Cabin
Next comes the six seat cabin. I started by spraying the floor Grey (Gunze H317) followed by the seats with Light Blue Grey (Gunze338) and, when dry, assembled these together.
The previously assembled instrument panel and crew seats were added as were the etched seat belts and rudder pedals. Finding the cabin a bit bland I added tiny pieces of coloured decal to the seat pockets to replicate airline brochures. Miniature sick bags were beyond me. Having a tricycle landing gear the Islander would be a tail sitter so some nose weight is required. The location is indicated at the front of the cabin floor but no figure for how much is given. I added around 25g and hoped it would suffice. However, given that the model has a separate nose cap there is the possibility of adding a bit more when fully assembled.
Fuselage
Next, fitting the windows in each fuselage side. No rebate is provided so each side window requires a little trimming to fit before fixing them with Tamiya Extra Thin. A transparent pilot’s door can be found on the sprue for those adventurous souls who wish to open up the cabin. (Again, no mention of this in the instructions).
Masking the transparencies with a Montex mask (MXSM48401) I sprayed the interior with Grey (Gunze H307).
The completed floor and seat assembly was left to dry overnight after which, with a bit of persuasion, the fuselage was closed up. The windscreen was then added and faired in with some putty and the whole lot taped together to harden. The next step was to add the plethora of etched brass panels to the bottom of the fuselage. I assume these must be some sort of strengthening fishplates but an email enquiry to Britten-Norman for clarification went without response. I was not particularly happy with the appearance of these plates but looking at various Islander walk arounds on the Internet, they look pretty tatty on the real aircraft as well! Aerials and things were left off for the moment.
Wings and Tailplane
The main wing structure comprises a plank like section with separate wingtips. Here, once again, things are not too clear as a result of some mis-numbering of parts. The diagram of the port wingtip shows part 11 to be attached to part 12. WRONG. The correct combination for the port wingtip is parts 11 and 13 and parts 12 and 14 for the starboard unit.
The kit also includes (although, as usual, omits to mention) a further pair of parts for extended wingtips. The Defender has longer span wings so this is presumably where they are intended to end up. Maybe even for a Trislander kit? We live in hope.
There are a couple of cutouts in the wings for the landing lights. I found that the transparencies did not fit at all well so I fashioned new ones from some 5mm Perspex. The rear faces of these were drilled a couple of millimetres and filled with a blob from a Molotov chrome pencil to represent a reflector. The Perspex lights were glued in place and sanded and polished until transparent again.
The engine fronts were fixed in place, a small amount of filler being required followed by the rear cowl sections and the two small underwing air scoops.
Michael Chilestone says
Nice outcome. I really must get one of these, I’ve just flown back from holiday in the Scillies in one, so G-BUBN just has to be done!