Short 830 in 1/72 scale
Short 830 in 1/72 scale
It was a dark, wet and windy night. The trees shook and rain bounced off the roads and into the gutters. Lightning smashed around the sky and the shock waves of thunder rattled the roofs.
The following morning, I found a large sheet of moulded white plastic lying in the road near my house. It measured about 5 ft by 2 ft. I had no idea where it came from. I looked at it and saw wings, fuselages, buildings and a multitude of other possibilities. This was a piece of modelling roadkill, so I took it home and put it in my garage until I could think of what to do with it.
Last week, I saw a magazine with plans and photos of a Short 830 seaplane. At that moment, the project was born (‘Windsock International’ Vol. 10 no 5 1994).
The first photo is the starting point. It shows a sheet of the white plastic that I cut out from the larger sheet. It has various mouldings in it, but I don’t know what they were for.
In the next photo, I have cut out some wings and parts for a fuselage from the plastic sheet. The fuselage is a basic box structure, curved towards the front and rear and with a curved top deck. I glued some balsa to the top at the front and rear then sanded it to the right shape. I left a gap for the cockpits.
The next step was to complete the fuselage by adding a piece of thin plastic card and opening holes in it for the cockpits. You can also see the box structures of the main floats using thick plastic for the sides. These were completed with the thin plastic card on the tops and bottoms.
Rib detail was added to the wings and fuselage using stretched sprue. The photo also shows the completed main floats. The outer floats were made from laminated blocks of thick plastic card, carved to shape.
The stretched sprue was then sanded and tidied up. I raided the spares box for an engine and top part of a cowling. I added push rods to the front of the engine to make it look more like the Salmson radial that was fitted to some of these aircraft (others were fitted with online engines).
With the main parts built, it was time to start to assemble them. I cut and shaped plastic card to make the struts. The massive radiator was made from scrap plastic card (the one in the photo is too wide so I replaced it at a later stage of the build).
The lower wings were attached.
In the next photo, the upper wings are just balanced in place to check for general fit. Inner struts have been glued in place. The idea is to attach the upper wings to these inner struts first, then slot the others in place.
Then it was time for painting. This is best done before the upper wings are glued in place.
At this point, I should mention that I have made a mistake with the radiator. Although on photos of the real thing, it looks a if it is joined to the fuselage, there should be a narrow gap under it. It seems to be held up on some short supports. This is not a mistake I aim to rectify.
Attaching the upper wings can be problematic, especially when six pairs of struts are involved. By attaching the upper wing to the four middle struts first, it was however, fairly easy to then cut and insert the remaining ones, securing them with dabs of superglue.
From this stage on, it was just a matter of painting, rigging and adding decals. I won’t bother to provide details since that is all bog standard stuff.
And finally.
There were several things I either got wrong or could have done better, but I won’t dwell on them. I just felt lucky to have stayed more or less on top of the build from start to finish.
The following morning, I found a large sheet of moulded white plastic lying in the road near my house. It measured about 5 ft by 2 ft. I had no idea where it came from. I looked at it and saw wings, fuselages, buildings and a multitude of other possibilities. This was a piece of modelling roadkill, so I took it home and put it in my garage until I could think of what to do with it.
Last week, I saw a magazine with plans and photos of a Short 830 seaplane. At that moment, the project was born (‘Windsock International’ Vol. 10 no 5 1994).
The first photo is the starting point. It shows a sheet of the white plastic that I cut out from the larger sheet. It has various mouldings in it, but I don’t know what they were for.
In the next photo, I have cut out some wings and parts for a fuselage from the plastic sheet. The fuselage is a basic box structure, curved towards the front and rear and with a curved top deck. I glued some balsa to the top at the front and rear then sanded it to the right shape. I left a gap for the cockpits.
The next step was to complete the fuselage by adding a piece of thin plastic card and opening holes in it for the cockpits. You can also see the box structures of the main floats using thick plastic for the sides. These were completed with the thin plastic card on the tops and bottoms.
Rib detail was added to the wings and fuselage using stretched sprue. The photo also shows the completed main floats. The outer floats were made from laminated blocks of thick plastic card, carved to shape.
The stretched sprue was then sanded and tidied up. I raided the spares box for an engine and top part of a cowling. I added push rods to the front of the engine to make it look more like the Salmson radial that was fitted to some of these aircraft (others were fitted with online engines).
With the main parts built, it was time to start to assemble them. I cut and shaped plastic card to make the struts. The massive radiator was made from scrap plastic card (the one in the photo is too wide so I replaced it at a later stage of the build).
The lower wings were attached.
In the next photo, the upper wings are just balanced in place to check for general fit. Inner struts have been glued in place. The idea is to attach the upper wings to these inner struts first, then slot the others in place.
Then it was time for painting. This is best done before the upper wings are glued in place.
At this point, I should mention that I have made a mistake with the radiator. Although on photos of the real thing, it looks a if it is joined to the fuselage, there should be a narrow gap under it. It seems to be held up on some short supports. This is not a mistake I aim to rectify.
Attaching the upper wings can be problematic, especially when six pairs of struts are involved. By attaching the upper wing to the four middle struts first, it was however, fairly easy to then cut and insert the remaining ones, securing them with dabs of superglue.
From this stage on, it was just a matter of painting, rigging and adding decals. I won’t bother to provide details since that is all bog standard stuff.
And finally.
There were several things I either got wrong or could have done better, but I won’t dwell on them. I just felt lucky to have stayed more or less on top of the build from start to finish.
- Stuart
- Raider of the Lost Ark Royal
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Re: Short 830 in 1/72 scale
Amazing wow - a really smart bit of scratch building!
Stuart Templeton I may not be good but I'm slow...
My Blog: https://stuartsscalemodels.blogspot.com/
My Blog: https://stuartsscalemodels.blogspot.com/
- iggie
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Re: Short 830 in 1/72 scale
AMAZING!!
I can't get modems to look that good when someone moulds the parts for me, let alone having the vision to carve then myself!! Mucho impressed!!
I can't get modems to look that good when someone moulds the parts for me, let alone having the vision to carve then myself!! Mucho impressed!!
Best wishes
Jim
If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing
"Never put off till tomorrow, what you can do the day after tomorrow"
Jim
If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing
"Never put off till tomorrow, what you can do the day after tomorrow"
- VickersVandal
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Re: Short 830 in 1/72 scale
Sweet mother of Charlton Heston!
I'm with iggie - I can barely get a well moulded kit to look decent, let alone such a complex scratchbuild!
I'm with iggie - I can barely get a well moulded kit to look decent, let alone such a complex scratchbuild!
Must.....build....ALL the Sopwith Camels!...
My Biggles Model display website: https://tinyurl.com/y74ydzae
My Biggles Model display website: https://tinyurl.com/y74ydzae
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Re: Short 830 in 1/72 scale
Foolish Q1. Why do a radial engine need a radiator or is it an oil cooler?
Dai Living in the land where the crows fly backwards.
Dai Living in the land where the crows fly backwards.
Life or Death there no other options.
Indian Proverb.
Indian Proverb.
Re: Short 830 in 1/72 scale
I wondered about that as well and was very suspicious of it, but it is there on photos and on the scale plans. Perhaps the aircraft was given a different engine but they did not bother to remove the radiator. I have no mechanical knowledge of these things, so I just don't know. But someone will!
- iggie
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Re: Short 830 in 1/72 scale
According to Wikipedia it was powered by a Salmson water cooled radial...... work that one out!vacant wrote:I wondered about that as well and was very suspicious of it, but it is there on photos and on the scale plans. Perhaps the aircraft was given a different engine but they did not bother to remove the radiator. I have no mechanical knowledge of these things, so I just don't know. But someone will!
Best wishes
Jim
If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing
"Never put off till tomorrow, what you can do the day after tomorrow"
Jim
If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing
"Never put off till tomorrow, what you can do the day after tomorrow"
- TobyC
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Re: Short 830 in 1/72 scale
Quite simply I am in awe of your work
Enjoyment over accuracy. That's my motto
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Re: Short 830 in 1/72 scale
I'll get me coat ......
Brilliant work.
Brilliant work.
Re: Short 830 in 1/72 scale
Hi All,
Splendid build Vacant. With regard to the Salmson radial it is water cooled. It was used in the Voisin pushers and Salmson two seat recce type among others. The Voisin has two radiators, one each side of the engine. The Salmson radiator is immediately behind the shutters at the front of the cowling.
Regards, Steve
Splendid build Vacant. With regard to the Salmson radial it is water cooled. It was used in the Voisin pushers and Salmson two seat recce type among others. The Voisin has two radiators, one each side of the engine. The Salmson radiator is immediately behind the shutters at the front of the cowling.
Regards, Steve
- splash
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Re: Short 830 in 1/72 scale
Brilliant Build as usual, cheers for showing us how its done.
Are people getting radial and rotary confused? A radial engine is a simple solution to getting a large number of cylinders around one rotating crank that is also a very short engine that could be water cooled but often air cooling was a better option.
Aradial rotary engine like the ones used in the first world war had a fixed crank and the engine rotated around it, these were air cooled as it would have been difficult to water cool them as they spin.
Regards Splash
Are people getting radial and rotary confused? A radial engine is a simple solution to getting a large number of cylinders around one rotating crank that is also a very short engine that could be water cooled but often air cooling was a better option.
A
Regards Splash
My work bench is starting to look like Portsmouth Naval Dockyard.
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Re: Short 830 in 1/72 scale
I think you meant rotary here, not radial.stevehed wrote:A radial engine like the ones used in the first world war had a fixed crank and the engine rotated around it, these were air cooled as it would have been difficult to water cool them as they spin.
Absolutely wonderful build and from scratch too. This has given me some ideas - you always make these sound so easy but as those of us who attempt scratch builds and conversions know, they are not. Very many congratulations on an impressive piece of modelling.
- Softscience
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Re: Short 830 in 1/72 scale
Wow! That is superbly impressive scratch-building. Wish I had such patience.
- Clashcityrocker
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Re: Short 830 in 1/72 scale
All this from a piece of plastic in the road
Excellent work.
Nigel
Excellent work.
Nigel
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Re: Short 830 in 1/72 scale
One lives and one learns :-)
Dai Living in the land where the crows fly backwards!
Dai Living in the land where the crows fly backwards!
Life or Death there no other options.
Indian Proverb.
Indian Proverb.