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Hansa W.33 "Tiger" of Tiedemann, civil conversion of Broplan vacuformed kit, 1/72nd scale


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The cumbersome and ungainly Hansa seaplanes family has nonetheless some charm and appeal, and I had build so far two on Japanese civil registrations some time ago, if of another Hansa denomination (W.29):

01.jpg

 

01.jpg

 

Browsing the Net I found some images of a civil machine that flew for the Tiedemann tobacco company. Tiedemann had a very smart marketing department then, and the company owned a number of vehicles that wore the company's colors and symbols in very striking, well-produced and elegant schemes.
Here the plane on Flickr:

The seaplane "Tiger" at Røberg harbour, 1922.

 

At some point they used for publicity purposes this Hansa W.33 seaplane that they named "Tiger" -that was by the way the company's mascot- that had on the tail the Norwegian colors, and on the fuselage the stripes of the tiger, that cunningly matched the colors of the company land vehicles, painted as "wrapped" on a number of carefully reproduced tobacco leaves of different hues.

Looking for a suitable kit candidate I found the Broplan vacuum-formed offer. Broplan kits are not what you call affordable, and their accessories in injected plastic can only be described as crude. No decals either. The struts come molded, but four of the smaller struts are undefined. Broplan doesn't include a diagram with the correct lengths of those parts, vital for alignment. The plan included in the instructions is, for some unfathomable reason, not in 1/72 scale, so no measures or references can be taken from it.

Many of those injected parts will be replaced with better parts anyway.

On the other hand, the vacuum-formed parts are correctly molded, the plastic has a reasonable and even thickness, and reasonable surface detail is there.

But hey, this is no mainstream kit of powerful manufacturer, so you have to make certain allowances, although let it be said: there are very good vacuformed kits, so the media is not an excuse.

 

But enough: res, non verba; let's get at it.

Two modifications are needed to convert this kit to the Tiedemann machine:

1) The nose has to be modified as the intended plane had an underslung radiator, a blanked front, another engine, and an open nose top.

2) The aft position  was of course "civilianized" and had no scarf ring, therefore it's cleaner on the top following the natural shape of the fuselage, and having a half-round access door on the left side that was hinged at the bottom for the access of the passenger.

 

Other minor changes in detail will apply, like prop and such.

The package:

IMG_2796+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Contents of the bag:

IMG_2797+%25281280x942%2529.jpg

 

Instructions:

IMG_2798+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Surface detail on parts:

IMG_2800+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

 The injected bits:

IMG_2802+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

IMG_2803+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Permanent marked used to trace parts contour.
If you think that you may get confused, especially with the smaller parts, you can use the permanent marker to put their numbers (from the instructions sheet) or name on their internal surfaces:

IMG_5553+%25281280x978%2529.jpg

 

 Some will need additional cuts from inside:

IMG_5554+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Parts separated from backing sheet:

IMG_5555+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

The injected bits plus clear material for windshields:

IMG_5556+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Parts separated:

IMG_5557+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Cleaned up:

IMG_5558+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Although I will not use this engine I will assemble it for the sake of review:

IMG_5559+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Kind of rough:

IMG_5560+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

IMG_5561+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Here is why you need that permanent marker line, to know where to stop sanding:

IMG_5562+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Vacs require careful, measured and extensive sanding to look right:

IMG_5563+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Thin trailing edges are the goal:

IMG_5564+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

IMG_5565+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Sanding of parts up to the marker line completed:

IMG_5566+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

The parts:

IMG_5567+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Changes needed here for this version:

IMG_5568+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Some gluing begins:

IMG_5571+%25281280x971%2529.jpg

 

 

 

Edited by Moa
to add additonal material
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I never could resist a vacform build but tell me, how do you manage to produce the quality and quantity you do in such short a time?

 

Perplexed of Mars 👽

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The scallops on the trailing edges are refined:

IMG_5573+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

The rudder is excised to facilitate detail and painting:

IMG_5574+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

A modified beautiful engine and propeller from Matías Hagen in Argentina are substituted for the kit's items:

IMG_5575+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

The halves of the rudder are glued and a metal control horn inserted:

IMG_5576+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Underslung radiator in progress:

IMG_5577+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Areas needed to be altered for this version are excised, the slots for the spar tongue cut open, the pedestal for the seat (I think on the plane a gas tank, iirc) is assembled:

IMG_5577a+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Tongue ready to be inserted for a trial:

IMG_5577b+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

 And this is why dry-runs and trials are mandatory: the fuselage sides won't close, hindered by relief detail on the tongue:

IMG_5578+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

And this is why: on normal vac kits the part's edge line is shown to the right, but I guess this kit needs you to cut downward, which is not very smart, since given the nature of the curvature of the heat-molded styrene, this will eventually produce a weak joint, since the contact area is minimal. If you sand it to get a flat contact surface, you remove material and are back to square one.
In vacuformed kits this is no issue, since you can glue a styrene strip or sheet to pack more thickness as needed, but it's a drag nonetheless. And by the way, this is not the product of over-sanding, since the permanent marker reference line was absolutely respected:

IMG_5581+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

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And yet, I measured the passenger opening, and it is perfect circle of 9.5 mm, so the fusleage thickness should be right as I cut it?:

IMG_5582+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Another solution (other than packing the fuselage sides) is to slightly trim back the culprit relief on the tongue, where the pencil marks are:

IMG_5584+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

In order not to weaken the part, styrene sheet rectangles could be later glued inside those recesses, or alu tube or wire may be glued into those furrows. Anyways, model building -as James Schubert the Pugetian likes to say- is about problem solving:

IMG_5585+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

 

Edited by Moa
to correct typo
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I have only relatively recently come across a few of your projects Moa, but already I see a series of very satisfying patterns emerging.  You do choose great civil subjects, your progress reports are very instructive (& dizzyingly rapid!) and the outcomes very fine.

 

I do agree that there is pleasure to be had in the problem solving.  Having said that, I don’t wish them on you!

 

Following with interest.

 

 

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The plane I am representing had a different wing cut-off, not diagonal, but roundish and far aft:

IMG_5794+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

The diagonal section is excised and a tab glued to support the additions to come:

IMG_5795+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

The piece at the bottom surface is glued:

IMG_5796+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

The then top. Sanding and shaping will ensue once the glue has set:

IMG_5797+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

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And so modifications are made to accommodate the third seat on fuselage and pan:

IMG_5802+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Now the new nose top has to be fashioned, and with that done we can proceed with the painting of the fuselage interior, and hopefully be able to have it whole soon.

 

Edited by Moa
the photo link didn't work, now it does
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