Pterodactyl V c

[Dr. YoKai]

Its a start. This will be the first time I've tackled a vac kit in...well, a mighty long time. Plan is either an FAA coastal patrol plane, or an Australian or Canadian Fisheries Protection aircraft.
DSCF0864 by VileDr.Yo, on Flickr

[GTX_Admin]

 

[Robomog]

Woooo vacform this will be interesting

Mog
>^-.-^<

[apophenia]

Its a start. This will be the first time I've tackled a vac kit in...well, a mighty long time. Plan is either an FAA coastal patrol plane, or an Australian or Canadian Fisheries Protection aircraft.

Wow! Not just a vacuform but an Airframe kit!

Instant flashback to pestering John Tarvin with queries at Burnaby Hobbies waaay back in the day 

Watching this one with interest, Doc 

[Old Wombat]

Well, it's definitely weird enough!

[Dr. YoKai]

Progress.
DSCF0868 by VileDr.Yo, on Flickr

DSCF0870 by VileDr.Yo, on Flickr

Not the toughest build I've ever tackled, but it does have some challenges. The two fuselage halves are not equal-the right hand side is about 1mm deeper than the left, but everything seems to line up ok. The sheets may not have been heated sufficiently-both the wingtips were a little
soft in detail, but it'll work out. The grey styrene bits scattered around are from a Heller Mureaux 117 kit, as I decided early that I didn't want to
reproduce the bicycle gear-more about that when I crank out he backstory upon completion.

Well, it's definitely weird enough!

 You ain't seen nothin' yet.

[apophenia]

Progress...

Looking good Doc! 

... The grey styrene bits scattered around are from a Heller Mureaux 117 kit...

Okay ... ANF Les Mureaux 117. So, spats inside of bicycle gear. Not fisheries patrol then 

This is gonna be fun!

[Frank3k]

This is going to be good!

[finsrin]

Kind of a kick.  Good luck !

[Dr. YoKai]

Thanks for the positives vibes, colleagues! Work will be a tad problematic in the coming weeks-the weather has turned frosty here in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and while I have insulated the workshop (mostly) my little space heater takes a while to make the space tolerable for work, and painting is bit tricky. Still, we persevere. As noted, this will be getting fixed gear. Apart from being reluctant to try hacking up the fuselage even further to install the bicycle gear of the original, I thought the unused space in the fuselage might go to more fuel, etc.

[raafif]

 
Want a good 1/32nd kit of the Pterodactyl with turret 

[GTX_Admin]

Want a good 1/32nd kit of the Pterodactyl with turret 

I would like a 1/48 one

[Dr. YoKai]

 Progress continues-the interior is pretty much done.

 DSCF0873 by VileDr.Yo, on Flickr

DSCF0872 by VileDr.Yo, on Flickr

 and it is starting to look like more than a random collection of blobs.

 DSCF0874 by VileDr.Yo, on Flickr

 The 'valve covers' work to fair in the top of the borrowed prop housing and rationalize a somewhat larger engine-around 750~800 hp instead of the original 600 hp. After much dithering, I have decided to make this a FAA ASW patrol aircraft. But I still need some Australian roundels
for another project. An Australian Tse-Tse.

DSCF0875 by VileDr.Yo, on Flickr

[apophenia]

This gets better and better! Seeing that cockpit placement reinforces just how deep that Pterodactyl fuselage was 

Your 'nose-job' looks excellent - Rolls-Royce Buzzard, perhaps?

Since your spray booth is in action, I pressume that the space heater is taking the chill off your work room 

[Dr. YoKai]

This gets better and better! Seeing that cockpit placement reinforces just how deep that Pterodactyl fuselage was 

Your 'nose-job' looks excellent - Rolls-Royce Buzzard, perhaps?

Since your spray booth is in action, I pressume that the space heater is taking the chill off your work room 

 Buzzard sounds like a good choice; Kestrel would probably work too. What paint you're seeing is a result of weather clear and dry enough to take the rattle can outside. While I use acrylics pretty much exclusively in the airbrush, I still use enamel to primer. I had another window of opportunity a couple of days ago, and got a bit further.
DSCF0881 by VileDr.Yo, on Flickr

I put off doing any photo browsing to study surface detail, and when I did, discovered a couple of things-the fuselage between the pilot and the gunner had a noticeable in curve-something to give the gunner a bit more space. A little surgery and some evergreen tube added this feature.
DSCF0880 by VileDr.Yo, on Flickr
A bit of primer
DSCF0883 by VileDr.Yo, on Flickr
And a bit of balancing to see what she's going to look like. 
DSCF0884 by VileDr.Yo, on Flickr

The other thing I realized in looking at photos of the original was that the fuselage was all metal-for some reason I had assumed it was
wood, hence the brown interior. 
I have decided to go with an FAA patrol scheme for this one. White fuselage and two-tone on the wings. Probably some rockets.

[robunos]

Buzzard sounds like a good choice; Kestrel would probably work too.

The prototype used a Goshawk, so a production version would have had a Kestrel. A Buzzard would give better performance, at the expense of extra bulk and weight . . .


cheers,
Robin.

[apophenia]

The prototype used a Goshawk, so a production version would have had a Kestrel. A Buzzard would give better performance, at the expense of extra bulk and weight . . .

Yep. Not a bad trade-off though. You get 150-odd extra hp for the added 180 lbs + a bit more wetted area.

As a result of all that extra power, the Buzzard wouldn't need to run at high rpms. Something of a bonus for long, over-water patrol 

[robunos]

I think the Buzzard was a 'bomber engine' as well, designed for long running at constant and moderate RPM, rather than fighter style flat out running for short periods.


cheers,
Robin.

[apophenia]

Yes. The Buzzard also powered a number of flying boats. And at least one floatplane transport aircraft - Canadian Airways Junkers 52, CF-ARM.

BTW: The modern replica Ju 52 (CG-ARM) was rebuilt with a single Merlin - and quite convincing she looks too.

[GTX_Admin]

I think the Buzzard was a 'bomber engine' as well, designed for long running at constant and moderate RPM, rather than fighter style flat out running for short periods.

It was used in some single engine applications - torpedo bombers built to Air Ministry specification M.1/30 :

Vickers Type 207:



Blackburn B-3 or M.1/30:



Handley Page H.P.46:

[robunos]

Again, that's a typical duty cycle; take off, cruise at near constant speed / RPM to the target, make the attack, then a similar cruise back to base / the carrier . . .


cheers,
Robin.

[Frank3k]

Thats a good - but very weird - looking model, Craig!

[Old Wombat]

Blackburn B-3 or M.1/30:

Now, a clutch of those in 1/350 would be extremely useful to me!

[GTX_Admin]

Now, a clutch of those in 1/350 would be extremely useful to me!

Some more info and pictures here:  https://www.baesystems.com/en/heritage/blackburn-b-3-m-1-30#:~:text=This%20differed%20from%20the%201st,time%20on%2024th%20February%201933.

And a 3-view drawing if you wanted to create some:

[Dr. YoKai]

And now back to our regularly scheduled build, which is already in progress! 
I appreciate the feedback on the engine choice-I couldn't quite leave the fuselage alone, so
added a couple of bulges to punk it up just a smidgeon. Let's call it a halfway house between the Kestral and the Buzzard...a Kestard? A Buzztral?  Armament fit is just barely visible
in this shot-a quartet of 60 lb. rockets, lifted from the old Airfix Mosquito Mk II/VI/XVIII,
which I am currently struggling with alongside this build. Color scheme will be a take on Costal Command 'big boy'
schemes-predominantly white fuselage and under wings with a two-tone dark grey/sky? on the upper wings and along the
top edge of the fuselage.

DSCF0891 by VileDr.Yo, on Flickr