The SAAF Forum

Wow!

It's a pity to have to close the the fuselage.

Very nice Is that the Airfix 48th scale kit ?

Bravo AH!

_________________
There's no such thing as a good or bad gun. A gun in the hands of a bad man is a very dangerous thing. A gun in the hands of a good person is no danger to anyone except the bad guy.

its a revell 48th scale kit haha and thanks everyone

Took time off work, pulled out my half built Harvard that was boxed by Modelcraft, with Canadian decals, but the plastic contents have Ocidental Replicas stamped on them.
Looking at your Heller parts, they are in the exact layout as mine, so it is the same mould.
I have a question for you, did you get the correct exhaust with your kit?
Mine came with a long exhaust, 35mm long. It is part 54, located between the fuselage half and the machine gun pod, which I see is missing from your tree.
Did your's also come with two different canopy styles?
Like your modification for the fuselage machine gun.

Drats, I also painted my wheel wells & flap interior green, will have to change that.
I have Kits At War decals for my Harvard with post war springbok roundels. The serial number is 7458, based at CFS Dunnottar. Bought day glow orange paint, now I see it has yellow bands and not orange, oh well!

Modelling tip to all modellers.

If you ever do a Harvard in "Dayglo" ( brand name) the Fire Orange Humbrol 209 is the correct shade of dayglo.

Humbrol also used to offer a 192 ( matt) and a 193 (gloss) which was a Blaze Orange and not the correct shade.

Geoff

Thanks for the info on colours AT6C.
Regarding the Harvard I'm building, would the silver airframe be bare metal, or painted silver?
My "Kits At War" instruction sheet says the yellow is FS33538, Humbrol conversion chart calls it 154, and the dark sea grey is FS36118, Humbrol calls 125. Would you agree?
Thanks, Jeff

No,I wouldn't agree with those colours.

The yellow would be Humbrol 24 Trainer Yellow and the Dark Sea Grey is Humbrol 27.

Bare metal finish was only used on the aircraft based in Cape Town,until they discovered that sea spray,etc.,is not good for the aircraft!

The finish that was applied to your scheme is a silver overall with the yellow bands.

Are you doing the model in the late 50's scheme?

Geoff

I have completed the assembly of the fuselarge and wing. I have found the parts to be warped and needed some work to get it lining up.
I wonder if it is actually a new mould or if they just re-worked an old mould.

Anyway with the crummy WX we are having I will do some work on it today and maybe shoot some paint on soon.

Theuns

Airfix kits I avoid, unless it is the only kit available for that aircraft.

Some of their new molds are nice, but lots are old ones.

Thanks Geoff.
May I suggest a sticky in the modelling section be made with this basic information on colours for the Harvard? Who would have known that there were 3 different interior colours?
They don't give a date, all it say's is "Harvard Mk.III 7458 CFS Dunnottar" & has Korean war era springbok roundels. Any idea what period this covers?

Thanks again, Jeffrey

The interor green colours are related to the era in which the aircraft operated.

When delivered to the SAAF and until the aircraft underwent it's first major servicing where all the panels are removed for inspection / modifactions etc.,the colour would be Interior Green as is applied to American manufactured aircraft.

The RAF Cockpit Green was used on aircraft after they had undergone major servicing etc., during and after WW2 to the early 60's period.

The SAAF Cockpit Green is a lighter shade of the RAF Cockpit Green and would have been applied to aircraft that have undergone major servicing / painting after the 60's.

An interesting point here is that all of these colours can be seen on the aircraft that are operated by the Harvard Club of SA.

The HCSA is not a private club at all and is in fact a "club" that is responsible for the operation of the Havards that it has on strength,each aircraft is a declared "National Heritage" item and any colour change to it's aircraft must be approved by the National Heritage Council of SA.

So,any re-painting of the aircraft must be thoroughly researched before we can do any retoration / re-painting of the aircraft.

There are still certain parts of the interior of the aircraft that still have the original Interior Green paint on.

Regarding the silver finish of the aircraft,Humbrol 11 with a satin finish applied to it,will give the correct shade of silver.

Humbrol 27001 is a matt aluminium and would not be recommended,neither 27002 or 27003.

The aircraft were painted with a satin silver finish.

In a previous post I mentioned that the aircraft is silver overall with the yellow bands.
I apologise for this as I should have mentioned that the upper wings are painted Dark Sea Grey between the yellow bands.

Extra Dark Sea Grey was also applied to the aircraft during the 50's to early 70's period before changing to Dark Sea Grey during the 70's when the broad Dayglo band was also reduced in size (width).

The reason for the change in band width was due to an aircraft that was lost due to wing failure.
The Board of Inquiry found that the Dayglo paint covered the wing attachment bolts and hid any fine cracks.
Which in turn is covered by the strip of aluminium between the wing and centre section ( i.e.the ridge on the wing) and is also known in some circles as the transportation band.

It was then decided to move ( reduce in width) the Dayglo band to it's present position

Jeffreynic,I would recommend using a RAF Cockpit Green interior with a H11 satin finish on the fuselage and under wings,empennage.
H24 yellow bands with a Humbrol 123 Satin Extra Dark Sea Grey upper wings.
A satin finish to the H24 yellow would also be correct, as only during the war period were aircraft painted in a matt finish.

Hope this helps a bit.
Geoff

Wow, it certainly will help a lot. Luckily I did not start with the paint job yet. Thank you AT6C.



Yes, mine came with the correct exhaust, however I had to drill out the opening to gave it a more realistic look. Mine also came with the two different window canopies. The only disappointment is the rear window have a round shape at the bottom to represent the earlier Harvard models. I will have to fail/sand it level to prevent a lot of filling.

I have two Heller Harvards and both kits are warped a lot and need some additional attention to get things more realistic but luckily it is not as bad as the 1:48 Airfix Buccaneer.

I managed to fit the office, close the fuselage and glued the wings to the fuselage. I must say, not a lot of filler was required. I am quite happy with the results so far. Will post some photos this evening or tomorrow.

Cheers
Rickus

_________________
There's no such thing as a good or bad gun. A gun in the hands of a bad man is a very dangerous thing. A gun in the hands of a good person is no danger to anyone except the bad guy.

So on Saterday afternoon I decided to start a new poject, it was either F-51 or Spitfire IXe bubble canopy, and it is:



With Kits At War decals:

This aircraft crashed into the sea on 12 May 1951, from "The Spitfire in SAAF service".
I would like to put underwing rockets x4 on this aircraft as on page 108 of said book.
Can anyone help me with the exact position these rockets were placed on the wings?