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DH89 Dragon Rapide - Finished


825

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The fuselage front filled, filed, sanded and polished. Looking a lot better, we'll see how it looks under some paint soon. I've also test fitted the wings and a bit of fettling was needed. 

 

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I've also masked the outer wings for some white undercoat before adding the signal red. The red will take a few coats but a white undercoat will reduce the number. Also started to get some paint as undercoating on the fuselage. 

 

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The red paint on the wings pretty well done and the fuselage undercoated. Getting the window masks out once the wings are on, never mind tidying up any paint in the wrong place would be really challenging. So best to do first. I have test fitted the wings and they're pretty good. 

 

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I've also added some layers of plastic strip on the nose to even the sides up. 

 

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A significant improvement but I've lost the control column along the way. I'll see if I can find a replacement in amongst my spares. 

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Silver and red! Looks good.

 

I still get flashbacks to painting the Airfix Grumman Duck when I was a nipper... That was long ago - BT (Before Tape). Translucent Red over silver reminded me strongly of Quality Street wrappers (was it the strawberry one?).

 

Regards,

Adrian

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Masking off the wings and looking good. Also a couple of coats of Aluminium on the fuselage. 

 

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Masking off windows and upper wing and empanage on. There will be some tidying up of the wing/fuselage joint but I'll wait till the lower wing is on and everything is stabilised up. 

 

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The Thunderbird masks are awkward to use as they're not flexible but they do the job. 

 

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On 11/22/2020 at 1:45 PM, 825 said:

Masking off windows and upper wing and empanage on. There will be some tidying up of the wing/fuselage joint but I'll wait till the lower wing is on and everything is stabilised up. 

 

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The Thunderbird masks are awkward to use as they're not flexible but they do the job. 

 

 

So who spotted the not so deliberate mistake? I can't believe I put the upper wing on back to front. Rectified now after an embarrassing oath. 

 

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Before putting the lower wing on I checked the struts and one is short shot so I'll have to replace it. 

 

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Lower wing on and this side looks fine, although a little bit of tidying up needed. 

 

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However, all three struts on the other side snapped at the same time when fettling the outer strut into position. As well as spoiling my paintwork. 

 

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I've retrieved enough bits from the carpet monster to reconstruct two but the other will need to be fabricated. And the short shot strut's twin snapped as well. The struts are quite brittle and for some reason are not very susceptible to the glue, unlike my previous experience of the kit. 

 

Anyway persevered and added the engine/undercarriage assemblies which went on not too badly. I'm waiting for my two strut repairs to firm up before tidying them and adding them to the wing. I'll also leave off attacking it with the filler until it's all firmed up. The outer strut isn't really squint it must be to do with the perspective. 

 

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I think at this at this point it's Heller's Dragon Rapide - 1,  825 - 2. Hopefully it will end in a victory for me but this kit is fighting me all the way. And I've still the rigging to try. 

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On 11/24/2020 at 12:17 PM, 825 said:

Before putting the lower wing on I checked the struts and one is short shot so I'll have to replace it. 

 

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Lower wing on and this side looks fine, although a little bit of tidying up needed. 

 

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However, all three struts on the other side snapped at the same time when fettling the outer strut into position. As well as spoiling my paintwork. 

 

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I've retrieved enough bits from the carpet monster to reconstruct two but the other will need to be fabricated. And the short shot strut's twin snapped as well. The struts are quite brittle and for some reason are not very susceptible to the glue, unlike my previous experience of the kit. 

 

Anyway persevered and added the engine/undercarriage assemblies which went on not too badly. I'm waiting for my two strut repairs to firm up before tidying them and adding them to the wing. I'll also leave off attacking it with the filler until it's all firmed up. The outer strut isn't really squint it must be to do with the perspective. 

 

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I think at this at this point it's Heller's Dragon Rapide - 1,  825 - 2. Hopefully it will end in a victory for me but this kit is fighting me all the way. And I've still the rigging to try. 

Looking good!. I followed the instructions and did the rigging and the wing assembly at the same time. It was no fun at all.

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Moving on, struts repaired/replaced and gaps filled. 

 

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And a new control column fashioned. The support is an undercarriage leg from an Airfix thats been slimmed down, and left a bit long which will be trimmed down. The wheel is a resin part left over from an Azur Maryland build. 

 

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Some more paint on. Will need a couple more coats and then we'll be ready for the transfers. 

 

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On 11/29/2020 at 7:32 PM, JeroenS said:

Good to see you came out on top with this one. I can imagine these struts being a real pain. 

Actually the struts were the too bad on their own, in fact the fit is fine. The problem is that they're a bit fragile and for some reason when I was doing the final fit of the upper wing everything slipped and the starboard struts flew off into the wide yonder and the two substantial ones broke. 

 

Anyway thats been fixed now. I've spent a fair amount of time over the past few days filling and sanding, then painting the resulting area. Then seeing some flaws and repeating. Aluminium paint, even when brushed is a tad unforgiving. I've got to the point when the remaining masking has been done and we're ready for the (hopefully) final painting session. 

 

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Red paint finished and masking off. Now to get the last few bits on and the transfers on. I'm still concerned about the nose shape and the big landing light but we'll see how that goes in a while. 

 

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Hi,

 

I think your work on this kit is excellent.  As you say, silver finishes are unforgiving, but I all the filling and sanding is going to be worth it.  Going to be a real looker, I reckon!

 

Rgds

 

Martin

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On 12/6/2020 at 9:57 AM, mike romeo said:

Hi,

 

I think your work on this kit is excellent.  As you say, silver finishes are unforgiving, but I all the filling and sanding is going to be worth it.  Going to be a real looker, I reckon!

 

Rgds

 

Martin

Thank s Martin. 

 

On 12/6/2020 at 10:06 PM, JOCKNEY said:

Looks really sharp @825 such an elegant aircraft. 

 

Cheers Pat 

We're getting there Pat and it is a pretty aircraft. 

 

A fair bit bit of works been done. Some transfers on, the canopy painted and unmasked, the nose light on and the exhausts added. There's some tidying to do then I'll have a go at the rigging. 

 

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This is finished apart from rigging, which I'll leave until I get a bit of time, and I've taken my bravery pills. Looks good but not quite perfect. But too be honest I've spent enough time on it already. Not been the easiest or most straightforward of builds. 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I thought I'd start the rigging with the tail supports as I thought it would be easier o start rather than the SBS etch rigging. But I was wrong. The stretch thread I spent ages looking for in millinery shops was too thick and tended to fray, and when stretched didn't stretch evenly.  So back to the drawing board on that. 

 

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I have used my thinnest Slaters rod painted steel and although it looked good before fitting it looks a bit too thick, especially after rigging part 2 (see below). And the predrilled holes are in different places on the opposite sides of the fuselage. The kit's asymmetry gets me again. 

 

Anyway I took @Heather Kay's advice and just got stuck in with the SBS etch and although it wasn't all straight sailing, there were few oaths and in the end most is on and looks pretty good. I'll have to rethink the tail as it definitely needs a very fine wire for the rigging. And I do have a plan. 

 

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I also wasnt satisfied with the nose and have done some work tidying it up. I might replace the upper wing roundels as well. 

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On 12/23/2020 at 3:58 AM, Greg Law said:

After all the effect it is coming up very well. I admire your perseverance. 👍

Thanks Greg, it's not been an easy build. However, it's now finished, although I'm not 100% happy with the tailplane rigging. I use daily extremely thin wire which insisted on bending at every turn even when stretched through the holes and fixed with cyano.  after everything it will do. 

 

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And now to take some photos for the gallery. 

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