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

[PR19_Kit]

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

Hehehe, I should be so lucky to be able to afford one!

[PR19_Kit]

I bit the bullet and glued the wings onto the fuselage. That certainly makes for one BIG model! 

The wing joint is bizarre, in some places it's well nigh perfect, and in others it's a disaster. I did some filing and cutting to get it to fit a bit better, but the port underside joint is around 1mm wide all the way along! See red framed area below. (Yeah, I know it's too small to see in an 800 pxl wide pic, but I know it's there.  ) I may not bother to fill that as it's almost impossible to see unless I invert the model, and I don't intend to. 

I've done all the 'P' bit of the last PSR session on the fuselage before priming it, but I bet there'll be more later on.

As far as I can see it's impossible to assemble the landing gear as they show you in the instructions. The main gear struts have to be installed in their 'forks' before you can add the lower covers as otherwise you can't see to locate their lower pins properly. So having done that I find that I can't put the wheels on as the gap between the gear struts and the covers isn't wide enough. 

No idea how I'm going to get round that yet, but I'll think of something.

[TheChronicOne]

Oooh yeah. Now we're talking. And yeah, that bad boy looks big even in pictures with nothing for reference. 

The gap on the wing root....  I had the same thing happen on my Mitsubishi that I'm building. No clue how that big gap got there!     I even test fitted. Seemed fine. But, once glue was on...     

Good luck on the gear situation..  I'd get half a mind to just build a basic "rail" out of sprue and glue the wheels on it and cram it in the bay and call it good. That somehow seems like a disservice to the kit, though. I'm sure you'll figure it out!

The real question is does Mrs. PR19 know you got around to working on this or if it will be a surprise reveal. .   

[PR19_Kit]

The real question is does Mrs. PR19 know you got around to working on this or if it will be a surprise reveal. .   

Oh yes, she's known about it since I started and she's quite looking forward to the finished article. That's assuming I actually GET it finished of course.

I hope the guys who sell the conversion kit are at the Avon Show this coming Sunday as I'd like to ask them where all the parts go that aren't mentioned in the instructions!

[Thorvic]

The real question is does Mrs. PR19 know you got around to working on this or if it will be a surprise reveal. .   

Oh yes, she's known about it since I started and she's quite looking forward to the finished article. That's assuming I actually GET it finished of course.

I hope the guys who sell the conversion kit are at the Avon Show this coming Sunday as I'd like to ask them where all the parts go that aren't mentioned in the instructions!

Probably best to contact Colin who can have a word with Dave Little regarding the Snoopy conversion set.

[KiwiZac]

A very very cool concept and you're doing great so far! The nose spike really grabbed my attention.

I'm just concerned about the wingspan...are you feeling okay?

[PR19_Kit]

A very very cool concept and you're doing great so far! The nose spike really grabbed my attention.

I'm just concerned about the wingspan...are you feeling okay?

I'm feeling a little brain-fazed at the moment, (dealing with all that PSR I expect!) perhaps that's why I've not extended the wings of this one. 

I should get back on this one before much longer, once I've got some colour coats on the Monterey.

[zenrat]

I haven't extended the wings on anything for a while.  Must remedy that soon.

[PR19_Kit]

See my latest note on the Monterey thread to explain the lack of progress on this job recently.

[McColm]

Our best wishes to your wife.

[PR19_Kit]

Now the Monterey's pretty much finished, or as finished as it's going to be before Telford, I've got back on the Atlas.

I'd forgotten how much of a Putty Queen the darn thing was, but one more PSR session has improved things no end, so I primed the puttied areas to see how it was getting on. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, so only a small PSR session was needed, and I hope I can prime the whole thing pretty soon.

I've figured out a way to get round the ridiculous main landing gear problem, and it may make life easier when trying to get all 14 wheels on the ground at once.

While I'm waiting for the putty to dry I'm putting together all the little bits and pieces, ARR probe, main cockpit access steps, drop tanks etc.

Ah, you didn't think Atlases had drop tanks? This one does.......... 

[McColm]

Well there's in-flight refueling tanks carried under the wings on the real thing.

[PR19_Kit]

Well there's in-flight refueling tanks carried under the wings on the real thing.

Not on the RAF ones AFAIK.

[PR19_Kit]

I've done as much PSR as I'm going to do on this one.

Like the Monterey, the mouldings need too much work for a perfect job and life's too short really. So I've primed most of it and while it was drying I trimmed and assembled a number of the resin parts for the conversion, and you can see most of them in front of the Atlas in the pic below.

The bits still on their moulding 'sprues' behind the aircraft are those bits I haven't a CLUE about. No idea where they go as the instructions in the conversion kit don't tell you, so I'm going to glue them on at random all over the airframe. 

[Gondor]

The large rectangular part is a replacement door for the rear of Snoopy. Some means of dropping probes or something I believe. the parts to the left of the fuselage, just look like a lot of aerials for telemetry or general communication which I have no idea about location either although I would imagine that several of them might be paired and sit equidistant from the centre line of the aircraft either dorsally or ventrally.

Gondor