Handley Page HP42/45, Contrail vacuformed 1/72

[Ray S]

I agree with other comments, a truly fantastic build. In your last photograph especially, it looks just like the real thing!

 

8 hours ago, Moa said:

 

One thing is for sure: I don't want to build another Contrail H.P.42 EVER AGAIN.

 

 

Don't say that - you might put others of us off! I know I for one would like to build one. I do have the Airfix 1/144 version, so may have to do that instead.

 

Thanks for all the detailed information that you have unearthed, and for the great advice and tricks you have taken the time to show us.

 

All the best,

 

Ray

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

1 hour ago, Ray S said:

I agree with other comments, a truly fantastic build. In your last photograph especially, it looks just like the real thing!

 

Don't say that - you might put others of us off! I know I for one would like to build one. I do have the Airfix 1/144 version, so may have to do that instead.

 

Thanks for all the detailed information that you have unearthed, and for the great advice and tricks you have taken the time to show us.

 

All the best,

 

Ray

You are right, Ray, I modified my original statement. But I maintain that if you spend seven months building one, the sight of another Contrail HP42 would be disturbing and may send you looking for a stiff drink

[dogsbody]

9 hours ago, Moa said:

Little time???

It took seven months!

 

 

It's been one year and 8 months since I started my 1/72 Airfix Hurricane and it's not done yet! So to take only 7 months to build this and to fabricate all the extras is just pure magic. When you consider just how little of the original vac kit is in this beauty, it's totally amazing.

 

 

 

Chris

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The step ladder is completed as per images:

 

 

Here we can see a similar step ladder being transited by two mature Sloane Rangers:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

 

The completed model is here:

 

 

[Roger Holden]

3 hours ago, Moa said:

Here we can see a similar step ladder being transited by two mature Sloane Rangers:

 

Actually.....they're Americans. Jimmie Mattern and Bennett Griffin, probably taken on the way home after their abortive 1932 Round the World flight attempt.

[Roy vd M.]

That’s really an admirable achievement, congratulations on this build.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

2 minutes ago, Roger Holden said:

 

Actually.....they're Americans. Jimmie Mattern and Bennett Griffin, probably taken on the way home after their abortive 1932 Round the World flight attempt.

Still, looking ridiculously like certain subjects.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

8 hours ago, Roy vd M. said:

That’s really an admirable achievement, congratulations on this build.

Thanks Roy!

I need to sleep for a few months now.

Cheers

[Mika Jernfors]

Really a nice creation again, my dearest Moa! Stunning, indeed!

 

For those who might be interested in getting HP.42 decals to be used with One Man Model or Contrail kits, at the moment I'm working with two separate Arctic Decals HP42 sets, one for the western version 42W (Heracles, Horatius, Hengist and Helena) and another for the eastern 42E version (Hannibal, Horsa, Hanno and Hadrian). The sets will include window masks and frames, as well as decals for the cabin seats and walls/bulkheads. I hope to release them before the Telford SMW show.

Mika

[VH-USB]

On ‎9‎/‎15‎/‎2019 at 3:41 PM, Moa said:

Still, looking ridiculously like certain subjects.

Here's a photo of Mattern & Griffin taken in Berlin shortly after the crash that ended their round-the-world flight:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-13655,_James_Mattern_und_Bennet_Griffin.jpg

They suffered injuries to head and hand during the landing. Bandages are evident, as are their oil-stained clothes.

Their clothes are actually very common for the period, especially among aviators.

 

Tim

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

I have seen some comments here and at the completed model thread about how surprised fellow modelers are regarding the final looks of a vacuformed kit.

Personally I deem many injected kits as far inferior in quality and detail compared to some of the vac kits.

For me they are a platform, and a teaching (to myself) tool, I learned a lot building them, which in turn was helpful with other kit media.

Not only vac kits  represent planes never cared for by the mainstream injected manufacturers, they are not more difficult than injected ones once you learn, as you had to do with injected kits.

I am actually looking at Contrail's old Vickers Virginia/Victoria/Valentia as a prospect for a Vanguard.

Cheers

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

That is a wonderful piece of work, and it’s been a pleasure to be along for the ride.  Thank you.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

1 hour ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

That is a wonderful piece of work, and it’s been a pleasure to be along for the ride.  Thank you.

Thanks!

Very glad you enjoyed visiting the thread.

Cheers

 

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

Very nice work Moa, it has been great dropping to see your progress. Such a lovely build with all that detail you added!

 

 

 Just saw all the RFI images and am wondering about the propeller colour, did the Heracles have wooden or metal prop blades?

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

25 minutes ago, Romeo Alpha Yankee said:

Very nice work Moa, it has been great dropping to see your progress. Such a lovely build with all that detail you added!

 

 

 Just saw all the RFI images and am wondering about the propeller colour, did the Heracles have wooden or metal prop blades?

Thanks RAY!

In the WiP I believe there was some mention of the subject. The props were wood, but had a fabric covering and were painted grey, even the metal guard on the blades L.E.

You can see preserved props in museums with that finish. Many models and some drawings inaccurately depict the props as having a wood color.

Cheers

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

Thanks, I looked through the WIP for the details on the props but nothing came up reasonably quickly. The reason I asked is that I found a colourised image that showed brownish props, though they did not look like they had a wood grain. Thanks for clearing that up.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

11 minutes ago, Romeo Alpha Yankee said:

Thanks, I looked through the WIP for the details on the props but nothing came up reasonably quickly. The reason I asked is that I found a colourised image that showed brownish props, though they did not look like they had a wood grain. Thanks for clearing that up.

The illustrations and colorized images are inaccurate, and show an incorrect interpretation of B&W photos (clear to see when you do even a half-serious research)

 

Here you go, post #460 (you owe me 10 minutes of life):

 

  On 7/9/2019 at 11:55 AM, Moa said:

Color of the propellers.

All photos I have of my intended registration show a uniform, light color for the props, that extends over the whole of it (i.e. not just, for example, a partially clad or linen-covered blade, leaving the hub natural wood).

Dark wood it is not, nor I think it is light wood, but possibly grey as it appears in some museum model replicas.

I had seen this sort of shiny grey paint on the props of real planes of the period preserved in museums, perhaps a protective coat?

Any thoughts? John, if you are out there?

Cheers

 

Roger Holden said:

Studying photos, props were entirely fabric covered, then brass leading edges applied and whole lot painted grey.  There are a number of photos where the paint is chipping off the metal leading edges.  (The pretty wood-grained props often seen on models of British aircraft of this period are dead wrong.)  It was well understood by this time how to increase the longevity of wooden props and that was by fabric/metal sheathing. ( A number of European props were still just varnished, however....).  Just the blades could be fabric covered, or the entire prop, as in this case.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

1 hour ago, Romeo Alpha Yankee said:

Thanks, I looked through the WIP for the details on the props but nothing came up reasonably quickly. The reason I asked is that I found a colourised image that showed brownish props, though they did not look like they had a wood grain. Thanks for clearing that up.

Further examples:

A Woodason model

A museum prop (this one left the hub area free, unlike the props on the HP42):

 

You owe me another 10 minutes.

 

 

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

23 hours ago, Moa said:

Further examples:

A Woodason model

...

A museum prop (this one left the hub area free, unlike the props on the HP42):

....

You owe me another 10 minutes.

 

 

i'll buy you a beer when you are next in this neck woods 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

34 minutes ago, Romeo Alpha Yankee said:

i'll buy you a beer when you are next in this neck woods 

Accepted! 😉

 

 

[HP42]

Just inherited an HP42 in 1:72 for repair. This thread is invaluable!!! Please keep the piccys in place on whatever server they reside upon. Amazing build, far above my standard but it gives me many pointers, not least a source of decals! 

[Nils]

On 5/19/2019 at 2:13 AM, fjaweijfopi4j48 said:

And how evocative it is:

The guy on the left here, is me saying no thanks! to fly with it..

[Dock_Ru]

Epic Build!!!

[Nils]

On 7/17/2019 at 9:14 PM, fjaweijfopi4j48 said:

Parts belonging to the brake mechanism are made:

 

The beginning of the task of measuring and cutting the wing struts. Enough material is provided, but just, so no mistakes here:

 

This is a great airfoiled material, pity is not available anymore, and no manufacturer will pick up the production of such simple product, a demand for which I patently see in many forums.

I still hang out to my brass Strutz material, thanks to John and Andrew.

 

Thankfully, today we have started getting 3D printers around and perhaps someone could come up with the idea to start making stuff like this on request.
Shouldn't be to pricey.. only little problem could be the material types but it shouldn't really matter does it?

I didn't mention it, but I'm a 3d modeller and I am building the HP, and was so thrilled to find your thread here. I really love to read everything in your thread. I amazes me to see your skills here, most of us would have given up a long way down the building line. I hope you don't mind me using your detail shots for reference here and there? They're better than any online photos from the era.
A shame really that there's no existing examples preserved in museums today. As I've read, RAF took well care of that. The HP's had no accidents the years they flew comercially, and suddenly in RAF hands when war broke out, they were all damaged in a short period of time due to poor handling and/or bad preparation for storms and heavy weather..

Edited February 6, 2022 by Nils