LDM 1:48 CIERVA C30A Autogiro

[Farmer matt]

 

Hello and Welcome to another LDM white metal build.

 

I know I haven't finished the Jodel yet, but look what the postman just brought, thankfully whilst Mrs F was out doing Mrs F things.

 

c30.1 by Matt Farmer, on Flickr

c30.2 by Matt Farmer, on Flickr

c30.3 by Matt Farmer, on Flickr

c30.4 by Matt Farmer, on Flickr

c30.5 by Matt Farmer, on Flickr

 

Correctly described as 'complete but started', luckily they didn't get too far with it. There is enough glue on the pylon to hold the entire kit together, the wires attached to the rotor hub need trimming, and the seats are at an interesting angle. Beyond that, happy days.

 

An early boxing with the German markings, and also two very poor pilot figures (well, head and shoulders) of which the less said the better.

 

Probably won't start it just yet, but looking forward to it.

 

Matt.

 

 

 

[KayFranz]

Big Brother is watching U...  🕵️‍♂️

BTW - D-EKOP decals are incomplete.

[Farmer matt]

I'm more worried that Mrs F is watchng me.

[Farmer matt]

Closer inspection tempered my enthusiasm slightly, as it transpired that the u/c is not only potentially irretreivably twisted, but snapped at the starboard axle.

c30.6 by Matt Farmer, on Flickr

I suspect this would have happened during a test fit, as you have to hook this piece over the nose in a particular way to locate it.

Of note is that this is an early issue of the kit, and the u/c casting was changed to zinc later. Also, the wheels are cast in place for this release but were seperate on the later issue.

I decided that discretion was the better part of valor and will leave the pylon joined together, and clean up the glue residue.

Removing the seats revealed whatever adhesive was used to be pretty tough stuff.

@KayFranz, the decals are not exactly comprehensive, did you mean lacking in things like werknumber or potentially inaccurate? As a civil scheme pre-1936 would have had stripes on the starboard tail - not provided-, but post '36 a swastika both sides would be correct. 

I would also suggest that the G-ACUU decals should be silver, that has been discussed elsewhere on here, but that airframe carried many schemes it seems. EDIT don't know why I made this reference, the civil scheme is G-ACWR.

I do not intend using any of the kit decals anyway, I will probably do a later civil scheme.

 

Matt

 

[KayFranz]

In the decals, there are no weight descriptions (under the stabilizer), names of the type (above the flag or swastika), there is also no third registration of D -EKOP - it was on the upper surface of the stabilizer. It is also worth making thin red stripes on Fairey Reed.
And beware! D-EKOP was all silver. Good photos show the difference in the color of the hull and the rest and the white field of the German flag (Weimar).

Edited September 3, 2022 by KayFranz

[Farmer matt]

Inevitably I could not resist fidgeting with the Cierva, so first task to remove the rear seat to leave room for Johnny pilot.

The hole in the front of his plinth is for the rotor control to fit in from above.

c30.7 by Matt Farmer, on Flickr

Then front seat in to lower fuselage, Johnny into upper

c30.8 by Matt Farmer, on Flickr

Not much will be seen once the pieces are joined

c30.9 by Matt Farmer, on Flickr

But the u/c needs to be attached before that happens.

 

Matt

 

 

[k5054nz]

A friend of mine recently showed me a photo of his stash which includes this kit...I was so, so jealous to see it and now I'm excited to see you tackle it Matt!

[Farmer matt]

Attaching the undercarriage is something of a juggling act. You need to hook the casting over the front of the lower fuselage which is easier said than done and most probably how the part became damaged. Any fettling to the location and test fitting means hooking and unhooking again. Great fun.

c30.10 by Matt Farmer, on Flickr

 

As an added bonus, you cannot properly align the u/c without the upper fuselage in place, but you cannot attach the upper fuselage until the u/c is located.

So the solution was to position the u/c and then strap the upper fuselage down over it whilst it set.

c30.11 by Matt Farmer, on Flickr

 

There will be a bit of filling needed to tidy up around the locations once the fuselage halves are properly joined, which is the next task.

 

Matt.

 

[ianwau]

That looks like so much fun Matt (in a good way). I'm sure it will come together beautifully with a few more hours work.  Following with interest.

[Farmer matt]

Time to join the fuselage halves properly. A bit of adjusting showed that filler would still be needed in most areas so I just aimed for straight and level and taped her up.

c30.12 by Matt Farmer, on Flickr

As you can see, the tail in particular will need some work

c30.13 by Matt Farmer, on Flickr

An odd feature, presumably for aerodynamic reasons, is that the port stabilisor is set higher than the starboard.

c30.14 by Matt Farmer, on Flickr

And so on with a large quantity of filler. I find that masking tape is helpful to control the first heavy application, otherwise you just get filler everywhere and lots of unnecessary tidying.

c30.15 by Matt Farmer, on Flickr

Hopefully it will clean up ok, we will find out later.

 

Matt

 

 

 

 

 

[TEXANTOMCAT]

Excellent stuff I have one of these in the stash sadly sans decals! Following!

 

TT

[ianwau]

What putty are you using for the fuse Matt?  My default for 'large gaps' is Milliput Fine White - but looks like you have an alternate solution.

[Farmer matt]

@ianwau This is just Humbrol model filler, I find it works just as well on the metal as anything else. It looks dramatic here, but thats why its masked so I can be a bit heavy handed with the application. 

There are not so much gaps as mismatch steps.

@TEXANTOMCAT, you are not really missing much with the decals, assuming you were doing G-ACUU you only get the reg and some stripes. EDIT the civil scheme is G-ACWR

 

Cleaning up showed a bit more of a step on the port side than I would have liked but nothing too dramatic. Will have another look at it later.

 

Matt

[Malc2]

Well you are knocking these out at a fast rate!

Soon you will have the whole collection done?

 

Malc.

[John_W]

Reminds me of a 1930s Dinky toy. Should have a couple of rivets in the bottom and "Made in England".

[Farmer matt]

@John_W it does have this...

c30.18 by Matt Farmer, on Flickr

@Malc2 The low parts count is largely responsible. It is the construction part of a build that interests me so I tend to crack on. Detailing and painting I find frustrating, and usually serve to stuff up a good build. Being on here has motivated me to make more effort and stops me just sidelining a build thats going awry. The ASK would have been consigned to the shelf of doom at several points in the latter stages for example. The Jodel (not forgotten but a bit stalled) would probably still just be a vague idea if I wasn't sharing.

I will probably now try and get more if they turn up, and the financial director allows. That was certainly never my intention previously.

With a bit of luck the postman will be bringing something very special quite soon!

Anyway enough rambling.

After some cleaning up, some more filler on the port side, some more cleaning up, and a few smears applied before the pics, we have

c30.16 by Matt Farmer, on Flickr

c30.17 by Matt Farmer, on Flickr

Once those last smears of filler are cleaned up that hopefully will have cracked it. I will get some primer on then to make sure as I don't want to be cleaning up around struts and things.

 

Matt

 

 

[Farmer matt]

So on with some primer which only threw up a few minor points for attention

c30.19 by Matt Farmer, on Flickr

c30.20 by Matt Farmer, on Flickr

And whilst playing with the paint, a start on her motive power

c30.21 by Matt Farmer, on Flickr

These can actually be about the last things to attach so can be painted up off the model

EDIT the engine locates into a handed hole in the nose, and should be checked for fit at this stage rather than later as it proved a bit snug, requiring some opening up.

 

Matt

 

[Malc2]

Great stuff, look forward to seeing which new LDM kit the postman will be bringing you!

There have been some real LDM bargains on the bay of E recently.

 

M.

[Farmer matt]

Hmmm. Bargain not quite the word I was thinking of. Except if Mrs F is enquiring of course.

Matt

[Malc2]

One of the most amusing bylines by a poster on retrorides is:-

When I die, I hope my wife does not sell my stuff for what I told her it cost me to buy!!!!!

 

So I guess you did not buy the Miles M14a Magister for a tenner?

Also sold was an LDM Mew Gull for £12.50 and a Pitts for £5!!

M.

 

 

Edited September 11, 2022 by Malc2

[Farmer matt]

Sadly I didn't see those, they were bargains indeed! The S1 seems to come up quite often. There is a Caudron in Canada which works out about £40, but I'm a bit wary of getting stung for vat and customs charges when it gets here so leaving that alone too.

Matt

[Fastcat]

Hi Matt,

           As you probably already know, G-ACUU was based at Elmdon in the '60s and I was lucky enough to see it in the flesh, so to speak. It was silver and red then but has had so many schemes at different times that there must be something to suit all tastes and abilities. It looked old fashioned even then and pretty scary with it. Funnily enough, I never once envied the pilot!

 

Dave 

[Farmer matt]

Thanks Dave, Sadly I have only ever seen the museum examples of which she is one. I have seen photos of G-ACUU in both silver and blue, and silver and a slightly odd red. If I do that airframe it will probably be with blue, but looking at AHTZ as possibly cream and red, not sure yet. 

Matt

[Fastcat]

Hi Matt,

              HTZ looks like a classy scheme, simple but effective. Good going on an old kit.

 

Dave

PS : I notice that HTZ was at both Elmdon and Baginton too, both Midlands airfields. Baginton was both the home for the King's Cup Air Race and the Lockheed Aerobatics Trophy for a number of years after Elmdon became too busy to host such events.

Edited September 12, 2022 by Fastcat

[Farmer matt]

With the fuselage join pretty much resolved, and incidentally I do much prefer a horizontal join to the traditional vertical, time to add some more struttery to the undercarriage.

The rearmost struts are supplied together on a runner

c30.22 by Matt Farmer, on Flickr

Unfortunately it is less than clear at either end where the part stops and runner begins, and the instructions are less than helpful at this point. 

c30.23 by Matt Farmer, on Flickr

The written instuctions simply say attach, there is no mention of the parts being handed (port has a step) and as you can see the diagram is not exactly explicit about location at the lower end. There is a notch in the fuselage at the upper end, but the junction of the struts at the wheel is left for you to determine. So, one side at a time, port first because that was the most willing to locate somewhere that looked about correct.

c30.24 by Matt Farmer, on Flickr

Not very graceful.

And then starboard , and I found my repair to the axle area was less than helpful at this point and it was easier to trim the part than try to clean up the excess glue.

c30.25 by Matt Farmer, on Flickr

Once that was set in place, time for the horizontal struts, for which wire is provided but I substituted plastic rod.

c30.26 by Matt Farmer, on Flickr

The overall alignment is better in some directions than others, but it is as good as I could make it without potential major surgery . The main undercarriage piece was probably a good idea but a bit too reliant on it casting cleanly and not becoming twisted or damaged subsequently. As I have mentioned, later issues of the kit had a zinc part which was hopefully more resilient.

 

Matt