Rug Rat 1/72nd HS Andover C.1 Finished at last.

[Mr T]

Some progress with the Andover. The fuselage has been cleaned up, and a quick primer coat added to sort out any problems. A few surface imperfections were apparent, and easily dealt with. I have just gone with the lit interior as not much will be seen. The canopy has been cut out and trimmed. It is a surprisingly good fit, and was stuck on after the photo was taken. I am leaving it until tomorrow evening to let the Mig Ammo canopy and PE glue to set fully. Some of the panel lines have been re-scribed, as it will be easier to do before the wings and tail go on. My aim is to have an airframe ready for priming by the weekend.

[modelling minion]

Very nice work, the cockpit looks great and I look forward to seeing the pictures with the canopy in place.

[Mr T]

Thanks, I may put one tomorrow depending on time available. I have a step in the garden to repair, and as is the way of these things, it may take all afternoon, or half an hour. Interestingly enough the seat colour in the photo is nothing like the colour it is painted. 

[stevehnz]

Nice to see the progress on this. I remember the ones we had with fondness, they could always be relied upon to put on a good show at airshows & looked really good in what I recall to be something like a Euro 2 scheme. 

Steve.

[Mr T]

They always did put on a good show as I recall. I know one of the RAF aircraft was painted in Dark Green/Dark Sea Grey/Light Aircraft Grey. 

[Mr T]

Canopy in place. It will need some work to smooth it in, but the design of the fuselage around the canopy means it shouldn't be too bad. The cockpit area has a recess around it which the canopy fits into. Although the vacform canopy did not have much in terms of a cutting guide, the recess made it fairly easy to cut the canopy. The front of the cockpit is the only part where the recess is not as well-defined, but that is down to me when I was cleaning up the fuselage joint, and the recess has also meant that the canopy is fairly well secured to the fuselage.

Once I have cleaned up around the canopy, then the wings and tail planes can be attached.

[Mr T]

The above post was sat in my editor until just now. I could have sworn I had posted it on Wednesday. Must be old age.

I now have an assembled, if not fully cleaned up, Andover. The wings and tail were tacked on with a thick superglue for positioning and then epoxy run into any available space. It makes for a solid joint and removes the need for a lot of filling. Put some Miliput where needed last night. Good stuff for resins as it sticks well and as of a similar hardness to the cream resin found in this and Magna kits.

[Wings unlevel]

That’s looking really good. And that high aspect ratio wing is rather elegant- not something I thought I’d say about an Andover/HS.748!

[modelling minion]

I can only echo what Gerard has said, your Andover is looking superb. Very neat job fairing the canopy in and the whole model is taking shape very nicely indeed.

[Jabba]

On 10/10/2023 at 17:46, Mr T said:

I know one of the RAF aircraft was painted in Dark Green/Dark Sea Grey/Light Aircraft Grey. 

 

That was XS644. It was sometimes used as a trials aircraft with 51 Sqn having a few extra bits and bobs and had the nickname "Arthur" as it was half a Nimrod. I only saw it once when I was on 51.

[busnproplinerfan]

I figured out one idea for masking these vac canopies. Make the frames from thin strips of tape and then use those as the guide for masking the glass and pull off the frames you made.

[Mr T]

I was thinking of something along those lines. The kit does come with some decal frames in white and I was also thinking of scanning these to help with masking. The instructions offer a complex way of sorting the canopy, not quite sure of quite how I am going to do it. 

[Mr T]

I have not forgotten this GB, but progress has been slow, partly because I wanted to check some things out with the Cosford Andover. That done, I have now reached the stage where U/C and Props are finished, and the upper surface camouflage on, ready for masking for the lower surface black.

The Cabin windows are on the kit decal sheet, as is a nice set of de-icer boots. The cabin top is white painted and masked off.

[busnproplinerfan]

Looking good.

[modelling minion]

Thats looking really nice, the camouflage has turned out superbly.

No rush to finish her yet as we have until mid December and I wouldn't want to see it not achieve it's full potential.

[Mr T]

Thanks, now that I have the camouflage upper surfaces done, I think things will move on. I don't intend rushing, most kits will now get one chance at being built, as immortality is not going to happen

[Karearea]

This is looking superb, well done! always liked how the Andover looked in the desert schemes with that white forehead.

Will you model the undercarriage kneeling or upright?

[Mr T]

Thanks, the photo actually covers up some bits that will need a retouch. It will be in an upright stance as the part of the instructions about the undercarriage is missing and TBH the kit parts for the main legs are not terribly accurate. I have bodged it up a bit to improve them and you cannot see much of the real thing anyway. 

[81-er]

That's looking very nice in the camo now

 

James

[BritJet]

3 hours ago, Mr T said:

Thanks, the photo actually covers up some bits that will need a retouch. It will be in an upright stance as the part of the instructions about the undercarriage is missing and TBH the kit parts for the main legs are not terribly accurate. I have bodged it up a bit to improve them and you cannot see much of the real thing anyway. 

 

I've uploaded a copy of the instructions here - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/lzozjhvzbg0o0tygl2h98/Andover.pdf?rlkey=oiexbg2dtg945524rs85fngm3&dl=0

 

Hope this helps.

 

Steve

 

[Mr T]

Thanks very much, the PDF has proved most useful. The decal placement for the propellers is something I would have completely missed and it looks as if I got the undercarriage parts right by intelligent guesswork (OK, accident). Going to make life a lot easier. 

[BritJet]

No problem, you're welcome. Looking forward to seeing it finished.

 

Steve

[Mr T]

A completely camouflaged Andover now. The front and rear of the engine exhausts need painting and then work can start on decalling. It is a heavy lump of resin, and I was wondering why bits felt familiar and then saw on the instruction that Magna Models had a hand in it.

No postings for a couple of days as SMW calls.

[modelling minion]

That looks fantastic! Really nice job on one of the best schemes used by the RAF.

50 minutes ago, Mr T said:

No postings for a couple of days as SMW calls.

Me too, might even bump into each other.

[81-er]

That looks good, Martin  Swing by hall 1 at SMW, I'm there with South East Essex

 

James