Handley Page HP42/45, Contrail vacuformed 1/72

[Silenoz]

isn't that an unwritten law?

 

Very nice progress.... must be huge to handle by now...

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Before proceeding with the final assembly, more decals are added and other details added in hard-to-reach areas:

 

 

The cargo hatch and the brake wires are added:

 

The new decals from Arctic Decals are very nice indeed, with clean and sharp printing and almost no noticeable carrier once trimmed, applied and treated with setting solution. This is a very small one:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

A major build landmark was reached today, the upper wing is finally on:

 

Only the external struts were glued, the rest will be inserted gradually mirror-fashion, checking that no distortions are induced, and adjusting lengths as (and if) needed:

 

 

[Martian]

Looking majestic Moa. That's the model that is.

 

Martian👽

[dogsbody]

Geeze! I'm getting tense looking at this and I'm sitting staring at a computer monitor well over 2600km. ( 1600 miles ) away.

 

 

 

Chris

[Stevejj]

My flabber has never been so gasted a real work of art Moa. A truly brilliant model. 

 

Note to self MUST TRY HARDER!!

[Andwil]

1 hour ago, Martian Hale said:

Looking majestic Moa.

Majestic is not a word often associated with scale models, but in this case it is exactly the right adjective.

 

AW

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

1 hour ago, Martian Hale said:

Looking majestic Moa. That's the model that is.

 

Martian

Thanks, Martian.

I prefer Royally Imperial, though

 

1 hour ago, dogsbody said:

Geeze! I'm getting tense looking at this and I'm sitting staring at a computer monitor well over 2600km. ( 1600 miles ) away.

 

 

 

Chris

Imagine my blood pressure...

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

1 hour ago, Stevejj said:

My flabber has never been so gasted a real work of art Moa. A truly brilliant model. 

 

Note to self MUST TRY HARDER!!

Steve, it's all smoke and mirrors.

And thousands of hours.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

26 minutes ago, Andwil said:

Majestic is not a word often associated with scale models, but in this case it is exactly the right adjective.

 

AW

Well, AW, if you guys insist

[Jonners]

Wow, that is looking seriously impressive! What an amazing sight (and probably sound) the original must have been.  Brilliant work, Moa.

Jon

[Lightpainter]

Incredible work!

I build vacuforms 20 years ago but I never would have dared to start a project like this.

 

You are a master builder 🏆

[kev67]

I have seen a number of these built up and even had one compete with my Vickers Varsity at Telford, but this is by far the best HP42 I have seen built from the Contrail kit

 

[DMC]

Just superb, Moa.  My little iPad does not do it justice.  I first read about the HP 42 in Alexander Frater’s Beyond the Blue Horizon, “the most sumptuous airliner ever built”.  What must it have been like? Noisy probably.

 

 

 

 

[Heather Kay]

 

It is easy to forget how this build began, but a visit to the earlier pages in this thread demonstrate how you have coaxed a somewhat indifferent vac form kit into a masterpiece. I hope this exquisite model will take pride of place in your display, and not be relegated to a storage box too quickly.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

8 hours ago, Jonners said:

What an amazing sight (and probably sound) the original must have been.  Brilliant work, Moa.

Jon

Indeed, Jon

Some of the clips I posted the links for do have sound, but in person the purring of those four radials resonating in the drum of such large airframe must have been quite a sensory experience.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

8 hours ago, Lightpainter said:

Incredible work!

I build vacuforms 20 years ago but I never would have dared to start a project like this.

 

You are a master builder 🏆

You are very kind, Lightpainter.

If I knew, I wouldn't have dared either

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

8 hours ago, kev67 said:

I have seen a number of these built up and even had one compete with my Vickers Varsity at Telford, but this is by far the best HP42 I have seen built from the Contrail kit

 

I wish there was a nice (no resin, no 3D-printed) kit of this gentle giant.

I think I wouldn't build another Contrail kit of this one, but I would build an injected plastic one.

The Contrail kit is what we have, and that better than nothing, but presents a number of issues that hinder the build.

I still have some road to cover with this one, but I am already seen its shortcomings.

O the joys of our search for perfection.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

7 hours ago, DMC said:

I first read about the HP 42 in Alexander Frater’s Beyond the Blue Horizon, “the most sumptuous airliner ever built”.  What must it have been like? Noisy probably.

Great description, I believe it fits properly.

Every model evokes emotions and intellectual responses related to the original plane, but this one is so rich in that regard. It not only resonates with the design itself, but with a whole era.

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

8 hours ago, Heather Kay said:

 

It is easy to forget how this build began, but a visit to the earlier pages in this thread demonstrate how you have coaxed a somewhat indifferent vac form kit into a masterpiece. I hope this exquisite model will take pride of place in your display, and not be relegated to a storage box too quickly.

You are exceedingly kind, Heather.

I worked long and hard, but alas, I can see so many flaws. Far from a masterpiece I am afraid. Still, a good learning for me. And so evocative.

The mystique of the plane may make up for my faults.

As per its destiny once finished...they all immediately go to the same place: the large boxes in the walk-in closet.

I have a few very small glass cases in our small home office area, but such giant won't fit.

May be one day, if I become rich, when we are in our old(er) age and retired, I could set up a display. It has to accommodate a few hundred, so it won't be easy.

For now they share the "hangar" with the wintercoats, my wife's knitting supplies and such.

Thanks again for your kind words.

 

 

[Courageous]

Looking exceptionally big.

 

Stuart

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

39 minutes ago, Courageous said:

Looking exceptionally big.

 

Stuart

Yes, I am knocking it about all over the place, fortunately mostly without consequences.

The size, compiled with the fact that I have to get close to work on it because of the focal distance of the optivisor, makes for entertaining sessions.

[Ray S]

Moa, I hope you will forgive me waiting until page 27 to comment! I have been reading this project from the start, and am amazed at the way you have gone about this, not only the modelling, but the highly in-depth research you have gone through.

 

I had the old Scale Aircraft Modelling article for this Contrail model from way back in the early 1980's, and it had always been my wish to have a go at it. Now I realize there is so much to do with it, I am even more minded to give one a crack if I can find one.

 

Excellent work, and I have learnt a lot from your project.

 

All the best,

 

Ray

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

1 hour ago, Ray S said:

Moa, I hope you will forgive me waiting until page 27 to comment! I have been reading this project from the start, and am amazed at the way you have gone about this, not only the modelling, but the highly in-depth research you have gone through.

 

I had the old Scale Aircraft Modelling article for this Contrail model from way back in the early 1980's, and it had always been my wish to have a go at it. Now I realize there is so much to do with it, I am even more minded to give one a crack if I can find one.

 

Excellent work, and I have learnt a lot from your project.

 

All the best,

 

Ray

Thanks Ray

The modeling world would be a better place with more H.P.42s!!

Since there are eight of them, and with the differences among them and even in the same plane through time, there is plenty to choose from.

Here and there the Contrail vac kit appears, sometimes lacking parts and sometimes lacking shame for the price they are asked for.

It is a base, but not the best.

I am sure Airfix will now release their 1/72 H.P.42/45

They must be hearing the clamor!

And for those that surrendered to the dark side of the force they have the military version, so no excuses regarding narrow market appeal.

A already see Airfix 's line-up of "Golden Age Dreamliners": The H.P.42, the Short Scylla (and Kent), Handley Page W.8.....

 

[Heather Kay]

I must admit that I want one for my 1940 obsession. It’s such an unlikely aircraft to carry military markings, but I know you dislike the military side of the aviation, understandably so. I like to think my obsession is a form of tribute to all those who served and sadly died during the 39-45 conflict.