International Scale Modeller

Well, here goes. I haven't even finished my last build (but it's almost done!) and I'm going to start this one.

Airfix's James Bond 1/24 scale Autogyro from You Only Live Twice!

This was the first Bond film I saw at the theater as a kid and it was a blast back then!

So, here is the kit:

I don't think even Bond could actually fly an autogyro with his arms folded like this. Just an observation.











We'll get to why this is such a laugh later.



This is all the parts.



My name is Bond, James Bond. Hey, what the hell happened to my butt?



Some gluing underway. A big issue right away. Why are there NO PART NUMBERS ON THE SPRUE!!!!!
Look - part numbers in the instructions:



But no part numbers here:



Two little rings - one has a larger hole than the other but both fit either of the parts that call for a little ring. Which little ring do I use? I guessed.

This is where one goes - inside this oval part. It lets the prop spin. So, we'll see.



Bond. James Bond. Still no butt.

Bond's clothes and face don't match that box art...the figure looks like a flat arsed miner figure!
Good luck on this build

He's an ugly son of gun but I'm sure you'll polish him up

Ecshellent Mishter Miller. Jusht tell Q to pop her in a shutecaysh and fly her out to Japan!!

Ace project! Loved this Bond film, I hope your cement is shaken not stirred for this one....

I’ll see myself out....

Oh yes 007 bring it on, looking forward to this build

Oh wow - there's a blast from the past!! I remember building this one as a young lad - over 50 years ago!! Only ever had the Little Nellie markings back then, no AAC ones. Looking forwards to seeing how this turns out.
Take some comfort in knowing you aren't the only one labouring under a lack of part number on the sprues or even a sprue map....

That pilot looks Japanese...haha.

Welcome to the SIG DBM - great to have you onboard

That looks like a "classic" Airfix kit - but the pilot... wow - something from Jules Verne... I wonder why they came up with that

Tomcat64 wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2020 11:13 am Welcome to the SIG DBM - great to have you onboard

That looks like a "classic" Airfix kit - but the pilot... wow - something from Jules Verne... I wonder why they came up with that

There are a lot of problems with this kit. Looking at photo references just to see how a few parts are supposed to attach because the instructions are so bad is just part of them. At least there isn't much flash at all to clean up.
But that figure! His face looks like they molded it to take goggles but Bond didn't wear goggles in the film. It makes him look all puffy eyed from lack of sleep and a very nasty beating!

DBMiller wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2020 1:32 pm But that figure! His face looks like they molded it to take goggles but Bond didn't wear goggles in the film. It makes him look all puffy eyed from lack of sleep and a very nasty beating!

If I'm honest I'd forgotten that he wore the helmet with the camera in the movie but came across this...


So aside from the weird features maybe it's not as off the wall as I initially thought it was.

First steps. Man, these instructions really make you work for it! From the lack of numbered parts to poor diagrams it is a challenge. Also, the color call outs are for Humbrol paints. Easy enough to look up but they really couldn't write out the color next to the numbers?



First bits on.





The instructions are so bad that I missed that these two areas need parts BEFORE you glue them on! Also, look at the poor alignment of the fuel tank straps!



It's a good thing the plastic is flexible and I could squeeze them in!



The nose cone can be added after it is glued together so I can more easily sand and paint it. But first I have to open up 3 holes on each half for the rocket launchers and machine guns.

More fun with no part numbers and bad instructions!
But, first:

Really bad engineering. Look at the connection points for these rods!



By the way, this is where I had to squeeze the two parts I forgot in the last episode. Right between the two uprights that go to the prop.





Engine built. Those pins coming out the side of the cooling intakes (?) are for some sort of hoses that you can see in photo refs. They are NOT shown in the instructions.







Nose cone with a bit of sink mark filler.





Some gloss primer on! Wanted to get started before I added to much more so I could spray all the nooks and crannies. I can see I need to polish it up a bit before the next coat.





Bad instructions. The gear struts attach to a peg under the seat and right under the prop shaft. The instructions show it forward of that position.
Test fitting is our friend.

looking good, great job, think i would of put it back in the box if I come across some of those things!

I feel like I'm recreating the assembly of the real Little Nellie in the film - still shots of the crew putting all the parts together. Their parts fit better.



Nose cone with guns attached. The real autogyro has a retaining ring around the barrels. I'll have to cut them out of thin styrene and hope for the best.





Hey, my feet don't reach the peddles!




The prop shaft was a bit to short and the blades hit the engine. I added a small spacer and it looks better.



See the highlighted area? That hose like thing (in the photos of the real Nellie it is a hose like thing) attaches to the rotor housing and just dangles into space. Loose fitting it with the engine to hold it in place you can see it just dangles into space. What does it do? Why must it be?







Not only is it an odd part but I guessed wrong about which little ring to use for the main rotor hub and this one has too big a hole for the hose like thing. I filled it with super glue and re-drilled the hole. It still dangles off into space but its little ring fits better.

digger303 wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2020 1:51 am That pilot looks Japanese...haha.

Come on boys, I thought you were all 007 experts. No joke, James Bond is actually disguised as Japanese in the movie, eyes and everything. Totally PC.

Have you seen this article - might give you some idea of what the hose thingy is!!

https://oikofuge.com/airfix-124-wallis- ... le-nellie/

RangerNeil wrote: ↑Sun Jan 12, 2020 10:15 pm Have you seen this article - might give you some idea of what the hose thingy is!!

https://oikofuge.com/airfix-124-wallis- ... le-nellie/

This is brilliant! The added wiring really make a difference.
Thank you so much!

DBMiller wrote: ↑Sun Jan 12, 2020 10:49 pm <snipped>

This is brilliant! The added wiring really make a difference.
Thank you so much!

Glad to be of assistance

Looking good. Great to see you overcoming the 'issues' with the kit.

You only live twice was one of my favourite Bond films, great to see a subject from the movie.

SteelScooter wrote: ↑Sun Jan 12, 2020 6:01 pm

digger303 wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2020 1:51 am That pilot looks Japanese...haha.

Come on boys, I thought you were all 007 experts. No joke, James Bond is actually disguised as Japanese in the movie, eyes and everything. Totally PC.

bo toxed to the max

It has been a very long time since I have seen that movie...give me some slack..

Let's play a little game.

See if you can figure out why building in sub assemblies would have been a better choice than skimming over the instructions and gluing along like nothing else mattered. Granting that the instructions are pretty bad this is still my own fault for not thinking first.


Have you got an answer yet? No?
How's this for incomprehensibly stupid?

I'm thinking this means a LOT of masking up now???

I have been there too, all you can do is mask off and spray the primrose yellow at the little beasty. I can garantee you wont do it again but theres always another one to catch you out

So, as a reward for being stupid I get to clean up this mess. Really not as bad as it could have been but more work than I needed.

Again -

I could mask the tail but the rest I free handed. To start the repair work on the silver I used slips of paper inserted behind the struts to protect the yellow. That work pretty well for a lot of it! Lots more to go though. For one thing, the underside of the tank is silver - like the nose cone.







The excellent link RangerNeil provided prompted me to change the silly rocket launchers with tubing more suited to the real Little Nell. I thought of using plastic tubing but that didn't look too good. I had metal tubing that looked better.





The rear rocket launchers. I started to open up the inside more because in the link RangerNeil sent the builder added weight to keep Nell's butt down. The engine is behind the main wheels so it is a tail sitter! I don't know if I can get enough weight in them to make a difference but I'll try.
Also, this photo shows something else the kit doesn't help with! That cable running down from the main rotor to just behind the engine (the cable with the little disk thing at the end) - it is the main rotor drive! The little disk thing is a pulley wheel for a belt driven by the tail rotor shaft! Nice work Airfix.

‘Main prop drive, phhhhfft”...actual Airfix designer quote
You are doing a bang up good job here putting this together

Twokidsnosleep wrote: ↑Sat Jan 18, 2020 3:51 pm ‘Main prop drive, phhhhfft”...actual Airfix designer quote
You are doing a bang up good job here putting this together

Thank you. At least I'm still going along!
Here is more work on the front rocket pods. I cut off the mounts and attached them to the metal tube. The white tube is for inside so they don't look empty.

Still plugging away. I've worked on the nose cone as much as I care to and have given it a coat of primer.







I'm still sorting out the stupid mistake I made with the painting - as in not painting the parts before they are too hard to paint. I'll post how that is going later.

as frustrating as it must be its really looking good and sometimes i feel getting by those challenges make the end result better and more rewarding then a smooth build..not that I know what one of those are haha

and we all want to see it finished so you cant let us down

For a bit of trivia from a program the missus was watching "ESCAPE TO THE COUNTRY" they had this old guy on there who has 30 gyro copters in his shed. Many years ago he designed them plus did some work for the aircraft industry. He still flys these old machines and the take off looked a bit wobbly, but he was flying like the pro he is once airborn. Guess what one of the machines was..... yes you guessed it the original James bond machine as he was the one who built it and flew it in the movie.... Ken Wallis. The machine was Little Nellie .

I've fallen behind a bit but here goes.
The idiot mistake repair went better than I deserved. I was able to use thin Tamiya tape and slips of paper to mask off the yellow upper section and paint the silver lower and some of the yellow overspray from by first passes. The rest I touched up with a brush. Still more to go but it may work out.





Here are the forward rocket launchers. The ends need some kind of detail to represent the rockets. I'll work on it.



The nose cone needs work. I masked the upper half top prime the lower half in gloss black then silver. Later I'll prime the upper half and spray the yellow.

Love those rocket launchers
The best parts of this kit will be the one you add

Some lovely work around skills happening here, it's all looking back on track now

Your doing a great job on this considering the obstacles you've faced

Yes, I'm still plugging away. I keep saying that don't I?

Nose cone coming along. Still have to paint the white to go under the decal.







Glossed up!



Engine had to be repainted to fix some bad sanding. Rear weapons pods getting paint.

Home stretch, you are getting there

Looking really impressive already!!

Great to see you're still fighting away with this recalcitrant little chopper!

Things are shaping up.



Re-painted the seat after my brush painting looked pretty bad.





These are the parts I have left to paint and attach.



Since I built the nose cone separate from the frame I had to cut off the wheel mount to get the nose to fit on. I've added a support rod so the axle will stay glued on securely.



It has an engine!





I wanted to make sure the paint stuck to the aluminum tubing of my re-built forward rocked launchers so they got a coat of automotive primer.

That's looking very, very, impressive!!

That's coming together really nicely

If you haven't seen it elsewhere already I'm planning to extend the deadline on the SIG for a while in the current climate to allow people time to finish off without needing to rush anything so plenty of time left now

I had to fix the rocket pods a bit. I had one interior deeper than the other so came up with a plan to fix it.
The first plan created a plug that was too big in diameter. Of course it was also the easiest to create.



Instead I used a circle cutter knife and a scribing template and got closer.



Here they are plugged and primed. Next to them are the main blades with a first coat of gray.





I have been entertaining the idea of creating more detail on the guns. Photos of the real Nellie show shields around the barrels so I cut some out of tubing. The tube interior diameter is a bit too big so I don't know if it will be worth risking the paint. Any thoughts?

I think the shields look fine, however I haven't seen the original so i can't compare. Not sure if it's possible but could you drill cooling holes in the shields as they'd look the part then.

I hate these decals. They are about as thick as aluminum foil and take five minutes or more to come off the backing. They don't conform well and I put the main stripe on wrong (or the decal just sucked that way too). That's all I have to say about these decals.

Just remember, it's meant to be fun

“I expect you to die (building this) Mr Bond”...or at least go postal and smash it

Keep at her

Twokidsnosleep wrote: ↑Thu Apr 23, 2020 4:30 am “I expect you to die (building this) Mr Bond”...or at least go postal and smash it

Keep at her

Remember this is an old Airfix kit. It was designed not to fit properly and give you a bad feeling and headache everytime you try and put it together . Its your skills as a modeler that have got you this far so stick at it and you will get there