Airfix 1/72 Auster AOP VI/T7

AIRFIX 1:72 AUSTER AOP VI/T7

Reviewer: Richard Stracey (rec.models.scale)
Kit Review submitted: 26 June 2004

Kit Details:

AIRFIX # 01023 1/72 -- AUSTER AOP VI / T7

The Kit:

Two references date this kit to 1958 but “1959” is stamped on the inside of one wing. I wonder if it was intended to be released in early ’59 but was brought foreword for the ’58 Christmas trade? Anyway, this kit contains thirty nine parts in hard grey plastic with reasonable surface detail that is, not surprisingly, beginning to show signs of die wear. It includes a pilot figure but not, as originally supplied, a stand. Wheels, floats or skis are included and well printed decals for two aircraft supplied, a yellow T7 in the Antarctic in 1956 and a camouflaged AOP 6 in Germany in 1952. The instructions are adequate as to construction; the painting instructions give no hint as to the interior colour. The box art has an eye catching picture of WE 600 on skis in the Antarctic. Originally the kit was issued in a plastic bag with header card as an Antarctic only. In 1978 it was issued (#61069-4) as an AOP6 with one decal option and a box less than half the present size.

Construction:

This must be one of the first kits that I have made back in primary school. As such I didn’t expect too much hoping to put together a simple kit straight from the box as an exercise in nostalgia. It was not to be!

Right from the start it was obvious that if the box art was correct (and it proved so) then the kit was wrong. Airfix would have you believe that it was a simple matter of replacing the wheels with skis. This is not so but as the kit skis are pretty gross it is not too much of a problem to replace the entire undercarriage including skis with scratch built items. Originally this kit was marketed as an Antarctic only and depicted on floats and anyway Aeroplane Monthly of Nov.’83 and Sep.’77 have a photo of it so. But what about younger modellers? Airfix make no mention that WE 600 could also be made on floats! It would have cost nothing to include a note saying so.

While on the subject of floats, the golf ball sized rivets need sanding off and the Antarctic actually had two water rudders of totally different shape to the one (#38) supplied in the kit. Beware! The instructions for the float version show the undercarriage legs back to front! It is a simple matter to swap the "N"shaped parts over but how, for nearly fifty years, Airfix has failed to realise the error or to correct it, I can't imagine! If the wheeled version is chosen then the rather strange undercarriage legs (#22 & 24) should be replaced and the wheels look a bit under nourished. Possibly Aeroclub make suitable replacements along with a more realistic tail wheel and propeller too.

The interior needs some work in the form of a dashboard, stick and seats etc. Now for the canopy! Well, for a start it is only suitable for an Antarctic but not an AOP6. It would not have cost Airfix much to supply an alternative part #12 with no “lump” but as the kit was originally supposed to be an Antarctic Airfix (1958) were not to blame. Now for the real problem! In 1978 Airfix had the cheek to issue this same kit as an AOP6 and put “New” on the box! Not only did they ignore the “lump” but on the inside of the canopy (11) was a b****y great ejector pin mark! Guess what, the 2004 release has the same b****y great mark. Have Airfix no pride in their product? I overcame this by carefully cutting off the top of the canopy and replacing it with a shaped piece of clear plastic, not a job for the nervous modeller! The internal framework can be depicted by gluing lengths of wire or fine Contrail rod to the inside of the canopy. This not only makes the cockpit look busier but also is an important feature of the full sized aircraft.

I cut away and repositioned the rudder and added simple rigging to the tail. The exhaust could possibly do with some work if you can find a decent photo of it to work from. Attaching the wings is a bit trickier than expected due to the sloppy fit. I used five-minute epoxy to fill up the slot and to give me time to adjust the dihedral. Just before the glue dries the struts (19&20) can be added. There are a couple of braces that can be added to these as shown on the box art.

Both the ski and float versions need a bit of basic rigging and I am still trying to figure out how to make a pair of venturis for either side of the cowling. Some or all AOP6s appear to have a large mass balance on the rudder but the Antarctic /T7 doesn’t, I wonder why?

Painting & Decals:

Now to the painting and decals. The ’78 issue was for VX113 (there is a b&w photo of it in Aeroplane Monthly of May ’88) at Middle Wallop in ’61 and the decals are fine. Then Airfix recommended M3 (Humbrol 30 and M5 (Humbrol 83) but the new issue suggests Humbrol 30 Dark Green and Humbrol 29 Dark Earth for an identical camouflage pattern on TW 536 in Germany in 1952. The alternative scheme is for the T7 Antarctic WE 600 in ’56. Airfix say that it is Humbrol 24 Trainer Yellow. The only problem is that I can find no photos of WE 600 in yellow! Orange, yes but yellow, no. Not deep yellow or dark yellow but Humbrol 18 Orange. As it is preserved at the RAF Museum Cosford in orange it seems strange that Airfix thank them for their assistance but failed to ask them what colour it was! OK, at some time it may have been yellow but, somehow, I doubt it. As the original is today the “lump” is painted orange but in some older photos it seems to be white and/ or clear. What is it; it looks like it should contain a DF loop? There is also a container of some sort below the belly that I presume contains fuel or survival equipment. There are other small details that could be included and one day I hope to visit Cosford to investigate further.

Addendum - since this review has been published the query about the colour was posted on a modelling forum and the main evidence, and consensus of opinion was that Antarctic Austers were definitely painted in Orange. Artwork does depict yellow Austers and a restored one (the WE 600 example) in 1968 has the Auster in yellow at an airshow, which was well after its expeditions to the Antarctic and probably the reason why Airfix chose to put theirs in yellow!

Conclusion:

With some work an acceptable model can be made. Most of the extra work involves the various undercarriage detail and Airfix really should have done something about that canopy, at least a bit of housekeeping but better still a new canopy with alternative tops and what about that error in the instructions, amazing! Surprisingly I could find little useful information on Austers, a few photos on the Internet and the Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Aircraft V2 p.334/5 and Aeroplane Monthly of Sep.’77 and Nov.’83.

RHS / 110

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