Dom Barr

Tasman/Heller De Havilland Dragon Rapide Here are photos of this tricky but enjoyable model. It was much more challenging than I thought it would be and a real skill expander. Highly recommended. Cheers

Finished but not without a fight! Sorry for going dark. I have been chipping away at this model for some time- had a lot of problems and I didn't know if I'd get it done. It all started out really well (too well now I think of it). In approximate order, here is the list of worst self-inflicted woes: 1)I dropped the model breaking the whole port engine assembly off and back into its original parts. This was character building! 2) I got it to the stage of applying aluminium paint but it was instantly obvious I would need to change to the olive drab options. Upon re-reading, the instructions clearly stated the rearmost port window should be filled. I proceeded to fill, sand and replace lost detail on a fully assembled bi-plane. I should have said "oh well" and left it as is but I am not that smart. To illustrate this point I filled the windows on both sides! 3) Somewhere in there I broke and lost an inter-plane strut, found it again and reassembled it (badly). 4) Once fully decalled and flat-coated I removed the window masks to reveal complete fogging of all the styrene side windows! The vac canopy was unharmed. I suspect there may have been a leak in my masking of the fuselage compartment early in the build. 5) Then I found colour photos of Wee Willie on the internet. It would seem much of Tasman's and my now work is incorrect! Drat! There are other, smaller gripes. My rigging method- EZ line and CA glue- worked well but I wasn't able to replicate the double lines. I think that'll do for critique. I'm proud to have finished it, warts and all, and thanks to it being a group build I was more committed to getting it done. I might well have abandoned it under normal circumstances. Character building! It looks cool. I reckon someone like Revell should kit one of these guys in 1/48th or 32nd. They'd sell a bunch and people would actually build them. Thanks to everyone who joined in the fun and supported me. I look forward to the next Group Build (ANZAC GB). Cheers, Dom Barr

Me too! Thanks for that link, Colin. That thread is very helpful and I shall be returning to it! I have a few really good photos in a book I will dig out which show off the scheme well. Also some photos of a Maverick launch so I will duly arm it with one, too. I just need to finish up with the Heller build and then I'll get started. See you there, Cheers, Dom

Hi, Can I please join this build? I would like to make this bad-boy: As the title suggests, it has decals for the Royal New Zealand Navy. Cheers, Dom Barr

Hi there fellow Heller-Dwellers! This little guy has taken a bit of a back seat lately. With the recent easing of restrictions in Melbourne, we've been able to have club meetings again, and so I've been scrambling to get other things ready to show at these. I have to say, this is a lovely wee kit, such a cute little aeroplane. Every time I pick it up I find it so easy to work on. Current state of play: Vac canopy went on fairly well. I needed to tack it with CA glue and used PVA for the remainder. It looked a little rough so I've had to fair it in using Tamiya putty. Lots of protective taping requited in this really restricted space. I've detailed the cabin ceiling. I used the box-art to match the correct shade of Heller yellow. I started out building the engines as per Tasman's suggestions to make a more accurate model. The first step was to rehasape and round off the edges of the engine intakes using putty. I spent quite a bit of time on this and ended up with little appreciable difference (they may even look worse now!). I also scratched up a pair of engine cylinders to fill the space- I had a left over Airfix Wright Cyclone (I think) which fit the bill. These were installed and look the part through the tiny openings. At this pint I elected not to build to Tasman's suggestions. There are many improvements which can be made, but to me, in my current situation, they smack of AMS and an unfinished model. If I build another, then maybe I'll go the whole hog, but this time- finishing will be just fine. Pre-painted wheels are trapped inside the engine cowling and these are then mated to the lower wing (a single piece. Then this all goes onto the fuselage. Tail planes on and a top wing and Voila!, a Dragon Rapide sits quietly in your hands. Such a cool looking plane... All of the joints needed filling. I used Tamiya white putty again, for ease of use- I was able to clean up some seam with nail polish remover, for instance, but I an aware this might 1) shrink over time and 2) provide me with a finish unsuitable for a metallic scheme. I filled Heller's rigging holes. I imagine these would have been wonderful for younger builders! I'm going to use EZ line so they got puttied. Initially, I had hoped to do an RNZAF scheme but the decision tree seems to be pruning itself quite nicely. I'm not confident I'll have a finish suitable for all over aluminium. Additionally, the Yellow in the RNZAF roundels is out of register. Same goes for the RAF version. The USAAF Olive Drab and grey version is really firming up. I've binned a few hopeless case this year and don't intend this to follow them, so I might end up playing it safe. Cheers, Dom

You are not mucking around- great progress. I never get tired of seeing these fabulous aircraft get built.

Wow, Tony- I actually thought you had some kind of Salvador Dali boxing- like a special decal scheme or something. Yikes! Crack open the full strength modelling skill immediately! I like your results Rob. I'm open to it, but it really is a little tight in that area, particularly where the top wing comes in. I feel metal foil is a very underrated product. I've made a goodly amount of progress. Have got the fuselage together- it was actually quite straightforward, after all. I was worried the internal window strip might pop out as I flexed the two halves back together, but no issues. I tacked the windows in place with super glue and then sealed the deal with Crystal Clear PVA. At this stage I'm planning on doing the Kiwi scheme, although the main roundels do look slightly out of register. I am a fan of the nose light and the RAAF version did not have it (Not an especially illustrative photo now I look at it!) The vac canopy is next. Only one is provided, so it needs to go well. Cheers, Dom

Inspirational recovery. Looks great! I had to laugh- I have the same problem with my kit, too (albeit, I do have a Falcon canopy included in my boxing): I will be following this build for pointers! Dom

Thanks Pat- I'm undeterred! I knew what I was getting in to. It's a good chance to keep those 'modelling skills' up to date. I've been busy with work, but able to get a bit done here and there: Nothing too fancy- although you could pose the side windows open (I shall not be), even with a vac canopy, I wouldn't think you'd see too much. Other than some seatbelts up front, everything is as it came from Tasman. I used Gunze H312- I find it an acceptable equivalent for RAF interior green, as well as various Vallejo shades. Tasman provide a metal instrument panel, as the Heller example is supposedly wrong. They instruct the modeller to sand it to half its thickness (it is made of zinc, so safe to do) and then install. This turned out to be quite hard work, so I made adjustments to the fuselage walls instead, and inserted it using CA glue, with a piece of sprue as a support. It looks OK: As you can see above, there are ejector marks I could fix, but let's be realistic- no-one will notice! And my therapist has given me strict instructions to stop investing massive amounts of energy and time into details that will never be seen!

Ray, that Airfix E-3 came up a beauty! Reading your build log, I was inspired by your commitment to large models- like, real large! I've got many big models waiting under my bed for me to show a similar level of commitment. It always comes down to space with these ones, but boy, when they're done it's so worth it. And there is all that ceiling space just going to waste, you know?

Thanks Cliff, good point- exactly the sort of thing I hope to hear! I am leaning towards a silver dope scheme, so I think it won't stand out. I think it would be better to invest my time in getting the basics of building this old kit up well, rather than going all out on it for not much more benefit. And it will need plenty of TLC: Tony, I will check that out, as well as your build, thanks.

Heller really are a special brand. Any of those Saabs would make a great choice, but a Lansen is so cool! I have my eyes out for a Safir- I'm told it is a lovely kit. Nice.

That's not actually an option in this boxing, by the way!😅

The Tasman instructions do say this of the window surrounds: "One of the more distinctive features of the Rapide is the window surrounds on the fuselage. They are, in reality, quite deceptive as they are not as prominent as some photos might suggest. As can be seen in photos 1, 13, 17 and 42, the window frames are no more than a third of an inch (8mm) proud of the fuselage. In 1/72 scale this would be barely perceptible, but for those who want to add them to their model, the simplest way we have found is to lay a strip of very thin, adhesive-backed metal foil (before gluing the clear windows in place) allowing a millimetre of access". Not sure what I'll do. That PE set does seem hard to come by. I do have some Bare Metal Foil tucked away somewhere, but I could be asking for trouble with this option! I might have a think about this!

This model is another fine example of the quite unusual kits Heller were prepared to release in mainstream, injected styrene. So good!