AN-12BKM Civilian Gunship ***FINISHED***

[TheChronicOne]

Lots more done on this one.

I've finished shaping the floor and it now fits inside the fuselage snuggly, level, and at the proper height. Also, I stopped and made a support structure for it to sit on so I can glue it into the fuselage half instead of trying to cram it inside later after both halves are together.



Stopped working on the inside stuff for awhile to get the wing pieces cleaned up and glued together. They'll need more sanding and probably a bit more dry fitting and adjustment, but they're together now:



Painted the cockpit bits. This time I wanted to do it nice and simple just to show off the nice detail, but not over clutter it. At this scale, it would be difficult to look inside and make anything out so simpler is better in my opinion (in this case.... ). So I went the nice Soviet cockpit interior blue to keep it bright as possible (could have went with darker options) then just painted the panels and boxes black for contrast.


Nice and simple!


Not sure what I'm going to do next... I'm just sort of meandering in the direction of eventually being able to close up the fuselage. I think I need to put weight in here so I'll do that once the cockpit stuff is in and the floor is installed. At some point I'll glue in the windows. They're perfectly round so I think I can mask them using PVA.    Should be fine, right? Then just peel 'em off later after painting is done. Luckily, the nose glass and cockpit windscreens and stuff can be glued on after all else is said and done. 

[TheChronicOne]

Getting some more work done. I've painted and assembled all the cockpit stuff. Kept it nice and simple, went with the Soviet blue so it'll be bright then simply painted the boxes and stuff black. In this tiny scale, I'm not going to bother detail painting and will keep it simple so that the nice detail stands out and isn't "lost" in the clutter. I've also glued the floor in place. It's nice and level and at the right height. Next I'll be loading this sucker up with some nose weight. Luckily, like on the real stuff, the gear is nice and stout which is nice in 1/144. Shouldn't be any long term problems.


Cockpit and floor now glued in:






As far as I can tell, all the "technical" work is now done and all that remains is simple run of the mill building aside from getting the howitzers glued in.  Next up is the nose weight, like I said, then gluing in and masking the fuselage windows.

[Old Wombat]

Cockpit colour looks pretty right for Soviet/Russian stuff.

[TheChronicOne]

That it is!  I didn't find many pics with AN-12 cockpits this color, but I DID find some so I went with it and that's because it being so bright, I'll actually be able to SEE some of that stuff once everything is closed up. Really nice detail for 1/144!  I hope the glass is nice and clear...

[kitnut617]

Just about everything Russian gets splashed with that colour, this is the interior of an An-22

[TheChronicOne]

Nice! I'm probably in the minority, but I find it an appealing color.   Not sure how I'd feel about it after months of being cooped up in it, but, in small doses it's quite lovely!   

I made a Russian Phantom (a tribute of sorts to the movie planes in Iron Eagle II) and the blue cockpit is definitely a high point of the build. 

[TheChronicOne]

The cockpit and floor are now into the port fuselage half and the next step will be to add weight. I've also started work on the engines. Didn't get real far. I like to dry sand and when I do so I prefer to have the exhaust fan on and it doesn't work so well when the wind is blowing 20mph against it.

So here it is:



I'll be back to work on it soon! Other projects have butted in for now, but this one won't languish in the shadows for long. 

[TheChronicOne]

Been working more on getting the engine parts put together, mainly some of the smaller pieces that go together that the props attach to. I've also spent a fair amount of time simply clipping away parts of sprue that I no longer need to create less visual clutter. Later, when I get back to work, it'll be a bit less strenuous not having to gaze across many things that I don't need. Sometimes it's a waste of time, but I enjoy it and like I said, later it pays off. Clean sprues!

Buuuut... once again, I'm finding more instances of this thing having separate parts that could easily have been moulded with the other parts they actually attach to. The kit doesn't make a point of advertising a high part count but I can't help but think that this played into the design. I do not care for this aspect.

For example:  there are four tiny little pieces of plastic (about twice the size of a period in a book)  that amount to a protrusion that attaches to the sides of the engine nacelles. They are moulded seperately, YET, other parts of the same kit with like features are moulded together. In short, there's no reason for them to be separate. I ran into the same issue with the innards of the engines......   7-8 little parts that all glue together that could have easily been 2-3 parts, even using the most shithouse of kit production methods.

I don't have many precision working tools and jewelers pencils and all that junk so it makes it a bit of a pain.

/Rant off. 


That said, it won't be long before I am into the PSR stage. Still need to add weight but I'll wage that battle another day. I was sort of busy doing other things today so decided to just keep it simple with these ridiculous engine parts. 

[NARSES2]

I must admit there are occaisions when I do wonder why manufacturers produce a multitude of tiny parts rather than one or two. Most of the time I understand why, but sometimes ??

Not the same, but similarly it's like the B&V 155 I'm currently building. The wheel bay inserts are resin castings. Very nice but could easily be part of one of the main plastic sprues. These are the only resin parts in the kit and you do sometimes feel that limited run producers (whatever that means nowadays) like SH feel they have to include some resin or etch. Is it in their DNA one wonders ? 

[TheChronicOne]

I bet you're right!!!!! They can now say it's a mutli media kit, and comes with resin! Selling points....   there's a bit of "keeping up with the Joneses " going on here.

In my little kit, another suspect area were the yokes and sticks for the controls. They could have been molded together, just just like how the landing gear were, but they were seperate pieces. Hell, they're so small and delicate one nearly destroys them merely getting them off the sprue then you need super vision to even see them then you better not have arthritis or anything...  because you'll be needing precision tools or slim, non shaky fingers even to handle them!


Transversely, I bought another kit lately....  same manufacturer, and it has the opposite effect...   the main wings, tailplanes, are all one piece already (for a total of 4 instead of 12 separate pieces) and the parts count is ITTY BITTY! I can't WAIT to build that little sucker:

 

[Nick]

Starting a new project! This will be an Antonov An-12BK-M (Mitigation). This is a modified AN-12BK made for a North American company Avalancer ( "Ava" for avalanche and "lancer", a weapon with long reach) operating out of Sioux City, Iowa. Souix City was chosen for its facilities and central location with regards to the more traveled mountainous regions of the United States and Southern Canada. 

Basically, various Departments of Transportation, ski lodges and various others hire Avalancer to make pre-emptive strikes on avalanche prone areas. This is typically done with truck mounted "guns" of various description and permanent stations.

I think you need a Daisy Cutter to clear the slopes effectively. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8uHYTwrFsQ

Failing that, a MOAB! 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9H50tHiHjs
https://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2017/04/14/moment-moab-explodes-orig.cnn/video/playlists/moab-the-mother-of-all-bombs/

[zenrat]

... 

Skyvanski!
Looks great although it could do with spats.   

[TheChronicOne]

Starting a new project! This will be an Antonov An-12BK-M (Mitigation). This is a modified AN-12BK made for a North American company Avalancer ( "Ava" for avalanche and "lancer", a weapon with long reach) operating out of Sioux City, Iowa. Souix City was chosen for its facilities and central location with regards to the more traveled mountainous regions of the United States and Southern Canada. 

Basically, various Departments of Transportation, ski lodges and various others hire Avalancer to make pre-emptive strikes on avalanche prone areas. This is typically done with truck mounted "guns" of various description and permanent stations.

I think you need a Daisy Cutter to clear the slopes effectively. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8uHYTwrFsQ

Failing that, a MOAB! 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9H50tHiHjs
https://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2017/04/14/moment-moab-explodes-orig.cnn/video/playlists/moab-the-mother-of-all-bombs/

The slopes would be cleared, alright, and everything else around them! 

[TheChronicOne]

... 

Skyvanski!
Looks great although it could do with spats.   

Yeah them shopping cart castors could use a little dressing up.   

[TheChronicOne]

Huh.... speaking of castors...  looking at them gear, all of a sudden I'm wondering the main gear have the capability to pivot as well?  Probably not, but could prove useful in certain "bush" locations.


Anyway...   Back to work on the gunship!    Man, I'm having fun with this project!!! 

So, I've stopped working on the engines for awhile to get back to the interior. I've decided to tackle putting weight in. I wracked my brain trying to find a way to put bb's in it, but have them not only be balanced from front to back, but also from side to side. I don't like the idea of just cramming a bunch of weight on one side, but not the other. It has to be EVEN, damnit!    In a rare moment of clarity I came up with a solution, and that was to wrap the BBs in a bit of masking tape. This worked.. it turned many round objects into a single "slab" that I can slide snugly underneath my new floor. It ensure and even dispersal of the weight and also, if way in the future the glue fails, there won't be rattling BBs in this thing. Also, it' SO much more easy to handle! I'm going to definitely remember this trick to use in the future!





It's nice having "breakthroughs" like that that solve problems in a convenient way. This will truly save me some time and headache in the future. I had a similar breakthrough the other day regarding my camera... it took me YEARS to realize that my USB cable was bad...  I've wasted so much time plugging and unplugging that stupid cord....   once I realized that a new cord solved my problems, it was like flipping a switch. I feel so stupid now for having wasted literal hours fighting that faulty cord...      But anyway, like I said, these breakthrough are so pleasant.

After that, I decided to do what I can to actually paint the interior. It's so small, and so little will be seen... but.... if one really tries, they'll be able to peer past the howitzers and see a tiny fraction of the inside... so....  I have to paint it. Not only that, the stark white floor MUST be painted.    Good thing is, a lot of the color I'm using will serve to brighten things up inside and make the Howitzer details more apparent! 




Not done yet today, either. I'm not exactly sure what to do next, but I'll be more interior work. Might glue in the windows. Earlier I used my conical needle file to clean up the window holes... some were pretty rough with flash.