1/72 Avrocar

[frank2056]

I was rearranging the kit stash when the Fly Models 1/2 Avrocar Racer X kit fell and landed at my feet:



When I opened the box, I noticed that the two resin exhaust blade assemblies (one for each side) had lost some of the tiny blades at some point between the factory and my bench. I made an effort to reattach them, but it didn't look good. Instead, I measured the parts, CADed it up and printed it in PLA - it took less time than trying to get the CA to hold the fragile blades in place. Since it's a filament printer, I made the blades thicker. Still, good enough:



The interior bits went together quickly but I noticed that the blades stuck out from the body:



Unless I messed up the interior, the resin parts would have had the same issue. Cutting them down to size fixed the problem:



The two cockpits are barely visible, despite being nicely detailed in resin:



If I had wanted to, I could have sealed everything up and started painting, but the "landing gear"  was just a set of small resin caster wheels. I cut some landing gear bays and found some 1/144 MiG-23 landing gear that I could repurpose. The two saucer halves are glued together and under some weights (the fit isn't great). Tomorrow I'll start painting.

The kit comes with control vanes at the front (like in the final version of the Avrocar) but the original control disk looks better - I may print that up as well. I also thought of adding a tail of some sort. Let's see how I feel about it tomorrow.

[Rick Lowe]

As it launched itself at you, it would have been rude to disregard it's wishes... 

Fred did a Stargate-themed one a few years ago, he may have some pointers.

Coming along well.

[Joe CalPo]

Yummy!   

[zenrat]

As it launched itself at you, it would have been rude to disregard it's wishes... 

Fred did a Stargate-themed one a few years ago, he may have some pointers.

Coming along well.

ISTR having an issue with the vane/interior interface.
I replaced the wheels with skids.

Avrocar 8 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

See here for more.

[PR19_Kit]

The Avrocar looks purpose made for a 'hovercraft' style landing gear actually. 

[frank2056]

The Avrocar was so close to becoming a hovercraft. They never bothered trying a skirt on it.

I copied was inspired by Fred's build and found some skids from a Hasegawa Hughes 300 eggplane that I bought for parts:



and added the modified skids. I also closed off the holes I made for the landing gear. The skids look big, but they'll do:



I'm not convinced that this model really represents any version of the Avrocar. Maybe the instructions are so vague that I've put some of the parts on wrong.

I have a "flying saucer" that I made from two ancient (mid to late 1950s) Lindberg and Airfix aircraft stands that oddly fit this kit perfectly.

[kerick]

I think the skids are fine. It wouldn't do to have your Avrocar tip over!
Are you going with the racer X decals?

[zenrat]

I am honoured that you should take inspiration from my trivial works.

Looks good.

[frank2056]

I'm not going to use the racer decals - I'm going more for a "what if the control systems and other issues had been solved"

This is the first pass at the metal finish, to see what needs fixing. It's a quick and dirty first coat. I removed it and repainted (after fixing some problems):



This was going to be a quick and dirty fun project before I pick a longer, more complicated project. A modeling "amuse bouche". Buuut... I remembered that I had this old Planet kit:



I started it 25 years ago or more (shortly after it was released in 1999) and put it away when I became annoyed at the resin fit and finish. I decided this would be a good time to finish it, as a captured test companion to the Avrocar:



The underside shows some of the ugliness, although the BMW003 engine is nicely rendered.

[NARSES2]

Finish is looking good 

[Old Wombat]

Modellers Creep strikes again!   

[PR19_Kit]

They're surprisingly similar in size. 

[frank2056]

I was surprised at how closer the Avrocar and the BMW Autogiro are in size; it is based on a Justo Miranda drawing, although I don't know what his sources were. I doubt the original design was anything other than a napkinwaffe project.

This is not a great kit, especially for Planet, so I'm going to put minimum effort into finishing it.

I have moved along with the Avrocar. The aluminum paint I'm using is pretty old, so it may explain the graininess of the lighter aluminum color. I probably should have added extra thinner. The darker aluminum is newer, so it doesn't look as grainy. I added some faint weathering as well:



The red warning circle around the central fan looks wonky - the decal is shown going just inside of the intake, but the decal wasn't cooperating. It was easier to cut it into segments and apply the segments along the intake's outer panel line:



The white wing just below the saucer is a T-tail that I'm scratchbuilding.

[kerick]

It was Friday afternoon when the guys were painting that red strip and they were in a hurry......
It's looking really good. Nice job.

[NARSES2]

It is looking good