De Havilland DH106 Comet - 1/72 - Fliegerhorst

[sroubos]

Well, it's been sitting on the shelf for a few years but I've finally mustered up enough courage to start my build of Fliegerhorst’s 1/72 Comet. I find the Comet 1 to be the most beautiful aircraft ever built, period. I still find it hard to believe how incredibly sleek it looks, it must have looked like something out of an SF-movie to those who first saw it in the 1950s. Of course, apart from being an attractive aircraft, it also a milestone in aviation history, even if it’s a rather tragic one. In that sense it’s strange that is has been served so badly by mainstream kit makers. There a few short run 1/144 kits out there I believe, and Welsh Models apparently also make a 1/72 kit, but that’s it. So if you want to build a Comet 1, these are the choices you have. In fact, Fliegerhorst is now defunct (I wonder why…) so I suppose this kit is now hard to get a hold off.

Some words about myself, to put what follows in context: I generally build WWII 1/72 kits, and I generally prefer to build the best kit I can get my hands on of a particular subject. This is why my shelves are stacked with relatively newer, mainstream kits, a lot of them from Japan (shake ‘n bake, baby!). I generally build out of the box although I do tend to do some minimal scratchbuilding when the kit is really lacking in detail or on short run stuff. One important thing to note is that while I have built my share of short run kits, I have NEVER built a vac or resin kit.

So, Fliegerhorst’s Comet is a resin kit and since I do have some resin kits on my shelves waiting to be build, I can state with certainty that this is not a very good one. Hmmm… so no experience with resin and a large, crappy kit to cut my teeth on? Perhaps not the best place to start then? Ah well, if I complete this one, it can only get better going forward.

What’s in the box? Not all that much actually, the parts count is relatively minor at around 40, 4 of which are alternative cockpit window inserts. The fuselage halves are made of a strange, soft resin which is akin to the plastic used on toy soldiers. The parts are warped and twisted. The other parts are of a more traditional hard resin and these are in slightly better shape, although the surface detail on the wings is indistinct in places and will need rescribing for the greater part. This is nothing like the resin we get out of the Czech Republic these days. Detail is soft on the smaller parts and there is lots of casting debris. Fit is almost non-existent: The parts only line up very roughly and I have already ordered some gallons of CA glue, a few tons of filler and a number of square miles of sandpaper – they will be needed. Instructions are text only and very brief and do not contain schematics, but there are so few parts they are not really needed anyway. Some photographs and technical drawings are provided for complex areas like the gear, which only adds insult to injury as the parts for these areas are very basic representations of what’s on the photographs. An ALPS printed decal sheet is provided with BOAC markings. All in all, a pretty poor effort for 110 euros.

I’ve started construction on the fuselage halves earlier this week. I tried straightening them out under hot water which worked to some extent, but when test fitting, it appeared they would never line up due to shrinkage. I decided there and then that my usual approach to minimize the use of glue and filler in order to save surface detail was not going to work and that brute force would be the secret to success here. I sawed, hacked and broke some of the bulkheads as well as the outer fuselage itself to allow the parts to straighten out. The next step was to tape the halves together, line them up and then ‘set’ the broken fuselage half by taping a strip of card along the bottom. I then split the halves, put some new supports in the cabin area to prevent the roof from sagging behind the cockpit (it looked like a 747) and started filling the gaps with thick CA glue. This gave me two relatively straight and solid fuselage halves.

I also decided that given the condition of the kit, I would never get that windows to look good, so I proceeded to fill these with plastic card. These were then also glued over with CA glue, and sanded (quite roughly). This highlighted a few thin areas around the cabin windows where the resin was extremely thin and bent inwards, so these areas also received copious amounts of CA glue. There are other such areas in the fuselage which still require a similar treatment.

Fliegerhorst has been nice enough to supply open cabin doors and even baggage hold hatches. Why they’ve done this I can’t understand for the life of me, because they are essentially ill-shaped holes with ill-fitting parts one needs to contend with. I suppose a stronger man than me would use the opportunity to create a full interior but I’m picking my fights carefully on this build and this will not be one of them. They had to go, so more card and CA glue was required.

This is where I am at the moment, and needless to say, this is a topic that will continue to run for a good long while. It will involve a lot of firsts for me: First resin kit, first substantial rescribing effort, first high shine natural metal finish… first airliner when I come to think of it! Any advise will be greatly appreciated as I continue my battle with this kit. On toward a gorgeous model of a gorgeous aircraft!

Edited March 21, 2014 by sroubos

[SkyMover]

This is an interesting build; never heard of Fliegerhorst. Following this one closely.

Chris

[richellis]

Ill be watching this un-fold, BTW I did a walkaround of the Comet 1XB at Cosford that may help in the build, HERE

[Pete in Lincs]

Watching with interest.

You're a brave man!

I agree about the looks

of the Mk1. Total Sci Fi.

[woody37]

Me too on the popcorn for this one

[Darren Rhodes]

Great start and introductory narrative. Bet your not kidding when you say gallons of CA and tons of filler ordered. Hope you've got lots of patience...!

Darren

[bzn20]

Good start, considering the fuse didn't line up , you haven't done resin before. Look forward to this moving along. Enjoying the way you write too.

[sroubos]

Small update. It's been a busy week so I didn't get all that much modelling time, but I did pretty well with what I had available.

Yes, I got the ill-fitting fuselage halves together! Fit was really pretty bad, but by taking it a couple of inches at a time, it came more or less together. I used medium thickness glue to get it together, then filled the major gaps with thick CA. I'd never realized how bad the fumes of this stuff are, if you use it in such quantities it hurts the eyes and nose I'll be wearing safety specs and a mouthcap next time I... safety first!

After applying yet another layer of CA I took a huge file (the kind you really should not be using on a model aircraft) and starting sanding off the excess. This was followed by slathering vast quantities of filler across all the seams, doors and windows. After letting that harden for a night I sanded it using a large sanding pad (hoping to remove some of the bumps while I was it) and this is where I am now. I must say the seams have cleared up rather nicely in most places, but a second helping of filler is required almost everywhere, especially around the windows, as you can see that area is still very patchy.

All in all pretty good progress considering the time I managed to put into it, I'm happy so far

Ill be watching this un-fold, BTW I did a walkaround of the Comet 1XB at Cosford that may help in the build, HERE

This is useful stuff, thanks!

Edited March 21, 2014 by sroubos

[garryrussell]

Can you modify Nimrod undercarriage...if someone has some spare??

Edited March 21, 2014 by garryrussell

[Jessica]

There is indeed a Welsh Models Comet. Here it is:

The fuselage and outer wing panels are vac, the centre section and tailplanes are resin and the detail parts white metal. I had a few troubles getting the wings to fit onto the centre section but far less trouble than you're having with your kit.

The Welsh kit is available with BOAC/Air France or RCAF markings. All in all, I think it's the superior kit.

[sroubos]

I've read Tom Cleaver's review on ModelingMadness and he also feels the Welsh Models kit is better, but that didn't exist when I bought this one and for what I paid, I will finish it as well Great result btw.

This weekend I'll start on the wings; I read somewhere that the wing fences were added after initial problems with the aircraft, and since their scale thickness is terrible and I don't like the look of them in any case, I was wondering if someone can confirm this. I haven't found any photographs, apart from the prototype.

Nimrod undercarriage - well that would be great of course! The wheels are rather crude on the kit, like everything else. I'll post a pic of them this weekend, if someone can point me to a suitable set of aftermarket I'd be very interested.

[Jessica]

Scale Aircraft Conversions does a set of metal gear legs, but that doesn't include the wheels. Master Casters offers a set of wheels (scroll down a bit). Between the two sets you'll vastly improve your Comet's legs

[sroubos]

That's great info. The wheels are a no brainer, I will get some of these.

I noticed that the SAC set misses the forked actuator part, I assume because the kit part is used. However, I found this as well:

http://www.kitsforcash.com/nimrod-nose-uc-bay--metal-uc-set-168-p.asp

Don't know these guys but this set is much cheaper, includes the actuator and as a bonus also provides a full undercarriage bay - which I just started modifying myself this morning of course

Edited March 24, 2014 by sroubos

[Col.]

Kits For Cash used to be called Heritage and I've not heard anyone speak ill of them. In fact I'm sure they have a thread in the traders section of Britmodeller.

[sroubos]

Besides filling and sanding more holes and dimples in the fuselage, I did quite a bit of work over the weekend on the tail section. This was a horrible mess – for starters I broke of the last inch of one of the fuselage halves when I tried to straighten them out, so that had to go back. The part didn’t fit at all; either I lined it with the crack or with the other fuselage half, but no way it would fit both at the same time, so I did the best I could and filled the gaps with card and CA. When that had set, I checked the alignment – the whole thing looked like a banana L So under the tap it went, which didn’t do much – upgrade to boiling water, and this did the trick, the resin became very soft indeed and I managed to straighten it out. With the tail section itself now straight, this left the strakes which *should* meet with the horizontal stabilizers under completely different angles and different heights on the fuselage. After some test fitting I decided the port one was not too bad, so I sawed off the starboard one. I’ll replace it with more card after the stabilizer goes on.

The actual tail then went on. It’s perhaps the best part of the kit, at least compared to the rest of the thing – no air bubbles in the resin and rather well defined panel lines. However, it did leave a huge gap on the front with the fillet on the fuselage, and at the back with the badly mangled starboard side of the fuselage, so out came the Evergreen strip and the CA glue again. After that the whole tail was smothered in filler, and sanded. Result is below, and I’m quite happy with it. It needs another round of filler and the very tip of the tail needs to be shaped into a very fine point, but it’s a long way from where it was.

Another first I’m contemplating is to do plunge moulding (?). The air scoops on the engines are rather crude blobs, and I feel it shouldn’t be too difficult to replicate these myself. If anyone has some tips on this I’d love to hear them.

[Jessica]

Redoing those scoops will make for a huge improvement

You may want to wait on installing them until after you've got the wings securely glued to the fuselave and any gaps filled in. Mine was a bit of a challenge to sand (due to the tight working area), and I didn't have to worry about fragile scoops.

[sroubos]

That is good advice, I had not considered this. The sequence then is rescribing the wings, attaching them to the fuselage, lots of CA, filler and sanding and only then install the new scoops - which I need to make first!

I've started filling the panel lines on the wings before rescribing them. About 50% of them are in a bad state, but filling is time consuming, it requires multiple layers with sanding in between to fill them. Then the rescribing itself, something I'm not too good at. At least the wing is a flat surface, rescribing the fuselage will be even more annoying.

[pinky coffeeboat]

You're making a great effort with this kit.

I'd be too embarrassed to offer this if i had produced it. Surely at some point they must have assembled it and seen the awful fit and vague details of their "masterpiece". Or perhaps they have no shame...

Anyway, I love the Comet and am following this build, not with a view to acquiring the kit (my skills aren't that good) but just enjoying what can be done.

Jeff

[kwaterous]

Yikes, looks like a monster of a kit, you're doing a good job of it though, can't wait to see the final result.

[richellis]

I love the Comet, and loving the work. Should you need any more piccys of the one at Cosford, give me a shout as I can pop in most days when im passing.

[sroubos]

Just a small update again. The tailplanes are now attached. I had to use the dremel to enlarge the hole for the starboard side, or it would sit almost 5mm higher than the port side. That done, they were attached and as usual the CA flowed in large quantities, followed by plastic card to fill the major gaps. Some initial sanding shows a relatively good fit, but there is a difference in height at the rear of around 1mm. No sure yet how to deal with that.

The most painful work is filling the panel lines on the wings. I'm on three applications of filler, Mr Surfacer and Tamiya primer now and they still show through in many places. It's tedious, but I'm getting there.

I ordered the MasterCaster wheel set but as stated before, I have my doubts about the use of the Nimrod gear legs on this plane. It seems to me the Nimrod sits much lower on its gear than the Comet. Can anyone confirm that they really are the same?

[Jessica]

I think it's an optical illusion caused by the Nimrod's weapons bay which is grafted externally onto the Comet's fuselage structure. If you look at the main undercarriage bays, they're exactly the same as the Comet's. Having said that, you may need to use your kit's nose gear strut, or extend the Nimrod nose strut.

[bzn20]

Pretty sure gear is the same because In 1979 or 1985 (cant remember which stint it was!) I was working at Dan-Air engineering, Lasham and they were taking the legs/units off scrapped Comets and refurbing them for the RAF Nimrods to order (not stock piled) and other common to type parts. One guy spent the best part of a week honing the main strut fescalised (the shiny bit) portion that had 2 tiny scores.

Edited April 6, 2014 by bzn20

[sroubos]

Thanks, I've taken the gamble and ordered the set. I'll chance it that I may have to modify it a little bit.

[bzn20]

I'll add that I haven't a clue about the Comet 4 to Nimrod nose leg. Unless it comes down from the original Comet nose bay and "pokes" out of the bottom of the Nimrod fuse addition.

I just checked some cutaway drawings and it looks like the original Comet nose wheel bay is used in the Nimrod, which makes sense using the original's stress paths/structure. Its quite a long strut and is enough "poking" through with the extra depth of the Nimrod fuse.

Edited April 7, 2014 by bzn20