'What an ingenious contraption '* 1/72 AZUR-Frrom Cierva C.30a Autogyro G-ACWR

[TEXANTOMCAT]

'the blades can be tilted to create an airscrew effect'*

 

IMG_7796 by Ben Brown, on Flickr

 

G-ACWR was built in 1934 for J.G. Weir of Dalrympe, Ayrshire. It was sold to the Autogiro Flying Club at Hanworth in 1939 and 10 months later with the outbreak of war was impressed into RAF service as V1186.

 

In 1943 operating with 75 Wing, RAF Ford on RADAR calibration work. At 1720 hours on the 24th October 1943 it had a partial engine failure about 1.5 miles off the coast of Worthing. The pilot managed to autorotate 2300 yards and it ditched about 300 yards off the coast, he being picked up by an ASR launch. Recovered from shallow water the next day it  was deemed beyond economic repair and scrapped.

 

IMG_7802 by Ben Brown, on Flickr

 

'You can't fly this, you don't know how' *  

 

This is the 1/72 Azur-Frrom Cierva C.30 which apparently dates back to the year 2000 according to Scalemates. It is a short run IJ kit with resin engine, exhaust and rotor head, plus a couple of vacform screens which had yellowed badly. The decals seemed good and well printed with a multiple military options. I wanted to build a civilian machine and somehow, though Lord knows where from, I had the decal sheet from the 80’s Merlin models Cierva kit in the spares box.

 

The kit builds up fairly easily with some filler. I noted on a previous BM WIP build  by John that he scratchbuilt a replacement tailplane for one side believing it to be badly moulded as the aerofoil was upside down. The instructions don’t explain that nor is the diagram clear but in fact the moulding is correct. One flat tailplane section HAS an inverted aerofoil section on the prototype to counteract torque so the model IS correct! I’ll be honest I had to look it up to check! 😊

 

See here for the thread by @Jpthedog which sadly seems to have stopped in 2020

 

 

 

Actually the detail is very nice – the fabric effect is restrained and well done. The cockpit is a bit sparse.

 

IMG_7804 by Ben Brown, on Flickr

 

The UC has seven parts each side with minimal help with alignment so it’s a bit testing but surprisingly strong when assembled. The resin engine and exhaust are quite nice if not up to current standards. The screens were simply replaced with acetate.

 

The rotor pylon consists of four struts and the teardrop shaped fairing. Again aligned by eye as Azur don’t give you much help. I should have added the control arm (cyclic?) before attaching the pylon but added it at the end which was a fiddly exercise.

 

The rotors are perfectly acceptable (and even had the relex trailing edge tabs) but at around 1mm deep very thin and required bending in hot water. On the full size the rear most blade at rest seemed to have more ‘droop’ for some reason.

 

IMG_7813 by Ben Brown, on Flickr

 

'Let's show this sausage guzzler what this thing can do'*

 

The resin rotor head whilst fairly accurate is an obvious weak point – presumably you are supposed to glue the .05mm spar to each blade but there isn’t a glue on earth that would do that safely and in any event one knock and the resin hub would shatter – everyone knows blades are vulnerable on rotorcraft – I have no idea what they were thinking! The Merlin Models kit had a white metal hub which not only looks more robust but has some better detail too (I didn’t have that kit.)

 

IMG_7814 by Ben Brown, on Flickr

 

As such I very carefully routed out grooves in each blade, inserted brass wire, glued with superglue and sanded flush the hub was then attached with five minute epoxy for strength – the rotor head on top hides this quite well – it’s not perfect but good enough for Government work!

 

Paint wise I wasn’t sure what blue to use – Miniart suggest Humbrol 104 Oxford Blue for their 1/35 version – I tried this and it was too dark – I guess because of scale effect. Matt 25 Blue seemed perfect especially with a coat of Klear.

 

Brush painted, then a coat of Klear then added  - with some trepidation the Merlin models decals namely the stripes and registration. Being a bit dubious about their integrity I gave them a coat of Microscale liquid decal film first. To my surprise they fitted perfectly and went down pretty well though I needed to use some DACO red to get the stripe to suck down over a prominent bump on the port side front.

 

IMG_7805 by Ben Brown, on Flickr

 

I used Mr Setter first to try and minimise silvering. Either that or the repeated applications of DACO caused some white blooming which I believe may have been a reaction to the Klear coat – it didn’t wipe off or disappear with another coat of Klear so I touched in a few spots with blue before recoating with Klear.

 

 I also used the MM instrument panel decals as Azur don’t give you any and the IPs are pretty visible – I also added tape belts.

 

IMG_7799 by Ben Brown, on Flickr

 

Detail painting with Humbrol enamels and Revel anthracite. The metal Fairey Reed prop is a bit anaemic but all I had – could probably do with a bit more pitch – painted light gret then dry brushed in silver to replicate the silvery metallic finish that kind of prop has.

 

Final coat of Klear, all the small bits added and the rotor attached with epoxy to the drilled pylon.

 

'If you can fly a Sopwith Camel, you can fly anything'*

 

I think it’s built up quite well – I got a bit of silvering but the decals were 40 years old and designed for another kit but it could have been worse.

 

IMG_7802 by Ben Brown, on Flickr

 

So there she is – I must admit I now have a bit of a taste for Mr Cierva’s funky little machine and have the LDM 1/48 white metal version in the stash. Matt kindly gave me his spare civilian decals for it but it is also ‘CWR so I might have to do an RAF one!

 

Hope you like her!

 

TT

 

* ten points for any of you who spotted these were quotes from the marvellous 1986 Biggles film!

 

 

[AlxBNE]

4 hours ago, TEXANTOMCAT said:

I must admit I now have a bit of a taste for Mr Cierva’s funky little machine and have the plus LDM 1/48 white metal version in the stash. Matt kindly gave me his spare civilian decals for it but it is also ‘CWR so I might have to do an RAF one!

 

Hope you like her!

 

TT

 

* ten points for any of you who spotted these were quotes from the ma

That is very nice work on the ingenious contraption. Lovely finish.

 

Now that you have got the big for the funky little machine I can thoroughly recommend the miniart 1/35 kit. It is a really lovely build.......but maybe you already know that since you have quoted their painting instructions.

Looking forward to seeing your 1/48 version....

But we all know that you want one in 1/35 to add to the collection. PS there is an RAF version.

[alhenderson]

She looks like a lovely little machine TT - well done 👏

 

Al.

[TEXANTOMCAT]

Many thanks chaps- I appreciate it’s not the sort of thing that sets BM alight as it has no guns or splinter pattern

camo!

 

TT

[bigbadbadge]

Hi TT

What a little cracker, looks fantastic,  great work on this older limited run kit.

Great backround info too.

Thanks for sharing

Chris

[TEXANTOMCAT]

Many thanks Chris

 

TT

[MikeC]

Brilliant. You mentioned this on Sunday, I thought it would turn up here.

 

Great model

[TEXANTOMCAT]

Many thanks Mike 🙂🫡

[MDriskill]

Lovely build! Autogyros always struck me as a bit of witchcraft, LOL, but are nothing if not interesting to look at...

[TEXANTOMCAT]

Many thanks MD!  

 

TT

[Vesa Jussila]

Lovely work!

[TEXANTOMCAT]

Thank you Vesa 🙂🫡

 

TT

[HK-500]

cool machine , I discovered that in a "teen encyclopedia" when I was 10 and was a bit dubious about the concept🤨

 

it's a shame that we don't see them more often😒

[TEXANTOMCAT]

Many  thanks HK, 

 

yep they are neat machines sadly no long an example flying 😔

 

TT