Jonners Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 Having astonished myself recently by completing (eventually) a scratchbuilt 1/144 Avro Bison that actually bears a vague resemblance to the original machine, I decided to ride the wave and resurrect a couple of previously-abandoned 1/144 biplane scratchbuilds. I do like unusual subjects, especially of between-the-wars British aircraft, so the first of these is a Handley Page Hyderabad bomber. The HP 24 Hyderabad was developed from the W.8 civilian airliner, which was itself a development of the famous 0/400 bomber from the First World War. Named after the Indian city, the Hyderabad was visually unusual in that the nose gunner's position was significantly lower than the level of the cockpit, giving the machine a typically British quirky appearance. Power came from a pair of uncowled Napier Lion engines mounted between the biplane wings, which were fitted with slots, and the aircraft could carry a bomb load of 1,100lb (500kg). The Hyderabad prototype, J6994, first flew in October 1923 and, in total, 45 Hyderabads were produced and served with four RAF squadrons. The rudders of early machines had distinctively curved outlines which were soon changed to an angular shape reminiscent of the W8 and W10 airliners. It was the last RAF biplane bomber of wooden construction and was finally withdrawn from reserve squadron use in 1933. I had previously managed to construct a fuselage from plastic card - it is a simple box construction - and had cobbled together the distinctive nose profile by cutting up some spare bombs and fuel tanks. I had added wings, struts, paint and decals, but I wasn't at all happy with the result so removed the wings and consigned the parts to the 'do-it-later' box. Much later, after producing the Bison, I thought I would be able to do a better job second time round. Here we go! This is where I have got to so far: The fuselage is okay and has been rubbed down with fine wet & dry paper. A new pair of lower wings have been shaped from plastic card, rib effect added and cut to give the appropriate degree of dihedral beyond the engine mounting point. The ailerons may have to be replaced - not a major task - and the distinctive fuel tanks from the underside of the top wing were originally 1/72 Heller T-6 gun pods. The two wheels, which will need a clean up as well as a matching pair, are simply plastic discs with rubber O-rings around the outside. The upper wing is taped onto the homemade plan and I am part way through adding the tape strips that will become the lower sections between the wing rib effect; two or three coats of grey primer followed up by a bit of very gentle sanding works well enough for me. The rib spacing isn't perfectly even but it's good enough for me, especially as 'ribs' and gaps are only about 1.5mm wide each. The lower wings already have this effect applied. Fuselage: The engines are about 15mm long and have 22 parts each at this stage; again, they aren't desperately accurate or detailed but are good enough for me: Finding RAF roundels of the right scale size and dimensions can be tricky; I recently found these by Miniscale so picked up a couple of sheets from Hannants: Please accept the usual apology for less-than-stunning smartphone photos. I've no idea how long this will take due to the continued intrusions of real life, but posting a WiP thread should at least stop me from putting it back in the 'do-it-later' box! Jon 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUB-SAM Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 Woop, very exciting. I'm glad the Bison has boosted your confidence with the build. Looking good so far. Early bombers are extremely under represented in 1/144 so I'll be watching with interest. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackem01 Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 Love it.............go for it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pheonix Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 Early bombers are severely underrepresented in any scale.... This is truly impressive - especially the engines, which may not be wholly accurate but they will look good enough when they are between the wings. Your Bison build was very interesting - I will be following this one too. P. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonners Posted October 22, 2018 Author Share Posted October 22, 2018 (edited) Small steps forward. The lower wings have been cemented to the fuselage, assisted by small pins snipped from paper clip wire. While doing this I realised that I had forgotten to reinforce the inside of the lower fuselage to support the wings, so I will have to be careful with the handling: Ailerons were cut from plastic card - actually, they were recycled from the old wing that I had previously removed. Waste not, want not! The upper wing had narrow tape strips applied as per my previous post, then had two heavy coats of Halfords grey primer applied from an aerosol. The strips were then removed and the resulting ridges were’softened off’ with fine wet & dry. A third primer coat was then applied. The result might not be a case of scale fidelity, but it looks a good enough representation to my eye: I’ve now got to decide on the strut construction - I have a plan in mind involving cocktail sticks, pinning wire and patience - and when to add the engines. (Probably after the upper wing is added, to make painting a bit easier.) Jon Edited October 22, 2018 by Jonners 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 Avro Bisons and Handley Page Hyderabad’s! Really - why don’t you pick some less mainstream subjects. 🤪 Looking really good mate. That ribbing effect is excellent. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonners Posted October 23, 2018 Author Share Posted October 23, 2018 10 hours ago, Bandsaw Steve said: Avro Bisons and Handley Page Hyderabad’s! Really - why don’t you pick some less mainstream subjects. 🤪 Looking really good mate. That ribbing effect is excellent. Less mainstream - perhaps like the nearly-finished 1/144 De Havilland Oxford that is waiting next to the Hyderabad? 🤨 Jon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonners Posted October 24, 2018 Author Share Posted October 24, 2018 Right, here’s the underside view of the upper wing with ailerons and fuel tanks added: The pencil lines are simply guidelines for where the strut holes will be drilled. I haven’t bothered to add any form of surface texture or tape strips etc to the underside; once again I’m keeping it simple. The struts are now keeping my thinking muscle occupied. I’m going to try the following method for the main wing struts: 1. Take a standard wooden cocktail stick/toothpick. 2. Sand two opposite side laboriously until you are thoroughly bored and the wood more-or-less represents a streamlined strut. 3. Cut to the appropriate length. 4. Trim one side at the top and bottom corners to represent the ‘cutouts’. 5. Drill the tiny end face with a tinier drill bit and add an even tinier bit of top E guitar string wire to the hole. A bit like this: The idea is then, obviously, to drill more titchy holes in the upper and lower wings and build up the struts as in a standard kit. The measurements will have to be spot on though. The four struts that attach the upper wing to the fuselage, on the other hand, will simply be four lengths of stretched sprue glued to the upper wing and slid into four holes in the upper fuselage. This should allow me to set the wing gap and upper wing angle of incidence before the glue sets. In the meantime, however, I have the deep excitement of making some more wooden struts before being able to see if the plan will work. Jon 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsaircorp Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 Hello Jonners, May be a stupid question, but how do you get that ribbing effect on the wings ! It look really great and convincing ! I also love these 30's aircraft, they are really interesting ! Sincerely. CC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonners Posted October 24, 2018 Author Share Posted October 24, 2018 Hi Cc, I briefly described my 'technique' in the posts above, but here's a summary: 1. Transfer each 'rib line' using pencil or fine marker from a plan onto the wing. 2. Cut strips of Tamiya tape that are just narrower than the gap between each rib line and slightly longer than the wing chord (front-to-back length). 3. Lay these strips of tape between each rib line and burnish them down. 4. Spray a couple of fairly heavy coats of paint - I use aerosol grey automotive primer - over the taped wing. 5. Remove the tape strips and sand gently with fine wet & dry to soften off the paint edges. 6. Apply another coat of paint/primer over the wing. I think it looks okay in 1/144 but it probably wouldn't look to great in 1/72. Jon 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonners Posted October 24, 2018 Author Share Posted October 24, 2018 2 hours ago, Jonners said: In the meantime, however, I have the deep excitement of making some more wooden struts before being able to see if the plan will work. Hmmm. I've successfully made 2 wire-pin struts so far but had to scrap 4 others, which is irritating. It helps if the strut being drilled is slightly thicker than the diameter of the drill bit... Back to the sanding! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 That’s some impressive dedication and patience going on there! I’m watch with interest as this work isn’t far away on my Avro 504 build. Should be easier in 1/32. 😀 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonners Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 15 hours ago, Bandsaw Steve said: That’s some impressive dedication and patience going on there! ...which is high praise indeed, coming from a master of dedication and patience! Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 19 minutes ago, Jonners said: ...which is high praise indeed, coming from a master of dedication and patience! Jon Who’s he going on about? 🤔 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 17 hours ago, Jonners said: Hmmm. I've successfully made 2 wire-pin struts so far but had to scrap 4 others, which is irritating. It helps if the strut being drilled is slightly thicker than the diameter of the drill bit... Back to the sanding! How about drilling them and adding the wire before sanding them down? Ian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonners Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, limeypilot said: How about drilling them and adding the wire before sanding them down? That’s a great suggestion, Ian - why didn’t I think of that?? It’s much easier to sand a full cocktail stick rather than a 20mm strut piece, but drilling and pinning one end before sanding, to give a guide for the sanded width, might work. I’ll give it a go. Thanks for the suggestion! Jon Edited October 25, 2018 by Jonners 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pheonix Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 I agree with Steve- real dedication and patience here. I am thinking that I may also have to use wire on the ends of the struts for my project (but like Steve it is 1/32 so easier), but I also have the joy(?) of sanding wood or plastic to a streamline shape and then drilling the ends. On another project, (Dornier Rs II - see GB Flying Boats 2017), I used plastic strip, sliced it down the middle and super-glued brass rod down the centre, then filled the joint and sanded again. It gave very strong struts but yours may be too small for that method. Whatever you do I wish you luck, lots of patience and will be waiting with interest to see the result! P 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonners Posted October 26, 2018 Author Share Posted October 26, 2018 Well, first dry fitting of the inner struts: Snapping the last of my very fine drill bits was a bit annoying. Anyway, I followed limeypilot’s suggestion and added a wire pin to one end of a cocktail stick before sanding to maintain a drill-able thickness on the struts, then added a second pin after cutting the strut to size. The snapped drill bit means I will have to buy some more bits before I can create more struts. Perhaps I might do something with the De Havilland Oxford that’s sitting patiently at the back of the desk in the meantime... Jon 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britman Posted October 27, 2018 Share Posted October 27, 2018 Lovely work Jonners, but do have an issue with you. What do think I have on my shelf of doom? In 1/72nd scale I have a Bison and a Hyderabad! Now you have made me feel quite guilty at not finishing them. They will be heading for the bench again soon. Keith. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonners Posted October 27, 2018 Author Share Posted October 27, 2018 33 minutes ago, Britman said: In 1/72nd scale I have a Bison and a Hyderabad! Excellent! I think you have the more difficult task, Keith, as yours are vacforms in a scale that requires detail to at least be a consideration! Don’t tell anyone, but that’s the main reason that my scratchbuilding efforts are in 1/144... Jon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britman Posted October 27, 2018 Share Posted October 27, 2018 The Hyderabad is a scratch! Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britman Posted October 27, 2018 Share Posted October 27, 2018 We seem to have stopped at roughly the same point. Hope you don`t mind my dropping these in. I feel a need to re visit this project. Keith. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonners Posted October 27, 2018 Author Share Posted October 27, 2018 5 hours ago, Britman said: The Hyderabad is a scratch! Keith Blimey! I'll get my coat... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putty Animal Posted October 28, 2018 Share Posted October 28, 2018 Gentlemen, well done! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted October 28, 2018 Share Posted October 28, 2018 Just caught up with this, lovely resurrection Jonners. Britman, I think you need to pull your finger out too 😂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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