Two Sea Dragons: De Havilland D.H.89s converted from the 1/72nd scale Heller kit

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Building several models at the time has its joys: I just found exhausts that I should have added to completed projects. It's never too late!

 

Funnily enough, on one side of the wing, the bit that intends to represent the aileron linkages is misplaced by one bay:

 

They are removed from the wings of both models:

 

The linkages should align with the strut:

 

To add a bit of detail, the septum behind the engine nacelle front is carved a bit, and a cylinder glued:

 

This way we have the impression of something going on inside the nacelles:

 

[bigbadbadge]

Great work Moa, it's a bit odd the the aileron linkages are in different places ?

Keep up the good work

All the best

Chris

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

4 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said:

it's a bit odd the the aileron linkages are in different places ?

Thanks, Chris.

The same exact misplacement was found on Contrail's HP42 if memory serves.

In the Heller kit, it's in the right place under the left wing, and in the wrong place o under the right one.

Somebody at Heller was counting the rib bays wrongly

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

More plugging of unnecessarily large holes:

[bigbadbadge]

8 minutes ago, Moa said:

Thanks, Chris.

The same exact misplacement was found on Contrail's HP42 if memory serves.

In the Heller kit, it's in the right place under the left wing, and in the wrong place o under the right one.

Somebody at Heller was counting the rib bays wrongly

AHH, a Friday afternoon kit then !!!😀

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The Fairchild and EDO floats connect differently to nacelles and fuselage. The Uruguayan machine, that has EDO floats, needs a slot for the struts to anchor:

 

The Canadian plane, with Fairchild Canada floats, has two asymmetric anchoring points:

 

Both planes need a wind-driven generator in the upper left wing:

 

 

 

As a side note, you can see that unlike in the lower wing, the representation of the aileron linkage is where it should be for both sides.

 

[John Aero]

The aileron links are in line with the single strut because IIRC, the top and bottom aileron connecting link runs up through the strut fairing.

 

John

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

 

Well, I hit a snag. The Special Edition kit (white plastic) has some upgrade parts as I mentioned. I did not plan to use them. But when I tried to use the kit's canopy, I saw it was a short draw, and large area had a void:

 

I then resorted to the "upgrade" vacuum-formed part, but this was somewhat squashed:

 

Presenting a depression at the top and a very thin left corner:

 

 Once carefully cut and straightened, it was clear that this was obviously molded upon a kit's canopy and therefore was too big for the opening.
Now this presents and issue for which there is no easy solution.
The other upgrade parts (besides the nice and comprehensive decal sheet) you see in the bag are white metal nacelle fronts with a lip that some planes had, an instrument panel -superseded now by P.E. more recent offerings-, a green translucent film, a football antenna and some thin electrical cable:

 

That will teach me to check what I buy immediately after I bought it, and not stash it somewhere and retrieve it years later.

 

 

[Bengalensis]

That is one of the rules; always open and in detail examine every kit bought when received. It has saved me more than once. Of course only after some similar experience long ago... I hope you find a good solution.

[Courageous]

25 minutes ago, Bengalensis said:

find a good solution.

Is but an annoying setback, I'm pretty confident that our host will get out of this with little or no trouble.

 

Stuart

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

9 minutes ago, Courageous said:

Is but an annoying setback, I'm pretty confident that our host will get out of this with little or no trouble.

 

Stuart

Stuart, you undoubtedly are a half-model-built kind of man.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The fin leading edge extension needed for this version is dry-fitted:

[John Aero]

Grass hopper says "The vac canopy has a centre rib, can you not cut carefully along that line and "lose a bit"

 

john

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

5 hours ago, John Aero said:

Grass hopper says "The vac canopy has a centre rib, can you not cut carefully along that line and "lose a bit"

 

john

Dear Grasshopper, that's an idea that deserves a go, for which I thank you. May the crane of happiness fly over your mountain of abundance.

Will probably need support via a thin styrene rod from the interior (since the vac has very thin walls).

I was also thinking of grafting a section of it to the marred injected canopy area, but that missing corner in the injected part unfortunately coincides with the sort of crushed area of the vac. the "pinched" corner.

 

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

As I did with my previous builds of the Dragon, a new bottom and top will be provided for a more accurate look. Of the various approaches that I tried, the skin seems to be the more practical:

 

Dry-fit:

 

And again, of all the glues I tried doing this trick, thinly-laid 10-min epoxy worked the best, better than cyano glues and normal modeling cements.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The bottom skin and the engine nacelles are glued on:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The assembly of the second model follows in the steps of the first, ready now for the initial interior airbrushing session:

[Pritch]

Bit of a puzzle about the vacform canopy.

 

I've got the first version of that kit (UG2001) because I sort of drew the decals for it. (This is about 30 years ago.)

The canopy was done by Falcon, and was drawn into a female mould cast from the kit canopy. Without cutting assembling the kit or cutting out the vacform, they both seem to be the same roughly 15mm width.

I wonder what went wrong with yours (apart from both being munted).

 

I'd offer to send you what I've got, but the shipping might take about six months judging by my experiences in trying to order from overseas recently. (I'm exaggerating — the offer is open.)

 

Tony

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

11 hours ago, Pritch said:

Bit of a puzzle about the vacform canopy.

 

I've got the first version of that kit (UG2001) because I sort of drew the decals for it. (This is about 30 years ago.)

The canopy was done by Falcon, and was drawn into a female mould cast from the kit canopy. Without cutting assembling the kit or cutting out the vacform, they both seem to be the same roughly 15mm width.

I wonder what went wrong with yours (apart from both being munted).

 

I'd offer to send you what I've got, but the shipping might take about six months judging by my experiences in trying to order from overseas recently. (I'm exaggerating — the offer is open.)

 

Tony

You are very kind, Tony.

I will decline such generous offer for the same reason you mention. Regarding the state of the mail world-wide, I have now a pile of projects stopped halfway because this or that wouldn't arrive.

In fact I decided that for the time being, I will only build models for which I have all I need, no more buying and waiting and missing parcels and envelopes.

Regarding the injected and vac canopy differences (or not), I do appreciate the additional info you conveyed, but something then went wrong with my sample, because it's about 2 mm bigger:

 

And the injected canopy comfortably slides into the vac one.

As a side note, the original injected canopy is far better regarding definition, rigidity and sharpness, and, to my eyes, the same clarity as the vac one. The vac canopy has less distortion, but I can't see any relevant gain, and would happily use again (as I have done before) the kit's one.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

A bit of color:

 

Top wing on. In all the Dragons I have tamed, the upper wing is a not a good match to the fuselage top, but in this case as stated a skin will go over anyway:

 

Spreader bars are made from old Contrail stock (only a few short bits remain in my box, unfortunately).
It's important as you all well know that you get a nice basic alignment from all angles.
This planes had beaching wheels (4) according to photos, their axle locations have been already drilled in the floats:

 

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

 

Now the vacuum-formed floats for the other model. As it is known, female molds produce sharper corners, but these were molded with male molds, therefore there is a roundness to them.
A slot is cut at the step:

 

And tabs inserted, to be shaped later on:

 

A "V" strip will be used for the chines and deck edges. It will need sanding after set, and I am not sure it will work, we'll see.

Other times I just glued stretched sprue, spread a bit of putty, and sanded to shape, but I wanted now to try this, since the originals used a similar approach:

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

 

While I remembered, I drilled the location for the stem of the mass balance, and inserted it:

 

The beaching wheels in process, and the struts locating holes for the Norseman plugged-in.

New ones will be made for the design on the Dragon :

 

Water rudders for the Fairchild floats.
I have a number of photos of a museum example that has them -on a Fairchild Super 71-, and although they are a good general reference for details, the water rudders they have do not correspond with photos contemporary to the planes they were in. I followed period photos for mine.
Yet another example that shows how very careful you have to be taking notes from restored planes and museum examples:

 

 

[bigbadbadge]

More fantastic work Moa, great to see the wings on . What a shame about the canopy issues, although as you are a master modeller a solution will not be far away.  John's solution seems good, but would it help to have the side window for the cockpit rolled down?  

Keep up the great work

All the best

Chris

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

11 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

More fantastic work Moa, great to see the wings on . What a shame about the canopy issues, although as you are a master modeller a solution will not be far away.  John's solution seems good, but would it help to have the side window for the cockpit rolled down?  

Keep up the great work

All the best

Chris

Thanks, Chris.

The problem area in the injected canopy affects the upper corner to the left -as viewed from the pilot- and encompasses small areas on top and the side, so not possible to use your solution, but appreciate the input.

I don't think I want to use the vac canopy, the quality is poor, and it's a bit big and deformed, plus being flimsy and having thin walls, therefore making a not particularly effective contact area for gluing.

I think I will go for the grafting idea, removing two panes from the injected canopy and replacing them either with clear material or a section of the vac canopy.

I am waiting until I have the fuselage built to start trials, to get the right size.

Cheers

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Second model interior in progress: