Skypirate's Hideaway

[iggie]

The canopy looks absolutely brilliant David

[KellerModeller]

Just wow!!
Such an old kit and such a beautiful result so far

[AndrewR]

That cockpit and canopy are works of art.

[skypirate]

You guys are too kind, thank you!

Now that I have the scary canopy under control, the dreaded Yagi aerials provide the next challenge.

cheers,

David

[Stuart]

That looks fabulous David!

[Lone Modeller]

What a super model!

[Softscience]

You guys are too kind, thank you!

Now that I have the scary canopy under control, the dreaded Yagi aerials provide the next challenge.

cheers,

David

Are those named after Babi Yagi? Sorry. That was terribly dumb.



Do you have some in kit form, or are you scratch building? This would be where having a 3d printer would come in very handy.

[skypirate]

Do you have some in kit form, or are you scratch building? This would be where having a 3d printer would come in very handy.

Very basic scratch building, Ralph. These are too small in 1/72 for getting any fancier.

Cheers,

David

[skypirate]

In my previous photo, the Avenger acetate canopies were being test-fitted.
The frames and edges have been tidied up, and I moved on to the glazing between the rear cockpit section and the turret. The old kit does not provide this.



(Notice Parafilm protecting the edges of the wing! Thanks, Mike Grant!)
I abandoned one piece I prepared earlier; now that I have the canopy to test against, it was not good enough.
Aaarrrggghhh! I took 4 attempts to get this shaped satisfactorily!
Painting the frames on this is fraught with lopsidedness, so I will use painted decal strips instead, once it is fixed in place.

Meanwhile I am 'fine-tuning' the kit antenna mast (that must be fixed to the acetate canopy and bear an antenna wire )
I am obviously putting off those bloody Yagi aerials.

Cheers,

David

[B4en]

Looking great David - cutting clear plastic to shape is a tricky task!

[Stuart]

Superb work David!

[feanor]

You know that point in the build when you realise it's going to be all right?
Finally reached it on the Airfix 1/72 Grumman Avenger!
Some careful canopy cutting and trimming put all the acetate canopy fears behind me. Well, almost all!
Test fitting:



(I used my 1/48 Accurate Miniatures model to guide this part of the build).
The acetate canopy comes in 3 sections to be cut out individually, and then installed just like the real thing.
I managed to get a very satisfying fit on the rear section. The front windscreen part is the trickiest fit - not too bad. The centre section (the sliding panes) seems not quite long enough. I bravely went all out to represent the centre panes slid back, and the rear section opened up. There is still the centre panels to be separated and some tidying up of edges and some fiddly painting to be done. An extra pane I prepared that fits in the rear, ahead of the turret, remains to be test fitted.

TeeEll and Paul Bradley - you are responsible for making this possible, thank you!

Thanks for looking,

David

Ayup Pyrate !

Beautiful Can-o-pee ! (And the rest of the model too of course ! )

[Stamford]

I built this half as well as this a few years back but I was still impressed with the finish of such an old warrior. I loved the rivets of Airfix when I was a kid and those wings still look good! Did you tone them down?

[skypirate]

Thanks, guys!

I loved the rivets of Airfix when I was a kid and those wings still look good! Did you tone them down?

Yes, I did.
As you suggest, still a decent kit if you are prepared to spend a little TLC. I couldn't say the same for its contemporary Airfix Helldiver!

Here are the dreaded Yagi antennae, converted from the vague, thick kit parts that look like pitot tubes.



The masts have been considerably thinned, but not so much as to fail to plug the receiving holes in the wing!
I am tossing up whether to apply another airbrushed, thinned, white filter to fade the sea blue a little more.
Incidentally I found it quite nerve-wracking to remove the Parafilm protection from the wings. In some areas it had to be rubbed off! I guess I stretched it too thin.

Thanks for looking,

David

[Stuart]

That does indeed look a lot better than the kit part David.