pheonix

Thanks J-W to the link to your model. That is simply superb too - quite like the Halifaxes. My Manchester build was based on A Hall's articles in Airfix Magazine. Best wishes to you too for Christmas and the new year. P

I agree with Martian - I think that you have to compromise between looks and strength. Very few people would notice the very slight over-thickness of those spokes. This is a superb build all round - indeed it is inspirational. P

J-W It is a long time since I glued those wingtips to this model... but as I remember I used Araldite rapid epoxy and just stuck them on to the tips. I did not keep any build notes at the time as I had no intention of publishing anything (there was no internet then - only magazines), and I do not recall using any form of tab between the wood and plastic of the wing. Araldite is quite strong - certainly strong enough for me to have been able to first sand and shape the wood and then add the talcum powder and dope grain filler (3 coats) without the joint failing. I do remember treating these parts with a little extra care but even so the sanding must have put some stress on the joints. I also converted other models in the 1970's using the same methods - in the case of a Manchester I glued engine nacelles to the wing and a tail fin at the rear. In the case of the fin there is no tab into the wood or plastic. These additions were sanded and shaped in place on the model and again given 3 coats of filler with sanding for each coat. On some of my conversions where I had the space I did use a wood plug for the wings or a small piece of brass strip for tail surfaces: the brass fitted into the slot where a plastic tab was supposed to be inserted. Araldite was used for all of those joints. I also used plastic tabs inserted into the wood and held with Araldite, and then a combination of styrrene cement and expoxy for the main joint, much as I sometimes use CA and styrene cement today when using metal pins to strengthen butt joints on my scratch builds. (I mainly use plastic today and only use wood to make moulds or propellors). I am sorry that I cannot provide photos of my other early conversions because they have gone to the great airfield in the local incinerator or landfill when I threw them out some years ago but the joints showed no sign of weakness after nearly 40 years.

This is the second part of the build which I have posted so far. I decided to tackle the wings next as these will form part of the centre section structure. I am presently thinking of building the nose and tail sections separately and then joining them to the centre section. In order that the latter is both strong and square I will need to make the top wing first. Wings can be tediuos and time consuming to make, especially when they are large like these will have to be. I used laminated card for them: I bent some 40 thou card to start the aerofoil section and then glued a strip of 30 thou and 20 thou card on top. The upper wing is in two halves because i do not have sheets of card large enough to make it in one piece. Similarly the lower wings are i two sections because they have a marked dihedral which I cannot bend to achieve. When the top wing sections were dry I sanded the edges of the card to get the aerofoil section required and the used Mr Surfacer to fill in the uneven parts. The process was repeated for the lower wings. When the lower wing sections were ready I filed the butt joint surfaces until I had the correct angle for the dihedral. Then I drilled two holes in each joint surface and cut four pieces of rod to insert into the holes: these strengthen the joint. The rod was glued into the holes in the wings and the sections joined using ordinary cement. I added liquid cement to the joints just to make sure. When all was thoroughly dry I used Mr Surfacer again to fill any small cracks. Thanks for looking. P

I have already started to post this build on other sites but as I am new to this site and some of you may not have seen this before I am posting all the current material here in one go. I have scratch built several WW1 types but they have been single or two seat types and therefore relatively small. I recently decided that it was time to follow Stevehed's splendid example and go big and so I did some research on these early large German machines: the best source is The German Giants by P Grosz and G Haddow, some of which is available of the net. Then I found that DataFile no 89 has a lot of material and drawings of the first of these machines, the Seimens-Schuckert R.1 (Riesenfleugzeug - giant aircraft), which was first flown in May 1915. I decided that here was a project which would be worth following because it is larger than any of my other scratch builds but still small enough to fit into my display cabinet. There will no doubt be some interesting problems to resolve as I proceed but that is part of the fun and challenge of scratch building. For those like me who are not familiar with this design here is what it looks like (and of course this contains a set of plans in 1/72 scale which could prove to be useful). Here is my kit although I suspect that a paper clip may also be used later for attaching wings. I started with the nose which looks like the front of a very large lorry with three radiators - one in the front and one on each side with a bonnet over them all. There were three engines in the front of these machines, two of which were between the side radiators and a third beneath and behind the pilots. I do not intend to make the engines as they cannot be seen on the completed model unless the top of the nose is left off. I cut three pieces of 30 thou card and glued lengths of 10 thou rod onto the faces of the card to represent the radiator pipes. Strips of stretched sprue represent the steel bands holding the pipes in place. Then I made a top and bottom plate to which I could attach the three radiators. Thanks for looking.

Great start. I will be following this with interest. P

Nice to see an aeroplane with a spare wing and windmill being built. Will you rig it?

Thanks Graham for that information. I was ignorant of most of your comments and greatly appreciate them . The Germans also developed a radar (FuG 221a - Rosendaal-Halbe) that homed on the Monica tail set fitted to bombers (I included it on this model), but fortuitously an Me 110G landed in the UK with the brand new set on board. Thereafter crews were ordered not to switch Monica on but of course the aerials were not removed immediately. I will try to post some pictures of WW1 types shortly and I will start a post on my current build in the "works in progress" section later this evening. Thank you for showing an interest.

I cannot now remember whether this was a 6 Group mod or whether HP produced machines with this turret in the factory. I do remember reading that crews regarded this as a scare gun - but I would have thought that any gun down there was better than none at all. Jerzy - I have looked at the photos of your models and must write that they are both excellent. The finish on the Mk V is very convincing and not overdone. I had a set of transfers for Vicky until recently, (I sold them a few months ago), - that is a brilliant paint job in such a small scale.

Thanks dogsbody: slip of the fingers! It should have read 425 Squadron RCAF. P

This is my first posting so I am hoping that the photos will appear in the correct places. The Airfix kit of the Halifax is now very old - over 50 years in fact, but this model was constructed in 1980 when the moulds were bit younger. Even so the canopies were pretty awful and I replaced them all except the nose glazing and circular ports in the fuselage. I also installed a mid-under turret (moulded), opened the bomb bays (but did not put any detail in as I could not find any at the time), made the flaps into the lowered position, put new wing tips on from balsa, replaced the air intakes on the tops of the cowlings, added detail to the undercarriage in the form of brake pipes etc, and made other small refinements as necessary. This is still not a wholly accurate reproduction as the original kit had inaccuracies which I could not or did not want to correct, but it looks the part and that is good enough for me. The aircraft represents a machine from 425 "Alouette" squadron RCAF c. February/March 1945. Markings were from the kit and from grey codes which I overpainted - I cannot now remember which source. The whole thing was painted with a hairy stick with Humbrol enamels. I now scratch build WW1 types but I am posting this by way of introduction. Thanks for looking. P

That is a really good model - the more so as it was such a struggle to complete. If you had not pointed out some of the problems I doubt whether most people would have known! Congratulations on an excellent build of a little known type. P

This is an incredible build - the more so as it is a vacuform. Top rate modelling in every way - what we have come to expect from you Ian. P

Have to sound like an echo but your painting is superb. Very subtle but not overdone and in this scale not easy to get right - but you certainly have! P