The most famous Bird Dog ever (and its vintage companion)
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45 30 June, 13:17
Michael KohlI only and sincerely hope that you quadruple checked your references that the original plane didn't have an "Airfix" molded on the cockpit side walls - lest you have to scratch new ones. 😉
30 June, 15:00
NicolasI'm in. Got the Airfix kit and the Pavla detail set in my stash, but I'm thinking about replacing it with the AVI kit. I think your report will be a big help there.
30 June, 17:42
CuajeteGreat! The Bird Dog Society has begun. I have felt a great disturbance in the Force, but I remembered that Łukasz is a great tamer of hard plastics 😉
It looks like those photo-etches are doing a good job 👌
30 June, 18:19
Alex KSo... if the AVI kit is destined for the representation of Major Buang-Ly's plane... I'm also eager to see what the Airfix kit will be...
30 June, 18:34
Łukasz GlińskiYou're absolutely right Alex - AVI's going to be Major's BirdDog and Airfix is destined to be boxart DJ-coded one.
I was thinking of Maltese markings for it, but there are none available.
Cuajete, the PE are quite good, but the Airwaves set has quite unclear hand-drawn instructions, which is challenging sometimes.
Nicolas, wish I could fetch the Pavla tail set, I need to try restoring the raised lines after having to remove the injection marks.
30 June, 19:22
NicolasI'd wish there would be a conversion kit to a Siai SM 1019. But I think I have to scratchbuild the different cowling, propeller and tailsection.
1 July, 04:46
Łukasz GlińskiThanks and good to see you. I progressed a bit with AVI set as Airfix requires some corrections, namely tail and windows
9 August, 21:13
Thomas KolbWow, that cockpit looks beautiful! Are the wings joined to the transparent canopy only? Are you using CA or regular styrene solvent? I find that transparent plastic doesn't create a strong bond using regular styrene cement, but maybe you are more skilled than me.
10 August, 19:10
Łukasz GlińskiShhh, Thomas, so far it does stay together 😉
Actually the greenhouse is build using CA in some places and Mr Cement SP in others.
I think it depends on the material used by the manufacturer, for example Zvezda lately is known for using polyethylene afaik.
10 August, 19:35
CuajeteŁukasz, you are doing a very good job with the Airfix kit. At this rate it will have a better result than the AVI one 😉
11 September, 17:45
Thomas KolbThis project is shaping up nicely! You are getting more and more brave with unorthodox techniques, I see! Like melting and shaping plastic with solvent, cool!
11 September, 19:09
Łukasz GlińskiYeah, I'm playing around with various ideas as these won't be any competition builds anyway.
Added the decals, which in case of Airfix was very frustrating, many of the originals have disintegrated, most notably the big black 'DJ' letters.
So, all the 'DJ' Ids are done using parts of surplus decals, courtesy of my stash.
Trying to add convincing wash on the wings and tails currently.
PS. I have to admit the AVI kit is really nice thing to build, except for 2 weak points: poorly fitting front cowling and the ridiculous undercarriage legs.
15 September, 12:27
Łukasz GlińskiThanks mates, I can announce both kits as finished.
@Dave - I decided to remove the second project and put all pics here. The Airfix Bird Dog is not bad, except the thick side windows and the damn stabilisers, but as you've got the Pavla sets that should be no problem in your case. And definitely the undercarriage legs in both kits are way too thick, I used Airwaves set and copied the legs for the second kit using the rest of the same PE fret.
21 September, 18:21
CuajeteVery nice couple. Well done!
You did a great job with the old Airfix kit 👍
Congrats!
21 September, 18:30
Thomas KolbA lovely couple, I think you managed very well with handling the problems. This is modeling at its nicest!
21 September, 19:35
