Silver Wings 1/32 AW Siskin IIIA Build Guide

By Doug Nelson

Instructions

Silver Wings has changed the style and format of their instructions. They are now bound along the top edge instead of the side, and have been changed in size to fit the box without folding. For some reason, the traditional numbered steps have also been eliminated. A few notes before you start building:

Parts Cleanup

As with other Silver Wings kits, parts cleanup is fairly simple, and due to the soft resin they use for their kit, a sprue cutter can even be used to snip most parts from their pour stubs. After that, a few scrapes with the Xacto knife and/or sanding stick and the part is ready for use.

With these kits, since there are no part numbers to worry about, I like to clean up all the parts and then begin the build. Any parts can be painted as appropriate after cleanup and before assembly as well. A few things to note when preparing your kit parts for use:


Interior Subassemblies

There are a few items that can be assembled before installation in the cockpit, as indicated on page 2 of the instructions. I'll review them here:

Cockpit Assembly

Cockpit assembly starts on page 3 of the instructions. If you've built any other Silver Wings kits, assembly should be familiar to you.


Fuselage Assembly

Fuselage assembly is covered on page 4 of the instructions.


The following steps are best left for final assembly:

Engine Assembly

Engine assembly is covered in the upper section of page 7 of the instructions, although you can complete this step at any time during the assembly of your model.

The engine of the Siskin is quite visible as there is no cowl, but fortunately Silver Wings gives us a beautiful rendition of the Jaguar III/IV engine. While work on the engine can be repetitious, since you have to do the same thing several times, the results are a worthy engine to be the focal point of the front of your build.


Lower Wings

The lower wings have a metal rod inserted for strength, the remains of which can be used for attaching the lower wings to the fuselage. I recommend drilling out the appropriate hole on each side of the fuselage attachment point to accept the entire metal rod.


Rear Empennage

The rear empennage is covered on page 8. As mentioned in the Parts Cleanup section, make sure that your horizontal tailplane has the 3 pins on the bottom, as these will be needed to properly mount it to the fuselage.


Upper wings and Wing Attachment

The upper wings should have 5mm of dihedral according to the instructions (page 6). Although not show, you will need to join both upper wing halves together. As with the lower wings, I recommend you drill out the appropriate holes for the struts and use the full metal rod if possible to provide extra strength.


Main Landing Gear

The main gear appears complex, but it is fairly easy to attach correctly. For the purposes of this Build Guide, we'll separate the main gear assembly into two parts, the rear support structure, and the main axle.


Final Assembly

Congratulations on your newly finished model! Photos 38 ~ 47 are of the completed model.


© 2012 Doug Nelson

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This article was published on Friday, August 17 2012; Last modified on Saturday, May 14 2016