Armstrong Whitworth Argosy by king derelict - FINISHED - Mikro Mir- 1/144 - PLASTIC

[king derelict]

I hope I am not provoking chaos here, usually I am quite content with one model at a time but the FW200 and the Bavarian cavalryman seem to be prone to short bursts of activity followed by a 24 hour drying time. 

So its time for another Eastern European adventure back to my youth. The Argosy was the last aircraft built by Armstrong Whitworth and were a major improvement on the Hastings.

It still amazes me how many British aircraft companies there were in the 1960s and the wide range of aircraft produced. 

The box is well stuffed with bits, even a small fret of PE and decals and paint schemes for several aircraft.

The twin boom layout is possibly going to be challenging to build.

I dived in and built the wing. No location pins but the trailing edge is moulded on both sides on the upper half so makes a solid locating feature. The wings joined up nicely with a few clamps holding it while the glue set. There is some structural detail in what I think are going to turn out to be the wheel wells.

I moved onto the crew quarters and unlike the Condor there is a lot of bits devoted to it. The control console (with tiny pilots yokes even), seats and even the navigators table. I don't see how any of this will be seen, the windshield is far too small and there are no other ways to view it. I do plan to pose it with teh rear doors open but bulkheads prevent a view of teh cockpit.

I've built up the cargo doors which have gone together nicely.

 

Some real challenges ahead, not least the paint scheme but so far its another nice Mikro Mir kit

 

Thanks for looking in

 

Alan

 

 

 

 

[king derelict]

Moving along; this is an interesting kit and has the advantage that you can work on several elements, fuselage, wing, booms etc so I'm not brought to a halt to wait for paint to dry.

I've primed most parts and sprayed the interior of the fuselage with light grey. 

I gave the cockpit a light coat of grey over the primer to bring out the details. There is not much point in getting wild with the painting here; its going to be invisible once the fuselage is closed up

The porthole glazing was then installed. Each window is a separate tiny clear part and they are all too big to fit the hole in the fuselage so each opening had to be reworked. Several escaped from the tweezers but thankfully all were recovered. 

The flight deck was installed along with the cargo floor which was painted light grey and scuffed up to show wear.

This will be the last look at the flight deck. I made up the doors and they look quite nice although the fit might be a bit nasty. I plan to have the doors open which may also stop the nose lifting. I don't see much space to stow some weights up front. Maybe some lead weight under the floor - or possibly a 1/144 vehicle or pile of freight.

 

So far this is a lot of fun with some interesting challenges ahead, mating the wing, booms, tail - and then the paint scheme.

 

Thanks for looking in and the likes

 

Alan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[king derelict]

The Argosy kit is now showing its true colours and its turning into a bit of a fight.

I have been working on the booms and its taken nearly two full days to get them completed.

The gear is made up of several pieces shown below and the instructions need a lot of puzzling over to work out how they go together.

Parts 25 and 26 make up the exhaust and have to be installed such that they will protrude through the relevant hole in the other side of the boom. Naturally the hole is too small and needs enlarging.

There is a tiny actuator (part 74) that I couldn't make sense of and spent an hour or so on the internet to finally work out where it goes - its a bit of a wasted effort though - its going to be completely invisible.

The detail is quite impressive for the scale but it was a long tussle to get to the point where the booms could be completed.

I made up the outer engine nacelles and then started dry fitting everything to the wing. Nothing fits even closely. I had teh full range of material removing gear in play at some point or other.

Th DSPIAE sanding pads bought on impulse are seeing a lot of action on this build. The wing / fuselage interface needed a disturbing amount of material to be removed and the booms were not much better. On the plus side the booms locate well into the wing and should line up and even allow the tail plane to fit properly (I think)

The assemblies all fit now and the amount of material removed can be seen. I probably should not have primed anything until it was fully built.

 

So maybe tomorrow I will have some bits assembled. I think nacelles and booms and then the wing onto the fuselage. Hopefully that should be the last of the seriously rough stuff.

 

Thanks for looking in and the likes and comments.

 

Alan

 

[Canute]

Kind of a typical limited run kit with no registration pins and questionable fit. I have an Amodel Firebar sitting in its box, awaiting another session of fettling the two engine pods onto the multi-piece wings. 😜

Keep on plugging away, Alan. 👍

[king derelict]

On 8/16/2024 at 8:57 AM, Canute said:

Kind of a typical limited run kit with no registration pins and questionable fit. I have an Amodel Firebar sitting in its box, awaiting another session of fettling the two engine pods onto the multi-piece wings. 😜

Keep on plugging away, Alan. 👍

Hi Ken

Thats exactly how the Argosy kit is. Plus a mis-shaped parts. It does have some good features; the booms are designed to lock into the wings so they are aligned and fir the tail plane - but if only they fitted the engaging parts.

I have the Amodel Firebar too. I'm trying to decide whether to start it in this iteration or complete the Beverley instead. Or make a break for sanity and pick a Firehawk ship are revel in the fit of parts.

Alan

[king derelict]

After a couple of days getting seriously medieval with the tail booms and the wing / fuselage fit the major pieces are assembled and the first round of filler applied. 

She is a serious tail sitter but I plan to complete her with the doors open and I'm hoping the ramp will put her back on the nose wheel. I need to find a few decent photos of the clam shell door in the open position.

The kit provides masks for the port holes (but not enough so some are liquid mask). Once the filler has hardened I will try a coat of primer and see what I have got.

Thanks for looking in and the likes and comments

Alan

 

[king derelict]

This one has soaked up a lot of time without making much progress. Its by alternative frustrating and rewarding. I put another coat of primer and the wing. fuselage and tailbooms all blended nicely (rewarding)

There is definitely a touch of the Fat Albert in this one

The messy blue line is down to be covered with masks for the demarcation between the white and pale grey colour scheme which is going to be challenging. I started adding the PE and then decided that there was no way I could mask for painting with the PE in place so I pulled it all off again (frustrating). 

The kit provides masks for the fuselage stripes but not for the booms. Luckily the masking template came to the rescue to cut some nice regular thin stripes of tape

I was just stirring the pot of white paint and realised - I hadn't masked the inner sides of the booms so I also need to paint the blue line and let it harden before putting the masking stripe on (very frustrating)

This is the paint scheme and rather grimy finish that I will be generally trying to emulate.

It looks like the Rolls-Royce Darts chucked out a lot of oil. Never had much to do with them although they were part of my fleet portfolio at one time.

I'm a bit puzzled about the red over wing stripe above the inboard engines. I don't see it as part of the colour scheme and it doesn't seem to fade away like stain would. It looks like there is a vent ahead of it. Hydraulic fluid is usually that colour but it seems a lot. Any thoughts please?

Thanks for looking in and teh likes and comments.

Alan

 

 

 

[Old Collingwood]

4 hours ago, king derelict said:

This one has soaked up a lot of time without making much progress. Its by alternative frustrating and rewarding. I put another coat of primer and the wing. fuselage and tailbooms all blended nicely (rewarding)

There is definitely a touch of the Fat Albert in this one

The messy blue line is down to be covered with masks for the demarcation between the white and pale grey colour scheme which is going to be challenging. I started adding the PE and then decided that there was no way I could mask for painting with the PE in place so I pulled it all off again (frustrating). 

The kit provides masks for the fuselage stripes but not for the booms. Luckily the masking template came to the rescue to cut some nice regular thin stripes of tape

I was just stirring the pot of white paint and realised - I hadn't masked the inner sides of the booms so I also need to paint the blue line and let it harden before putting the masking stripe on (very frustrating)

This is the paint scheme and rather grimy finish that I will be generally trying to emulate.

It lookI wonder if the  s like the Rolls-Royce Darts chucked out a lot of oil. Never had much to do with them although they were part of my fleet portfolio at one time.

I'm a bit puzzled about the red over wing stripe above the inboard engines. I don't see it as part of the colour scheme and it doesn't seem to fade away like stain would. It looks like there is a vent ahead of it. Hydraulic fluid is usually that colour but it seems a lot. Any thoughts please?

Thanks for looking in and teh likes and comments.

Alan

 

 

 

I wonder if the red bands  are  for  "do not  step past  or  only  step past  this area"   due  to  some areas  of wings  not being strong enough  to stand on.

 

OC.

[Landlubber Mike]

Really cool subject Alan - looking good!  I feel your pain on putting in a lot of time without feeling like you made much progress.  My JRS-1 has been soul-crushing that way.

[king derelict]

19 hours ago, Old Collingwood said:

I wonder if the red bands  are  for  "do not  step past  or  only  step past  this area"   due  to  some areas  of wings  not being strong enough  to stand on.

Thats a good thought. Thanks OC. the aircraft in the photo is so beat up with stains and discolouration everywhere. Even panels that seem to not be painted to match the overall scheme I wonder if the red is some sort of temporary marking. It looks too regular to be staining I think. I can't find any other photos to match it.

Alan

[king derelict]

8 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said:

Really cool subject Alan - looking good!  I feel your pain on putting in a lot of time without feeling like you made much progress.  My JRS-1 has been soul-crushing that way.

Thanks Mike

Its a great subject and I have its predecessor the Beverley at the same scale from Mikro Mir. The reviews are not encouraging!

Some of the work has been rather vexing but if I can make a decent job of the paint (the next big challenge) I think it will be worth it. Your JRS-1 looks like it is a huge challenge.

Alan

[king derelict]

I sprayed the white upper sections today. Now letting it dry and harden before starting the serious masking tomorrow for the grey bits.

Thanks for looking in and the likes and comments

 

Alan

[king derelict]

A bit more of an inspiring day.  I masked up for the grey section.

The yellow and black almost looks like a paint scheme in its own right!

 

After airbrushing the light grey it was time to see the results - and the masking behaved very well. I had resigned myself to the blue stripe being a mess but it came out nicely and so did the windows and cockpit glass.

Its starting to feel like I might make something out of this one. Now the attention turns to the details. Wheels, props and some delicate PE along with posing the cargo doors open.

 

Thanks for looking in and the likes and comments

 

Alan

 

 

[Old Collingwood]

Thats  looking so nice Alan.

 

OC.

[ejgray52]

There was a story told to me back in my RAF days, that the Argosys won a competition while in the Middle East; their rival squadron who flew Beverleys, ( who could go further and carry more), sent the message, 'OK, so you won the trophy, but how are you going to get it home?'

[AJohnson]

1 hour ago, Old Collingwood said:

Thats  looking so nice Alan.

 

OC.

And nice to see this unusual subject!  👏

[king derelict]

2 hours ago, Old Collingwood said:

Thats  looking so nice Alan.

 

OC.

Thank you OC. Now to start the fiddly stuff.
Alan

[king derelict]

1 hour ago, ejgray52 said:

There was a story told to me back in my RAF days, that the Argosys won a competition while in the Middle East; their rival squadron who flew Beverleys, ( who could go further and carry more), sent the message, 'OK, so you won the trophy, but how are you going to get it home?'

Thanks for the story. I have the 1/144 Beverley to start when I'm feeling strong. I gather it is as much a struggle in places as the Argosy but it will be a great compliment to the Argosy. Doing a bit of preliminary reading I gather the whole rear door assemblies could be removed from the Beverley for heavyweight drops; so flying with teh back end completely open. I think I also read that an initial concept had the entire cargo pod detach as the aircraft overflew the destination at about ten feet and it landed on its own wheels.

Fun days

 

Alan

[ejgray52]

Another tale was on the first RAF Beverley flight, the co-pilot turned to the captain on take off and said, "My side's airborne sir, what about yours?"   I lived not far from a Beverley base as a child; the local newspaper would detail when night flying was taking place. I remember looking out of my bedroom window at their navigation lights crossing the sky and hearing the engines droning...

[king derelict]

Lovely story EJ. Thanks. The RAF of the fifties and sixties was a special place. I just read Vampire Boys about the pilots who flew the RAFs first frontline single engine jet. The number of crashes is amazing. One pilot describes losing his brakes on landing, going off the runway and through the perimeter fence, crossing a road and ending up on a traffic island. There was an AA motor cyclist ( remember them!) standing there who walked over to what was left of the cockpit and asked “ Are you a member sir” some great stories in that book, highly recommended.

alan

[king derelict]

On 8/29/2024 at 5:14 PM, AJohnson said:

And nice to see this unusual subject!  👏

Thank you very much Andrew.

I remember the Argosies in service. Don’t recall the Beverley though but I do plan one of them too. It’s worth the struggle with the kits to get the less known subjects.

alan

[king derelict]

The last few days have been spent in a serious tussle with this one. Two related issues really.

1 - She is a serious tail sitter and needs a lot of weight up front. 

2 - How to pose the clamshell door open in a reasonably robust fashion.

 

I decided the weight issue could be resolved if I could get the ramp strong enough; then the aircraft would be held up at teh back by the open door. I tried drilling the doors and inserted brass rods to hold them open and was unsuccessful although I did break several of my nice new DSPIEA drill bits. I think they were the same as the ones originally used to drill circuit boards.

After a lot of puzzling it occurred to me to replace the very thin plastic struts / actuators in the kit with brass rod and that worked a treat. I drilled into the back of the fuselage a fair way so I could adjust the rods to make sure the ramp pushed the nosewheel back onto the ground. It seems to have succeeded. The doors were a horrible fit as well but that was a relatively minor annoyance

Doesn't really show the rods I'll try again. The next task is a gloss coat and the decals. I think I need to add them before the PE makes it very difficult to handle the model. Ooops - after the gear doors and the door hinges.

I'm hoping this is the last major structural fight.

Thanks for looking in and the likes and comments.

Alan

 

[Landlubber Mike]

Looks like I'm not the only one with multiple projects in the hopper

 

This is coming along great Alan.  Glad you figured out the door/ramp as a solution for the tail sitting.  Did the instructions tell you how much weight to put up front?  I've seem some models out there where people talk about putting all this weight in, but I never quite figured out how they knew how much to add given that they close the fuselage after the weight is added.

[king derelict]

On 9/4/2024 at 10:17 PM, Landlubber Mike said:

Looks like I'm not the only one with multiple projects in the hopper

 

This is coming along great Alan.  Glad you figured out the door/ramp as a solution for the tail sitting.  Did the instructions tell you how much weight to put up front?  I've seem some models out there where people talk about putting all this weight in, but I never quite figured out how they knew how much to add given that they close the fuselage after the weight is added.

Thanks Mike

The instructions didn't mention being a tail sitter or adding weight. I tried some weight in the cargo pod (there is nowhere else to put it) before adding the doors and I needed about 15 grammes. Which took up a lot of room. I was toying with making it look like cargo but decided I could probably strengthen the ramp and use that to keep the tail up.

 

Its a complete contrast between the two builds. Lots of struggling and bad language with teh Argosy (but its starting to look quite nice now) and the figure painting is all calm and reflective. Very soothing and enjoyable.

 

Alan

[king derelict]

The last two days have been spent decalling the model. A lot of small decals widely spread across the plane. I thought it was best to do them before the PE because holding the model after the PE is going to be delicate. Actually I had to do the decals in several sessions for the same reason.

The Mikro Mir decals are very nice. They don't have a lot of extra carrier film, they slide off the backing nicely and seem well registered. I had to go back to photos of the real thing several times because the kit instructions for placing the decals didn't always seem sensible and are probably wrong in places. I went with the photos

I need to tidy up the anti-glare black below the cockpit windows, then another satin coat to seal everything followed by the props and onto the PE. I plan to try to weather it quite heavily after the PE is on.

A better shot to show the struts holding the ramp

Thanks for looking in, the likes and comments.

 

Alan

 

 

 

 

[Landlubber Mike]

Nice job Alan, looking great!  I know what you mean about trying to figure out the order of things when it comes to handling the model.  I ended up doing the PE first on my JRS-1, as I was worried about excess glue that I couldn't remove over the painted surface, but it took a lot of discipline to remember to grab and hold the model in only one position.  A few times I forgot but thankfully I didn't knock anything off.

[king derelict]

On 9/6/2024 at 9:58 PM, Landlubber Mike said:

Nice job Alan, looking great!  I know what you mean about trying to figure out the order of things when it comes to handling the model.  I ended up doing the PE first on my JRS-1, as I was worried about excess glue that I couldn't remove over the painted surface, but it took a lot of discipline to remember to grab and hold the model in only one position.  A few times I forgot but thankfully I didn't knock anything off.

Thank you very much Mike. Its easier with the 1/700 ships that you can mount on a pill container or similar to have a solid place to hold. I get focussed on exactly positioning something and fingers wander and always seem find something to damage.

THe front part of the booms are going to be the safest place I think.

Alan

[king derelict]

Some minor progress tidying up a few details and adding the red stripe decals after finding them documented in a couple of photos.. I added the props and started painting the red tips. I think there is supposed to be a white stripe in the middle of the red but that may be a little tricky.

The props were a source of frustration. They were heavily covered with flash and are very delicate at the inboard end where the blade meets the hub. In spite of best intents I boke a blade off two of them and its far to small an area to effect a reasonable repair. The kit provides a second set of props for (I think) an earlier standard with thinner rounded blades. I clipped the tips slightly to square them off so they are a touch thinner than the real deal but I can't think of a better solution.

Thanks for looking in and the likes and comments

Alan

 

[king derelict]

I can't believe how much time I have spent fiddling with the prop tips. It hasn't helped that the Ammo acrylic red seems to be flaking off. I'm try the Tamiya version next.

 

I had a thought for the white stripe. One of the paint schemes that Mikro Mir provided decals for involved fairly large white lettering. I started butchering the X, P, $ and ) to get small straight bits and tried them on the blade tips. It looks promising although I will have to touch up the red.

Its just occurred to me - I am going to have to repeat the same exercise on the back side of teh props. Oh well.

 

Thanks for looking in, the likes and the comments

 

Alan

 

[Old Collingwood]

That  is  looking really nice  Alan  - its never easy  when a  kit  is  not  very  foregiving  -  its  looking really  smart.

 

OC.