Dhc Beaver civil floatplane

[rob Lyttle]

To start off in this GB I want to get on with a barely started Airfix Beaver that has been left behind in a flurry of of other projects. 

As you'll see, just the interior seating and a cleaned up roof with all the military junk removed, is all that's achieved prior to stalling the build. 

I've already done the Matchbox Norduyn Norseman on floats, and you could think of the DH Beaver as an updated Norseman, they look similar and do the same epic job as transport in the wild Canadian outback. 

The plan has always been for a civil floatplane skytruck. 

I'll get a couple of pics sorted to start off, and try to make a link from the stalled WIP to here, and hopefully make a decent attempt this time.... 😎

[rob Lyttle]

So here's the state of play...

It's this kit, of course, reissued currently in the Vintage Classic range....

First tooling in 1971.

The passenger and crew seats are done and dusted. 

I also got a bit of a steer previously that all the "stuff" that is moulded on the rooftop panel is military add-ons and needs removing, so that's done and the tailfin is glued in its slot.

The fuselage sides are supplied with round porthole windows behind the side doors and I noticed that a lot of the civil planes have a bigger window fitted. Before I had time to talk myself out of it, I started carving the different opening. Now I need to fabricate a suitable transparency for it 😶🤭

One other thing I embarked on was taming one of the floats. A common feature on floats is a red hazard line or lines at the position of the propeller,as a warning. Airfix decided to mould these as raised strips right around....

Don't forget, this was 1971, and it probably seemed like a good idea to facilitate the painting of the Red Stripes.

Well, the other float has been sorted, nice and smooth now.

So that's the state of things as I try to get back in the saddle with this one.

Floats can be a little tricky to assemble 🤣 and do the rigging....😂😡🤯 I'll be looking for ways to facilitate this process and reduce levels of anxiety 🧚

[marvinneko]

4 hours ago, rob Lyttle said:

Now I need to fabricate a suitable transparency for it 😶🤭

 

I'd like to watch that. I need to make a new canopy for a Hurricane and I have some Minicraft venturas I picked up cheap that need windows put into their solid noses. I'm thinking plunge molding. Not sure what you have in mind. I'm almost finished a crazy large project that will let me get back to models soon I hope.

[dnl42]

Nice 

[CliffB]

Welcome to the Group Build Rob.  It's nice to see some more civvy stuff making an appearance 

[Marklo]

Nice choice Rob. Welcome to the GB.

[rob Lyttle]

11 hours ago, marvinneko said:

some Minicraft venturas I picked up cheap that need windows put into their solid noses.

I've got a spare Airfix Hudson fuselage with side windows, nose transparency and aiming window if you think that would be any use. I'm using the kit as donor for a vacform Lodestar. 

It's ancient Airfix, clear parts a bit dimpled and raised rivets like a rash, but you're welcome to it if you think you can use it, Marvin 

Me fabricating window parts is not a slick operation! But we love a challenge...... 😎

[rob Lyttle]

57 minutes ago, Marklo said:

Welcome to the GB.

Thanks @Marklo. It's a pretty irresistible theme, isn't it? I can tell you now there's not enough time! 🤔

[themcgarvie]

I have just started one of these too! I'll share pics soon.

My long goal is to create a Carribean-themed diorama (never done one so will be 'interesting') to recrate a memory of a trip we took to the carribean.

So, my question is, decals. Where can I get some non-military decals that might be suitable?

[themcgarvie]

16 hours ago, rob Lyttle said:

 

Don't forget, this was 1971, and it probably seemed like a good idea to facilitate the painting of the Red Stripes.

Well, the other float has been sorted, nice and smooth now.

Thanks for the tip @rob Lyttle ... Just looked at a couple of reference photos for the style of painting I'm wanting to do and never twigged these raised bits are not there!

Edited May 3, 2023 by themcgarvie

[rob Lyttle]

15 minutes ago, themcgarvie said:

So, my question is, decals.

Now there's a question, garvie.! 

The whole civil genre is very badly served esp by the kit makers themselves. There's quite a bit of aftermarket small producers of decals and add on parts. Sometimes very hard to obtain and as expensive as the kit, or more. 

I've had a couple of forays into making my own, and it's much easier than you would think. So don't be scared of it, esp if you are any good on computer graphics. That's the hard part, I find. 

 

 

This is the little Lockheed L10 Electra which came with decal options for the Romanian Airforce and Spanish War!!!! 😳😕

I mean, seriously???? 

So I'd encourage you to at least look into it. 

26Decals is very good (Ray) and he's on here at BM. His website seems to be down at the moment though. 

[themcgarvie]

Yeah, I have tentativley atarted to look at priting my own... Any guides out there for getting the scale right?

[rob Lyttle]

You can probably go all scientific with precise measurements, but I'm a bit more shambolic than that, and usually getting by on an android phone and a chromebook, which isn't ideal. 

I print what I have on plain paper, cut bits out and try them out on the model, then modify the size etc and try again. When I've got the sizing sorted, then I print on the decal paper. 

The only thing is, the covering power of the decal is less than a commercial item. If there's a change of colour in the background it'll show. But you can always print a double lot and apply another one exactly on top. 

White is out of the question except by leaving a clear section and letting the white background show through. There's white decal paper of course but then you get white borders to deal with. 

But I'm still very much feeling my way with this whole process. 

By the way, keep a look out for the old Matchbox Norduyn Norseman kit. Very similar to the Beaver but it does come with a civil option on the sheet and they are usually still OK to use. Not carribean of course, it's Canadian, but it's a start! 😎

[marvinneko]

10 hours ago, rob Lyttle said:

I've got a spare Airfix Hudson fuselage with side windows, nose transparency and aiming window if you think that would be any use. I'm using the kit as donor for a vacform Lodestar. 

It's ancient Airfix, clear parts a bit dimpled and raised rivets like a rash, but you're welcome to it if you think you can use it, Marvin 

Me fabricating window parts is not a slick operation! But we love a challenge...... 😎

 

That's very kind but the postage over the pond would be more than a whole new kit. Much appreciated though! I'll watch here and experiment at home.

[rob Lyttle]

I found a spare pilot figure from the Matchbox Norseman build who looks much less militaristic.He was given a baseball cap by adding a peak above his face.

 

Then I had a rummage in the "figures" spares box and found a lady sitting on luggage, being from a model railways set. Careful removal of the luggage enabled her to take a seat behind, with an enhanced magazine on her lap. I've added a little pip of putty filler to the back of the head which should paint up as a bun.

 

The instrument panel is removed here,it wasn't coming to a satisfactory position in the cockpit. It's now glued in place in the fuselage half.

A window has been made 🤯 Good grief, what a self-inflicted hassle. My 3rd effort finally came close enough to be glued in,and filled around.

It may be the fact that the shape is a trapezoid type of thing that added to the difficulty. I've done quite a few rectangular style windows with radiused corners and got there, but this was a different level altogether.

And I've got the port side to do still 😶

Some Ali tape has been added to the cockpit door in an effort to make it a slightly less perfect fit, like it's been opened and closed several hundred times. I don't know if it'll make any difference. The little quarter light window has been glazed with Kristal Kleer, the side window is still open and may remain so 

[Paul J]

So far, so good. If you are doing a modernish Beaver, you will need to add the end plates to the tail planes sandwiched between that and the elevator horn. For shape and exact position take a look at the many pics on line. On my ones I have made these additions with plastic card cut to shape  and cleaned up. Also several Beavers now have 3 blade props

 But check with your chosen scheme or period you wish to depict.

 

[rob Lyttle]

1 hour ago, Paul J said:

you will need to add the end plates to the tail planes sandwiched between that and the elevator horn.

Yeah, thanks @Paul J. I remember you pointing this feature out when I started the build previously. I'm guessing that a floatplane will require EITHER those vertical plates or the ventral fin, for stability purposes in flight....?

[rob Lyttle]

Phew.... 2nd window is done 😛

Here it is about to be fitted,

Some extra framework has been added inside, especially to try and make the pilot's door frame. But as you can tell by the sketchy paintwork I'm not going overboard with the interior.

And in it goes....

I've gone back to using styrene glue for this. I've had a couple of failures with alternative methods like Kristal Kleer.

Careful application around the opening with glue on a cocktail stick,clean up any runs etc, and then fit the fuselage over the transparency while it's flat on the board.

I've used a bit of Kristal Kleer on one edge where a gap was evident.

So, the interior is fixed in one side and I'll be going for the closing up ceremony next, I reckon

 

[marvinneko]

Interesting passenger. My aunt is a taxidermist. Rich yanks come up "North" to hunt and then drop off the animals with her to put them into gentle poses eating berries and whatnot 🙄. I suspect a few Beavers would be loaded with guns, sweaty mosquito-bitten dudes stinking of musk, and loaded with dead animals.

Edited May 6, 2023 by marvinneko

[Paul J]

7 hours ago, rob Lyttle said:

Yeah, thanks @Paul J. I remember you pointing this feature out when I started the build previously. I'm guessing that a floatplane will require EITHER those vertical plates or the ventral fin, for stability purposes in flight....?

You won't need the under fuselage ventral fin if the templates are fitted.

[rob Lyttle]

19 hours ago, marvinneko said:

a few Beavers would be loaded with guns, sweaty mosquito-bitten dudes stinking of musk, and loaded with dead animals.

Well, yeah,.... But then I thought I'd do away with the scene of murderous carnage and put your aunt in instead! 😇🤭

Gotta say I've seen some photos with a canoe strapped to the float struts which looks quite cool. 

The close-up went well and I fitted the roof at the same time to help with the alignment of the top line.. 

Then the wing had some attention. The 4 roof windows are filled in and I took a knife to the flaps. Flaps and ailerons are integral to the wing top moulding, with the bottom panels just reaching back to the hinge line. So there's quite a thickness of plastic to cut through at an angle of around 45° but it yielded eventually. 

 

Haven't decided about removing the ailerons - my hunch is that deHavilland made the ailerons to drop as well as the flaps to enhance the STOL capability. Research is required. 

But I went ahead and fixed the bottom panels so I have a complete wing to work with. 

This is the underside.... 

Again some Ali foil on things like reinforcement panels to bring out the structure of the airframe. 

I'm uncertain about the build order now, whether to sort the float structure now while the fuselage is unencumbered with the wings. 

Better have a think....... 😎

[rob Lyttle]

The next job made itself obvious as I looked over the parts - the engine and cowling. The rear of the cowling is moulded thick so it can be glued to the fuselage nose but give the appearance of a ventilation space for hot air to get out. And the engine is fixed inside the cowling. 

I went another way. 

I'm in the habit of installing the propeller on a metal shaft which slides into a metal tube that is fitted in the engine. So the props are removable, and can even be changed. 

So here's the engine installation on the Ali tube which is glued in a hole in the firewall and through the instrument panel in this case. 

And the cowling has been chamfered away inside with files etc to reduce the thickness to almost nil. 

So now it can be glued to the cylinder heads, fitting to the fuselage front and leaving a decent air gap for cooling 

 

Then the wing went on. The windscreen part is moulded to include the 4 roof light windows so that needed chopping to just leave the windscreen itself. At this point it becomes difficult to ascertain which way up the windscreen should go..... 😕🤔🤭

I mention this because I had to pull the wing off again and fix the windscreen first, then refit the wing on top. I got in a right old muddle with the screen upside-down and all needed reassembled. 

I think it's sorted.... 🤪

None of this would be necessary if the transparency was fitted as designed, into the wing centre, and the whole thing then fixed onto the fuselage. 

The 4 roof windows could then be fillered around and painted over to give a windowless roof. 

I think I'd recommend doing it THAT way..... 😎

 

Tailplanes are on with the elevators dropped. 

And the windscreen is settling down fairly well after all the drama, 

That's enough excitement for one day, I think...... 

[themcgarvie]

Jiust building the fuselage myself now, those side doors are really a very very poor fit... Considering keeping them off... Thoughts?

[rob Lyttle]

5 hours ago, themcgarvie said:

those side doors

I'm planning on having at least one of them open so the fit isn't an issue for that. Haven't really looked at the situation with the other.... I thought the fit wasn't too bad but I'd better check the fit.

If it looks dodgy I'll either try to fix it or have both open.

 

Afraid I've been sidetracked (again 😎) by other projects to a large extent and keeping busy with work schedules, but a white primer has been applied on top, rivets honed down a bit, and those big bobbles on the wing tips removed.. I concluded that they are another military add-on not present on normal Beavers. The random holes for aerials on the wings got filled too.

Must get back on the case with this one 

 

Just had a quick look through..... have you got a WIP going,in the group or elsewhere,Garvie???

Edited May 19, 2023 by rob Lyttle
Additional

[themcgarvie]

11 hours ago, rob Lyttle said:

I'm planning on having at least one of them open so the fit isn't an issue for that. Haven't really looked at the situation with the other.... I thought the fit wasn't too bad but I'd better check the fit.

If it looks dodgy I'll either try to fix it or have both open.

 

Afraid I've been sidetracked (again 😎) by other projects to a large extent and keeping busy with work schedules, but a white primer has been applied on top, rivets honed down a bit, and those big bobbles on the wing tips removed.. I concluded that they are another military add-on not present on normal Beavers. The random holes for aerials on the wings got filled too.

Must get back on the case with this one 

 

Just had a quick look through..... have you got a WIP going,in the group or elsewhere,Garvie???

My tentative plan is (I think I may have said) sis to re-create a carribean beach scene with my as a tourist plane ... So the doors open would be OK for me too I think, good suggestion ... It may take me several years as both new return to building moddels since I was like 12 and never built a diorama before

No WiP yet... Been meaning to... I'm doing it in between doing a King Tiger

Edited May 20, 2023 by themcgarvie