Airfix 1/72 de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver -- Jssel

[jssel]

What can I say. Alone, young , far from home, no prospects, surrounded by plastic of all kinds, keg iced in the bathtub, and a vendor who sold me a US Airfix 747 Big Orange for .87 cents USD with a missing cargo door. The statute of limitations is not up on anything else so will plead the 5th. No wonder I switched to Scotch.

By the way, egsnotgrass has that kit today.

Boy, I better get back on topic.

[Stamford]

I´m watching this - never seen a build in progress of one and never did it myself. Looks like a nice kit with free puns.

[MerlinJones]

Jeff - you've been hiding your light under a bushel

Best place for it, methinks!

Anyway, Big Chap got his harness tightened and I added some lap belts for the passengers. At this point, I have quite a solid structure;

The instructions at this point go a little strange, suggesting that the end of the exhaust should be fixed over on the port side. This is nonsense, as there is no room, due to a small intake. However, there should be a clearly defined little dimple for it, on the starboard side. This is what it should look like;

Having polished and Klear'd the transparencies, it's time to stick the roof on. Generally, this was a good fit along the sides, but not so good and the rear;

This puts stuff out of alignment over the door;

Given that this is where the wing fits, something needed to be done...

[MerlinJones]

Before any gaps get filled, it's often the case that a clean-up of parts will reduce, or even remove, the gap.
So it was in this case, with some clean-up done...

Adding the combined windscreen and roof transparency to the wings was a pleasant experience, as it was a perfect fit.
Likewise the wing assembly to the fuselage, with no gaps anywhere...not even around the windscreen!
Marvellous.

I then set to removing the rivets.

[MerlinJones]

And brown paint added.

Regards,
Bruce

[Justin1980]

Looking good as always Bruce, nice detail on the cockpit,

Justin

[jssel]

Great piece of work Bruce. I'll check mine out in a little while. My doors fit a lot tighter than your's. Not sure why. Once I took the burrs off they fit snug without gluing.

Always good news when the transparency fits well.

[jssel]

I think you happen to get a one off mould there Bruce. Here is mine taped together.







Cockpit and innards get the initial dark gull gray by PollyScale

[MerlinJones]

Don't forget the holes for the steps!

[jssel]

Thanks. Holes drilled right after my paint session.

[jssel]

Here is an Airfix Dio if I ever saw one.

[MerlinJones]

Final word before I retire, (and you're model's looking good), the engine/cowling is a tight fit and the prop isn't the strongest of plastic pieces.

Regards,
Bruce

[jssel]

Well, enough for tonight. Glass mounted in the fuselage halves. Good tight fit but the ripples and sink holes don't look very good. Engine cylinders got a coat of Aluminum in prep for the black wash. Belts added to the seats.

Another thing I found with the prop, Merlin, is that the blades are also very rough and will not stand very much rubbing down.

Thanks for the compliment.

[AndrewR]

What can I say. Alone, young , far from home, no prospects, surrounded by plastic of all kinds, keg iced in the bathtub, and a vendor who sold me a US Airfix 747 Big Orange for .87 cents USD with a missing cargo door. The statute of limitations is not up on anything else so will plead the 5th. No wonder I switched to Scotch.

By the way, egsnotgrass has that kit today.

Boy, I better get back on topic.

Did you trade it to him for the Scotch?

Final word before I retire...

Regards,
Bruce

You're not that old Bruce!

Have you found any major differences yet in the different pressings of this kit? Jeff's seems a little more... tired.

cheers

Andrew

[MerlinJones]

Have you found any major differences yet in the different pressings of this kit? Jeff's seems a little more... tired.

Really? Actually, Jeff's is the fresher moulding, as seen by the way his cabin fitted to the rest of the fuselage.
Whilst he mentions the sink marks and stuff, I realise that I simply filled mine with superglue and sanded them, without comment.
Had Jeff been a less skilled modeller, I would probably have focussed more on my dealings with them.

That said, whilst his is the fresher tooling, the Palitoy era wasn't best known for its quality control, as seen by his short-shot seats.

Between the two kits, probably six of one and half a dozen of the other.

Regards,
Bruce