Handley Page HP42/45, Contrail vacuformed 1/72

[bigbadbadge]

Great work Moa, loving the progress so far and the thinning looks great and is going to pay dividends later on. What a nice haul you got from the model shop, did you have to sneak them passed SWMBO and say you have had them for ages when asked ?

Keep up the inspirational work

All the best

Chris

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

8 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Great work Moa, loving the progress so far and the thinning looks great and is going to pay dividends later on. What a nice haul you got from the model shop, did you have to sneak them passed SWMBO and say you have had them for ages when asked ?

Keep up the inspirational work

All the best

Chris

Even better, Chris:

I do not enjoy heat, or the desert, so my price for driving and staying there with SWMBO is that sort of annual visit to the hobby store. I scored 11 kits! (it's an used kit store and some items have attractive prices) all "legally" and declared to the "authorities".

They don't teach you that at the Shaolin Modeling Monastery, you learn that on the streets, Chris

[Tomoshenko]

Good stuff amid all that sanding. Your replacements are very much an improvement. A lot of work and a long build ahead, but it will result in a superb craft in the end. Besides no rush we aint going anywhere.

[Courageous]

18 hours ago, Moa said:

 

Work is a bit procrastinated due to the parallel build of an Aeroflot bus (modified 1/72 GAZ-30 kit):

Sometimes you need a change of scenery...

 

Stuart

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The biplane, three-ruddered, twice-tabbed tail had a complex control mechanism (no kidding).
 The suggestion of the kit to glue the vertical surfaces to both stabilizer surfaces is inaccurate. It took many photos and a couple of diagrams to figure out how all works. Besides, as time went by the manufacturer introduced visible changes (horizontal servo tab ahead of the upper stabilizer or not; no bracing, two braces or four braces holding the upper stabilizer from the central fin, etc). The vertical surfaces were "glued" only at the bottom, and have quite a gap at the top, slanting backwards. The incidence on the top horizontal stabilizer is less than that of the one at the bottom (something also commonly seen in biplanes).
Accordingly slots are carved, holes drilled and metal parts inserted, besides adding the anchoring pins:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

1 hour ago, Courageous said:

Sometimes you need a change of scenery...

 

Stuart

Hi Stuart

More than that is that I like to do parallel builds, and still open are the Anson (waiting for the decals), the Argentine Fokker C.IV and the bus above.

Cheers

 

[spaddad]

Hi Moa,

can't wait to see how this turns out. I've loved this aircraft ever since Airfix released their 144th kit & I've built a few. Is there any chance you could post the colour scheme(s) for the impressed RAF a/c, I've wanted to do one in  this scheme but have always been unable to get enough info to enable me to complete one.

cheers,

spad

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

32 minutes ago, spaddad said:

Hi Moa,

can't wait to see how this turns out. I've loved this aircraft ever since Airfix released their 144th kit & I've built a few. Is there any chance you could post the colour scheme(s) for the impressed RAF a/c, I've wanted to do one in  this scheme but have always been unable to get enough info to enable me to complete one.

cheers,

spad

Sorry, Spad, don't do military. At all, whatsoever.

(If somebody wants to offer light on the requested matter, please do not post here, open a different thread).

Cheers

 

[pheonix]

That complex tail unit is a familiar story. It shows how much the aerodynamic engineers understood problems of airflow over these surfaces that they kept altering and adjusting the components in an attempt to improve stability and control. I am always in admiration of those people - a group who were and are severely underestimated and grossly undervalued in Britain . The opposite is the case in most other countries.

 

Great piece of modelling BTW and a tribute to your perseverance in working out how the units actually operated.

 

P

[matti64]

On 4/3/2019 at 3:37 AM, Moa said:

I decided to replace the rudder servo tabs, since the kit's, a bit chunky, wouldn't really do:

 

The new parts have a better airfoil:

 

A cap present in the plane is added:

 

Work is a bit procrastinated due to the parallel build of an Aeroflot bus (modified 1/72 GAZ-30 kit):

You could have gone with this.... " a few little bumps and we'll be haulin' the mail"

[matti64]

Here is a link to a Croydon Airport  historical blog. You will need to  read through to  find mentions of HP-42's but it is all good background http://croydonairportcalling.blogspot.com/

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

6 hours ago, matti64 said:

You could have gone with this.... " a few little bumps and we'll be haulin' the mail"

It caught my attention some time ago. A remarkable vehicle.

[Marklo]

Love the build. As usual up to your very high standards, Moa.  I'm now really wanting to get my hands on an Airfix kit (1/144 seems about right for my available shelf space) but to no avail as  ebay isn't coming up with the goods. Still persistence and patience may get me one.

 

Hmm tell a lie. I just wasn't searching the right way there are plenty of them just a little pricey. (for me) 

 

But I did find a cheap Handley page 0400 that I'm now bidding on (sorry Moa) 

Edited April 4, 2019 by Marklo

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

10 minutes ago, Marklo said:

Love the build. As usual up to your very high standards, Moa.  I'm now really wanting to get my hands on an Airfix kit (1/144 seems about right for my available shelf space) but to no avail as  ebay isn't coming up with the goods. Still persistence and patience may get me one.

 

Hmm tell a lie. I just wasn't searching the right way there are plenty of them just a little pricey. (for me) 

 

But I did find a cheap Handley page 0400 that I'm now bidding on (sorry Moa) 

I had to wait for mine a long time, and wouldn't have if not for the kindness of John E., to whom my thanks go again.

And don't feel bad, I also have a 0400 in the stash (to be converted to the civil variant, of course).

Cheers

[Brandy]

Those servo tabs look enormous, they appear to be almost as big as the rudder itself! I'd love to see how they relate to the rest of the vertical tail surfaces.

 

Ian

 

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Now this:

 

Has to become this:

1 hour ago, limeypilot said:

Those servo tabs look enormous, they appear to be almost as big as the rudder itself! I'd love to see how they relate to the rest of the vertical tail surfaces.

 

Ian

 

 

Aren't we exaggerating a bit?

See above, parts in context and the real thing.

Cheers

 

[Brandy]

Ok, so by "servo tabs" you mean rudders! A servo tab is a small addition to a rudder or aileron to help relieve control pressure. There are no servo tabs on those rudders.

 

Ian

[dogsbody]

15 minutes ago, limeypilot said:

Ok, so by "servo tabs" you mean rudders! A servo tab is a small addition to a rudder or aileron to help relieve control pressure. There are no servo tabs on those rudders.

 

Ian

 

Then what is this?

 

 

 

 

As you understand more modern aircraft controls, then yes, the servos would be built into the trailing edge of the rudder(s). But in the timeframe of the HP.42, this was a new technology and designers were just learning how to do it. There were other variations of control tabs in the 1930's timeline.

 

 

 

Chris

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

24 minutes ago, dogsbody said:

 

Then what is this?

 

 

 

 

As you understand more modern aircraft controls, then yes, the servos would be built into the trailing edge of the rudder(s). But in the timeframe of the HP.42, this was a new technology and designers were just learning how to do it. There were other variations of control tabs in the 1930's timeline.

 

 

 

Chris

They are servos, i.e. help to lessen the loads on the helped surfaces, same function, different arrangement.

44 minutes ago, limeypilot said:

Ok, so by "servo tabs" you mean rudders! A servo tab is a small addition to a rudder or aileron to help relieve control pressure. There are no servo tabs on those rudders.

 

Ian

see above

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

I think (I may be wrong, it happened once in my lifetime -the day I was born) that we are looking here at a variation of this (image below).

I have no time now to look for the Golden Age French or British plane where I have seen this (I know I have the files somewhere).

[JosephLalor]

10 hours ago, matti64 said:

You could have gone with this.... " a few little bumps and we'll be haulin' the mail"

Thanks for posting this.   It prompted me to do a search on '1930s royal mail car' which turned up the Morris Minor 15cwt GPO Special.  Seeing the control tower in the picture reminds me that in all the years I lived in Croydon I never once visited the airport site, even though I worked off Purley Way on Croydon 'B' power station in 1986-7.

[JosephLalor]

1 hour ago, Moa said:

I think (I may be wrong, it happened once in my lifetime -the day I was born) that we are looking here at a variation of this (image below).

I have no time now to look for the Golden Age French or British plane where I have seen this (I know I have the files somewhere).

My first thought was Short Scylla.

Edited April 4, 2019 by JosephLalor

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Just now, JosephLalor said:

My first thought was Short Scylla.

And you are correct, Sir! thanks!

[JosephLalor]

2 minutes ago, Moa said:

And you are correct, Sir! thanks!

Gosh, that doesn't happen often!  If I had your skills I'd be minded to do the Short Sarafand, but I think that will remain a pipedream.

[Aeronut]

1 hour ago, Moa said:

Now this:

 

Has to become this:

Aren't we exaggerating a bit?

See above, parts in context and the real thing.

Cheers

 

This photo may explain your previous comment about the difference in incidence of the tail planes. Those V struts and the slot in the fin as well as the cranked fittings between the fins and the upper tail plane suggest that the upper surface had variable incidence for longitudinal trim.