes to under the Wings I had to build a "Box" structure to house the Undercarriage.  Of course this had to be bogged up for later sanding shaping and of course filling gaps which is really what Filler is for and not sculpting strange shapes. 

 

 

 

 

 

Now I can say "AND SO IT BEGINS" ... "Sand, Sand, Sand, Sand, etc" replacing "Bog" in the Traditional Song. 

 

Fuselage looking a bit "Rounder" :

 

 

 

Still pretty rough though :

 

 

 

Other side :

 

 

 

And even the Wings are starting to look "Aerodynamic" :

 

 

 

 

 

That's about it for now. 

 

The next step on the Fuselage will be to Prime it and do more sanding to determine where the "Whoops" are and try to make it look like a bought one.  While the "First and Second" Engines and Undercarriage Bays have a lot more bogging and shaping before they can match up to their respective positions on the Wings. 

 

[Grandboof]

Awesome kit bashing . Is the fuel burn good enough to make it an Eco-Otter? 

Martin H

[Richard E]

The best sort of WHIF - a What Could Have Been !

[Rob S]

8 minutes ago, Grandboof said:

Awesome kit bashing . Is the fuel burn good enough to make it an Eco-Otter? 

Martin H

 

Thanks Martin. 

 

Seeing this “Concept” is dated between 1967 and about 1973 that is before any “Oil Shock” I’m afraid anything “Eco” just wasn’t on the Radar. 

 

Just saw your Profile. Are you in Brisbane?  

 

[Rob S]

4 minutes ago, Richard E said:

The best sort of WHIF - a What Could Have Been !

 

Thanks Richard. 

 

Yes it really is the best sort of Whiff being based on some fact/s but also a fair bit of latitude for design interpretation especially when “sandwiched” between two “facts” as bookends. 

 

[Rob S]

OK well did do some work on what are now the first and second engines and after hacking off the inner and outer Upper Wings to which they were mounted on I used the outer parts of the Upper Wings to make the Horizontal plane of the "T" Tail by symmetrically gluing them together after already cutting out the Elevators from the second set of Tail Planes and gluing them together with a centre piece.  Unfortunately I was having so much fun that I neglected to take photos!  So maybe it didn't happen ... or did it? 

 

Well maybe that urge to make flying noises and swoops reared it's ugly head or maybe I just wanted to see what the thing was going to look like so out came the Race/Duct Tape and some of these bits and pieces were slapped together to see exactly what this was going to look like thus :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even Jock was so interested to have a look he hadn't even time to change out of his PJs :

 

 

 

Now the hard work starts to take it all apart and continue to fix up all of the roughness. 

 

(And I didn't even get to make any noises or swooping!) 

 

[Ray S]

I only have three words to say about this:

 

IN BLOOMIN CREDIBLE!

 

Ray (who now sees Twin Otters in a different light)