CliffB Posted March 1, 2011 Posted March 1, 2011 (edited) Here's my entry, a 1/72 scale Amodel, Shavrov Sh-2. The Sh-2 was a lightweight, two-seat amphibian which first flew in 1930 and was used extensively by Soviet civil and military aviation. The kit itself is a fairly basic, limited-run type offering which includes no less than eight decal options. Two of these are for the Sh-2s which were captured and used by the Finns in August 1942. Apparently they were obtained by subterfuge after a Red Army radio unit was captured and forced to transmit a bogus message back to their HQ. The message said that a couple of high ranking Finnish officers had been captured and requested that they be picked up by Sh-2 from a nearby lake. On arrival, and after an exchange of gunfire, the two Sh-2s were siezed and then used by the Finns for communications duties through to 1944. The kit instructions show the Finnish Sh-2s as still wearing theit Soviet dark green/mid blue paint schemes, but with the addition of Finnish markings and yellow identification bands to the wing-tips and fuselage. As usual, a quick scan on the internet throws up challenges to some of the details, most notably whether the yellow wing-tip bands were on the upper surfaces, as well on the the lower ones. The kit instructions show bands top and bottom, but some commentators say that the top surface bands are unlikely. Has anyone got any views on this? I'm looking forward to the start on Saturday - it looks like the GB could be a particularly good one Cliff Edited April 24, 2011 by CliffB
Deon Posted March 1, 2011 Posted March 1, 2011 excellent project Cliff and great background! I have one of these in the stash so i shall watch your WIP with interest Cheers deon
F111Fan Posted March 1, 2011 Posted March 1, 2011 That's a bit different cliff! Looking forward to seeing this come together
Killingholme Posted March 2, 2011 Posted March 2, 2011 That sort of story is exactly why I enjoy researching and modelling Finnish AF. Great stuff. Look forward to seeing this come along. Will
CliffB Posted March 2, 2011 Author Posted March 2, 2011 Thanks guys Here's a link to the only photos of a Finnish machine that I've so far found on the web. It has nice spoked wheels (pity the kit doesn't), and no sign of any wing tip bands at all! Sometimes, ignorance is bliss Cliff
Prenton Posted March 2, 2011 Posted March 2, 2011 Cliff Fascinating story - those Finns were a bit sharp, weren't they? And a challenging kit too! Just what this interesting GB is going to throw up, methinks. Philip
Giorgio N Posted March 4, 2011 Posted March 4, 2011 Watching an Amodel kit being built is always interesting, a kit of such a subject is even better !
CliffB Posted March 5, 2011 Author Posted March 5, 2011 Thank you for your latest comments I've managed to grab a couple of hours this afternoon and have been fiddling around with the main parts of the Shavrov's fuselage (or is it hull?). The parts actually fit reasonably well once they've been tidied up, but the problem has been in determining exactly where the edges are supposed to be, as the mouldings are ragged and ill-defined. Nevertheless, here it is with the main parts tacked togerther - perhaps looking more like a speedboat than a plane! Cliff
CliffB Posted March 12, 2011 Author Posted March 12, 2011 Wierd looking beast, innit? And this from a man who is building an An-2 !! A bit more progress this week. Thursday night found me alone in a Premier Inn in Nottingham, with nothing but my Shavrov to keep me company Now the lighting in these places has never been good, but this one was 100% LED which meant that I was struggling to see the desk, let alone the kit. Under the circumstances I went for the wing assembly (as it had the biggest bits). Unfortunately the challenge was assemble seven poorly fitting parts, in order to deliver the correct dihedral and wing sweep. Here's the result. It should be OK with a bit of filling and sanding. This afternoon has been more fun as I have put together the cockpit detail. It's all a bit coarse, but doesn't look too bad when not magnified by the camera and in any case will be barely visible once the wing's in place. I've added the crank handle on the IP (used to wind the wheels up and down), and some Airwave PE belts. Thanks for looking Cliff
CliffB Posted March 19, 2011 Author Posted March 19, 2011 This week's update finds some more green stuff sacrificied at the altar of the GB. Nice to see the sun shining too Cliff
F111Fan Posted March 19, 2011 Posted March 19, 2011 looking very nice Cliff! It's a strange looking bird
CliffB Posted March 19, 2011 Author Posted March 19, 2011 Thanks Tom. As I've started to find more photos of the Sh-2, I've noticed that some of them have a pronounced hump on top of the engine nacelle (additional fuel storage?). The Finnish operated aircraft appear to have this feature, although it is absent from the Amodel kit. I thought I ought to have a go at reproducing it (approximate shape only!), based on the few Web references that I've found. First I added a plastic card spine, to define the hump's shape. I then built up the full shape using two-part epoxy putty (after I took the photo above, I decided to drill holes in the card spine to provide additional anchorage for the putty). It will just need a light sanding now to refine the shape, once the putty is fully set. Cheers Cliff
Deon Posted March 20, 2011 Posted March 20, 2011 well spotted Cliff, Ill check my references carefuly when I build mine
CliffB Posted March 22, 2011 Author Posted March 22, 2011 well spotted Cliff, Ill check my references carefuly when I build mine Hi Deon, unfortunately it doesn't seem to end there! I've been working on the engine this evening and it's clear that the kit item is generally too small and lacking in cylider head detail. I think that there is a resin replacement available somewhere (Neomega?), and on another forum a builder resorted to cutting off the cylinders and replacing them with ones transplanted from another kit. I decided though to simply add some head detail from plastic card, along with pushrods (exhausts to be added once the engine's painted). It's still nowhere near accurate, but it is an improvement. In contrast to the weedy engine, the kit's prop is monstrous - complete with an enormous spinner. The Finnish planes (like most Sh-2s it appears), operated with naked props and fortunately I managed to find a slightly skinny replacement in my spares box. It won't be long now until I can start spraying primer Cliff
CliffB Posted April 17, 2011 Author Posted April 17, 2011 My last post was 22nd March and unfortunately I haven't been near my workbench since - until today, that is! Progress today has been three primer coats (with rub-down/rectification in between), some token pre-shading and the yellow ID band applied. It's been good to get back to some modelling Cliff
CliffB Posted April 22, 2011 Author Posted April 22, 2011 Had a great day's modelling today (thanks to a very understanding MrsB). For the blue undersides I used an old tin of Humbrol 89 enamel - supposedly a good match, but still a shock when you see how bright it is For the upper surfaces I used Vallejo 'Russian Green' (possibly an army colour?), with patches of olive drab where the original Russian markings were painted over. Overall it's all looking rather too pristine at the moment so I will try to weather it down a bit, later on. The Finnish 'Hikaristis' on the Amodel decal sheet look too spindly, but luckily I found a Choroszy Cirrus Moth in my stash with suitable Finnish markings. They worked a treat, with good colour density (even the white circles over the dark green paint). I did use the Amodel decals for the '2' numerals - as a precaution I gave them a quick overcoat of liquid decal film and they too went on beautifully over Klear. The only problem I had was with the windscreen, which I managed to snap in half while attempting to 'improve' its appearance by polishing. I managed to bodge the two bits back together again, but the windscreen definitely looked better before I started fiddling with it If I can push my domestic luck a bit further, I should hopefully get time to get this finished over the weekend. Thanks for watching Cliff
CliffB Posted April 24, 2011 Author Posted April 24, 2011 Here it is finished. The struts are overscale, but at least proved to be quite robust and fitted pretty well. Rigging for the control surfaces and for retracting the undercarriage is heat-stretched sprue. A bit of weathering using oils and pastels. Overall, I really enjoyed this one with enough challenges to make it interesting, but without becoming a chore. Biggest disappointment is the lack of spoked wheels - a very noticable, flimsy looking feature of the original. Thanks again to Will (Killingholme) for some invaluable references and for adding the word 'hikaristis' to my vocabulary! Cheers Cliff
Killingholme Posted April 27, 2011 Posted April 27, 2011 Cracking result Cliff. (I feel guilty for relieving you of those Finnish decals now...) The patch-painting is particularly effective. Wish I could add something more constructive, but all I can suggest is if the wheels really bother you, I think PART make a set of etched spoked WWI wheels (S72 212)- most of their WWI detail sets include a pair as well. I never really understood the point of them actually- I suppose they expectedyou to cover them with tiny disks of decal film/silkspan or something? Congrats on the build. Super stuff! Will
CliffB Posted April 28, 2011 Author Posted April 28, 2011 Thanks for the kind words chaps - much appreciated. Will, thanks for the heads up on the spoked wheels - they look pretty good. Unfortunately, my modelling heart's affections have already turned to my next 'conquest', so there will be no going back to the Shavrov! Cheers Cliff
Deon Posted May 17, 2011 Posted May 17, 2011 Sorry missed this one! Nice work Cliff, your build will be a big help when i get round to mine.
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