pheonix

That is a terrific model. Many congratulations on such a wonderful piece of modelling. P

Balck codes with white outlines.....in this scale? Exceptionally incredible!! P

Evening All Sorry to be late to the party but I have been participating in another GB on another site and I cannot work on two projects at the same time. I am almost finished with the current one so am ready to think about another build and will join in here if I am allowed with a scratch build of the Short No 2 biplane of 1909. It is of historical importance because it was the first British aircraft to fly a distance of more than a few yards. This was achieved by a young man by the name of Brabazon - some of you may have heard of him. It also happened to take place on the Isle of Sheppy in Kent - not far from where I live and last year I came across the site when walking with a friend. Given the importance of this aircraft and event in British aviation history I thought that I ought at least to make a model of the same. It will be in the One True Scale because sadly there is no kit. I hope to be able to post the first shots of progress within a week - I could show my kit now but I will post that at the same time as early progress. Thanks for reading. P

I wholeheartedly agree with all of the above: this is a super dio and I just wish that I had half of your skill in making it. The finished model would look well in Lincoln museum. P

Agree with Ian - this is a huge leap forward from the Pfalz pair - and they were mini works of art in their own right. Gobsmacked! P

First class scratch building. Glad to see that you are back with this. P

That is superb. A wonderful dio in the making - cannot wait to see it finished. P

First class model from a Roden kit. The finish and colours are extremely good. P

By far and away the best GB I have entered or even seen. The range of subjects and materials was truly amazing. Thanks again to all who participated and to the mods who organized it. P

Congratulations. Very well done - not the easiest of scratch builds - as I am finding out! P

Both the trees and the horses/wagon look super. I would suggest 10 x 20 thou strip for the reins as they would be leather straps and flat not round. Alternatively if you have the patience(!) you could cut strips from 5 thou card to make the reins thinner!! Looking forward to more updates. P

I have not converted a BE 12 but I did once convert an Airfix RE 8 into a BE 2e by using the wings from the RE 8 and scratch building the fuselage. If I were to convert the Airfix BE 2c to a BE12 I would use the wings from the RE 8 and the fuselage, wheels etc from the BE 2c. There would need to be some scratch building of the nose and engine, (not as difficult as it may look), and the wings would need to be seriously thinned, (or scratch built from card - again not difficult). It would all depend on how much conversion/scratch building experience you have, but in practice none of the changes would be beyond a modeller who is used to adding extra details to kits or making minor changes. Just plan carefully what needs to be done by comparing drawings with kit parts, and take each stage slowly and carefully. You will be surprised what you can do if you give something a try! P

Super build of an old kit. The finish is first class. P

Extremely good model. The flare pistol and swirls on the cowling make this a real eye-catcher. P

I am sure that you can do this on time. Leaving out the rear ailerons and wing floats already saves some time. The radiators should not take too long either - just laminated card shaped - easy really! P

I do not really know what you are complaining about: that looks like a very good model with some very fine details. The finish is excellent. P

First class model Dave. The finish is excellent - I am waiting patiently to see this one. I also note the lack of rigging wires - I am sure there should be some somewhere....! P

Evening All, I would like to echo what @Paul821 has written above: this has been by far the most interesting GB which I have seen or participated in. I am amazed at the sheer variety of subjects and media represented here and have learned much about the hobby in all of its forms, short of scratch building ships in wood! Thank you @Mjwomack for being our moderator and trying to keep us moving. Congratulations to all who have taken part, irrespective of whether you have managed to complete your models. I have enjoyed following along and will continue to do so to the end of the GB. Thanks too to those who have left comments on my builds - they were much appreciated. I am now about to start another GB on another site and will attempt to repeat @Marklo success in scratch building an Oertz W6, but this time in God's Own Scale. I am a real fan of the experimental and unique so that should provide an interesting challenge. P

Evening All, Here are some pictures of the completed Morane parasol. I have posted these and some historical notes in the RFI section. I was unable to find a suitable serial number for my model, so this represents a generic machine as flown by the RNAS in 1915. Thanks for looking. P

Evening All, This was completed for the Anything But Injection GB, the build thread can be found at: The Morane Saulnier Type L Parasol monoplane was designed in 1913 and first flew in August of that year. It was designated MoS 3. It was ordered in large numbers by the French Air Force and was intended to be used for reconnaissance, but following the outbreak of hostilities it was found to be faster than German two-seaters so that crews were encouraged to take up a rifle and try to shoot down their opponents. In 1914 Saulnier had devised a synchronising gear for a machine gun and the French army supplied a Hotchkiss so that trials could be carried out. Unfortunately the ammunition proved to be unreliable and the idea was dropped. Saulnier continued to experiment with a fixed machine gun armament by fitting steel plates to the propellor blades with the intention that the softer brass bullets from a machine gun would be deflected if they struck a plate. This idea was experimented with by Roland Garros who had earned a pre-war reputation as a stunt pilot. In April 1915 Garros managed to shoot down three aircraft in three weeks - a considerable achievement for the time. However in that month the petrol pie in his aircraft was fractured by a rifle bullet and he had to land behind the enemy lines. Before he could set fire to his aircraft he was captured and the secret of his success was discovered. A Fokker then adapted a synchronising gear which he fitted to one of his E11 monoplanes and the “Fokker Scourge” was started. On 7 June 1915 sub-Lieutenant R. A. J. Warneford flying with No 1 Squadron RNAS from Dunkirk intercepted Zeppelin LZ 37 and managed to climb above it so that he could drop his 25lb bombs on it, successfully destroying the airship in the process. For this remarkable feat he was awarded the Victoria Cross. Approximately 600 Type L Parasols were built and were flown by the French Air Service, the RFC and RNAS, and the Imperial Russian Air Service. In addition they were built under license by Pfalz in Germany as the AI and AII unarmed reconnaissance machines, and as an armed E III. Morane Saulnier Parasols were not popular or easy aircraft to fly. The following quotations are taken from Cecil Lewis’ Saggitarius Rising - his account of his flying experience in the RFC and later. He flew the type LA Parasol which had a rounded fuselage but was otherwise very similar to the type L. “There was a machine standing in one of the hangars which had been pointed out to me casually, as one points to a rattlesnake in a Zoo and passes on to more congenial creatures, as a Moraine. I had heard of it, of course, It was one of the recognised death traps which pilots in training prayed they might never have to fly…….. Pilots trained on ordinary Avro’s and (B.E) 2c’s, when turned loose on Moraines killed themselves with alarming rapidity.” Lewis explained why they were so difficult to control: “None of the Moraines had any tail plane…..the Moraine contented itself with the elevator, the moveable flap, only. And this elevator was a balanced elevator…..the least movement stood you on your head or on your tail. You couldn’t leave the machine to its own devices for a moment; you had to fly it every moment you were in the air.The other controls, just to make it more difficult, were practically non-existent…….Never, even when you knew the machine inside out, could you relax for a second….. Subsequently I flew every machine used by the Air Force during the war. They were all child’s play after the Morane.” However Lewis did have some good words for the type because he also wrote: “ I had a look over her, and the more I saw of her the less I liked her. It was certainly not love at first sight, nor even at second or third sight; but I did come to love the Morane as I loved no other aeroplane. She carried me right through the Somme battle. I did all my best work on her…..I flew her for over three hundred hours, and never during all that time did I have a crash of any kind, and only one case of engine failure! Good old Parasol.” I was unable to find a suitable serial number for my model, so this represents a generic machine as flown by the RNAS in 1915. Thanks for looking. P

Evening All, I have finished the Morane. The rigging was fairly straightforward as there is only one wing and the attachment of the wires was relatively easy when compared with rigging multi-winged types. I used rolled 40 SWG copper wire attached with CA. The propellor and wheels were easily fitted too and the model was complete. I will post more photos in the gallery shortly. Thanks for looking. P

That looks very convincing to me. At least nobody can challenge your interpretation because the photos are so ambiguous. I am really looking forward to the completed dio photos - I am sure that it will be a winner when finished. P

Superb build of a very interesting type. You cannot have too many pushers. P

It was not as difficult as I had feared it might be Ray. As usual with such parts, when it came to doing it, (as opposed to thinking about it), it all went rather smoothly. Just be sure to get the spacing and size of the holes in the wing right. P

Evening All, I have completed most of the construction and the model is now well on the way towards completion. The first step was to fit the undercarriage. The tail skid assembly looks complicated but in reality it is 4 outer support struts with a central post on which the skid was mounted. The purpose of the outer struts was to keep the skid rigid. Similarly the main undercarriage legs were simple to make and assemble - I used 30 thou rod, (which is probably a little over scale but needed for strength), with plastic rod for the axle. The V struts for the bracing wires were also made from plastic rod and the undercarriage assemblies were painted after fixing in place: Once it was on its legs I could finish the details in the cockpit and add the windscreens for the pilot and observer. They were cut and shaped from clear acetate. To fix the wing I drilled two holes where the main struts passed through and then enlarged them a little with the end of a round file. The struts were shaped from 20 x 30 thou Evergreen strip which had been filed to remove the corners. After several attempts to get everything correctly aligned I cut the rear struts and cemented these to the sides of the cockpit. The main struts were threaded through the holes in the wing and cemented at the top and where they join the wing. While the cement was still wet I lowered the wing/strut assembly so the the main struts were on the fuselage sides and the rear struts fixed against the rear of the wing. This was set aside to harden properly. When the above had set properly it was a simple task to add the reinforcing front struts: [ All that remains now is to paint the struts, rigging and add the wheels and propellor. Thanks for looking. P