SZYBOWCA IS-1 "Sep" (Vultur) glider - 1/72nd scale, PZW, Poland (1982 kit accordiong to Scalemates)

 

(From the Net, Polish website)

 

SZYBOWCA IS-1 “Sep” (vulture)

Gliders are a sub-division of the airplane universe that hasn’t received the same kind of attention than their motorized counterparts. Still, a large number can be found in various scales and diverse standards of quality, and I have resin, plastic and vacuformed kits of them. Some time ago I acquired a set of four gliders released by PZW (Podlaskie Zakłady Wytwórcze) in 1/2^nd scale. I have built two so far:

The SZD-9-1d- “Bocian”

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2017/03/szd-9-1d-bocian-completed-172nd-scale.html

and the SZD-16 “Gil”

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2017/03/szd-16-gil-bullfinch-completed-172nd.html

The other two I have are the Szybowiec Mucha and the Sep. I chose, from the manufacturer’s catalog, the ones that looked more on the vintage side, instead of the more modern, stylized ones, like their Jantar and SZD-19-2A Zefir

These models and many more (gliders and other types) were produced by this Polish company mostly in the 80s, and re-released in several guises until recently. The kits are simple, but mostly fair. Depending on the release date the boxes may look definitely “primitive” or more to contemporary standards. The detail is generic, and varies form kit to kit. The interiors particularly are quite Spartan, in many cases reduced to a universal seat. Nonetheless, motivated modelers have turned these kits into very nice and in some cases detailed models with a bit of work and patience, and can be seen on the Net with certain frequency. The moldings are fair, just a little flash here an there -and not brilliantly-polished canopies-, but the small details workable, unlike, for example, contemporary manufacturers like Valom and Kora (to name just two), which present kits that are definitely coarser, even after a 40 year production gap. Mysteries of the Modeling Universe.

I gravitate to this kind of project when I am up to my neck into more complex builds and need a break, as it is now the case. These little gliders are far from being of the shake n’ bake type, but their demands on the modeler are reasonable. The decals in these kits are neither particularly accurate or good, and photos need to be consulted, and almost invariably this results in the need of making home-made ones (or live with the kit’s ones if you are not too demanding and just want to have a little modeling fun). 

These kits are usually offered for a few dollars (I bought mine for between $3 and $5 each) and are ideal for beginners or youngsters due to the low parts' count and simplicity. Modelers in general can cut their teeth at some easy scratch adding a few details for the cockpit or trying paints and airbrushes. They are not a paradigm of detail and precision, but are fair and easy enough, even more so considering they were created in the 80's!

Contents of the box. Notice cement container (long ago dried up), pedestal, instructions and decals with exaggerated font and missing details:

There is a general notice on the type in the box (photo at the beginning) in English, but the rest...

Pre-marred canopy with some flash:

The relief is there...but inverted (the fabric is etched up and the structure etched down...not sure why):

The sprue gates are not really intrusive, but require a bit of clean up. Notice the small part, rendered better than in some current kits:

The very few parts are cleaned up. The interior consist of a generic seat.

Canopy with flash removed and first pass with a polishing pad:

These areas need to be removed as they were open in the original plane:

One section is removed:

The locating holes are enlarged as they were too small:

These are not blemishes, but real details on the original:

This other section is removed too:

An aft-the-seat partial bulkhead needs to be fabricated, as well as a floor, joystick and instrument panel, following photos. More likely the "stick" supports for the kit's seat will need to go too.
 

Having many a time progressed on the build to the point of final assembly only to find out that nothing fits properly, a trial was made, and I am happy to report that the fit is excellent, something many a modern kit can't boast of:

Some parts are fabricated and others scrounged to provide the cockpit with a resemblance of equipment. Floor and bulkhead added to one fuselage side:

Canopy now looking better after a bath in acrylic floor polish:

BTW, if you like gliders as I do:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2014/03/dr-design-172-otto-lilienthal-kleine.html

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2014/03/dr-design-172-otto-lilienthal-kleiner.html

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2017/03/peyret-tandem-glider-from-archives-2008.html

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2014/07/scratch-built-clement-triplane-glider.html

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2016/04/szybowiec-bydgoszczanka-scratchbuilt.html

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2012/11/drdesign-172-lilienthal-1894-glider.html

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2013/07/scratchbuilt-cayleys-gliding-parachute.html

https://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Gal8/7501-7600/gal7532-FokkerV42%20-Stern/00.shtm

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2014/07/scratchbuilt-172-belyaiev-bp-2-1934.html

 

 

 

To be continued....

Loening "Cabin Amphibian" civil transport - conversion based on Esoteric OL-8/9 1/72nd vacuformed kit

 

(Photos from the ETCH repository)

Always fascinated by strange-looking aircraft, the Loening “Cabin Amphibian” (as it was called on the specialized press then) and also known diversely (and confusedly) as “Amphibian and “Air Yatch”, a civil conversion of the OL-8/9, caught my eye a long time ago. But no kit could be found of it, neither of the later development, the Loening C-2. I may attempt the same conversion Loening did, using the Esoteric Models “Naval Aviation Factory” series kit of the aforementioned OL-8/9. This involves quite a bit of surgery, deleting the kit’s ailerons on the top wing, re-contouring the vertical tail, moving the cockpit and engine 4mm forward and significantly altering the aft fuselage to accommodate the passenger cabin, which, wait for it…also included a tiny restroom! Lured as I am by flying toilets, it was a hard to resist challenge. This –British- Esoteric Models kit from 1987 includes instructions, notably decals (generally absent from vac kits), white metal parts, a piece of clear plastic sheet and strut material. The extruded airfoiled struts are too flimsy for most of the intended uses, and it’s better to substitute it for “Strutz” metal ones, in this case courtesy of friends Andrew Nickeas and John Adams of Aeroclub fame (my gratitude to both of them). The white metal parts are kind of dated, and it would be good to also substitute them. A basic cockpit interior is provided (which needs help), and the passenger cabin will need to be provided for. The wings have very faintly engraved the position for the struts. The position for the lower wing spars on the fuselage sides seems inaccurate. Fortunately plans of the civil modification do exist, although in a somewhat generic form, and it’s easy to tell that some details differ from the actual planes. So as always, photos need gathering and studied. There were a few Canadian planes, and also one that Richard Chamberlin used for special flights, one to promote a New York-Washington line and another to Europe crossing the Atlantic. A few other users can be told from photos. These planes extensively wore an orange/black scheme, while the fuselage float bottom seems metal color. 

The color cues and a complete description of the plane are given in this "Aviation" magazine article from 1928:

The base for the model:

Pre-crunched parts:

The upper wing needs the ailerons deleted, the fin needs re-contouring, the interior scratched, cockpit and cabin alike:

Well, it's seems it could be a little of a challenge:

Flimsy, inadequate struts for most uses on the model, have to be substituted for sturdier metal ones:

Kind of outdated white metal parts, will need replacement:

Some of the several mods this kit needs for the civil conversion:

Substitutes are found for the white metal parts. The wheels in the kit are rendered as solid (also with a "solid" description of the complex mechanism), but in reality they have the spokes bare, so P.E. spokes will be used on O-rings as I have done for other wheels (to the repeated question if the rubber will degrade, I have used O rings for about 20 years now, and I don't see signs of degradation, but some kits have provided rubber tires that did degrade). An aftermarket resin engine will substitute the homely one in the kit, using an engine "pie" cover from one of Khee-Kha's beautiful engine sets. The prop will also be substituted, as well as the white metal tailskid, which is not a sharp molding:

Using slightly bigger wheels than the ones intended for the model, vacuformed "wheel wells" are created with the Mattel Psychedelic Machine. These will replace the "pre-crunched" ones in the kit. They are to be glued inside the float halves before joining the fuselage sides:

Geometry of the LG:

 The LG partial cover (in lighter color) can be seen in this photo:

Following tradition, a fine sharpie is used to mark the contour of all parts. Then the contour is carefully scored with a new blade, the backing sheet rocked gently back and forth, and the parts are popped out. Strangely, this is a step that make newcomers to vacuformed kits a bit anxious, but it's actually easy compared to the judiciously sanding of the parts. This is not a vac for beginners to the media, but I will try nonetheless to show the constructions steps for clarity:

Carefully, gently, but almost effortlessly the parts are liberated from the backing sheets. Not all of them will be used and some will be replaced. The 3 parts in the immediate foreground do not feature on the plan:

It is wise to keep large chunks of the4 backing sheet for further use making bulkheads, spars, floors, etc.

The upper wing did not have ailerons in this version, these should by puttied over, sanded, and the ribbing restored:

The critical point of this build is the removal of a big section of the fuselage and replace it by a "bloated" passenger cabin and moving the engine and cockpit forward by about 4mm. The marred louvers on the nose should be filled from inside with epoxy or Milliput, sanded down, and replaced later on the build by Archer resin louvers. The wheel wells need carving out, not forgetting the furrows for the mechanism rods:

Now the process of scraping (careful using a small cabinet scraper), sanding down the excess plastic and truing the contact surfaces for all parts can begin. This includes thinning the trailing edges of all flying surfaces as much as possible (but not so thin that it will melt down or deform while applying cement). This may take a while, as it is a tedious, repetitive task that also needs keeping a keen eye, so I do it a bit every day, avoiding to be burned. I will be seeing you on the other side.

Some vacs present these pips, which are product of little suction holes designed to "suck in" the plastic during molding, producing a more detailed surface. I use a razor blade to remove them one by one:

Right side of the horizontal tail, pips removed:

Lower wing surface, pips removed. Playing with a light source angle you may spot some remaining blemishes that need a little additional sanding with a small square section home-made wooden sanding stick (with a strip of sandpaper glued on one side):

The grooves of the aileron hinges were puttied and sanded. Minor imperfections removed:

Masking tape is used leaving a small gab for the rib relief: 

 Putty is applied:

 More details are either fabricated of scrounged form the spares bin. Here are among other bits the toilet and the toilet roll. Now, often when I post images image of toilet rolls in vintage planes, the modeling police screams bloody murder claiming (inaccurately, needless to say) that the roll is a modern invention and not in use during the Golden Age of aviation, so here is a quotation from Wikipedia (the illegitimate child of Multivac, as we all know):

“Toilet paper dispensed from rolls was popularized when the Scott Paper Company began marketing it in 1890”

So, know your Apohoritiriosophy science before opening your lid:

The putty is sanded flush with the tape (right side of the wing), then the tape removed (left side of the wing):

Then, carefully, softly, with a sponge sanding stick, a few passes to make the relief more rounded and blend it with the existing rib detail. As the existing detail is not perfect, any small imperfections are basically unnoticeable:

Unfortunately none of the drawings on the plans are to scale, so no measures can be taken from them. The indicated spar position seems to be too far back and too thick for the wing:

I did find the anchoring points for the struts, they were very faintly molded in:

A session with cabinet scrapers reduces the LE and TE thickness more to scale:

The TE of course needs thinning the most. Here comparing thinned and original ones:

 It is important to produce with the curved scraper a slightly concave shape, not a convex one, so the lips of the LE and TE do not separate while gluing:

 Before starting the cuts in the fuselage sides -to preserve the rigidity- the edges are trued:

 The wheel wells are cut. Then plastic is neither thin nor thick, and you need to proceed with preacaution:

The engine louvers were given a smear of putty from inside to avoid see-troguh, as they will be sanded down and replaced with Archer items:

Meanwhile, the halves of the floats, tail feathers and wings are glued together. The parts in the middle are not in the plan or instructions, not sure what they are. Most of the parts on the left won't be used:

A "module" interior is being built, that will have the sides -with the windows and doors- surrounding it. It will then be inserted in the fuselage cutout, thus (theoretically) solving the issue of the intersection of the float and cabin volumes. It may not work, but I would like to give it a try:

Toilet, basin, toilet roll and restroom door can be seen. Clear styrene will be used if possible for those sides, to simplify masking and construction. It´s all good "in theory", as we all know...

The engine louvers are removed to be later substituted as explained:

The section on the fuselage that corresponds to the cabin is excised. This may still end in disaster, but we'll see:

The cockpit section is removed and the cut moved forward:

Yup, it's starting to look like a Frankenmodel. Once the parts are put back together... can it be brought to life again? 

The previously vacuformed wheel wells -to replace the pre-crushed ones from the kit- are glued in place:

A series of alternating tabs are glued to the fuselage front to provide alignment and more rigidity and gluing surface:

I think I will be gluing the front section of the fuselage and slide the cockpit in from behind, then the cabin on from the top. I know, it's crazy.

The fuselage sides are glued together. The center section of the lower wing is removed (as it is the space the fuselage will occupy). The wing floats are glued:

Dry fit of the basic structure of cabin section. So far so good:

The interior is evolving into this. AT the front of the cabin there was a little baggage space, then a bulkhead with a communication window into the cockpit. Still have to add the restroom floor and its aft bulkhead:

The fuselage top has a kink, angling up from the center line in the cockpit area and then down on the turtledeck. Two small inward-angling pieces of styrene are added to create part of it. The optional kit part for capping the nose is glued; this accomplishes the necessary extension for this conversion and will allow for the space for the annular exhaust:

Making the exhaust:

 

 

To be continued...