An old Walrus coming to life...Matchbox 1/72 kit.

[Guest]

I always thought that this was one of your best Richard. Amazing work on such an old kit.

When I saw the title I couldn't help thinking of this:



It's a much-loved stuffed walrus in the Horniman Museum in South London. Very old and moth-eaten but kept on display due to public demand. I used to take my kids there when we lived around the corner.

[rtfoe]

Thanks Jim and Peter,

Jim, yes I visited this site here for most of my references on the Walrus. It helped me a lot on the wing fold and how it was stowed. Also little things like the tail wheel, the steps on the struts for easy access to the top wing.
Peter, and the plane was well loved as well by the crew and a sight for sore eyes for downed pilots and abandoned sailors. Everyone has a special display at museums, mine were life sized dios of the jungle. I would always look at ways to improve the display.

Cheers,
Richard

[rtfoe]

More detailing...



There was adimple at the center of the propeller hub which I filled with a disc and nut. The engine nacelle fairing recieved some additional bits and pieces of access panels and scoops. The rear gunner hatch window was cut out.



From references I made the wing fold structure with plastic strip and tubing and sprayed it zync chromate.



Plastic strip was used for the slide rail of the rear hatch...any gaps at the fuselage joints were filled in and sanded smooth. The step at the cockpit was quite prominent as you can see the amount of filler needed.

Cheers,
Richard

[Guest]

Richard,
Just signed out and saw this, came straight back in .
Remember this well, esp the rigging, my you did that so we'll, when Peter said he thought it as one of your best I agreed.
As it progressed it became more of a marvel of modelling skill, I remember some guy joining in the discussion on the launch system, never seen him since !
Shall enjoy a trip down memory lane with this .
Hope you are well
John .

[rtfoe]

Hi John, good to have you around. Ya, I remember the guy :tears-of-joy:...sounded like he wanted my catapult to actually work...it's plastic for crying out loud and a static model at that. Everything is just a mock up from tubing and what nots. I'm just happy it looks ok measurement wise.

Glad you're still liking it.

Cheers,
Richard

[rtfoe]

More details...as mentioned the engine had to be given attention first so even paint was applied. It will be easier to touch up then paint when the fuselage and wings are joined.



The rigging was secured with super glue or cyno and extra bits cut off.



From this angle you will see how tight the working area is so pre-planning helped.



Cheers,
Richard

[Lee Drennen]

Richard
I’m enjoying this build a lot very nice work

[colin m]

I have a bit of a soft spot for old Matchbox kits. So, to see one being built is always pleasing. But to see this level of detail being added is something else. I built the same Matchbox kit some years ago, it's a nice kit, but do seem to remember the engine is off set, or was that only the real thing ?

[rtfoe]

Thanks Lee and Colin. Glad you both like it.

Colin, Matchbox got it right on this one by having the engine offset by a few degrees. The four propeller blades creates quite a torque so the offset was to counter this. The plans on the sea planes site show this and mentions it as well.

Cheers,
Richard

[rtfoe]

Now you see why this was tackled first. It would have been difficult to add the rigging once the wings are in place.



All was needed now was to mask it while I continued with the rest of the plane.



Canopy fit tested after the filling was sanded. Plans were underway to slide it open in all three sides.

Cheers,
Richard

[rtfoe]

I concentrated on the right wing next and did the rigging attaching them to the bottom half of the upper wing...



Once tension was achieved I super glued them down and attached the top of the wing...



Then it was mainly to glue the right wing onto the fuselage. My mistake here was not to pay attention to the plans as the Walrus upper wing did not have a dehydral. It should have been straight. The bottom wing does have a dehydral.



Didn't correct it as having done so would need to re-rig the lines.

Cheers,
Richard

[Jim R]

Hi Richard
Really making this old kit into something special. Fastening off the rigging between the top and bottom wing parts is excellent forward planning. Was that approach in the instructions?
Jim

[Guest]

Great work on the rigging Richard :smiling3:.

[rtfoe]

Hi Ralph and Jim,

Hi Richard
Really making this old kit into something special. Fastening off the rigging between the top and bottom wing parts is excellent forward planning. Was that approach in the instructions?
Jim

I wish Jim...if only aircraft instruction sheets with rigging are like sailing ship kits that pre instruct how the rigging should go.:smiling2:

Here's more of the build...before I proceeded with the folding wing mechanism I deepened the hinge notches on the wing tip flaps.



The wing folds were operated by levers that released the lock. I drew these on the computer and printed them out as tracings for the cut outs from plastic sheet. I drilled the holes first before cutting them.



These were fastened to the edges and secured with a short piece of rod. Pre-drilled holes and plastic strip made up the rest of the detail.



A close up but not very clear shot of the assembly.



The wingroot joint recieved a thin lip and hollowed tubing plus the drilled hole. The hole is for the wire that would hold the wings together and form the main hinge.



The main hinge were two quarter moon shaped discs sandwiching the exposed bent wire.



You can see on the upper wing the piece of plastic strip covering the slot for the wing connection.
The levers were pulled down when the wings were in place for flight. Here they are in the open position. Thanks for looking in guys.

Cheers,
Richard

[Jim R]

...if only aircraft instruction sheets with rigging are like sailing ship kits that pre instruct how the rigging should go.

I thought that.
The hinge is a wonderful bit of scratching.
Jim