A 'different' Airbus A-400M Atlas - FINISHED!

[PR19_Kit]

I hope SMC will have done a while metal version by the time mine collapses.

Don't know about SMC but SAC (Scale Aircraft Conversions) does Kit, got a couple of sets for the two A400's I have.  I'd post a pic but --- you know the story ---

http://www.scaleaircraftconversions.com/moreinfo.cfm?FROM=search&KIT=323

That's who I meant Robert, brain fade setting in here obviously. 

I didn't know they already did one for the A-400M, but they look exactly the same as the plastic bits Revell provide. I'm a tad dubious about those axles still, but I'll try and get a set right away., Thanks for the link. 

[PR19_Kit]

Well I'm suitably amazed. 

Now that the glue's all dried those main gear assemblies seem to be much more rigid that I expected this morning. 

The model sits nicely on all six sets of legs too, so I used enough nose weight, thank goodness. LOTS of PSR likely today sadly, delayed only by the Hungarian Grand Prix in about an hour. 

[kitnut617]

I hope SMC will have done a while metal version by the time mine collapses.

Don't know about SMC but SAC (Scale Aircraft Conversions) does Kit, got a couple of sets for the two A400's I have.  I'd post a pic but --- you know the story ---

http://www.scaleaircraftconversions.com/moreinfo.cfm?FROM=search&KIT=323

That's who I meant Robert, brain fade setting in here obviously. 

I didn't know they already did one for the A-400M, but they look exactly the same as the plastic bits Revell provide. I'm a tad dubious about those axles still, but I'll try and get a set right away., Thanks for the link. 

I haven't looked at the kit for a while but IIRC, the wheels get glued to the round disc too. The axles are just 'line-up' pins.

[kitnut617]

delayed only by the Hungarian Grand Prix in about an hour. 

I've already switched it off  ---- snoozefest

[PR19_Kit]

I hope SMC will have done a while metal version by the time mine collapses.

Don't know about SMC but SAC (Scale Aircraft Conversions) does Kit, got a couple of sets for the two A400's I have.  I'd post a pic but --- you know the story ---

http://www.scaleaircraftconversions.com/moreinfo.cfm?FROM=search&KIT=323

That's who I meant Robert, brain fade setting in here obviously. 

I didn't know they already did one for the A-400M, but they look exactly the same as the plastic bits Revell provide. I'm a tad dubious about those axles still, but I'll try and get a set right away., Thanks for the link. 

I haven't looked at the kit for a while but IIRC, the wheels get glued to the round disc too. The axles are just 'line-up' pins.

Ah right, that would make a big difference. The Airfix TSR2 doesn't do that, and it would make a huge difference if it did.

delayed only by the Hungarian Grand Prix in about an hour. 

I've already switched it off  ---- snoozefest

The last 20 laps were pretty good, but the first four or five still finished in the same order that they started.

In the middle of a massive PSR session on the Atlas. 

[Weaver]

Nice one Kit - looks good!

Technically it'd be 'Snoopy 3' mind you: they've got a converted BAe-146 called the ARA (Atmospheric Research Aircraft) doing that job at the moment. Sadly it's sensor fit is nowhere near as extraordinary as Snoopy's though: just some extra aerials and pipes and a 'tree'  of small tubes on two wing pylons. We were doing the ARA conversion at Woodford while I was there: it was known as 'The Scrapheap Challenge' on the shop floor because there was no bill of materials for it, so the guys working on it were always nicking bits from the RJ production line and causing shortages...

[PR19_Kit]

I didn't know that Harold, thanks. 'Snoopy 3' it is then. 

I'll have to think of a suitable acronym to suit the 'ATLAS' initials, 'Atmospheric & Thermal Location & Assessment System' perhaps? 

[Rheged]

Nice one Kit - looks good!

Technically it'd be 'Snoopy 3' mind you: they've got a converted BAe-146 called the ARA (Atmospheric Research Aircraft) doing that job at the moment. Sadly it's sensor fit is nowhere near as extraordinary as Snoopy's though: just some extra aerials and pipes and a 'tree'  of small tubes on two wing pylons. We were doing the ARA conversion at Woodford while I was there: it was known as 'The Scrapheap Challenge' on the shop floor because there was no bill of materials for it, so the guys working on it were always nicking bits from the RJ production line and causing shortages...

Mate who worked for the Met Office told me that the 146  is informally  known to those who matter as "Woodstock"  ......so Snoopy 2 may yet be appropriate! 

[PR19_Kit]

Maybe I'll call it 'Snoopy too'. 

[Weaver]

Oh yeah, forgot it has a bulge on the side too:

[PR19_Kit]

With an airframe this big I can do LOTS of bulges. 

I've found one major problem with building big models, they need lots more PSR, and I HATE PSR!!!! 

[NARSES2]

For some reason the registration ; G-LUXE ; amuses me 

No idea why, it just does 

[PR19_Kit]

I've had enough of the interminable PSR on this massive model. I think I'll go back to the 'Turquoise Bead Machine' and give this one a rest for a while.

But as General McArthur said ' I shall return!' 

[PR19_Kit]

I've managed to lose my heavy duty file that I needed to sand the flats on the airbags of the Monterey's beaching trolley, and that called a temporary halt on that job, so I came back to the Atlas.

It took almost two HOURS to finish off the sanding stage of the last batch of PSR, and there's still some more to do later. 

I assembled some of the other bits and pieces, like the landing gear wheels. Each wheel/tyre is in two halves, left and right, but as there's 14 of them it takes a while to assemble them.

But the main wheels have indexing pips and grooves on the inside.....

Why? 

They don't have flats moulded into the bottom face so they can go together anyway around. I'm starting to think that Revell have added complexity to this model just for its own sake. 

[TheChronicOne]

"Alignment pins."  I've had more misalignment problems due to the presence of alignment pins and slots than on things w/out them. (part of this also due to my bad habit of not alway dry fitting parts, too, though)  Sometimes I just file, snap, cut, whatever that mess off and go it my own way.  But yeah, sometimes I wonder why they are one certain things, too. 

Missing file, eh? Maybe you need to hire a secretary.  . . . You know... to help you keep track of your files. . . .