Airfix Islander - Scottish Ambulance Service

[eng]

Whilst searching for pic's of the real aircraft, as reference for this build, I realised the aircraft in question was that which was tragically lost on the 14th March 2005, with the loss of the pilot and paramedic, near the Mull of Kintyre during a flight on behalf of the Scottish Ambulance Service.

Loganair, a franchise of British Airway's until very recently, hence the color scheme, had a contract to provide this aerial ambulance service much needed on the island dotted coastline of Scotland. Living very close to Glasgow airport these little aircraft regularly passed low over our house either departing or returning, often very late at night, and during scottish winters, often in atrocious conditions.

The flight crews and medic's really are unsung hero's and as such I will dedicate this model to the memory of all those who have been lost in the line of duty with the Scottish Ambulance Service, and the air ambulance crew lost on 14th March 2005.

The kit is the old Airfix rendition with a few modifications to more accurately represent G-BOMG as it was in service. Decals are from TwoSix and this was the first time I've ever used them, I found they would not adhere very well and I ended up using Klear to stick them down. Some still have a visible edge but it's not too noticeable in the pic's, I'm almost sure most of my problems are down to the rivet detail on the kit which didn't help my cause, but for unusal and rare schemes TwoSix are top dog. My biggest failing with the kit was not to correct what I initially thought was a fairly insignificant bend in the one-piece upper wing, but the more I look at it now the worse it seems, almost some kind of mini-Antonov! Overall I'm delighted with the way it's turned out and here's a brief run down on the mod's I made to improve it and more pic's -

1. Cabin painted as per reference pic's and cockpit door left open for interest,

2. I removed the tank-like ribbing on the outside as it was way to overscale, I suppose the rivetting is too but it wouldn't have looked the same without it,

3. brake lines added to the gear legs from wire,

4. 2 upper whip type aerials are stretched sprue, the 3 lower aft ones are plastic scraps and the lower forward one is the lower end of a dunking sonar from a Revell Seaking cut and sanded slightly to improve the shape,

5. fin anti-collision light is stretched sprue shaped and painted, while the 2 antenna either side of the fin is a piece of wire superglued through a hole in the fin, painted, and bent to the correct angle,

6. engine cowl latches were simply drawn on with a fine tipped permanent black marker,

7. De-icing boots were simply masked and painted.

All comments, good and bad, welcome.

Thank's for checking it out and very best wishes to everyone for 2008,

Eng

Edited January 28, 2008 by eng

[Richard M]

Nice to see another Islander in an alternative scheme. Interesting to see the mods you've made. particularly the fin light. I must admit to getting rid of the framing and rivets, just looks better to my eye in 1/72. The wing droop seems to be a consistant feature of the kit, all mine have it but equally on both wings!

Best

Rich

[GrahamEM]

Nice plane eng

[Stephen]

Very nice mate!

Stephen

[AnonymousDFB1]

Really nice Eng

[KiwiSteve]

Nice build Eng

[Muller]

Nice build, I have a fondness for the Islander, the 1st time i ever flew was in one, from galway to inis mor (largest of the aran islands off the west coast of ireland), we landed in a field!! I think they have a runway now though LOL

[ancient mariner]

Must be my week for kit nostalgia.......neat build.

[Mark]

Nostalgia indeed! A lovely kit of one of my favourite British aircraft.

[Antoine]

A nice cute little aircraft!

I'd like to build one someday.

[dswoofie]

That's quite a nice looking build isn't it!, looks great! Good Job . Nice dedication too...

Karl.

[eng]

Hey folk's,

I thought my thread had had it's moment - Thank's for all the great feedback

Eng

[weegie602]

Hey Graham, Nice build. I did my Islander in Loganair's livery albeit with dark blue bottom. Fancy doing the BA one now I've seen yours. Was out at East Fortune at the weekend, that place is terrible. The wee yellow Islaner looks terrible now. Really dirty and dusty. The staff say their not allowed to clean the aircraft anymore.

Anyways, well done with your Islander mate!!

stevie

[Deon]

Lovely model, probably looks better without the rivets but I do remember the aircraft looking like it had been built by boilermakers- effing huge rivets everywhere!