1/72 Roden Antonov An-12Bk Cub

by Tom Berres

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          This is the fantastic 1/72 Roden An-12Bk.  It is a great kit, if a little short on interior detail.  Fortunately, Ace make a superb brass photo-etch set to go with the kit.  The PE set includes cockpit, tail gun, and cargo bay details.  My favorite feature of the detail set, though, was the propeller blade de-icing boots.  These are very visible on all Russian prop aircraft.  In fact, the PE set is so good that I purchased extras for future Russian aircraft. 

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          Construction actually began with the tail.  I chose to model the cargo door shut.  I like the clean lines of the aircraft—and I wasn’t too excited about detailing the cargo bay.  There were fit problems on the tail and the gunner’s compartment.  I used extensive putty and some styrene shims to clean this area up.

          Next came the crew compartment and interior.  Cockpit detail came predominantly from the Ace set.  I added instruments and wiring to the back of the instrument panel, since this area would be visible through the navigator’s nose glazing.  For the leather cushions, I shaped .040” sheet styrene.  I used styrene strips for the arm rests also. The cushions and arm rests were applied to the Ace PE seats. 

          On this kit I used a new technique for the instrument and breaker panels.  First, I painted the cockpit with Tamiya acrylics, including the black of the panels.  Then, I applied a heavy coat of future.  I applied a very thin wash of Polly-S Oily Black to the grey areas and seats.  For the instrument panels, though, I used a very dilute wash of white (Polly-S).  Finally, I dry brushed the panels with black.  Since the detail on the panels was recessed, this created very distinctive switches and controls.  After a coat of Testors acrylic flat (airbrushed) further details were painted.  For red, yellow, and green details on the instruments and panels, I used a toothpick to apply the color.  Since there was already white from the wash, the details really ‘pop’.

          The interior of the cargo bay was also painted since some would be visible through the numerous windows.  I chose not to use the injection molded windows.  Instead all windows were made with Crystal Clear at the very end of the project.

          The main gear bay was sorely lacking in detail.  Unfortunately, the Ace offers no help in this area.  First I smoothed the bay with putty and sanding.  Then I scratch built all the detail.  I used styrene strip and sheet for the structure.  Rod and tubing created the hydraulic actuators.  Wiring and piping was made with various gages of solder and copper wire.  This was also my first opportunity to use my brand new Waldron punch, which I purchased specifically for the detail in this area.  The punch made the lightening holes in the central wall as well as details on the outer portion of the bay.  I SHOULD HAVE PURCHASED A PUNCH AND DIE YEARS AGO!  WHAT AN AWESOME TOOL!  It has worked so well that I recently ordered a sub-miniature punch and die.  With the main gear bay complete, the forward fuselage was assembled.

          I was displeased with the nose glazing.  The clear styrene was thick which would cause significant distortion.  Also, the framing was far too prominent.  My solution was to vacuform a copy.  I filled the original piece with Milliput and sanded the framing away.  I sanded the piece further to thin it as a means for compensating for the thickness of the vacuform replacement.  The new transparency was dipped in Future, and then superglued to the nose.  It took a lot of putty and blending to graft the new piece to the nose. 

          Once the forward fuselage was complete, remaining construction was pretty straight forward.  I joined the forward and aft fuselages, then added the wings and tail plane to ensure proper alignment.  I added a new APU exhaust made from styrene tube.  Next, the engine nacelles were assembled.  The engine mount joint with the wings required significant blending.  Note that the upper part of this joint IS NOT on a panel line.  Some scribing was necessary to rectify that problem. 

          The propellers and spinners also required a good bit of fitting, sanding, and filling.  The propeller de-icing boots are time consuming to install, but look great.  I installed each boot by first bending it to about a 45 degree angle.  Then, I superglued the boot to the front leading edge of the propeller blades.  Once the glue was dry, I carefully bent the boot to conform to the back of the blade and glued it down.  The Ace PE is very thin and malleable, which really simplified this process.  I chose to paint the blades before installing them on the spinners.  First I painted the base color, then I used a one inch wide piece of masking tape, lining up the bottom of each blade with the tape.  By carefully folding the tape over on itself and the blades, I established a near perfect mask for the yellow tips.

          The finished model was painted with Tamiya acrylics.  After a gloss coating with future, decals (from Aeromaster) were applied.  Next, another coat of Future in preparation for a sludge wash.

           I applied a tempera paint sludge wash.  I long resisted doing washes on finished paint jobs since I was afraid of wrecking a model.  Using oils or enamels on top of my normal acrylic paints scared me.  I also avoid strong thinners like turpentine and lacquer thinner due to concerns with ventilation.  Then, I read an article about the tempera wash technique in Finescale Modeller.  Tempera paints make this process nearly error proof.  They are non-toxic and easily cleaned up with water.  I just mix black, brown, white, yellow, and water to achieve the desired thin wash.  I add a small drop of dishwashing detergent to break the surface tension of the sludge, and then completely cover the model.  [Yes, this part is sort of scary, since the model really looks like trash!]  Wiping away the wash is easy with a slightly dampened old cotton shirt.  The beauty of this technique is that if you don’t like the result, you can simply wipe it away.  Even better, unlike oils the tempera dries VERY quickly, so repeat attempts and layering can be done in a short period.

          Finally, the model was dulled with Testors acryl flat and final details like antennae were installed.  The last step was the Crystal Clear windows and lights.  Out of the box, the Roden kit would be a fun build and look great.  The Ace PE set really takes this kit to the next level.

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Photos and text © by Tom Berres