1/72 Armstrong Whitworth A.W. 45 Arcturus

[The Big Gimper]

I was scanning the forum and it dawned on me that Messrs Armstrong and Whitworth have not gotten their fair share of Whifdom.

So here is my first of 5 A.W. aircraft which were successful in their own right but got forgotten by the more "sexy" designs.

The A.W. 45 Arcturus is a high altitude fighter use against the Bv. 155 . It is composed of components from no less than 6 kits.









I wanted to show the components before I take it to the paint shop.

[PR19_Kit]

Now that's what I CALL an aeroplane!  

[Predictable or what?  ]

What are the six kits? Airfix Spitfire PR19 and F22 I think, but no idea about the others.

[The Big Gimper]

Thanks Kit. The donors are:

Academy Mk. XIV for the fuselage and extra cannons
Aoshima Ta-152 for the outer wings
Horz stabs are from the spares so I don't know
Revell P-47M for the dorsal fillet
Fine Molds R2Y1 for the propeller
Academy Tempest V for the drop tanks (not shown)

[Captain Canada]

Big ! Looks good...might be a bit of a handful on the ground tho !

[The Big Gimper]

Big ! Looks good...might be a bit of a handful on the ground tho !

I did think about that. The wings tips are about 6 feet of the ground so it it would quite the effort to scape them.  The Erks could run or drive along beside to ensure the tips do not drag.

One day I would like to build a Spitfire with wide track landing gear.

[PR19_Kit]

I did think about that. The wings tips are about 6 feet of the ground so it it would quite the effort to scape them.  The Erks could run or drive along beside to ensure the tips do not drag.

In the backstory for my MB8 Marlin I had the groundies walking alongside with headsets plugged into wing-tip sockets so they could warn the pilot if need be. 

One day I would like to build a Spitfire with wide track landing gear.

Supermarine did that, they called it the Spiteful..... 

[Librarian]

That REALLY looks the biz . I'm currently building a 'blocker' (think Smokey and the Bandit) for high altitude recon out of a Spit22/24. I'm wondering if I should have extended the wings too....I just love the late wing design too much:banghead:.

[The Big Gimper]

I did think about that. The wings tips are about 6 feet of the ground so it it would quite the effort to scape them.  The Erks could run or drive along beside to ensure the tips do not drag.

In the backstory for my MB8 Marlin I had the groundies walking alongside with headsets plugged into wing-tip sockets so they could warn the pilot if need be. 

One day I would like to build a Spitfire with wide track landing gear.

Supermarine did that, they called it the Spiteful..... 

DOH!! C'est correct. And the Seafang.

But I'd like to take a Mk 22 or later and build one as a test bed. Just looking for excuses to make more work and headaches for myself.

[KiwiZac]

Good point - it looks excellent now, but if you used the Spiteful/Seafang gear arrangement it would be a little more stable.

Still...I like it!!

[The Wooksta!]

That REALLY looks the biz . I'm currently building a 'blocker' (think Smokey and the Bandit) for high altitude recon out of a Spit22/24. I'm wondering if I should have extended the wings too....I just love the late wing design too much:banghead:.

You mean the HF21 wing?  You get it in the CMR Spitfire F.23 "Victor".  Complete wing as one piece cast.  I was given a pirate copy some time back, which I'll be adding to a Legato Spitfire F.22 (their original resin one) which has the port intake for the cabin pressurisation to get a correct production Supermarine Valiant.

[kitnut617]

Horz stabs are from the spares so I don't know

They look Grumman-ish 

[The Big Gimper]

Horz stabs are from the spares so I don't know

They look Grumman-ish 

Close. Figured it out. They are from the Academy F-84E/G kit.

[Captain Canada]

Is there a Global UK World Record for most kits used on one build ?

[kerick]

Those wings need a second set of gear about 3/4ths of the way out!
Are you going with PRU blue or something different?

[The Big Gimper]

Those wings need a second set of gear about 3/4ths of the way out!
Are you going with PRU blue or something different?

I'm think I'll go with Medium Sea Grey on top and PRU blue on the bottom as seen on the Spitfire HF VIIs.