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Belvedere


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Hi All,

I'm just making a start on my 1/32 scratchbuilt Belvedere:-

Belvederebuild1.jpg

The main fuselage is a piece of plastic water pipe with fuselage cross-sections of 50thou plasticard evenly spaced, the gaps have then been filled with balsa wood and sanded till I reached the cross-section edges. The whole lot was given a thin coat of polyfilla and sanded again. As you can see, the rear part of the fuselage has now been added and awaits its coating of polyfilla, as does the rear pylon.The nose has been roughly shaped and the two plasticard windscreens will now be 'let-in', sanded, polyfillered and sanded again. I'll then make a resin copy of the nose and vac-form the final piece in clear.

Most of the fuselage will be covered in plastic sheet with just the rear portion being vac-formed as it involves a double curve.

I would be grateful if any of you out there can help me with photos, especially of the cockpit. Thanks.

Glenn

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Hi Glenn,

Nice looking start. Sorry I missed your last thread about it till earlier. Here are a couple of links, I don't know if anyone else has given you these yet.

Friends of The Helicopter Museum Bristol 192 Belvedere XG462 (Nose) History and Restoration

Friends of The Helicopter Museum Bristol 192 Belvedere, XG452, Restoration and History

Friends of The Helicopter Museum Bristol 192 Belvedere, XG452, Restoration - Page 2

I had the chance to do some of the early work on XG452 as I used to be 1 of the regular restoration bod's.

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Hi Glenn,

Nice looking start. Sorry I missed your last thread about it till earlier. Here are a couple of links, I don't know if anyone else has given you these yet.

Friends of The Helicopter Museum Bristol 192 Belvedere XG462 (Nose) History and Restoration

Friends of The Helicopter Museum Bristol 192 Belvedere, XG452, Restoration and History

Friends of The Helicopter Museum Bristol 192 Belvedere, XG452, Restoration - Page 2

I had the chance to do some of the early work on XG452 as I used to be 1 of the regular restoration bod's.

Hi Ponti,

Many thanks for the links, just the thing I was looking for - great.

Regards,

Glenn

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Fantastic work on a worthy subject!! I have been debating a 1/32 belvedere myself, but was debating how I would do the rotors. I hope you don't mind my taking notes, and possibly nicking some of your ideas-

Lee

Hello Lee,

Please take anything you want, I do the same thing with other people's ideas and just adapt them to my needs.

Have a look at Panther Productions website www.pantherproductions2000.homestead.com to see the build of my Rotodyne ( the captions are out of sync with the photos at the moment and require some fine tuning) and you will see how I made the rotors for that. I will use the same method with the Belvedere.

There is now no excuse for not getting started on your own Belvedere!!!

Feel free to e-mail me if you need anymore information.

Regards,

Glenn

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Looking forward to following your progress on this build Glenn. I'm hoping to dip my toes into the world of scratch building myself someday, and watching someone as skilled as yourself put something together is both inspirational and educational.

Kev

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Hi Jonathon,

Yes please, any and all photos are of use on a project like this. Many thanks.

Glenn

No probs. Got a set of original drawings for all the stencilling, if my ALPs was working I'd do you a set of customs - but it aint, so I can't!

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Looking forward to following your progress on this build Glenn. I'm hoping to dip my toes into the world of scratch building myself someday, and watching someone as skilled as yourself put something together is both inspirational and educational.

Kev

Hi Kev,

Instead of 'someday' how about 'now', The longer you leave it the harder it is to get started. Try something simpler than a full blown scratchbuild at first, so that you know what you are in for, eg. converting a Spitfire into a two-seater. This will involve moving the front cockpit forward, carving a master for the rear canopy and then vac-forming the canopy itself. The prospect of this is not so daunting as starting totally from scratch.

Try getting hold of some of the books I listed on my Rotodyne build to see what's involved. If you need any help, just e-mail me.

Regards,

Glenn

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No probs. Got a set of original drawings for all the stencilling, if my ALPs was working I'd do you a set of customs - but it aint, so I can't!

Hi Jonathan,

Thanks for the offer of the stencills, if you can't get your ALP working, how about sending me a scan of the drawings. That way I may be able to get them to 1/32scale and print them off myself.

Regards,

Glenn

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This build commands close following...which I will do...good work that.

Glad you like it so far.

Here's part two:-

Belvederebuild2.jpg

The rear pylon/fin has been sanded to shape and the gaps have been filled with 'polyfilla' and sanded when dry. A piece of polythene sheet, I get mine from the covers of folders that hold A4 sheets of paper, is cut to shape so that it will wrap around the fin with a little overlap. A line is scored on the inside with a scriber. This line will be the trailing edge when folded over. A series of lines are also scribed on the inside to form the leading edge of the fin, these have been highlighted in black. These lines are scribed close together so as to give a nice curve to the leading edge.

The sheeting will be fixed down with contact adhesive and the joint will be in the centre of the fin which can then be easily filled to a smooth finish.

I use polythene sheeting because it can be bent almost double without cracking, thus giving a nice trailing edge, the disadvantages are that it is difficult to get a nice clean scribed line on it and a good paint primer is required or else the paint will lift when any masking is removed - been there, done that!!

Stay tuned for part three.

Regards,

Glenn

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Glad you like it so far.

Here's part two:-

Belvederebuild2.jpg

The rear pylon/fin has been sanded to shape and the gaps have been filled with 'polyfilla' and sanded when dry. A piece of polythene sheet, I get mine from the covers of folders that hold A4 sheets of paper, is cut to shape so that it will wrap around the fin with a little overlap. A line is scored on the inside with a scriber. This line will be the trailing edge when folded over. A series of lines are also scribed on the inside to form the leading edge of the fin, these have been highlighted in black. These lines are scribed close together so as to give a nice curve to the leading edge.

The sheeting will be fixed down with contact adhesive and the joint will be in the centre of the fin which can then be easily filled to a smooth finish.

I use polythene sheeting because it can be bent almost double without cracking, thus giving a nice trailing edge, the disadvantages are that it is difficult to get a nice clean scribed line on it and a good paint primer is required or else the paint will lift when any masking is removed - been there, done that!!

Stay tuned for part three.

Regards,

Glenn

morning glenn, looking good, dont forget the "rudder" is offset on these to counteract the torque iirc. will dig out my pics etc plans etc. feel free to call me 01472 321890

rgds ian

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morning glenn, looking good, dont forget the "rudder" is offset on these to counteract the torque iirc. will dig out my pics etc plans etc. feel free to call me 01472 321890

rgds ian

Hi Ian,

Thanks for the info. I did notice it on my plans and will do the offset once the whole fin is covered with plastic sheeting.

I would be grateful for any information you could send me, but as I live in Thailand, phone calls can be difficult with the time difference (+7 GMT). Let me know your thoughts on this.

Regards,

Glenn

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Hi Glenn, Been trying to post a set of pics taken at Hendon but when I return from photobucket my "Fast Reply" has disappeared. If you PM I can send on by email. MODeller

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Hi Glenn, Been trying to post a set of pics taken at Hendon but when I return from photobucket my "Fast Reply" has disappeared. If you PM I can send on by email. MODeller

Hi,MODeller,

Have never 'PM'd' so tell me how. Thanks.

Glenn

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Hi MODeller,

Very many thanks for the photos, they will be of great use. One curious thing, Does the rudder actually move or is like a fixed tab? Also, if it does move, does the fairing atop the rudder move with it? Have a close look at the photos and you'll see what I'm driving at.

Regards,

Glenn

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Almost certain that it was fixed to counteract torque. There is a Belvedere feature in an Aircraft Illustrated Annual and also a good article in an early SAM Volume 5 NA Texan/Harvard. Will try to find the SAM. MODeller

Edited by MODeller
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Almost certain that it was fixed to counteract torque. There is a Belvedere feature in an Aircraft Illustrated Annual and also a good article in an early SAM Volume 5 NA Texan/Harvard. Will try to find the SAM. MODeller

Hi MODeller,

Thanks for the information, I would have thought that the rudder was moveable and as the rotors turned in the opposite direction to each other the torque would be cancelled out - still, you live and learn.

I would love to see those articles if you can get hold of them.

I must say, the response I've had from all my questions has been fantastic, I would like to thank all 'Britmodellers' out there for their help so far. My only disapointment is that no one is willing to sell me an I.D. Canberra!!!!!

Regards,

Glenn

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Hi MODeller,

Thanks for the information, I would have thought that the rudder was moveable and as the rotors turned in the opposite direction to each other the torque would be cancelled out - still, you live and learn.

I would love to see those articles if you can get hold of them.

I must say, the response I've had from all my questions has been fantastic, I would like to thank all 'Britmodellers' out there for their help so far. My only disapointment is that no one is willing to sell me an I.D. Canberra!!!!!

Regards,

Glenn

hi glenn definitely not rudder was fixed..real busy at present soon as i get time i'll dig out my stuff, pm me your e mail addy

rgds ian

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Hi All,

Here's part 3 of my Belvedere build:-

Belvederebuild3.jpg

As you can see, the pylon/fin and main fuselage have been covered with plastic sheeting (polythene) and the nose, which was fixed to the fuselage with double-sided tape, sanded, filled, re-sanded and again separated, has had a silicon-rubber mould made from it. After allowing the mould to finally cure (24 hours), I'll pour in some epoxy resin to make a copy. This, after sanding and polishing, will be the master for vac-forming in clear plastic sheet.

After the pylon/fin has been attached to the fuselage, not forgetting to offset the fixed rudder, the rear end will be covered with a thin layer of epoxy putty and left to cure. I would like to have been able to vac-form the rear fuselage, but my stocks of plasticard are now almost zero. Plasticard is about the only thing I am unable to obtain here in Thailand - perhaps I haven't been looking hard enough!

That's all for now.

Regards,

Glenn

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Hi All,

Here's part 4 of my build:-

Belvederebuild4.jpg

The nose area has just been vac-formed, as you can see. I made two copies of the nose in transparent plastic in case the 'balls-up' factor comes into play and one in 40thou plasticard. Parts of the plasticard 'pull' will be fitted inside the clear to give it a little strength as it is quite thin. More later.

Regards,

Glenn

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