Handley Page HP42/45, Contrail vacuformed 1/72

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

3 hours ago, pheonix said:

Amazing how you got rid of all those zits! One of the advantages of scratch building sis that they do not have to be dealt with....

 

P

Hi P

In general it is thought of scratch as difficult and lengthy, but many of my scratchs were for sure more pleasant and faster than the models from some kits.

Cheers

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

To build a model of the H.P.42 with certain degree of detail and accuracy presents itself as an impossible modeling premise, so it has to be boarded with possible premises: what can you do today, with the material and information you have at hand.
The reading and processing of the reference material is on itself a monumental task, but nonetheless well worth the effort, as you discoverer so many useful things. Today I discovered that there was a service window between the steward compartment and the bar, exactly as in a bar, so to speak, so I removed the pertinent partition and practiced a window, and made the seats for the passenger's bar, together with the toilets -that you may need after you have visited the bar, and especially if the flight was bumpy-:

 

I also took note today of how all those doors open (towards the inner space of the hallway and restrooms in that section, for example, and noticed that some of those doors have windows, so not to smash the face of the person coming the other way.

One of the considerations is of course as usual how much of all this will be seen. We know the answer: almost nothing.

But we can help some times: I noticed that there is a hatch that communicates the cargo haul with the mid-section hallway, and since I plan to open the external cargo compartment door, I can leave the hatch open and therefore provide a glimpse at the bar! mind you, just a hint, but hey, a welcome one since the effort is made anyway.

This is all so much fun!

[Martian]

3 hours ago, Moa said:

Hi P

In general it is thought of scratch as difficult and lengthy, but many of my scratchs were for sure more pleasant and faster than the models from some kits.

Cheers

 

This is very true, probably because one is not trying to work round constraints of a kit's design.

41 minutes ago, Moa said:

I can leave the hatch open and therefore provide a glimpse at the bar! mind you, just a hint, but hey, a welcome one since the effort is made anyway.

This is all so much fun!

Especially researching the bar's contents! + +  =

 

Martian 👽

 

PS: All these weird civil types you keep building has resulted in an Avis Short Cockle kit awaiting my return to Martian Towers. I put the blame squarely on you Moa! I had enough daft ideas in my head before I started following your threads.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

1 hour ago, Martian Hale said:

Especially researching the bar's contents! + +  =

 

Martian 👽

It told my wife so: This is research for my scale model, has nothing to do with binging!

 

[Martian]

5 minutes ago, Moa said:

It told my wife so: This is research for my scale model, has nothing to do with binging!

 

Of course not. Why does she have to be so suspicious when there is a perfectly innocent and more plausible explanation to hand? You are sacrificing yourself for your art. Simples! Just tell her that this story has been checked ut and verified by your friendly neighbourhood alien. That should get you off the hook.

 

Understanding of Mars 👽

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Some after-market trunks are separated for later use:

 

Work continues: wheels caps are given their inflation access holes, the cargo hatch is opened, some structure is added, the seats are being painted and the toilets are ready to paint:

 

[Martian]

Watching how this build is progressing, I kind of have to take issue with your statement that it is not possible to build this kit with 100% accuracy. To a point you may be correct but the way you are combining existing information on the subject with well thought out logic is going to get you very close.

 

Martian 👽

[dogsbody]

One question, if I may, Moa. How many small scale aircraft toilets have you made, so far, in your model building history?

 

 

Chris

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

9 minutes ago, Martian Hale said:

Watching how this build is progressing, I kind of have to take issue with your statement that it is not possible to build this kit with 100% accuracy. To a point you may be correct but the way you are combining existing information on the subject with well thought out logic is going to get you very close.

 

Martian 👽

Oh, my dear Martian, my dear naive Martian, wait until the "experts" pop their heads behind the corrugated bulkheads...

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

1 minute ago, dogsbody said:

One question, if I may, Moa. How many small scale aircraft toilets have you made, so far, in your model building history?

 

 

Chris

Too many, Chris, too many....

 

[Andwil]

4 hours ago, Moa said:

This is all so much fun!

Which is the main criteria for any build and why we do what we do.

 

AW

[Learstang]

Claudio, nice and intricate work on this large and intricate aeroplane! If anyone came out with an injection-moulded version in the One True Scale, I would buy it in a second.

 

Regards,

 

Jason 

[Martian]

23 minutes ago, Moa said:

Oh, my dear Martian, my dear naive Martian, wait until the "experts" pop their heads behind the corrugated bulkheads...

 

Well we all know where the self appointed "experts" can stick their heads. I have been at this game long enough to know a well thought out project when I see one.

 

Martian 👽

[dogsbody]

2 hours ago, Martian Hale said:

Well we all know where the self appointed "experts" can stick their heads. I have been at this game long enough to know a well thought out project when I see one.

 

Martian 👽

 

Like this?

 

 

 

Chris

[bigbadbadge]

Great work on the interior Moa and great perseverance on the removal of all the blemishes or zits. 

Such a lovely and interesting machine and you are certainly and as always doing it justice.

Keep up the good work

All the best

Chris

[Brandy]

10 hours ago, dogsbody said:

One question, if I may, Moa. How many small scale aircraft toilets have you made, so far, in your model building history?

 

 

Chris

A s**t load?

 

Ian

[Martian]

12 minutes ago, limeypilot said:

A s**t load?

 

Ian

Ah the great British toilet humour strike again!

7 hours ago, dogsbody said:

 

Like this?

 

 

 

Chris

Pretty much, only sideways.

 

Martian 👽

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The fit of the interior and fuselage sides is tested, fortunately no need to shave anything. Keen eyes may notice that the flat spine on the fuselage top runs all the way to the end of the corrugations, which is inaccurate, since that spine only run to meet the first pair of wing "V" struts; after that is normal corrugations:

 

So the aft part of that spine will have to be removed, and corrugations somehow restored using the same "corrugated" styrene sheet I employed to do the reverse side of the partitions that needed it.
 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The inaccurate sections are excised:

 

 

A new section is made with the "corrugated" styrene sheet, cut to size, and packed to reach proper thickness (the fuselage side are thicker than the styrene sheet):

 

The patch is divided in the middle and glued to either side:

 

 Here is the resulting correction:

 

Good news: since the fuselage sides are (of course) not mirrored, the two windows after the two small bullseyes correspond to the steward section and the bar, so the hatch on the opposite side on the cargo bay will not be the only view of that area, and more light will come to the interior:

 

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Doors, hatches and windows start to be cut out. I removed them without damaging them, but that is totally unnecessary, as all need replacement with finer parts (the kit's detail is either soft or blotchy):

 

There is one more luggage door to be removed (not marked in the kit), after the main body on the right fuselage side, but that was not present on all airframes, so I will wait a bit on that until I decide which specific registration I will be modeling:

 

Things start to get more interesting, as the effect of the work is tried out:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Now is the time to excise the whole window sections. These will be replaced as stated at the beginning of the build with clear strips that will eventually be masked, and then rimmed with vinyl "chrome" flanges. Pothoetched frames will do great here, but I do not practice that art:

 

Cutting out these sections will greatly debilitate the shell, so extra care must be exercised.
The shells will be now fragile and very flimsy, and extremely prone to crack at the least provocation, so this is no time for katana shenanigans alla Kill Bill:

 

All sections removed without accidents, fortunately:

[pheonix]

Some very delicate cutting there Moa. The interior details are also superb - pity more of them will not be seen on the completed model.

 

P

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

48 minutes ago, pheonix said:

Some very delicate cutting there Moa. The interior details are also superb - pity more of them will not be seen on the completed model.

 

P

Thanks, P.

You are right, but I will post the completed interior here, for the record, before I unite the fuselage components. 😉

Cheers

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The patch seems to work, but it highlighted the very poor kit's emergency hatch frame, which now I will have to replace too. Sigh...

And whatever is that little square bit after the hatch (also part of the inaccurate spine?) has no correlation in reality that I can tell:

 

 

[Tomoshenko]

On 4/6/2019 at 7:39 PM, Moa said:

To build a model of the H.P.42 with certain degree of detail and accuracy presents itself as an impossible modeling premise, so it has to be boarded with possible premises: what can you do today, with the material and information you have at hand.

Plausibility sir, and you're nailing it.Loving this build.