stevehed
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Posts posted by stevehed
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Hope this helps Adrian, and anybody fancying a Wapiti look a like without too much much hard work. Only serious work was constructing the rear cockpit turret. Last picture is a comparison to the Maquette R1/DH9a which I finished as a Twenties kite.
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Lovely job, Adrian. Very impressive. I had a go at using this kit to make a Wapiti many years ago. I didn't shorten the fuselage or reduce the width. I simply installed the rear cockpit cover and bored a round hole through it and fitted a round plastic card turret. Back then, Aeroclub were in full swing and white metal Scarff ring and Lewis guns and Jupiter engines were readily available. The undercarriage was reversed and that was all I did. Still got it and from a reasonable viewing distance it still looks like a Wapiti.
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A little late but what about this one.
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My favourite genre, put me down please.
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Can't believe it's nine years since the last What If GB. I'm always game for whifs so put me down please.
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Late on parade for this GB. There's not much this year that appealed to me but I do have a Revell DH2 in the stash but I totally forgot. Never mind, age related perhaps, but my congratulations on building this kit. It really looks the part and the rigging is excellent. The Merlin looks to be a very long background project and I suspect both these kits are very hard to find nowadays. If anyone is desperate, there is an alternative to those not adverse to a little kit bashing. I used a Frog/ Novo Vickers Vimy as the donor kit and ended up with a reasonable look like.
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/airfixtributeforum/frog-1-72-airco-dh10a-conversion-t34158.html
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The joys of early Roden decals. But a good rescue, one of my favourite WW1 types.
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Hi J-W,
It might be my eyes but is there an aperture in one of the side windows. In the 7th post is Foto:Archivo Oscar Rimondi which shows the starboard side of LV-HAB. To the right of the letter B are three windows. There appears to be a possible opening within the centre window. A waist gun that could be fired from either side might provide a makeshift defensive armament. I believe the Italian SM81 sported similar weaponry plus such a position does not preclude an additional ventral position.
HTH, Steve
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Lovely build. Like the mottle and varnished ply. I have a soft spot for Austro Hungarian aircraft and built the Army version. Transfers behaved better than yours although I did have to touch up one of the personal fuselage markings with paint. I think I gave the sheet a coat of decal fix before using.
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Does the CA stick to paint?
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Lovely job but Roden decals and corrugated surfaces were not made for each other.
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Hi Kari,
Abandoned Czarist aircraft refurbished by Bolsheviks appears to be the only remaining solution. Until someone discovers a unit history for Red formations in the area I think you're right to classify the incident unsolved.
Regards, Steve
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Hi Kari,
I've had a look at the right theatre this time and there was a British presence in the Murmansk-Archangel area from March 1918. According to a couple of old Profile Publications there were DH4's and Short 184 floatplanes during 1918. The latter came over on the seaplane carrier HMS Pegasus. I get the impression that the Campania's and Fairy IIIC's were active during 1919. Assuming the eyewitnesses are right about the colour I don't believe any of these aircraft would have been grey, more likely PC10 or PC12.
https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/blog/the-raf-in-russia/
This link about RAF involvement in North Russia suggests that elements of the Imperial Russian air fleet, probably naval units I would have thought in this area, remained active when the British force arrived. Therefore I'm still inclined to stick with my original thought that the aircraft could have been a Russian flying boat or a floatplane such as a Farman.
Regards, Steve
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Hi,
Are you sure of the August 1918 date. The war is still ongoing and I don't think there was a British naval surface presence in the Baltic until after the war ended.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_campaign_in_the_Baltic_(1918–1919)
If the August date is correct it makes it likely that the aircraft was Bolshevik. The Reds had taken over a quantity of Grigorovich M9 flying boats. These attacked British shipping and aircraft which were based in Finland during 1919. These aircraft were capable of carrying three crew and M9's operated by the Reds in defence of Baku, on the Caspian Sea, were reported as dropping about 6000kgs of bombs. Personally, I don't think these would have been large bombs but the size doesn't seem apparent from the Finnish report. I also think it possible that a seaplane could be any type of aircraft that was thought had flown from the sea and, when these aircraft were flown by the Imperial Navy, they were painted grey. HTH
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Very nice. Got a soft spot for Jasta 18 colours.
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My eras are WW1 and between the wars with Whifs builds from both periods featuring regularly. An excellent build and fully appreciate the thought required to make it viable. Got to admit that a Dridekker floater hadn't crossed my mind. Well done.
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Thanks Everybody. All good points. I think Chris has hit the nail on the head too. I couldn't find any examples / prototypes anywhere.
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Probably a daft question but I'm no mechanical genius. Twin rows started with rotary engines in WW1 and later in the 30's I've come across Gnome Rhone combining two rows of seven cylinders to make 14 to increase the power. During WW2 there are eighteens and so on. All these engines have equal numbers of cylinders in each row, that is 7 +7, or 9+9. Would it be possible to have a front row of five cylinders and a rear of nine to make 14 or are there technical issues. In my head I'm thinking that five cylinders might allow more air to the rear row to assist with cooling. Regarding the weight the rear row would be heavier and might this help with CoG issues.
Regards, Steve
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Excellent. Love the rust on the exhausts.
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I can't find anything that looks streamlined for Russian Nieuports. When fitted overwing the Colt mg had a streamlined, egg shaped, magazine which held, I think, 300 rounds, probably on a belt. My other thought was an Austro Hungarian "baby coffin." Quite common in 1917 with a few down behind the lines and no doubt retrievable.
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Probably a bit late but I would probably do the same as Ian with the wings. I have one of these in the stash but it went back in the box when I built the Eastern Express kit instead. However, as an alternative I have cut the parts from the card and installed 10 thou card over the lower surfaces before filing the edges. In my case I then scored the ribs with a sharp craft knife. As Ian says sometimes you need a little thickness at the butt ends for guides.
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Lovely collective work. I've just used some Microscale Decal French roundels. Either late 70's or early 80's. A little bit flakey but they're on now. Used solutions but not the recommended own brand. The Airfix Spad roundels, similar vintage, were even better although they had yellowed a little. BTW are you sure that British Spads had blue trailing edges on the rudder? I think US did but weren't British and French red.
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Not sure if I'm going to finish in time as life and work have been getting in the way. Progress has been made as the wing has been cut from card and I've achieved a passable fuselage. Cowling came from a EE Strutter and the engine and prop are from a white metal Aeroclub rotary. Sadly one of a diminishing supply. Elevators were shaped from a spare from the Revell Sopwith Triplane and the Vickers from a Roden Nieuport 24. If I can get the cabane struts sorted there's a sporting bet I can make for tomorrow night. Fingers crossed.
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Have got the fuselage joined so now I can start working on it. I chopped 0.25 ins, 7mm, off the rear end. This was replaced with a cone shape cut from a modern drop tank. It was wider then the tail section so filler was added and then gently blended with a dremel sanding wheel. The cockpit is too far forward so I cut out a section 0.75ins, 20mm. This will allow me to add some basic cockpit detail. The cowling is part of the vac form Bristol fuselage so that has been removed too. The replacement cowling is 0.25ins deep. The open front allowed me to position a cockpit floor and some formers to support the upper decking, a remnant from a Strutter, and an upright to widen the forward fuselage. I have a fuel tank/seat combo from the Airfix BE2c spare which I'll use. Pierre le pilote will hide any indiscretions.
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1/72 Westland Wapiti, converted from the FROG(Novo) Wallace
in Ready for Inspection - Aircraft
Posted
Totally agree. Not prepared to pay silly money but I'd love to see the Fairey III series, the Gordon and Seal and my personal favourite, the Armstrong Whitworth Atlas. Toyed with a conversion using the Matchbox Sisken but never got beyond the dreaming stage. And don't get me started on German WW1 two seaters. KP have made a decent start recently but where are the DFW CV and LVG CV ? Sorry, rant over.