ATL-98 Carvair 1/144th Conversion

[Bigkev]

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

[Haddock]

Looks interesting.
Haddock.

[chriswil42]

Different Kevin. Should be good.

[cph64]

Looking forward to seeing this build Kev.

[Bigkev]

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
 

[chriswil42]

Detailed work Kevin.

[cph64]

Some real modelling going on here and in 1/144th!! I don't think my eyes are up to that, well done.

[Bigkev]

Thanks chaps.
More posting soon.
Bigkev

[Bigkev]

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

[chriswil42]

A labour of love Kevin?

[cph64]

Setting 7 deg dihedral in 1/144th sounds like fun, hmm?

[Bigkev]

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 

[Bob C]

Coming along nicely.

Bob c

[chriswil42]

Very nice Kevin. Good detail.

[Bigkev]

Thanks chaps, will be adding some paint tonight.
Bigkev