Bridlington & Wolds Scale Model Club Forum
Models => Modelling Projects => Topic started by: Bigkev on January 24, 2023, 07:21:34 PM
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Hi All,
Well I haven't posted a build for a while so I thought I'd share this project that I am starting.
Firstly, a little bit of history.
The ATL-98 (Aviation Traders Limited) Carvair, was a conversion in which a new nose was grafted onto the fuselage of a C-54 Skymaster. The purpose was to elevate the cockpit above the fuselage level and allow cars to be driven into the fuselage.
Already, the car ferry operation had been carried out by the Bristol Superfreighter 170 Mk.32, which could accommodate 3 cars and up to 20 passengers. The new Carvair aircraft could accommodate 5 cars and 22 passengers, but had the ability to be reconfigured to carry mixed freight/cars and up to 55 passengers so making a better more useful airframe.
The initial design was the brainchild of Freddie Laker, who drew a rough drawing of what the aircraft would look like on a cigarette packet. From there he formed the Aviation Traders Limited, and began buying war surplus C-54 airframes with the view to converting them into Carvair's by adding a new bulbous nose and a strengthened floors. As a result of the floor the nose undercarriage had to be re-configured.
To model a Carvair in 1/144th I could have bought the Roden kit, but having seen some builds, there seems to be an issue with the cockpit area.
So I decided to kit bash a Minicraft C-54 Skymaster and Braz Carvair fuselage conversion. The conversion parts are a bit clunky, but after refinement I think will be okay. In addition I purchased some new decals for BAF (British Air Ferries) in a nice pale blue and pale brown livery.
I intend to display the model 'loading' a car into the nose, and this means I will have to scratch build a 'Hylo' scissor lift. This was made by ATEL (Aviation Traders Engineering Limited) and was created purposely for Carvair operations, later variants would be sold to other airline operators such a Flying Tiger Airlines using Canadair CL-44 swing tail freighters.
A layout of the parts and decals follow, for your information.
Next post will see the build underway.
Thanks,
Bigkev
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Looks interesting.
Haddock.
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Different Kevin. Should be good.
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Looking forward to seeing this build Kev.
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Thanks chaps for the comments.
Now started on the build, the first job was to sort out the main wheel wells, which have detail in them and you can see the intake on top of the cowlings.
Skinned with thin plastic card, and then some thin strips to represent ribbing. Should look okay under a coat of zinc chromate primer. Also dealt with the sink marks on the fuselage, and upper fuselage floor. Marked the levels of the floors, ready for supports.
Bigkev
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Detailed work Kevin.
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Some real modelling going on here and in 1/144th!! I don't think my eyes are up to that, well done.
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Thanks chaps.
More posting soon.
Bigkev
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Hi All,
Managed to get the cockpit floor in situ after some jiggling about. Have marked the approximate location of the cockpit seats and control panel/central console.
After some dry fitting of the major airframe parts, I can see that the wing to fuselage join is poor, with some gaps evident. These will be plugged with plasticard on assembly.
Quite unusually, this aircraft had a marked Dihedral of 7 degrees on the wings, so perhaps some of the gap will be reduced.
Bigkev
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A labour of love Kevin?
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Setting 7 deg dihedral in 1/144th sounds like fun, hmm?
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Hi All,
Made a little more progress on the Carvair. I have managed to sort the undercarriage bays now, and the wing gaps to the fuselage.
The cockpit has had a rudimentary cockpit made from Plasticard and is now ready for painting. In the fuselage have added some ribbing on the sides and the underside of the cockpit floor.
All are then brought together for a test 'Dry-fit' to see if there are any issues. noticed the fuselage floor a little too wide, and the starboard wing root requires a little packing to correct the sit of the wing.
Removed and mounted the rest of the parts ready for painting.
Some pictures of the above follow,
Bigkev
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Coming along nicely.
Bob c
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Very nice Kevin. Good detail.
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Thanks chaps, will be adding some paint tonight.
Bigkev
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Hi All,
Update on the build so far.
Painted cockpit, finished ribbing fuselage and painted, undercarriage bays painted.
Assembly of fuselage next........
Bigkev
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A little update.
Fuselage now together. Some jiggling of the parts to get a decent fit, but everything lined up pretty well.
The nose join will need attention, but as I will need to fair in the cockpit glazing not too worried about that.
Lead strip was superglued to the loading bay floor, making sure it is all forward of the main wheels to prevent a tail sitter.
Wings are 'in place' but not glued yet. Engines have been painted, attached and then masked with some foam discs to any of the primer paint yet to be applied.
Some pictures follow:-
Bigkev
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Coming along nicely Kevin.
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Has the paint dried yet?
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You cheeky little monkey.
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A little more progress...
Wings and tailplanes attached, nose undercarriage bay constructed, filler applied to joins.
Now awaiting all to dry before the sanding pads and sticks are put to work.
Bigkev
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A bit of filler there.
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A bit of filler there.
Hi Chris,
Yes, it looks a lot worse than it actually is. My Greenstuff putty was not as pliable as I would have liked. I have now rubbed it down and there is not a great deal of major filling left.
Will need a new tube soon.
Will post some pictures soon.
Bigkev
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Here we are, some pictures after the initial rubbing down has been carried out.
The canopy yet to be glued in place and faired in, and also some rescribing/reinstating some lost panel lines to be attended to.
Have placed the model on some cocktail stick supports to get a feel of the sit of the model.
Cheers,
Bigkev
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Looking good.
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Coming along nicely. It never ceases to amaze me how some modellers plaster Green Stuff all over joints and get a smooth invisible finish, it never seems to work for me :(
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Coming along nicely. It never ceases to amaze me how some modellers plaster Green Stuff all over joints and get a smooth invisible finish, it never seems to work for me :(
I have that problem aswell.
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Thanks guys,
As I mentioned before my 'Greenstuff' had started to go off, so applying it neatly was a little difficult.
I have now got some different fillers from Ammo and AK Interactive, so hopefully these will be easier to apply.
Have now managed to get the canopy attached and faired in.
Some pictures to follow soon.
Bigkev
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Hi All,
Things have moved on a little.
Canopy attached and faired in (well almost) requires a little more filling and sanding revealed after the white undercoat applied.
Hopefully the final colours will be ready to be applied in the next few days.
Some pictures follow:-
Bigkev
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Looking very neat Kevin.
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Looks menacing with the gaping mouth. A 'White Flyer'?
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Looks menacing with the gaping mouth. A 'White Flyer'?
Quite menacing looking I suppose.
Anyway, just completed the internal ribbing of the nose door, also the main airframe is undercoated white, and once rubbed down ready for its Halfords Gloss White.
Nose door detail pics
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Progress Kevin.
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Thanks Chris,
On with painting now, hope to be able to post some pictures soon.
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Hi All,
Main painting now done. Halfords Appliance White, decanted and sprayed through airbrush. Pale grey from Tamiya XF-2 White + XF-66 Tamiya Light Grey + Tamiya X-22 Clear, Silver Tamiya AS-12 Silver straight from can. Different metal shade panels using Alclad II Aluminium and White Aluminium.
Happy with result so far, only one minor touch up required near rear tailplane.
Next detail painting of De-icer boots, navigation lights, cockpit framing.
Thanks. Kevin
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Looking very nice.
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Thanks,
A little more progress today.
De-icer boots masked and painted. Canopy frames in place from decal strip, but a little touching up on them still required to blend them in.
Kevin
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Excellent.
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Thanks Chris,
Managed to get a little bit more done since our trip to Darlington.
Now got the airframe decals on, exhausts and undercarriage bays painted. The fin and rudder did not meet at the top, so has been touched in with matched paint. The canopy frames have been attended to and look okay now. Have painted the port navigation light, still the starboard to do, together with the collision beacon on top of the fin rudder. Will fabricate this from some shaped clear sprue, then touched in with Tamiya clear red.
Not show is the nose cap, which needs the decal touching in to sharpen the edges.
Can now see this project approaching the finish line.
Some pictures follow:-
Kevin
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Looking great.
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Thanks Chris,
Well the project is nearly there. Model finished and all the last items attached, including ariel wire.
Now working on the Hylo lift for the cars. Made this from scratch, using plasticard and balsa. A little bit of fiddling and filling to do, before a coat of paint.
Some pictures of the model so far, and an idea of the final set up. A new base will be made, with some chocks, personnel, more cars, etc.
Kevin
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Superb modelling skills on display.
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Fantastic work here Kev. Pity they've closed Manston you could have flown some cars to France, lol!!!!!
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Thanks Zak, Chris.
Almost there, aim to get Hylo lift painted today.
Kevin
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Blimey, that's great.
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Thanks Chaps,
Managed to get some colour on the Hylo lift, added some light lenses from those supplied by Little Cars.
Got two ground personnel painted and put on duty loading.
Hope you like it.
Kevin
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An excellent model and diorama Kevin. Great work.