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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0561.PDF
VI ' FLIGHT, 27 April 1961 571 •••is is the challenging spectacle presented when the 11 in x /4m x 3in •x conto/ning Reve//'s Allison 501 turboprop kit is first opened; but an excellent instruction book goes with it Scale-model Artistry AWA's "breadboard" calibration layout of electric motors, gears, shafts, and propellers for l/30th-scale wind-tunnel model of the Argosy with driven propellers (see "Model-making in the Aircraft Industry," p. 572) 1/16th have been made by the company, an example being thespectacular large-scale Comet 4 shown in a photograph on page 570. The company does not manufacture construction kits, but itdoes occasionally undertake the assembly of proprietary kits on behalf of various airlines, finishing the models in the liveries of theoperators concerned. Production of simple models for training personnel in aircraftrecognition is also undertaken by Industrial Leather Products. These models are generally of l/72nd scale, cast in aluminium,devoid of all external detail and finished in matt black or grey, the intention being that they should be recognized from the silhouettealone. A firm which largely specializes in the manufacture of wind-tunnel models is T.E.M. Engineering Ltd—formerly known as Test hquipmem (Models) Ltd, of Victoria Road. Burgess Hill. Sussex.This company has been working in the tunnel-model field from the lime when supersonic testing of aircraft first became commonpractice in the industry. In many ways. T.E.M. remark, model manufacture of this kindinvolves an approach diametrically opposite to that of normal production engineering practice. In orthodox production engineer-ng, design changes are usually permissible in order to simplify manufacturing problems, whereas in model-making even thesmallest change in shape is seldom permissible. Thus, in many cases, new techniques of manufacture have to be evolved if such a"iodel is to be made at all. A high degree of accuracy is called for in the manufacture ofwind-tunnel models. For example, the profile of a model wing is defined by co-ordinates which, in general, must be held to anaccuracy of 0.001 to 0.002in. Further, for such a wing it is generally stipulated that the local surface slope must not deviate from that ofthe true profile by more than 0.1 . Fuselage-surface tolerances can usually be of the order of ± 0.005in. From these facts it is apparentthat close inspection of the finished job is a most important part of the whole manufacturing process. Astounding success has rewarded manufacturers of prefabricatedplastic model kits—which require only cementing together, and the application of liveries and insignia, to become intricately detailedreplicas. Actually pioneered in this country before the war and later produced in America in vast quantiiies, plastic kits of aircraft,ships, cars, trains and even horse-buggies are now produced in Britain in their hundreds of thousands; and, of these, scale-modelaircraft kits comprise the lion's share. Small-scale Plastic Kits The best of these kits are produced from impeccable references—aircraft manufacturers' blueprints. Manufacturers of original aircraft, and sometimes operating companies, frequently collaboratewith the model companies in ensuring that kits for amateur con- struction will not lack authenticity. In the case of civil aircraft, ofcourse, such co-operation has its publicity value. No modeller who has completed the kit of the Fokker Friendship, in Aer Linguslivery, produced by Airfix Products Ltd, Haldane Place, Garratt Lane, London SW18, is unlikely to resist flying by Aer LingusFriendship if he has the need and opportunity. At 7s 6d, this simply assembled kit is complete in every detail—the phrase embracingsuch items as two pilots, control columns, a stewardess, transparent cockpit and cabin windows, radio aerials, passenger entry steps, and19 transfers for the full-length fuselage trimming lines, registration letters, anti-dazzle panels, airline crest and passenger step decora-tions. And that is not all, for included in the kit is an illustrated leaflet detailing the history of Aer Lingus, its history and its routenetwork. The model, in polystyrene, reveals when completed a fully retracting undercarriage, movable control surfaces and rotatingpropellers. Included in the kit is a transparent plastic mounting stand if it is desired to display the model in the airborne condition. The Airfix Friendship is only one of a number of civil aircraft kitsrecently introduced by the company. The range of civil types also includes the DC-3, Heron, Bristol Superfreighter and Rotodyne.Airfix previously concentrated on kits of military equipment. Illus- trating the remarkable value which the mass production of poly-styrene models makes it possible to offer is the company's kit for the Bristol Bloodhound. For only 2s the purchaser receives a 70-component kit, to assemble the complete missile—all 4Ain of it—its rotating and elevating launcher, a steerable road transporter and aLand-Rover tug. Tiny figures of an RAF officer, guard, three technicians and a police dog complete the package. The completerange of l/72nd-scale Airfix kits now features over 50 models, spanning aeronautical history from the early days of the FirstWorld War to the present time—as exemplified by the model (price 3s) of the SR-N1 Hovercraft illustrated on page 570. E. Keil & Co Ltd, of Wickford, Essex, concentrate mainly onkits for flying models, scale and otherwise (in which connection they produce a 70-page practical handbook-cum-catalogue thatmust be of the greatest service to their customers), but their "Keil- kraft" range does include four British military types to l/72nd scalein solid balsa and two plastic kits, for the Hurricane and the Sopwith Camel. Model Toys Ltd, of 275 Kensal Road, London W10, numberamong their plastic kits a new model of the Avro Vulcan, retailing at 19s lid. The range of modern scale-model aircraft kits marketed byPlaycraft Toys, of 120, Moorgate, London EC2, under the trade- name Aurora, consists almost entirely of American types, althoughone British aircraft, an unidentified mark of Spitfire, has a place among its kits of Second World War aircraft, while a recent addi-tion to the range is a 4^in Hovercraft. This company also markets a range of kits of First World War types, which at 3s each appearto offer very good value. No ex-RFC type, now perhaps with retirement rime on his hands, will find it easy to resist whilingaway an hour or so assembling a pretty replica of the famous Camel or S.E.5a, the stocky Spad 13—or, from the other side of thetrenches, Richthofen's famous Fokker Triplane or the equally dreaded D.VI1. Revell (Great Britain) Ltd, 25-27 Berners Street, London Wl,offer a range of 34 kits varying in price from 4s lid to 12s 6d and mainly representing well-known American military aircraft—though the Westland Rotodyne, and a First World War type, the Fokker DR.l triplane, are included. There are also 14 missilekits, with a Jupiter (22s 6d) at the top of the price-range. Of outstanding interest, however, is a "science kit" which, pricedat 65s, enables the modelmaker to assemble an Allison 501 turbo- prop measuring 16in overall and driven by a miniature electric
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