1/72 Scratchbuilt 1912 Avro F

-The first steps into the mysterious world of scratchbuilding-

by Gabriel Stern

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Yeap. You start improving things a little here and there, adding a few details to your everyday model, looking more frequently at the spares bin, cutting some plastic and tubing and, without even noticing, you begin to look at blueprints of strange-looking flying things. Next thing you know you are printing patterns in the appropriate scale, just in case. And then, one day, you realize you are in the middle of your first scratch project.
  I like to think that is not about perfection, but about satisfaction. Certain aspects of the real planes are relatively easy to represent, while others are not. I try not to get too obsessive, but to be careful enough to look with a smile at the final product. Hey, this is a representation after all, and you wanted to enjoy it, remember?
  That's what happened to me with the Caproni Stipa. I guess it is a sort of natural process. Since the Stipa project was rewarding, I kind of slipped into the next one, the venerable Avro F of 1912. This is one of the firsts creations of Sir A.V. Roe, reputedly the first enclosed cabin airplane. Hey, this may be an easy one. Slab-sided fuselage, pretty standard features, nothing seemed suspicious. And there I was again cutting styrene sheets. Since I had a honorable past as a free flight and radio control balsa modeler, in a way the resources were already there. Building a static model is not much different than building a balsa one. In some occasions the process also has certain resemblance with paper-built structures.

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  The photocopied, properly sized patterns were cut from the paper and pasted (via school-like rubbing glue) to the styrene sheet. Thin ones were used for the wing skins and fuselage sides, thicker ones for the formers and stab. With styrene tubes of different diameters an engine was built, and, in spite of not being an exceptional reproduction, is convincing enough. For the fins on the cylinders I inserted the styrene tube in the dremel chuck and just touched it, with convenient spacing, with my Olfa "P" cutter, ever so slightly.  More styrene in the form of "L" angle was used to reinforce the fuselage corners.
  The wings received a rod leading edge and a "I" beam spar, again, much in a way a flying model will. The wing skins were pre-curved around a wood dowel to provide for some aerodynamic shape. The stab was sanded to profile and a couple of details -prop and skid- were made of wood, just like the real thing, using small pieces of a coffee stirring stick. The propeller was sanded to airfoil profile, again taking advantage of fading memories of my flying modeler past.

  The interior in this case isn't as detailed as the Stipa's, for lacking of references. So I just guessed where the seat might have been and that was all.
  After a few sessions a "kit" started to appear in front of my eyes, and that was the time when I began to create the decals on my computer. Since I am not that much computer-inclined, it took me a time, but a decent product was achieved.
  I decided to deal with the windows by applying -after construction and painting- Testors' window maker. I used that before and with care an almost credible approximation can be achieved.
  The struts were made of Aeroclub strut material -which has an airfoil section and comes in various sizes- and styrene rod.
  The fuselage unit was completed, landing skid and tail included, and primed. So were the wings, which I kept separated for later assembly since the front fuselage was going to be painted metallic.

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  The photo sequence is intended as self-explanatory, and I hope you can easily follow the steps I took.
  One interesting point were the wheels. I got a pair of suitable ones from the spares bin, but alas, canvas covered.
How do you get/build spoke wheels? Something I may find in the future.
  I used a mix of acrylic paints to get a nice overall natural color and Testors' aluminum enamel for the front part of the fuselage. Struts were painted with a mixed wood-like acrylic color and the engine was painted black and highlighted with aluminum rub-n-buff. The whole thing was given the Future treatment and custom decals applied. Rigging was done with monofilament painted metal.
  Even when this model is not a perfect one, and there is room for improvement, this was a very satisfying project. You learn a couple of things on your way and hey. after all, these are the first steps!. All you need is to get some supplies, tools, a tad of courage... and get started.
  I'm already looking at some other interesting flying things already!
Have fun, that, after all, it is what matters.

Gabriel

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Photos and text © by Gabriel Stern