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AZModel 1-72 Morane Saulnier Type G - Back in Time for Dnieper


clive_t

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Hi folks,

 

Well, it's a matter of some embarrassment that having been a member of this great forum for nearly a year now, and I've only managed one WIP thread. Truth is, I've not actually built much during this period, mainly due to a lack of spare time! Further, even those few things I have managed to put together have been pretty ordinary by the standards being shown on here by others, so I guess you could say I've spared you!

 

So, in thinking about what I could contribute, I've been trawling my stash looking for a not-too-complicated (for my benefit), but unusual (for yours) subject. In this particular model I believe I have something. Having made extensive use of the forum search facility, I have found no other references to this particular aircraft! Please, please, don't now tell me that there is but I missed it!

 

OK, so the traditional opening pics, external box-art, sprueage, destructions etc.

 

Box front:

32224726163_5ff5482e2e_b.jpg

 

The rear of the box shows the available options for livery/insignia/markings, including 2 Russian, one Belgian, one Swiss:

33039825655_63fefc579f_b.jpg

 

From a modest bit of research it transpires that one could, with appropriate third-party decals, also add French, British, Spanish and indeed German to those options. Finally, given the aircraft's civilian, pre-WW1 origins, a completely insignia-free option would be entirely feasible. For me, I am going for the option as depicted on the box front: the mount of Captain Pjotr Nesterov of the Imperial Russian Air Service. Nesterov distinguished himself, in the days before aircraft with mounted weapons, when in August 1914 he became the first airman to bring down an enemy aircraft - by ramming it. Sadly this encounter proved to be his own undoing, as he and the 2 occupants of the German aircraft he rammed, crashed to earth and died from the resulting injuries.

 

The parts inventory is fairly compact - one sprue:

32194480544_89ac4fafd3_b.jpg

 

As seems to be typical for AZmodel, the instructions and parts list diagram are brief!

32224722943_9f91f1e048_b.jpg

 

32194478734_f4705419d4_b.jpg

 

32194421224_a2b2e96fac_b.jpg

 

It appears, from the instructions and indeed the parts supplied, that it is possible to make a Type G or a Type H as is one's fancy. For me, it's got to be 'G'!

 

I am hoping to add as much detail as I can to an out-of-the-box build, but it will of course be within the confines of my own limited abilities, so it's not likely to be much.

 

So that's where I will leave it for now. Hopefully this will be of modest interest to someone in the days/weeks/months/millennia to come!

 

Edited by clive_t
Drop Photobucket pic references in favour of Flickr site
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I love these AZ Model WWI kits, they have a bunch of aircraft that are almost impossible to find elsewhere in this scale. I'll be following along with interest!

 

Ian

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Looking forward to this one! That "anchor" on the instructions looks like something straight out of Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines!

 

Martin

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Cheers, gentlemen, for your interest! Yes, the 'special weapons' are actually provided as PE parts.

 

The grappling hook idea was apparently that of another Russian airman, Alexendr Kozakov.  The theory was that he would attach explosives to the grappling hook, and trail it from a cable paid out from a reel attached to the outside of the fuselage adjacent to the pilot's position. Not surprisingly, he scored precisely zero kills this way. Full marks for trying though!

 

Ironically his first kill was in March 1915 when he emulated Nesterov's feat of ramming an enemy aircraft, with the added bonus of actually surviving the encounter. He went on to record at least 20 kills (presumably using less risk-laden methods) during his time as a pilot. Strangely, kills in the Russian Air Service were only recorded if the aircraft was downed over Russian soil - his true score was reputed to be in excess of 30.

 

Anyway, I digress! As is my habit these days, I like to research a subject as much as I can, and I have found Pinterest to be a very useful online tool for collating images from various sources into one single place for later reference. There appear to have been several re-constructions of these aircraft - Types G and H - in recent years, so there are quite a few good quality photos out there. Unfortunately, no-one seemed to be that interested in taking photos of the inside of the cockpit, specifically the seat and the 'foot well' so a certain modeller's licence will be brought to bear in the interests of making some sort of progress :)

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So it begins...

 

First of the pilot's seat - according to the only photo I have been thus far able to find, the top of the seat back has holes in it. Whether or not the whole of the seat back is like this I don't know, so I am assuming that just the top has them. So out with the smallest drill bit I have, and my trusty pin-vise:

 

32194477704_0d5372a85c_b.jpg

 

The instructions call for the Type-G seat to be elongated with an additional piece, since - amazingly - it was classified as a 2-seater! The subsequent Type-H was apparently designed as a 'sport' version (!) with shorter wings and a single seat.

 

I decided to strengthen the extended seat by glueing a piece of gash styrene sheet underneath. The frame on which the seat is mounted also has the foot pedals. In putting this together, the infamous carpet beast intervened and deprived me of the foot-pedal part - necessitating that I fashion a new one from a chunk of stretched sprue, and some thin copper wire for 'stirrups':

 

32224719253_abcd59de74_b.jpg

 

Another diagram purloined from the infinite cosmos of the internet showed that for the Russian version at least, the seat was upholstered and covered rather like a chaise-longue! I thought I would try emulating this by using a small blob of Milliput - it also served to hide the join between the two parts:

 

32194475854_f80af94872_b.jpg

 

The addition of a rudimentary control column more-or-less completes the 'office'. A bit of spray primer, and suddenly it doesn't look too bad:

 

32998189346_7d8e143d69_b.jpg

 

Thanks for watching thus far!

Edited by clive_t
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The Datafile for the Type L shows a seat with the entire back lightened by drilling holes. This was fairly standard so I would assume the seat was the same, or at least very similar, for the G. If you google Nieuport seat there is a pretty good pick of a N17 seat showing how they were lightened.

 

Ian

Edited by limeypilot
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13 hours ago, Crossofiron1971 said:

Interesting Project!

 

Thank you sir, that is certainly my hope :)

 

6 hours ago, limeypilot said:

The Datafile for the Type L shows a seat with the entire back lightened by drilling holes. This was fairly standard so I would assume the seat was the same, or at least very similar, for the G. If you google Nieuport seat there is a pretty good pick of a N17 seat showing how they were lightened.

 

Ian

 

Dammit, I see what you mean :huh:  I think I have found what it looked like in the Type N by looking for 'Rise of Flight' design images - it's not totally clear, but there is enough of the seat back visible to support your statement.

 

Not a good start! I think as it stands the plastic is too thick to make that many holes in that way, so I will be better off cutting it off and doing a replacement in thin styrene sheet. At least I can cut it, shape it and drill the holes before glueing it to the rest of the seat.

 

Thanks for the feedback!

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A bit of spare time today allowed me to re-work the seat back using an off-cut of very thin styrene sheet:

 

32913522251_4a594282cd_b.jpg

 

Looks a bit better, I think.

 

Flushed with success, I took a look at the wings. Moulding detail is not too bad, however the wing itself is a little on the thick side, particularly the trailing edge. The rib lines look a little thick too:

 

32194471584_d98b2c913d_b.jpg

 

So I decided to sand the trailing edge down to make thinner. Of course, this involved losing at least part of the rib detail, so I bit the bullet and sanded the lot off, whilst simultaneously marking the leading and trailing edges to make sure that whatever I replaced the rib detail with, it would be in the same place as the original moulding:

 

32224709703_1a86f74fa8_b.jpg

 

I decided that I would re-apply the ribbing using very thin wire (of which I appear to have several metres squirrelled away in a cupboard). I believe it is a low-voltage variety, commonly called 'bell wire' - I stripped back a short length of it and separated out the cores, each of which is about 0.25mm diameter - I would estimate it at about 30swg in old money. To ensure that it didn't sit too proudly on the surface, and to ensure a straight line, I scribed some shallow lines in the appropriate position where the wires would eventually be glued with CA glue:

 

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The new ribbing was then applied:

 

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Finally, a bit of a sand and a slosh of 'Kleer' to seal it and to help form the ribbing:

 

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I think another coat of Kleer and it should start to look a bit more the part.

 

 

 

Edited by clive_t
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7 minutes ago, Old Man said:

Good work on the ribs, Sir.

 

Most manufacturers sewed tape over ribs to help fasten the fabric down. Morane used half-rounds of split cane, tacked down over ribs. These were generally stained black.

 

Thank you sir, and duly noted re the colouring :)

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As OM has said,  nice work on the ribs. I used the same technique on my Ilya Muromets but used monofilament and plastic weld. I think your way may have worked out better!

 

Ian

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Hello again all, well it's been a while since I posted any updates - damn you, real life, for hampering my progress :rage:

 

On 27/01/2017 at 11:19 PM, limeypilot said:

As OM has said,  nice work on the ribs. I used the same technique on my Ilya Muromets but used monofilament and plastic weld. I think your way may have worked out better!

 

Ian

 

Thanks. I think the technique in itself is a reasonable one, however I can report that it relies heavily on 2 things: 1. Uniform depth of scribe lines... (fail!) 2. Sparing use of CA glue, thus to avoid blobs of goo adorning one's re-sprayed wing... (fail!)

 

I will bear this in mind when doing the other wing, and see how it compares.

 

On 28/01/2017 at 0:41 PM, GrzeM said:

Very good job!

 

Thank you sir!

 

OK, so what of progress then? Well, I managed a bit of minor works to both sides of the fuselage interior. 'Minimalist' is an appropriate word here, both in the real version as well as the model:

 

32194473184_6ca16a2a79_b.jpg

 

I've just added a bit of extra framework, per some reference photos of a restored aircraft, as well as a bit of wire cross-bracing courtesy of the same wire I used for the replacement wing ribbing.

 

32224705683_e919c1ed76_b.jpg

 

Hawk-eyed persons will notice the hole in the fuselage in the above pic - it is (or was) my intention to show the main wing spar (sorry if this is not the correct term!) going across the fuselage behind the seat. However, when I checked the one photo I have found which shows it, it appears that this spar is behind the seat and, by virtue of the seat position, almost totally hidden from view. I may still do it as I think it would add strength to the wings, but I may not worry too much about whether it looks 'wooden'!

 

After a lick of paint, we have this:

 

32224680193_c26b98004f_b.jpg

 

The paints I'm using at this stage are just 'Games Workshop' acrylics applied via brush.

 

I also had a little look at the engine:

 

32224686653_b45b178e8c_b.jpg

 

Not a bad moulding to be fair. The kit comes with 2 engine options: this one, the Gnome 7 (for the types 'G') and the 9-cylinder for those sufficiently adventurous souls who prefer the wild side (type 'H'). I had a mind to make the con-rods look a bit more the part, so out with some thicker wire:

 

32657752130_74ab9fe764_b.jpg

 

A splash of paint later, it was a little better:

 

32657751830_3b379e0e52_b.jpg

 

I then applied a black wash to bring out the engine detail a bit more, and painted the seat/controls, complete with its plush crushed-velvet upholstered seat. Well, if you're going to risk life and limb up there in the blue yonder, you might as well be seated comfortably :)

 

32998143366_3f050428c1_b.jpg

 

32913462711_58d59f4f52_b.jpg

 

 

More to follow later, hopefully!  Thanks for stopping by

 

 

Edited by clive_t
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A fair bit of progress today, for a pleasant change. The instrument panel was somewhat unusual - as in, there isn't one! All the photos I have, show something that looks like a leather-covered pad - a nod in the general direction of pilot safety! The padding was courtesy of a modest lump of Milliput.

 

32913462451_787da9a612_b.jpg

 

The only thing I have seen by way of indications, from photos, is a sight glass for the fuel level - presumably a throw-back to prevailing steam technology of the time. I won't be modelling that though!

 

With the 'IP' done I was able to look at fitting the fuselage sides together. A dry-fit of the seat showed it was a little low, so I cut a small piece of styrene as a shim to sit under the back of the seat and raise it up a little:

 

32998140626_7f65edf6fb_b.jpg

 

Looked OK, so the fuselage was zipped up:

 

33039810005_def3833e15_b.jpg

 

A bit of filler was needed to try and hide the join:

 

32657748150_a0725bd742_b.jpg

 

A bit of sanding down, and I was then able to make a start on fitting the engine to the front - first, the bulkhead and the cowling sides were fitted to the front of the fuselage:

 

32657744430_51a09dfa03_b.jpg

 

I am a big fan of making models with propellers that rotate - in this case, this desire is slightly challenged by the fact that the engine is a rotary, which therefore requires that the propeller is fixed to the cylinder block, which rotates inside the cowling. At the moment I have some clearance issues which need to be resolved before the propeller/engine will stand any chance of rotating freely. For the time being, I drilled out a hole in the engine and fitted a shaft made from some 1-mm wire:

 

32224672873_526cd322e8_b.jpg

 

So all in all, I am pleased with the progress I made in this today. Thanks for watching! :)

 

 

Edited by clive_t
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Good to see progress on this, Sir.

 

What you thought was a sight glass for fuel level was probably instead a pulsometer for the oil supply to the motor. Rotaries consume all their lubricating oil, expelling what does not burn with the exhaust. The oil pump was powered by the rotation of the motor, and a line led through a glass like an inverted test-tube, and the rise and fall of oil with each pump was visible. Since this would vary with the rate of the motor's rotation, it served the pilot as a sort of tachometer, and with experience, a pilot could give an accurate rpm count from a look at the glass.

 

Something which also was often a feature, which could be put in after assembly, was a map-board, a thing about the size of a sheet of typing paper to which a map was clipped, positioned where it would be readily visible to the pilot, often about where one would expect an instrument panel to be. Panels were often absent in this period, particularly with French aeroplanes.

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A bit of a "2 steps forward, 1 back" day today.

 

In a staggering show of naivety, I genuinely believed that simply drilling a small hole in the front of the aircraft bulkhead would facilitate the spinning engine block of my dreams, entirely stable on its axis, with absolutely no wobbling around... duh! I have been pondering this problem for the past few days, and as my ill-deserved luck would have it, I found, in my bits box, salvation- a piece of brass rod - about 1.5mm diameter - complete with a bit of thin brass tube - about 1.5mm internal diameter! So today was my chance to see if I could get the solution to work in practice:

 

32913456671_2bef766164_b.jpg

 

With the largest modelling drill bit I have, I managed to enlarge the hole made in the front of the fuselage sufficient to accommodate the brass tube. A bit of CA ensured it stayed put:

 

33039804485_d470950362_b.jpg

 

32657741490_e02885fcd1_b.jpg

 

I still had a major barrier to a spinning engine block - the cowling. Or specifically, the huge amount of excess plastic inside the cowling moulding. There was nothing more I could do other than laboriously scrape away at the inside of the cowling, thus to reduce the thickness of the plastic and hopefully create enough space for the cylinder block to avoid fouling the inside. A necessarily delicate operation - lest disaster intervene and leave me with the crumpled remains of a cowling - it took me a good 3 hours before finally I had a cowling that, when in place, allowed the engine block to rotate in its brass bearing:

 

33039804415_2467256eef_b.jpg

 

 

Edited by clive_t
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So with that, I could at last consider the propeller. First, some nominal light wood colour:

 

32657741890_f8eecda579_b.jpg

 

I've been very impressed with the way people on here have done their props on their WW1 WIPs, so I thought I would at least try and emulate their results. I applied a thin strip of masking tape each side:

 

32913504541_c28e6a9d93_b.jpg

 

Then a darker wood colour over the top:

 

32913504141_1fe527dc4a_b.jpg

 

Finally, off with the masking tape strips:

 

32657740880_bbf57e25f4_b.jpg

 

Not too shabby I think, and should be improved further with a bit of oil paint brushed over it - when I get round to do that!

 

 

Edited by clive_t
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5 hours ago, limeypilot said:

Looks good....but it was mostly only the German props that had such clear laminations! Having said that, it certainly won't hurt!

 

Ian

Well I never knew that! Sod's Law really, I was quite pleased with the results of that! No matter, I will rework it before fitting. I do however have a Hannover that I made about a year ago which could benefit from this laminated prop trick. Thanks for the tip-off Ian :)

5 hours ago, cduckworth said:

Nice work on the Morane, I'm enjoying watching your efforts.  I never thought of using wire on the wings.

Cheers, it's been fun so far. I guess the acid test with the wire ribbing will be when I come to painting and decalling the wings.

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Not much  in the way of progress today, apart from cleaning up and 'kleering' the port wing - nothing new to share at this stage.

 

However, I have been pondering how to progress this build, and it occurs to me that the big challenge for me will be to paint the aircraft so that it looks like it's actually just a wooden frame and some wires, all covered in linen!

 

I don't know if it's going to work, but I had this crazy idea:

 

1. Pre-shade the fuselage to try and give an impression of the internal framework and wires once the top colour goes on

2. Adjacent to the roundel on the wing, pre-shade it so that it looks like the roundel on the other side of the wing is showing through.

 

Has anyone else ever done anything like this before, successfully? Am I insane to even think of trying it? OK don't answer that :christmas:

 

In any event, I feel it may be beneficial to do as much of the painting and decalling as possible prior to any further assembly - I've never done that before, so it will be interesting to see how successful (or otherwise) I am.

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