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VFR Models PA23 Apache


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I have made a start on this interesting kit by VFR ( alias Bangseat on this forum).  I have no real idea of what colour the interior should be but  I have just guessed it at the moment unless someone can come up with more accurate idea of what it should be,

So far ,as mentioned the interior is painted and inserted in to the one piece fuselage,  The instrument panel is a real joy and crisp in detail with very tiny and fragile flying controls as separate parts.   The glazing is vac form and in one piece which I have successfully trimmed to fit leaving a little down the sides so that it will fit in to the cabin area . But doing a trial run, the main fuselage sides at the cabin opening are a tad too wide. What to do?? Should I somehow make the clear part go wider or clamp the side s inward to match the clear part. Both seem risky to me.

 

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The cabin area painted but showing the mas forest like casting block. IT took some careful going through to release the flight deck/cabin area.  The angle of the part on the casting block forest helped with painting .
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Temporarily fitted in to place.
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The tail flying surfaces. These have since been removed from the block with the base of the fin splintering a little but I was able to recover the bits that did come away and re fit them. More better pics to come .

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This should be interesting! I built VFR’s Socata Tampico (there’s a WIP somewhere in this forum) — it was my first go at a 3D printed kit and definitely a learning experience! I’ll be interested to see how this one comes out.

 

-Bill

 

 

p.s.  Found my WIP for the Tampico. Here’s a link, hopefully you will find it helpful 😉

 

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235086253-172-socata-tb9-tampico/

 

- Bill

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Thanks for the link to your Tampico build. Very inspiring but I doubt I will do so much extra work. This, too, is  my first 3D kit and a bit apprehensive about it.  Regarding those striations ,on this kit they don't appear at all except for some very faint ones but the quality is so very fine and good. 

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I'm sure I've flown in Apaches with original factory upholstery but I can't for the life of me remember the colours. Aztecs (1959 on) tended to be a riot of beige but I'm sure there were brighter options.

Rest assured there are very few Apaches left with an original interior, I think the red seats look great!

 

 

 

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Again, not sure what colours are correct for the interior, but red certainly does not look wrong! Maybe not an original colour, but I’m sure some would have been reupholstered over the decades and I bet red ones exist.

 

Following this one, as I have another VFR Models AA-5 kit waiting in the wings designed and printed by @Bangseat. Looking forward to starting once I have some space on the bench!😂

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Nice to see the Aztec and other light aircraft being given a chance. I think 3d printing lends itself to this kind of subject. I am on my first 3d model only I am giving myself a challenge with a Fairey III. As for internal colours I think you can choose as you like, who's going to tell you that it's wrong.

 

Keith

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@Paul J lovely to see one being built. Following with interest!

 

Striations were fairly pronounced on kits produced on old tech as @billn53 will recall, but things have really improved since the advent of higher resolution mono lcd screens. My current printers are good but there is already better stuff out there, I can definitely foresee a future where resolution is so good the parts won't even need a light sand, which is when I can start doing raised rivets (kit designer heaven).

 

@Back in the Saddle would love to see an aa5 built, was rather pleased with how that came out. 

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Thanks for comments everyone.  I found some good pics on line( its funny how I forget to look things up for info I need... ) with variations on upholstery style and colours. I chose one that looks right for the red white option of the kit.

Here are a few more pics. Slow progress though.

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Kit box and bits.
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Some of the delicate looking parts. Not looking forward to trimming the u/c doors and using those u/c legs!
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My interior painting with some light grey added to the seats basing it on the images found on line. I really do need to tidy up the painting. I a finding it increasingly difficult to hold the model in my shaky left hand I do have a clamp thingy but it won't hold the model as is very well.
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The vac form part successfully trimmed and interior primed witha sandy colour and then overpainted with light grey. Looks rough but when the outside is done it , hopefully , will look better.
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Alongside my other Aurora Aztec for comparison.

There is room for nose weight which is a good thing , before the nose cap goes on

 

As it looks cooler today , I will try and do some more.

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Well, I got a bit further today. After some very messy attempts in gluing the clear vac part to the fuselage with PVA failing, I resorted to using Cyano to fix it. This worked by sparingly applying glue with the pointy end of a scalpel a bit at a time until it was done all the way round..  But before fixing the part, it needed some more very, very careful trimming with a new blade until the part fitted squarely to the opening.

 

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Perched on my 'third hand( it doesn't shake like my real hand) and the cabin glazing tacked in place with pva before it got messy.
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Now properly glued in place. I managed to get a really nice flush fit at the rear end of the vac form part to the main resin part. The good thing is it follows a natural panel line. ( nice clever design by Bangseat 👍!)  The slightly over wide sides to the fuselage on both sides that gave a step with the clear part was solved by careful scraping down until a satisfactory join was achieved.
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U/C doors in place. One snapped during separation from the casting/printing block but easily fixed.
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Glazing masked and prepared for priming.
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Primer on....
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.... and now waiting for gloss white..... but I am out of it so will have to wait for a convenient time to visit Halfords for replenishing.

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Bought a can of Rustoleum gloss white aerosol......what a load of@#$^^! It gave a scale representation of a perfect pebble dash  finish!!!! So when it dried it was a case of wet and dry. 

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What a shame - I get on very well with their paints - their Plastic primer is excellent - in fact I tend to use that on its own sometimes when I want a white finish - it leaves a semi -matt sheen and can be buffed nicely with a piece of old t shirt

 

TT

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On 7/31/2022 at 10:22 AM, MD530F said:

The missus has a 1955 model Apache that she's rebuilding. I'll post photos of the interior tonight if it would be of assistance.

I guess I don't need to send you a link to this thread after all! 😂

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Not progressing too much due to it being rather sweltering in my shed late in the day so I now will try and get on in the mornings when its decidedly cooler.  So far I have managed to get a can of appliance white and applied it, masked the white areas and airbrushed the red areas.

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Then when I went to remove the masking, to my horror, the tape left all its horrid sticky goo all over my lovely white finish!!! AAAARGH!!!!

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I didn't expect the heat inside the shed affecting the masking tape. You can't quite make it out in the pic above . But due to the emergency, I did not take any more pics as I focussed on cleaning up the mess.  I also had to try and remove the 'underspray' where some of the red bled . This caused more panic while I tried to remove the red. That was last night.  Early this morning I tidied up as much as I could and then resorted to masking all the red areas with Maskol( not every ones favourite) as it was safer to apply. I dolloped on as much as I could and tried to get as sharp an edge possible. Then resprayed some of the white with  a light coat of primer again as when I sanded down a few rough spots it was needed. Then followed it with another couple light coats of the gloss white.   Later this afternoon as the sun started to go down, I started to remove the liquid mask and  what appeared to be fairly successful. I am going to wait until much later or until the morning before I remove any more to ensure the white has hardened.  WIth this heat my hands were feeling sticky is also a reason to wait to avoid making things bad again.

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Nice to see some General Aviation being built - and interested to follow a VFR build. My preferred scale is 1/48 (suits my eyes and fat fingers) - and VFR seem to be picking off plenty of my favourites (but in 1/72!). 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

This is now finished. RFI images now posted.   Apart from the hot weather stopping me from doing much the decals were very troublesome especially the white items from the separate sheet. See pics in RFI.  Not one of my happier builds but its done now.

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