Author Topic: British Antarctic Survey Skyvan FINISHED (kinda)!  (Read 31320 times)

Offline Weaver

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Re: British Antarctic Survey Skyvan aka The Snow Budgie
« Reply #25 on: September 24, 2014, 07:55:02 PM »
1/72nd scale plywood:



I noticed that the ply in the pics had holes in it, which I'm guessing is to allow the cargo straps to reach the tie-down points. I made mine by finding a suitable pic on the web, scaling it to size, sticking it to 0.5mm card with spray mount, then punching the holes with a jewellery punch (drilling didn't go well). the edges are about to be touched up with light brown paint, of course.
« Last Edit: September 25, 2014, 01:25:04 AM by Weaver »
"I have described nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others" - Thucydides

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Offline kitnut617

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Re: British Antarctic Survey Skyvan aka The Snow Budgie
« Reply #26 on: September 24, 2014, 09:43:23 PM »
Clever idea that --  :)

Offline Jeffry Fontaine

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Re: British Antarctic Survey Skyvan aka The Snow Budgie
« Reply #27 on: September 25, 2014, 01:03:10 AM »
Brilliant!
"Every day we hear about new studies 'revealing' what should have been obvious to sentient beings for generations; 'Research shows wolverines don't like to be teased" -- Jonah Goldberg

Offline Kerick

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Re: British Antarctic Survey Skyvan aka The Snow Budgie
« Reply #28 on: September 25, 2014, 03:09:53 AM »
Looks great to me!

Offline Frank3k

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Re: British Antarctic Survey Skyvan aka The Snow Budgie
« Reply #29 on: September 25, 2014, 07:01:51 AM »
The plywood looks great, and so does the figure. Hard to believe it's 1/72! Although he does seem to be standing in a gooey mess. Every group always has "that guy"!

Offline Weaver

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Re: British Antarctic Survey Skyvan aka The Snow Budgie
« Reply #30 on: September 25, 2014, 07:24:30 AM »
The plywood looks great, and so does the figure. Hard to believe it's 1/72! Although he does seem to be standing in a gooey mess. Every group always has "that guy"!

Yeah, he's even looking down and raising his left foot as if to say "awwwww, what is this blue stuff?"  ;D
"I have described nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others" - Thucydides

"I've jazzed mine up a bit" - Spike Milligan

"I'm a general specialist," - Harry Purvis in Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke

Twitter: @hws5mp
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Offline Frank3k

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Re: British Antarctic Survey Skyvan aka The Snow Budgie
« Reply #31 on: September 25, 2014, 09:14:32 AM »

Offline Weaver

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Re: British Antarctic Survey Skyvan aka The Snow Budgie
« Reply #32 on: September 30, 2014, 10:25:37 AM »
Had to do some micro-engineering on the skis. Firstly, the nosewheel needed a brass axle:




Then I hit a serious problem with the main gear. The standard Twotter ski has a pair of pyramid-shaped struts which go either side of the wheel, which is on the end of a long, thin pylon. Unfortunately, the Skyvan wheel sits on a vertical "fin" on the end of a short sponson. The inner pyramid strut wouldn't fit between the wheel and the fin, and the struts wern't wide enough to fit around the wheel and the fin.



Looking at a cutaway of the landing gear, I realised that the latter option was technically credible if a hole were cut in the inboard skin of the fin, so I set about modifying the skis with an offset inboard strut. The Revellobox ski struts are just plain triangles with no axle attachement, and the stub axle is too wide to fit in them, so I made the axle of alloy tube and put a brass rod through the middle of it, which sits in drilled holes that JUST fit in the tips of the triangles.




Here are the exhaust pipes treated with Humbrol Metalcote Steel. The holes in the nacelles are nowhere near big enough to take them, so that was another tricky fettling job:




Quite please with how the sledge turned out. Here's what you get (everything moulded in two halves, solid handle etc..):



And here's the end result, with a hollowed-out handle and my best shot at making the cargo items look separate from the frame and each other:



The fuselage is currently glued and clamped and taped together. Had lots of fit issues there: this kits turns out to be quite a bit more warped than the last Skyvan I built.
« Last Edit: September 30, 2014, 10:27:32 AM by Weaver »
"I have described nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others" - Thucydides

"I've jazzed mine up a bit" - Spike Milligan

"I'm a general specialist," - Harry Purvis in Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke

Twitter: @hws5mp
Minds.com: @HaroldWeaverSmith

Offline Frank3k

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Re: British Antarctic Survey Skyvan aka The Snow Budgie
« Reply #33 on: September 30, 2014, 11:43:30 AM »
Did you deepen the lines of the existing cargo, or is that just a wash? The extra purple bag does make it more 3D. Good job on the ski/gear attachment.

Offline Weaver

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Re: British Antarctic Survey Skyvan aka The Snow Budgie
« Reply #34 on: September 30, 2014, 12:40:33 PM »
Did you deepen the lines of the existing cargo, or is that just a wash? The extra purple bag does make it more 3D. Good job on the ski/gear attachment.

I physically deepened the lines around the top of the cargo because there was basically no definition there at all, so nothing to actually hold a wash. The rest of the effects are a mixture of washes plus a 0.05mm pigment ink marker.

I put the purple bag there because I originally intended to put the skis on top of the sledge and I needed something to level up the top surface, but then I decided to use them differently.
"I have described nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others" - Thucydides

"I've jazzed mine up a bit" - Spike Milligan

"I'm a general specialist," - Harry Purvis in Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke

Twitter: @hws5mp
Minds.com: @HaroldWeaverSmith

Offline Weaver

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Re: British Antarctic Survey Skyvan aka The Snow Budgie
« Reply #35 on: October 01, 2014, 05:28:58 AM »
Progress:



The wings arn't glued on yet: this rig is just to get the struts to dry to the sponsons in the right position. The plan is to paint the wing and fuselage separately to make the black top easier to mask, and then join them up afterwards.

This kit is definately more warped and badly fitting than the last Skyvan I built: had all sorts of problems and some still to fix...
"I have described nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others" - Thucydides

"I've jazzed mine up a bit" - Spike Milligan

"I'm a general specialist," - Harry Purvis in Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke

Twitter: @hws5mp
Minds.com: @HaroldWeaverSmith

Offline Brian da Basher

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Re: British Antarctic Survey Skyvan aka The Snow Budgie
« Reply #36 on: October 01, 2014, 11:52:24 PM »
That's some impressive work, Weaver! Excellent detailing on the sled, too!

You have mad skills, sir!

Brian da Basher

Offline Weaver

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Re: British Antarctic Survey Skyvan aka The Snow Budgie
« Reply #37 on: October 02, 2014, 06:19:43 AM »
ARGHHHHH!!!!! It's driving me mad today. Every time I get near to the point of being able to put paint on it, a seam pops or something falls off..... >:( >:( >:(
"I have described nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others" - Thucydides

"I've jazzed mine up a bit" - Spike Milligan

"I'm a general specialist," - Harry Purvis in Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke

Twitter: @hws5mp
Minds.com: @HaroldWeaverSmith

Offline Weaver

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Re: British Antarctic Survey Skyvan aka The Snow Budgie
« Reply #38 on: October 03, 2014, 11:15:00 PM »
Okay, I'm afraid it's very likely that I'm not going to finish by the deadline. I put the first coat of red paint on it this morning and while it went on okay, the Hu.174 diluted to airbrushing consistency is so pale that it'll probably take 3 coats before it's deep enough, and there just aren't enough paint/dry cycles left between now and Sunday to do everything that needs to be done.

I'm still trying to finish it as soon as possible. Sorry.
"I have described nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others" - Thucydides

"I've jazzed mine up a bit" - Spike Milligan

"I'm a general specialist," - Harry Purvis in Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke

Twitter: @hws5mp
Minds.com: @HaroldWeaverSmith

Offline Weaver

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Re: British Antarctic Survey Skyvan aka The Snow Budgie
« Reply #39 on: October 05, 2014, 01:26:09 AM »
Might just get away with it yet. Managed to shorten the drying time by using a lot of heat in the spraying area overnight, and I now have three coats of red on, and looking pretty good. Now I just need to mask it all, spray the matt black, let it dry, do the major assembly, put the decals on, spray it with satin varnish, and I'm done.
"I have described nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others" - Thucydides

"I've jazzed mine up a bit" - Spike Milligan

"I'm a general specialist," - Harry Purvis in Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke

Twitter: @hws5mp
Minds.com: @HaroldWeaverSmith

Offline Weaver

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Re: British Antarctic Survey Skyvan aka The Snow Budgie
« Reply #40 on: October 05, 2014, 04:10:06 AM »
Nope, I'm screwed. To try to save time, I used masking fluid on the cockpit glazing instead of tape. Unfortunately, the paint has got under or through the masking (not sure which) and the transparency is now ruined. There's no way I can fix it without spoiling another kit, unless I can get a spare glazing from Airfix, and since the kit's been out of production for ages, I'm not hopeful. either way, I'm not going to make the deadline - sorry folks. :( :( :(

I hate everything........ >:(
« Last Edit: October 05, 2014, 04:12:25 AM by Weaver »
"I have described nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others" - Thucydides

"I've jazzed mine up a bit" - Spike Milligan

"I'm a general specialist," - Harry Purvis in Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke

Twitter: @hws5mp
Minds.com: @HaroldWeaverSmith

Offline GTX_Admin

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Re: British Antarctic Survey Skyvan aka The Snow Budgie
« Reply #41 on: October 05, 2014, 04:16:10 AM »
Is it worth painting the windows black n order to recover?
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

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But you can make the Bastard work for it.

Offline Jeffry Fontaine

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Re: British Antarctic Survey Skyvan aka The Snow Budgie
« Reply #42 on: October 05, 2014, 04:28:26 AM »
Is it worth painting the windows black n order to recover?
good idea, great fix for the snow blindness issue.
"Every day we hear about new studies 'revealing' what should have been obvious to sentient beings for generations; 'Research shows wolverines don't like to be teased" -- Jonah Goldberg

Offline Weaver

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Re: British Antarctic Survey Skyvan aka The Snow Budgie
« Reply #43 on: October 05, 2014, 04:58:46 AM »
Is it worth painting the windows black n order to recover?

Not given the effort I put into the interior, no. I'd only consider doing that as a temporary measure if I knew that I'd be able to replace the transparency later, but I won't find that out until Airfix's spares dept come in on Monday.

<edited to remove something snappy and uneccessary for which I apologise to anyone who saw it>
« Last Edit: October 05, 2014, 05:13:00 AM by Weaver »
"I have described nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others" - Thucydides

"I've jazzed mine up a bit" - Spike Milligan

"I'm a general specialist," - Harry Purvis in Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke

Twitter: @hws5mp
Minds.com: @HaroldWeaverSmith

Offline GTX_Admin

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Re: British Antarctic Survey Skyvan aka The Snow Budgie
« Reply #44 on: October 05, 2014, 05:12:54 AM »
Can you share some photos of the "damage" - maybe we can offer some suggestions?
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

You can't outrun Death forever.
But you can make the Bastard work for it.

Offline Weaver

  • Skyhawk stealer and violator of Panthers, with designs on a Cougar and a Tiger too
  • Chaos Engineer & Evangelistic Agnostic
Re: British Antarctic Survey Skyvan aka The Snow Budgie
« Reply #45 on: October 05, 2014, 05:20:22 AM »
Can you share some photos of the "damage" - maybe we can offer some suggestions?

Yes, but it'll take a while to upload: my camera software's a bit flaky..... ::)
"I have described nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others" - Thucydides

"I've jazzed mine up a bit" - Spike Milligan

"I'm a general specialist," - Harry Purvis in Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke

Twitter: @hws5mp
Minds.com: @HaroldWeaverSmith

Offline Weaver

  • Skyhawk stealer and violator of Panthers, with designs on a Cougar and a Tiger too
  • Chaos Engineer & Evangelistic Agnostic
Re: British Antarctic Survey Skyvan aka The Snow Budgie
« Reply #46 on: October 05, 2014, 05:29:38 AM »
Okay, it worked quickly for once. Here we go:



Looks to me like the masking fluid didn't adhere fully to the plastic and the paint (sprayed) crept under it. I've already tried scraping a little off with a cocktail stick and it smeared, which suggests to me that it isn't fully dry, and it might come off properly if left overnight.

The reason I used masking fluid (Micromask) is that the glazing is difficult to mask with tape on two counts:

1. The side windows wrap around the side/top line in a way that tape can't easily follow,

2. The frames arn't very well defined, which means it's risky to just smother it with tape and then cut along the edges. There's a also a little L-shaped from on the quarterlight that would be very fiddly to cut.
"I have described nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others" - Thucydides

"I've jazzed mine up a bit" - Spike Milligan

"I'm a general specialist," - Harry Purvis in Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke

Twitter: @hws5mp
Minds.com: @HaroldWeaverSmith

Offline Cliffy B

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Re: British Antarctic Survey Skyvan aka The Snow Budgie
« Reply #47 on: October 05, 2014, 05:51:55 AM »
There's not as much on there as it sounded.  Mix some colors and you could go for a mud covered effect like the it made a landing on a muddy runway.  Would have to carry the effect over the rest of the plane but its a thought.  Could have some guys cleaning it off and make it look like they saved the windscreen for last?
"Radials growl, inlines purr, jets blow!"  -Anonymous

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"If all else fails, call in an air strike."  -Anonymous

Offline Weaver

  • Skyhawk stealer and violator of Panthers, with designs on a Cougar and a Tiger too
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Re: British Antarctic Survey Skyvan aka The Snow Budgie
« Reply #48 on: October 05, 2014, 06:14:52 AM »
There's not as much on there as it sounded.  Mix some colors and you could go for a mud covered effect like the it made a landing on a muddy runway.  Would have to carry the effect over the rest of the plane but its a thought.  Could have some guys cleaning it off and make it look like they saved the windscreen for last?

In Antarctica?
"I have described nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others" - Thucydides

"I've jazzed mine up a bit" - Spike Milligan

"I'm a general specialist," - Harry Purvis in Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke

Twitter: @hws5mp
Minds.com: @HaroldWeaverSmith

Offline Cliffy B

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Re: British Antarctic Survey Skyvan aka The Snow Budgie
« Reply #49 on: October 05, 2014, 06:23:59 AM »
Details...........

Was just trying to think of a way of salvaging what you had.
"Radials growl, inlines purr, jets blow!"  -Anonymous

"Helos don't fly.  They vibrate so violently that the ground rejects them."  -Tom Clancy

"If all else fails, call in an air strike."  -Anonymous