Airfix U-6A Beaver - VNAF pysops
![Album image #1 Album image #1](/albums/img/9/4/1/1445941-10501-92-720.jpg)
The latest rendition of Airfix's venerable DHC-2 Beaver kit, back on the market as a Vintage Classic. Great idea Airfix!
![Album image #2 Album image #2](/albums/img/9/4/2/1445942-10501-92-720.jpg)
I’ll be building a VNAF psyops Beaver fitted with a couple of big-*ss loudspeakers that I need to scratch build. I measured the dimensions from screenshots of a Youtube movie covering my subject and devised a highly sophisticated assembly jig...
![Album image #3 Album image #3](/albums/img/9/4/3/1445943-10501-57-720.jpg)
And it worked! Sort of. I ended up with two more or less equally sized speakers. Good enough for me. The door replacement was cut from a piece of scrap styrene with a little leaflet hatch scribed in.
![Album image #4 Album image #4](/albums/img/9/4/4/1445944-10501-18-720.jpg)
Door panel with speakers assembled and started on improving the instrument panel a bit. Also filled holes for unneeded seats. At this point I had not yet discovered that the seats are set back way too far.
![Album image #5 Album image #5](/albums/img/9/4/5/1445945-10501-21-720.jpg)
Just like with other Airfix kits of this age the transparencies are a problem. 130 scale mm of wavy armor glass. As with an earlier Airfix O-1 build I sanded the windows until they were flat and much thinner
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A coat of HG51 restored the transparency of the windows, though I had not been patient enough and some scratches remained.
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Installed the windows with UV glue to prevent them from popping out during later handling
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And safely masked, big hurdle taken!
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Interior ready for closing up
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Wrestling the fuselage together, fit is so-so, could not prevent a nasty bottom seam. That means some fun ahead with filling and restoring riveting and all…
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The bottom seam was indeed the nastiest one which took ages to fill and still not quite right.
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The top seams were much easier to handle, with little detail lost. Installing the windscreen was a challenge however.
![Album image #13 Album image #13](/albums/img/9/5/2/1445952-10501-87-720.jpg)
All masked up and engine installation in progress. Elected to mount the engine on a stud so that I could thin down the cowling rear edges, which are open on the real thing.
![Album image #14 Album image #14](/albums/img/9/5/5/1445955-10501-35-720.jpg)
Thinning the cowling edges and filling in progress. Added punched-out disks to the main wheels, as my subject has wheel covers.
![Album image #15 Album image #15](/albums/img/9/5/6/1445956-10501-50-720.jpg)
Adding the smaller bits and pieces and adding antennas. With hindsight I should have removed more of the bits and bobs moulded on the roof. Oh well. too late now…
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All ready for painting
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First a coat of Tamiya primer to check the seams
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Sprayed the anti-glare panel and pre-shaded the rest. I had frustrating struggles with my airbrush.
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Sprayed the wings with AK Interactive ADC grey. Great stuff. Especially now that I discovered I had my airbrush pressure set way too low before. Duh.. no idea when I did that.
![Album image #20 Album image #20](/albums/img/9/6/1/1445961-10501-80-720.jpg)
Installing the wing. Discovered that one of the roof windows stands proud of the surface. How the … did that happen??? And won’t budge either due to this fancy UV glue. Darn.
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Wing installed, filling the aft seam, some more masking to do before spraying the olive drab
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Olive drab done, got a new nozzle for my airbrush which now behaves much better than in the past. Did a mottle coat first, with light subsequent coats which gives a nice uneven appearance.
![Album image #23 Album image #23](/albums/img/9/6/4/1445964-10501-73-720.jpg)
All followed up with a gloss coat to prepare for decaling
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Decaling done, there were not that many decals but they were thin and vulnerable
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Some weathering with pastels
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Applied the final matt coat and off with the masks. Windows and windscreen are okay-ish.
![Album image #27 Album image #27](/albums/img/9/6/8/1445968-10501-24-720.jpg)
Installing struts, wheels and other remaining bits. Had to shorten the struts considerably to fit.
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And done! Imperfect as it may be, I am still quite happy with the result.
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![Album image #31 Album image #31](/albums/img/9/7/2/1445972-10501-18-720.jpg)
Comentarios
19 10 April 2023, 12:19
![](/profiles/img/17651-259-s.jpg)
He's awesome! Thanks for the detailed description. I have the same one in the warehouse and I already know what awaits me. Once again thank you!
10 April 2023, 17:07
![](/profiles/img/78736-860-s.jpg)
Great result from an old classic. Filling those joins whilst keeping the raised rivets must have been a real challenge. Love it!
10 April 2023, 17:20
![](/profiles/img/44957-709-s.jpg)
I would have liked any Beaver model - but extra congrats for the scratch psy-ops speakers and thanks for the detailed, informative and useful work-in-progress report... Thumbs up 👍 👍
10 April 2023, 18:07