Building the Short Skyvan

**rmks2000** · #1 10-07-2011, 08:42 PM

Up until now, I have not submitted a build thread. The main reason is that I am too critical of my builds to display them in public. This too is a build that I'm not very happy with, but my mistakes may provide some help to others.

The background story: My daughter was making a birthday cake for her boyfriend who is an avid skydiver. She wanted to create a diorama with the cake as the landing field, a plane above against a sky background, and a skydiver approaching the field. She provided me with a list of planes that the young man normally jumps from. These included the Short Skyvan, Cessna 182, and DeHavilland Otter. I had FG's 172 which I could use in a pinch, but then found DGA's Otter, so I purchased a couple of versions from eCardmodels. As I began the Otter, Oddball Productions came out with the Skyvan. Since this was the main plane that he jumps from, I bought it and rescaled it to 1/72. (I'll get back to the Otters at a later date - they look to be beauties).

The first thing I noticed was that there were no score lines for the fuselage. Since this is a square plane, I did it myself. I also stuffed the body with tissue paper since there are no formers with the kit. The final results are mixed, as you can see in the photos. I may try to build it without scoring and see how that results.

In the next two photos, you can see that the horizontal stripe is a bit out of alignment, particularly on the port side. That is most likely a result of my scoring. Note also that the bottom of the fuselage curves upward at the rear. After gluing the main section, I glued the sides of the middle sections only. I then glued the rear section and the two middle sections pulled right into place.

A quick note on the wings - they need reinforcement. The tabs on the wing midsection are too small. Cut them larger than printed. I also used a wooden coffee stirrer to keep the wings from drooping. Also, the engine nacelles should be more streamlined, but mine turned out rather bulky. That maye be because my wings are a bit thick which would cause the nacelles to distort in order to compensate. One final tip: weight the nose because the model is tail-heavy.

Here's the final result:

**whulsey** · #2 10-07-2011, 08:46 PM

Cool looking plane, didn't know Aaron had done that one. Looks good with the rescale.

**Don Boose** · #3 10-07-2011, 09:12 PM

Looks good, Bob. And it fits the category of civilian aircraft for the IPMC. Hope to see it and you (with your green tam o'shanter) there.

Don

**papermodelfan** · #4 10-07-2011, 10:51 PM

And that splendid diorama really takes the cake....

**nikischutt** · #5 10-08-2011, 01:47 AM

Having built many of Aaron's models (FG and OBP), I'd recommend staying away from scoring. Rather put a tight curve where the "corners" are and take it slowly when attaching fuselage segments, sort of work the parts into each other. If you've built the OH/AH-6 you'll know what I mean.

But a nice looking model, keep them coming.

Niki

**Tim Crowe** · #6 10-08-2011, 02:19 AM

The diorama is fantastic!

Well done, great work.

Tim

**murphyaa** · #7 10-08-2011, 11:24 AM

The Skyvan is a rounded box, so I tried to place the tabs to suggest that, short tabs on the corners, and long tabs on the straight edges. And yes, matching up the lines is essential. Most of the shape comes from the lines.

**rmks2000** · #8 10-09-2011, 10:07 AM

Aaron,

I'll have to take another whack at this, although I have a few others of yours that I'd like to try before I get back to it. I've got the Cheyenne printed (I think also at 1/72 scale), that I had started before the birthday party thing came up.