TonyOD Posted August 31, 2020 Author Share Posted August 31, 2020 @CedB I finally got round to looking through few pages of your build over a coffee this morning Ced, it's really useful. That instrument panel looks fantastic, but sadly the Kuivilainen PE bit isn't to be had anywhere. I have the white metal i/p from the iffy Tasman kit. Otherwise there's also a Whirlybirds part out there that includes the i/p, the generator props and the trim wheel but the only place I can find it is Aviation Megastore in the Netherlands and their shipping costs are daft (buying it direct from the maker seems to be very difficult). There's a circular antenna thing in the kit that I won't be using for the build and i thought I might somehow be able to convert it into a trim wheel but it may be on the big side. I agree that the cabin floor did look a bit bendy (wouldn't have surprised me in the Tasman kit, but in the Airfix one it looked like a ski jump too) so I flattened it out with the aid of some hot water before extending it. the front end of mine is interior green while I ponder what colour(s) the ceiling, walls and floor of the cabin will be... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyOD Posted September 6, 2020 Author Share Posted September 6, 2020 (edited) Well, rate of progress has slowed to a glacial pace! While I was working from home and during the summer holiday (I work in a school) I was getting up early a few mornings a week and putting an hour or two in, but now it's business as usual (well, not really, but you know what I mean) I'm just doing little bits here and there in between all the other stuff I've got going on. Anyway, I've finished the forward bulkhead using two of the parts as supplied with the kit(s) plus bits swiped from other kits, random bits of plastic, fuse wire and bristles from a sweeping brush. For the cockpit side in the absence of photographs I've used the De Havilland promotional drawing as my cue, it depicts the bracing (which I've reproduced rather crudely but it's there at least), some kind of small cupboard and a small box of some kind with some interesting looking cabling or piping coming out of the bottom. My renditions are large and clunky but I'm fairly happy with the result at the scale (spare part from the dodgy Tasman kit shown too, that's what Heller came up with and it's not much; you can just about see the weird elongate box thing): Ye gods, close-up photography is brutal... For the cabin side, I've settled on an olive green for the cabin walls base on an assumption that they would be some kind of green, and in the pic of the RAF air ambulance it looks darker that interior green and about the same tone as the gentleman's uniform. In the Pathe video we get a good look at the radio which probably somewhat resembled the one on board Merlin V, too good if anything as I haven't a hope of scratchbuilding that accurately, but I've at least got the impression of a radio in there! Possibly black isn't the right colour for the radio, but here's what I've got. Don't ask me what the red and white bit is all about, I just thought it would add a bit of interest. (You can't really see the three ejector pin marks on the white plastic): Reminder to self: this will be almost completely hidden when the fuselage is eventually closed up. Onward to the chairs, which I might get done before I put this aside to get involved in a couple of GBs! Thanks for looking. Edited September 6, 2020 by TonyOD 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 Nice work Tony 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 Looking great Tony cracking work fella. What GBs are you going to do? Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyOD Posted September 6, 2020 Author Share Posted September 6, 2020 14 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said: Looking great Tony cracking work fella. What GBs are you going to do? Chris MTO IIII and Heller Classic with a Hellcat and a Corsair respectively. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 Very nice indeed Tony, good luck with your GBs Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 Looks splendid. In the tradition of detail that you will never see again, mind you Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andwil Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 Nice detailing, even if it can’t be seen you will have the satisfaction of knowing that it’s there. AW 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyOD Posted September 11, 2020 Author Share Posted September 11, 2020 Going a little bit cross-eyed here... 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted September 12, 2020 Share Posted September 12, 2020 Oh wow they look wonderful Tony, fantastic stuff. Is it just one more and then the stretchers? Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted September 12, 2020 Share Posted September 12, 2020 Very nice chairs. Seeing the big round metal thing reminds me that I haven’t touched a coin for six moths now! Regards, Adrian 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyOD Posted September 12, 2020 Author Share Posted September 12, 2020 (edited) I've just about gone blind doing these chairs, thankfully I'm not doing the passenger version with eight of the little sods. The Dragon Rapide passenger chair is a lovely looking thing, very stylish with a strong art deco vibe to it. The frame is quite complex! Obviously I haven't a prayer of reproducing this in 1/72 but I thought I'd try to at least capturing the spirit of it. The kit supplies eight of these little fellas. They're quite crude, but to be fair they capture the overall dimensions of the "tripod" chair reasonably well for the scale. Obviously the legs are far too thick but it has a crack at the "envelope" feature on the back. The back of the actual chair is actually rather more pointy and if I'd been paying more attention I might have sanded them back, but no matter (because I won't be able to see them!) With a bit of careful drilling and dremelling I was able to open up the sides of the arms then I whipped the legs off and had a go at representing the frame using fuse wire, bits of nylon bristle nabbed from a sweeping brush and CA glue. It was very, very fiddly and took hours. You can get the idea of the size from my fingerprint on the blu-tac! 😁 One of the front legs is longer to give me something to handle them with when I'm painting them, and when they go on the cabin floor I'll drill a couple of holes and anchor them safely using this leg. Going to get them painted up and finish the pilot's seat (not quite as fiddly but getting there) and then get stuck into a group build! 2 hours ago, bigbadbadge said: Is it just one more and then the stretchers? The jury's out on that, I'm leaning toward the idea that the third chair would have been some kind of foldaway. I don't think the cabin would have accommodated two stretchers end to end and three permanent chairs. Thanks for looking in... Edited September 12, 2020 by TonyOD 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted September 12, 2020 Share Posted September 12, 2020 Great fiddly work Tony Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyOD Posted September 12, 2020 Author Share Posted September 12, 2020 The steering column isn’t up to much, just one rather crude post, in real life it’s made up of three columns so I scratch built one out of more bits of sweeping brush. This is getting out of hand. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andwil Posted September 12, 2020 Share Posted September 12, 2020 Nice work on the seats and control column. Good idea with the one long chair leg for handling etc. AW 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis95 Posted September 13, 2020 Share Posted September 13, 2020 Gorgeous details here buddy. Why don't you build it with a cutaway? A modelling magazine this month (Im curled up to sleep so I can't find it right now) did a beautiful piece featuring a Supermarine Walrus with a cutaway. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyOD Posted September 13, 2020 Author Share Posted September 13, 2020 6 hours ago, Lewis95 said: Why don't you build it with a cutaway? It’s a thought... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted September 13, 2020 Share Posted September 13, 2020 Great job on the column Tony. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellsprop Posted September 13, 2020 Share Posted September 13, 2020 Great work! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyOD Posted September 14, 2020 Author Share Posted September 14, 2020 (edited) Got a pilot's seat. Like the rear of the cockpit, it's actually quite difficult turn up pics of the pilot's seat on t'net. There are plenty over-the-pilot's-shoulder amateur videos made during pleasure flights which confirm that ordinarily there are no shoulder straps to the harness, and a hint of a black side rail. A common feature is the recess in the base part, presumably to accommodate the steering column when it's pulled back. Other than that, guesswork: well, I took as my cue the seat as supplied in the very lovely, very desirable and very expensive 1/32 Lukgraph kit, which depicts the seat as having a base frame, as opposed to the solid base as presented by the Heller moulding: This white plastic is from the dodgy Tasman kit, it's much harder than the grey stuff in the Airfix boxing which makes it more difficult to work with but also more forgiving. Anyway, like the cabin chairs it more-or-less captures the proportions of the real thing at 1/72 scale, but it's a bit lifeless. In fact it calls to mind a TV ad of my youth, which might ring a bell with fellow modellers d'un certain âge, although this might be a north of England thing! (the old dear from the ad actually turned up at my Scout group jumble sale, it was like having a bona fide celebrity in the house!) Shackletons high seat chair. It's lovely! Anyway, with much faffage this is what I've come up with. Drilling, dremelling, fettling, lap belt from bits of Tamiya tape and side rails from more bits of sweeping brush. The white bit on top is just a reflection from a bit of touch-up paint that's still wet. The hand drawn lines on the cushions look horribly clumsy close up but to the naked eye it doesn't look too shabby. Thanks for looking! Edited September 14, 2020 by TonyOD 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 Great work Tony you look to have captured the seat pretty well fella. I think the ad may well be a North of England thing or I could be too young though to remember!!!😉 Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyOD Posted September 14, 2020 Author Share Posted September 14, 2020 (edited) 8 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said: I think the ad may well be a North of England thing or I could be too young though to remember!!! Early 80s, and I'm a Bradford lad. Years later Shackletons was a big customer of a company I worked for. We supplied them with, ahem, waterproof upholstery fabric. I'll let you work it out... Edited September 14, 2020 by TonyOD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andwil Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 Great work on the seats. AW 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForestFan Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 Great back story and great modelling. Look forward to seeing this progress 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyOD Posted September 15, 2020 Author Share Posted September 15, 2020 (edited) I think I might have got to the bottom of why the cabin floor is so bendy, @CedB: I came across these Dragon Rapide plans which clearly show a very curved cabin floor (dipping in the middle, as in the kit) as well as the stepped rear bulkhead, which as far as I can see isn't a feature of actual DR's, and also features in the Heller moulding. NB these aren't plans for the aircraft, but a model of the aircraft, and date from 1968. The Heller kit was issued in 1979, according to Scalemates. Could it be that Heller used these plans as the basis for their mould? As I've said I haven't been on a DR but would one climb on board and find such a pronounced dip in the cabin floor (the drawing suggests platforms under each seat to level it out, but in the cabin interior shot above the floor looks perfectly flat and level). Anyone got experienced to the contrary? (see also: stepped bulkhead, also not evident in the interior shot.) Anyways, my cabin floor has been flattened. Edited September 15, 2020 by TonyOD 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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