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HpH de Havilland Hornet – Sea Hornet F Mk22 TT202


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Every time I look in on this build I want to try and cram even more detail into the stuff I am working on. Better get the new man cave finished this weekend then!

Martin

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thanks chaps :thumbsup:

..just a little bit done today either side of a lovely pub lunch in the sun...

..there is a hydraulic fluid tank behind the pilot that can just be seen here. This is not a pic from an armed Hornet, so the ammo boxes are missing, but gives some useful details..

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..the kit has it represented as a pressurised bottle with the fill & vent caps on the top...

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..I decided to model it as per the references I have, which is a different size/shape, so got a bit of resin pouring stub and started to shape it...

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..I then removed a section from the top and grafted in a little plunge moulded bowl to represent the depressed vent cap area - I like to have a handle to work things so started making the tank while still a part of the stub...

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..started to add the weld seams for the pressed parts from plastic strip & fuse wire..

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..finished it with brass details & straps...

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..and dry fitted in the airframe...

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..still loads more to do, but getting there one part at a time!

...until next time my friends..

TTFN
Peter

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Lovely work Peter,

I'm pleased all of my references are being put to good use. You have modelled the Ammo boxes and hydraulic reservoir well.

I would recommend you do the following details next, in the rear of the c0ckpit as other parts cover them slightly: Canopy rails, fuel c0cks, seat armour reinforcements, and visible pipework on the front spar.

Also, I have a couple of original ladders, so can send you some good dimensions/photo's for reference. The ladder on the Sea Hornet is attached to the back of the seat armour, and is stowed above the ammo boxes.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Peter,

Having met you at Telford and speaking to you I know that you are a humble man who is non-egotistical...which I like about you.

This build is OUTSTANDING and simply SPLENDID to watch and follow. :clap2:

it looks INCREDIBLY SUPERB and I think it will be as FANTASTIC as the Sea Fury that you built... :whistle:

WAY TO GO... keep up the AWESOMENESS of your workmanship....which is undoubtedly , indisputably THE BEST....in MY opinion...

HOUSTON :worthy: :worthy: :worthy:

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wow thanks all & good evening :D

...so, first DH Hornet thing to talk about was meeting Eric 'Winkle' Brown the test pilot at Duxford Flying Legends last weekend..... yes, that 'Winkle' Brown the aviation great that has had such an amazing life - from test flying, first carrier landing in a jet, to interviewing all the Nuremberg Nazi's after the war for the FAA - I asked him what the Hornet was like to fly - he said 'massively over-powered, and an absolute joy to fly' - a moment I will never forget - words from the great man himself.

..back at the build, and newly inspired, I set about the canopy rails as the next thing to be done..

..they are dead straight, run along the outside of the fuselage and are entirely parallel along their length, slotted at the top face...here are TT202's

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..I had removed the kit rails to work on the nose, and wanted to make them more scale - I replaced with fine brass 'U' channel...

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..there is a fairing at the front as they stand proud of the fuselage and need a rounded outer former I will add later...

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..I got some white tack to hold the bits I have made so far loosely into place to see how and if it all hangs together..

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..and added a mock-up canopy - I was particularly interested to see how the modified nose profile was coming along...

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...hopefully going the right way?

..until next time my friends..

Peter

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Great to see you working on this again - a scratch building master class if ever there was one. The small details you are making and adding are going to make this a real head turner; it's a joy to watch!

Tom

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  • 3 weeks later...

Everytime I get a notification of an update to this thread a little thrill goes through me :) This is such beautiful construction - you must have a huge collection of brass strip at hand to do what you do :)

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evening all :)

been pretty frantic lately so first time at the bench for a while and thought I would drop in with a little postette...

..been working on the rear cockpit parts for the Hornet - first up a bulkhead that closes the cockpit from the rear fuselage and carries the fuel filler pipe from the filling point behind the canopy back into the fuselage (& I assume wing) tanks..

..the card shape took ages to get right as I couldn't get access and the pipe itself is a bit of rubber pipe with a wire core...

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..dressed with some brass rivet detail and fitted... next up will be applying a pressed aluminium face to the curved main spar cover you can see at the bottom of this pic...

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...first a sheet of thin brass shim cut to shape with a bit of tracing paper stuck to it to mark out on...

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..next I punched out the radiuses and shaped the apertures, followed by 'flaring' the edges to give the impression of a stamped aluminium sheet part. This was done very carefully with an assortment of tools and actually took quite a while...

..I gave up trying to do the centre aperture and ended up covering it with a bit of card...

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...the real thing has some embossed strengthening strakes so I tried putting tape on a bit of perspex, taping the part to it and scribing the back with a pin in a pin vise - I tried all these things on a scrap bit of brass before committing...

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..then I had to bend it, so taped it to a punch of the right diameter and carefully worked it around it...

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...fitted it with CA and added a rear spacer panel to dress the whole area...

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..dry fitted it in the fuselage and while a fair bit of work it worked out ok...

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...much of the top deck can't be seen with the ammo bins in place, but hey, I build a lot of stuff that can't be seen....

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..good to be back in the groove again..until next time folks..

TTFN

Peter

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Hi Peter

Lovely work.

Would the ammo bins have a divider, separating the ammo for port and stbd guns?

Matt

Hi Matt - it doesn't look like it from the photo I have, but these will be closed off when I get around to putting lids on them - think the lids were wood so will give me a chance to use some Uschi decals to represent it...

so, a bit more done...

the pilot's seat-back armour plate needs to sort of hang in mid-air - it is mounted to the cockpit sides just under the rails, and has a coupe of braces holding the base to just above the wing spar. The picture below shows David Collins' rebuild of the only surviving cockpit section, but the bulkhead the armour plate is mounted to is a false one to just close off the cockpit area...

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...first thing was to tape a bar to the back of it to set the height... then I glued a vertical brace to hold it in place while I attach the braces to the rear...

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..you can see the mounting points to the canopy rails sticking out the sides - I will need to remove the brace at some point but am sure it will not be strong enough without it so will need to come up with something at some point...

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..I started to make up the rear brackets from airscale parts, RB Motion banjo fittings, scale hardware bolts and a bit of tube as a spacer - these micro parts are not cheap but there is no substitute...

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..used more modified airscale parts to make the mounting brackets that go on the fuselage sides - I only have one forward view drawing of this area so this is my best interpretation...

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..the rear area is starting to form...

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..and again, it can't really be seen but it is how I have my fun...

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..the seat will mount to the floor and with braces to the armour panel, for now it's on a blob of white tack..

..until next time - and if anyone has any photo's or drawings of this area please feel free to post them!

TTFN

Peter

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why thank you, very kind to drop in with some kind words smile.png

so, tonight is a mixed bag - first, after I spoke to David Collins by email it seems I got the armour plate mountings wrong - the struts don't go backwards but out laterally from the bottom of the armour plate to the fuselage sides. I have no problem changing them, but it does mean the whole assembly (with the seat attached) needs to be dropped in from the top after the fuselage is closed so a complete rethink is needed (and trust me I spent long enough figuring out what to do to fit it in the way I did!). I am glad really as the brace I put in to hold it in 'mid-air' would have been a nightmare to remove later on, and I also realised all the detailing on the armour plate for the seat belt tensioners, headrest, and stowed boarding ladder would have been much more difficult to do with it mounted to the cockpit floor.

so, anyways, a bit of brute force and ignorance and it's history - I can keep the fittings to use later..

..as I had the armour plate in hand again I thought about detailing it - it has two pretty hefty tensioning springs running down the back of it so I made these from old guitar string. I also made some micro brass parts for the fittings at either end - these few parts are about three hours work...

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..nothing like a screw-up to make things better second time around I find and I have to thank David for his help in keeping this build accurate, as there are enough myths wrapped in enigmas about this aeroplane already without me adding to them coolio.gif

TTFN

Peter

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aye caramba! Staggering as always. I really need to invest in some of these micro parts myself.

same here but where to get some? Especially couplings for hoses etc

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Great to see you keeping up such a stratospherically high standard on this one Peter. When I get round to building the Classic Airframes kit I'm using your work as my main reference.

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