This time around, we're throwing it back to 2002 and checking out the 1:72nd scale Shorts Skyvan. Believe it or not, the tooling for this kit dates all the way back to 1974!
1974 good God I wash 13 then and building airfix models don't remember this one as I was more into WW2 and WW1 planes as well as their oo gauge models kit's .
I've built two of these as what-if models. The first was as a helicopter ("The 6-ton Bumble Bee") with Kaman-style intermeshing rotors nicked from two Italeri Hueys, scratchbuilt pylons and engine pods made from felt-tip pen caps. The second was in British Antarctic Survey colours, with skis nicked off a Revell Twin Otter and the interior filled with cargo from various aftermarket companies. This second build was a pig! Firstly, I knocked a bottle of liquid poly glue all over the just-assembled (11 pieces each...) wings and totally ruined them. Thankfully, the spare wings from the helicopter build were still available to save the day. Next, I thought that by using white metal cargo bits in the front of the cabin and plastic ones in the back, that would make it nose-heavy enough. Nope: it was a tail-sitter. So I had to drill two holes in the underside in order to drop Liquid Gravity balls into the space under the cockpit floor. I covered these up with black circles from inside craft-store googly eyes and claimed them as "geo-magnetic sensors" (BAS aircraft do carry such sensors, although they don't look like that). Lastly, I used a new (to me) masking fluid to mask the windows, and spray-painted it. On taking the fluid off, I found that the paint had crept under it leaving every glazing ruined. I started off by getting another clear sprue from Airfix's spares service. THANK YOU AIRFIX - THAT SERVICE IS AMAZING! Then I had to get the old ones out by pushing them inside the fuselage and then trying to extract them past all the cargo I'd helpfully filled the interior with. Good game, good game... Then I had to trim the "top hat brims" off the new glazings so that they would go in from the outside, and _very, very carefully_ put them in place. Amazingly that all worked, and I ended up with a nice model that's not only been much admired at shows, but also has a story behind it too! I have another Skyvan in the stash with an even more mad scheme for it which I might get around to one of these decades...
I finally got one for my stash back in January this year!!! Took me about 18 months to finally find a decent boxing of this kit for sale with no parts missing, a decent sheet of un-yellowed or curly decals and an undamaged box that did'nt require me to sell a lung to be able to purchase it from a certain auction site. During my search, most sellers seemed to be under the illusion that this kit commanded prices of £80+ at that time, just because its rare!!! Clearly they never got my money. Lol When I do eventually build it, Im either going with the Olympic Airways version or perhaps a "what if" uk military or British Airways version of some sort if I can source aftermarket decals. 🙏
