Henri Farman HF-27 'Steel Farman' scratch-build in 1/72

[Old Man]

I have been working on this for a bit already, but the early work was all on the wings, and these are not too photogenic, being basically long white rectangles. But I have got some good work in on the motor and nacelle now, and have something worth showing....

The machine is quite obscure, and it has been difficult to gather sufficient information to make a stab at construction: there is not a lot out there on the thing. Here is one doubled picture that has been quite useful, to give you some idea of what the thing is supposed to look like....

My original intention had been to do an RNAS example that flew supplies into Kut, but since then, I came upon several photographs of these machines operating with No. 31 Sqdn on the Northwest Frontier from Risalpur, and for reasons including ease of markings, this seemed a good choice of subject. The picture above is from India, though I suspect it is of a derelict machine out of service but still surviving on an aerodrome (it is missing a radiator, among other things).

At any rate, to start with, here are the wings (upper wing first, then lower wing), with ribs in and trailing edges scalloped, under a coat of primer....

The best photographs I can find of this show no trace of either tape or cane strips capping the ribs, and a definite 'peaks and valleys' to the surface. I have accordingly reverted to an old method of sanding and scraping the 'valleys' into the surface of the plastic, leaving raised 'ridges' between. Thin 'swizzle-stick' strips of sanding stick have been a great help in this.

Scallops are cut in with a knife and regularized with a dowel wrapped in sand-paper. Rear portion of the wing surface is sanded and scraped down to get the trailing edge to a proper thin-ness.

Wing were made from 1mm sheet, and cold bent to camber, with the undersurface regularized by sanding with heavy paper taped to a large pill bottle, and upper surface sanded to necessary taper to front and rear. This took very little time.

Blank center on lower wing is where nacelle will go.

At this point I was still contemplating assembling the wings as a unit and spitting the lower wing to insert the nacelle and central interplane struts (a better usage in this instance, I think, than cabane struts).

But the more I looked at what pictures I have, the less viable this course seemed to be. At minimum, some of the nacelle was going to have to be built with the lower wing (in the manner employed by the old Revell and more recent Eduard kits of the Dh-2)....

Here is a piece of 0.5mm sheet cut to the proper length and width of the nacelle, shown first upper surface, then lower surface. It is not stuck directly onto the front of the wing piece, but rather the center was notched to receive it, After seams were eliminated, a sheet of 0.25mm sheet was added as binding reinforcement.

Here is the nose of the nacelle floor shaped, and a false start on the nacelle structure (at this point my idea was to do the portion of the nacelle structure that involved the central interplanes, and then proceed to do the wings as a unit...).

But it just did not feel right somehow, and so I put that line aside and set to the motor, a nine cylinder Canton-Unne/Salmson water-cooled radial. Here is the basic blank completed....

The crankcase disc is a laminate of three circles of 1mm sheet (easier to keep sides straight that way, slants can develop easily on a thick piece). I used an old 9 cylinder radial from the spares box as a template for orienting the cylinders. The basic cylinder is a length of 2mm rod, the cap at the head is a disk of 2.5mm rod. In fastening these, I put holes in the cranckcase and in the base of the cylinder, and applied CA gel; this squeezes into the holes and form a plug which functions pretty much like a pin, and makes for a joint that can stand up to some handling much better than a straight butt joint. The actual dimension of the circles in the template are a half millimeter greater than their printed diamenter as allowance is made for the width of the pencil point, so the actual dimension of the peace is about 13.25mm.

Here is the engine with some basic detail, front and back, and painted....

But the engine could not really be taken further at this point until I had its bearers arranged, as I have to be sure the various water and fuel pipings would be clear of the bearers....

After further study of photographs of examples used by the RFC/RNAS, it became clear to me that the drawing I have (a 1/144 scale effort in the Davilla and Soltan book of French Aircraft of WWI) cannot be relied on at all in a most crucial area, namely the rear of the nacelle and the engine mounting. The drawing does show some features which appear in photographs of machines in Russian service, and for all I know there may have been extensive modifications of the engine arrangements made by the Dux factory, and so it could be possible the drawing accurately reflects such, but be that as it may, I realized I would have to proceed on the basis of photographs in this area, which is key to the entire build, to do an RFC machine....

So last weekend, I took up the nacelle again, resolved to ignore everything but my scanty stock of photographs and what made sense to me as likely features of aeroplane construction and design in the period (I like to think my WAGs have at least a bit of education behind them...).

I decided, too, that it would be better to start with the sides of the nacelle, rather than its interior structure. So I cut a long strip of 0.25mm/10thou sheet, and trimmed out of it two lengths running from the rear of the covered portion to where the bend begins...

Though I had not planned to, at this point, since I had enough strip remaining which I knew was identical in height, I decided to plunge on ahead and do the nose portion as well....

A sharp bend got the 'point' and pressing with a tweezers got the rest of the rough shape. Lying this over the piece got me some pencil lines for cutting, and once it seemed to fit glue was applied, to the bottom and the mating edges. Wife lent a third hand here, as both mine were fully occupied holding the wing the new bit in place at the proper curves, and she dropped a good deal of accelerator onto the general area. Things held well, and then it was just a matter of a bit of patching in a small gap on the port side and general seam cleaning, inside and out....

I started the internal structure with 0.5mm rod laid around the joint of floor to sides. I then started on the verticals. My intention was to do just the portion of the forward central interplanes that were under the rim of the nacelle, but I used a longish bit of 1mmx0.5mm rod to do so, figuring this would be easier to align and that I could trim it down later. But it seemed so well aligned with the locating holes for the rest of the struts that I figures to go with the flow, and trimmed it of at the proper strut length (27mm from the lower wing surface). I put in its mate on the other side, and built both up with an additional length of 1mmx0.25mm strip, and proceeded to do the rest of the structure of the crew area of the nacelle....

(the brown wash is mostly to show the strruture, but will, I epect, show though the interior coloring later)

I then did the structure in the rear portion of nacelle (which contains the fuel tanks and bears the radiators, and the motor itself), including the rear central interplanes....

At this point, I gave the upper wing a shot at resting on the central interplane struts, and am reasonably happy with their spacing and alignment....

Next will be the nacelle interior (it is almost completely open), the nose cap and engine bearers, and final detailing of the engine....

[Rob G]

And there was I thinking that putting an Airfix Mk1a Spitfire together without using any filler was an achievement...

Supperb modelling! And of such a (relatively) obscure type, too.

[heloman1]

An interesting project, I like the work on the wings and cockpit. It's looking very good indded.

Colin

[wyverns4]

More, more, more!

[worm]

True modelling

[Martian]

Nice start, especially the wings!

Martin

[Sergey]

Great!
I have a photo Russian Farman-27 production Dux factories, armed with a machine gun Colt.

[Paul J]

You must be a very brave man taking this on and very skilled by the look of it! Makes me, a mere kit basher, feel inadequate!

[occa]

Great!

I have a photo Russian Farman-27 production Dux factories, armed with a machine gun Colt.

Hi Sergey,

Is there a chance you could post that photo here?

[Sergey]

Please.

[occa]

Please.

Thank You !!

That's a great photo

[Petri]

Love this

Beautiful work on the wings and nacelle. Looking forward to more.

Petri

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Brilliant. Those wings are very precise (whatever your throw-away "so that didn't take very long!").

[Tomoshenko]

Very impressive, those wings look the business. I do enjoy your builds, real proper modelling.

[Old Man]

Thank you very much, Gentlemen. I appreciate your interest and kind words. Thanks particularly to Sergey for an very interesting and useful photograph.

I had some false starts on this over the past couple of weeks, as I had no choice but to guess regarding the manner in which the motor was mounted. I had seen two methods on Farmans, one a sort of four-point star, and one a truncated pyramid. I tried both, and in doing so realized I had botched the motor, which to engage any mounting would need more crankcase behind the cylinder bank.

Then I got lucky. I had put up an inquiry on a small forum dedicated to the South African Air Force, and a fellow there came up trumps, providing pictures which not only showed the manner in which the machines operating in German Southwest Africa were marked, but showing the motor clearly from the port quarter, up pretty close. Wife put the old picture through Photoshop, cleaning it up to show even more detail in the shadows, and so I was finally able to make the mounting work, and o so with some confidence I was being at least reasonably accurate.

It was necessary to reconfigure the rear of the nacelle a bit, but nothing too major; a couple of cross-pieces had to come out, and a few other bits and bibs. And while ll of this was going on I got the interior painted, partially rigged, and made the nose 'cap'.

At any rate, here are some pictures of the new engine in its early stages, fit into its mounting on the partially re-configured nacelle rear,,,,

The nose 'cap' is just resting in place. This was made from a block of two rectangles of 2mm sheet laminated together, after which everything no the desired part was cut and sanded away. A bit of extension was added in the rear on each side, but these may be cut off, as they do not seem to be evident in the S.A. pictures. Wife has previously remarked on seeing items like this that they resemble the 'stick on' nails girls use nowadays, buyable by the pack in the beauty section, and she may have a good point....

Here is a look at the nacelle rear in final form, ready for the motor to be attached....

Here is the new engine, painted, about mid-way through, front and back...

Copper tone is a wash of brown over sprayed silver, topped with clear orange (washable marker picked up with Future).

Finally, here is the motor attached to its mountings at the rear of the nacelle.

I can now proceed to the relatively straightforward business of furnishing the 'office' for the crew, after which I will do the fuel tank, finish the exhaust arrangements and fuel feeds, PAINT the thing, and then do the radiators and water-feeds. I feel reasonably sure I can get that done over the coming weekend....

[Sergey]

Wow.

[Old Man]

Thanks, Sergey!

Here is the motor view, cleaned up as noted:

[Sergey]

Mounts on top of the engine should be similar to the bottom.

[Old Man]

That is a very good shot, Sir.

I have seen it before, but not so clear. It is of a one-off 'gun-bus' alteration done in the field by fitters of 31 Sqdn, RFC, at Lahore, in the summer of 1917. Crew positions were swapped, and some linkages provided so controls would work from the rear seat.

Here is another picture of it:

Looking at the South African picture with your shot as a guide, I do see something that suggests a similar upper 'shackle'. It seems to be at a different angle than the one in the Lahore picture, though. One thing which complicates things is that the South African machines were a sort of pre-production batch, assembled and sold before any official trials either by the French or the English. The Lahore machine is a late production example, purchased late in 1916, almost two years after the South African machines. Alterations could well have been made. It will be no trouble to add the upper piece, and I greatly appreciate your putting this clear shot up. When I have completed the 'office' I will see what has to be done to incorporate this new information into the motor area.

By the way, do you have any information on Russian usage of the type? I have read fifty were built by Dux, in addition to some purchased from France, and that about a dozen were still in the line in 1917, but that is about all.

[stevehed]

Excellent build Old Man. Great idea getting the cabanes in first. Will make the top wing an easier proposition.

Regards, Steve

[Sergey]

James, it seems to me on the top center section four ribs, instead of five.

[Old Man]

James, it seems to me on the top center section four ribs, instead of five.

It does, Sir, and it is probably worse than that: I suspect the upper wing cut-out is a bit too broad. I was following a drawing I later discovered is extremely inaccurate.

It is going to have to remain as it is. This is an entry in a contest which closes on the eleventh, and there is no way under Heaven I could have re-done the wings and com even close to meeting the deadline.

If someone else steps up and makes a scratch-build of this type, I will be happy to congratulate him on getting right anything I did not --- and I expect there will be plenty of things that might be, too.

[Old Man]

This build is my entry for a contest which closes on Wednesday next. I have down-rated my prospects of a timely completion from 'decent shot' to 'fighting chance', but that is a good deal better than 'just playing out the string' or 'no effen way'.

Save for intervals of sleep and the odd snack or tending to other necessities, I have been at this pretty much continuously for the last several days. Though the pictures stop a bit short as you will see, interior and motor arrangements are complete, basic painting is in hand, upper wing is on and rigged, and the undercarriage set up (though not yet painted, and lacking its wheels). This weekend will be devoted to the tail assembly, which is pretty much all there is left.

A couple of things cost me time.

First, once I decided on doing a South African machine, I felt the basic interior needed some revision. When I was intending a late service English machine out on the Northwest Frontier, I figured 'it's dark and dirty in there' would be fine for the interior, but the South African machines were new, were in modern terms a 'pre-production batch', and were something H. Farman hoped would lead to substantial orders. So I felt a 'best foot forward' finish was appropriate, and the factory standard for Henri Farmans seems to have been interior of metal panels (I suspect the whole nacelle was covered in aluminum) painted white or very pale buff, and structural members painted black or very dark grey. Painting white over what I had did not go well, and I wound up up having to do things no modeller should do, or having done, own up to doing. But I did emerge from the passage with a couple of tips worth passing on. One: if you are using Model Master style acrylics, and you have an unsightly thickness of paint building up where it is not practical of safe to get at it with conventional methods, a cotton bud (Q-Tip) wet with rubbing alcohol will do a good job of smoothing down and removing the paint (it might evn work to blend colors in a 'soft' demarcation, the way thinner over enamel can), and will do so even if the stuff is pretty well cured. Two: Titanium White from an artist's acrylic tube covers very well, even when cut down with Future.

Second, when incorporating the new information on the motor mounting, the motor dislodged, and a good many little bits at the rear began to come loose. It was extremely aggravating, and hard to tell for a while if I was making progress or losing ground. Finally got through it, however....

Anyway, here are the pictures....

I was asked elsewhere how I would keep this from being a tail-sitter. The possibility had not occurred to me, and did not seem too likely. But it seemed worth taking out some insurance, and so....

The seating arrangements and the fuel tank conceal a good deal of lead....

Here are some pictures showing the finished interior and mounted motor, wings and nacelle in the early stages of painting.

Here are some pictures showing the construction of the exhaust manifolds (they are not yet painted). Note how pipes wrap around the nacelle framework. The nose cap is on, and painting more advanced. he camera flash exaggerates the yellow, and the difference in tone between wings and nacelle. Te white piece across the interior is just a spacer wedged in place, to prevent bowing in the nacelle sides during handling for the extensive work at the rear.

The pipes feeding fuel to the motor ran alongside the exhaust pipes, in the thicker section of the vertical element, and feed into the charging manifold through the pipes which branch off level where the thicker portion of the vertical ends. Here is a shot showing the fuel feed from the tank, and the housing of the carburetors and the exhaust outlet below the nacelle....

Here are some shots of the completed motor area, with the radiators and their plumbing in place. A bit of pre-rigging has been done in reparation for attaching the upper wing.

Here some additional elements: the underside of the upper wing, the horizontal tailplane, and the rudder. The bit of decal is a representation of the Henri Farman logo which wife put together for me. It took considerable manipulation to manage.

Here are some shots of the upper wing attached to the four central interplane struts. At this point things are extremely wobbly....

The finish is somewhat conjectural. Henri Farmans used bleached linen, and it was common to employ a linseed oil varnish when a machine had a rotary motor, as early Henri Farman machines did, since this stood up better to the oil than normal varnish. It has a distinct yellow tint. Photographs of early HF-27s do not seem so translucent as would be expected from from plain doped linen, so I suspect some pigment was involved in the covering. Tones for wings and nacelle seem very close, suggesting a paint over the metal matched to the fabric color. While this became a general French practice during 1916 (the 'yellow finish' of early SPADs and others), examples have been noted from much earlier.

Here are some pictures from the early stages of adding struts and rigging. The method is to work out from the center, to keep on top of potential alignment issues, with each strut made and fitted individually.

As I said, progress has outstripped pictures, and all struts and rigging are in, and the undercarriage is on, though not painted, and without wheels....

Tail assembly is the target for the weekend.

[Sergey]

Great job, hats off.

[andymoore]

wow !

Edited November 7, 2015 by andymoore