1/72 DH Hornet Build - warts & all!

[mike romeo]

Hi folks,

 

Thought I'd show you some progress on the Hornet.  I made good the fuse joints with milliput, then added fin and cannon tray.  These were treated with an application of correction fluid to blend them in.

 

 

 

We'll see how these look under a coat of primer in due course.

 

I assembled the wheel halves:

 

 

These looked really rough, but cleaned up ok.  The join will need work, but I like the hub detail.

I then attached the side walls to the gear bays and faired them in with filler.  Note that AZ tell you that the inner and outer walls are identical (or at least they have the same part number).  However, the inboard wall is deeper than the outer and thus were they applied.  After the filler was sanded smooth, I added the leading edge radiators and gave the bays a scoosh of Humbrol polished Al from a rattle can.

 

 

The wing halves will be joined tonight.  The fit looks pretty good, but we'll see.

 

I also removed the prop / spinner pieces from the sprues and cleaned them up.  They are dry fitted here.

 

 

The fit doesn't look stellar in the pic, and this is after some work to trim the web of plastic holding the blades so the spinner could close over it, and also gently enlarging the blade holes with a small round file.  However, a little pressure does allow a gap- and ridge-free join between the spinner and back plate.  I will probably do a bit more careful work here, as Hornet spinners are very elegant, and need to fit well.

 

I'll keep posting progress pics, but don't expect rapid updates as the Hornet has to compete for space on the modelling table at the moment!

 

 

Rgds

 

Martin

[alt-92]

Might I suggest a proper WIP thread in the appropriate forum?  
A reference here to the thread is no problem at all, of course.

[mike romeo]

21 minutes ago, alt-92 said:

Might I suggest a proper WIP thread in the appropriate forum?  
A reference here to the thread is no problem at all, of course.

Can do.  Was posting having asked if people would be interested in seeing progress here and the answers I got appeared positive.  If that is not what people want here, I will of course desist.

 

Rgds

 

Martin

 

[alt-92]

It's not that I mind myself, just that the potential is there to 'inspire' others which might make the modforce slightly unhappy

 

[Enzo the Magnificent]

7 minutes ago, alt-92 said:

It's not that I mind myself, just that the potential is there to 'inspire' others which might make the modforce slightly unhappy

 

It might turn into an unofficial Hornet STGB...    

[mike romeo]

Wings joined.  Turned out rather well, all things considered.  Offered them up to the fuselage and . . .

 

Did @Thomas V. mention excessive dihedral a la Special Hobby kit?  Yep?

He was right!  Oh well, a-shimming we will go.

 

Rgds

 

Martin

[mike romeo]

10 hours ago, Patrik said:

Have a look here https://www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=95280&start=27075 page 1806, the photographic part.

 

Yes, it is in Czech. Yes, I agree, some people posting there are not exactly fans of AZ/KP. However, the photos show rather surprising (or even bewildering) similarity between the parts of "old SH" and "new AZ". I do not have any of the kits in hands, so I am not passing judgment myself. But I guess that some you, in possession of both, could possibly compare the parts and share their findings with the community here.

I make no assertions, but would share some observations on similarities and differences btwn SH and AZ.

 

[Edit for context:  I built the SH kit; twice in fact,  A miserable introduction to limited run kits given the accuracy problems.

 

I am now building the AZ F.1.  The wings are shimmed and should be joined to the fuse today.]

 

As Thomas V has intimated, the AZ shares the *very* excessive dihedral with the SH kit.  This would be a very strange error to come up with independently, imho.

 

 Wing undersides, cowlings, u/c bays and u/c gear themselves are all new, as is fuselage shape around windscreen / canopy, and canopy itself.  

 

Tailplanes now sit so the elevator hinge line is at 90° to the fuse centre line.

 

Also, all detail is now in plastic instead of resin.

 

Rgds

 

Martin

[mike romeo]

Shimmy goodness:

 

 

 

Rgds

 

Martin

 

[mike romeo]

And the results?

 

 

 

Rgds

 

Martin

[gunzo]

Martin

 

If my reading of form from photos is correct, the nacelles forward of the leading adge are parallel in plan to the front of engine camshaft boxes/ first exhaust stub  and then gently curve into an elipse around the spinner tip. It is the beginning of that elipse the kit makers seem to get wrong and end up with too small diameter and foreshortened spinners. The general shape issues of the Frog do not necessarily mean they got this wrong (I've just ordered one to check this out). Hopefully EZ got it right?

 

Les

[mike romeo]

1 hour ago, gunzo said:

Martin

 

If my reading of form from photos is correct, the nacelles forward of the leading adge are parallel in plan to the front of engine camshaft boxes/ first exhaust stub  and then gently curve into an elipse around the spinner tip. It is the beginning of that elipse the kit makers seem to get wrong and end up with too small diameter and foreshortened spinners. The general shape issues of the Frog do not necessarily mean they got this wrong (I've just ordered one to check this out). Hopefully EZ got it right?

 

Les

Well, there's good news . . .

 

The spinners fit the nacelles.  Yay!

 

 

And the bad?  Well, would the nacelles fit a Merlin?  I'm guessing, nope!

 

 

If the nacelles are meant to be parallel until the front of the engines, then they ain't.  That, combined with a suspiciously upswept lower profile,  probably means undersized spinners (sigh).

 

Rgds

 

Martin

[gunzo]

B----gg  rrr

[mike romeo]

36 minutes ago, gunzo said:

B----gg  rrr

Quite!

[Work In Progress]

12 hours ago, gunzo said:

If my reading of form from photos is correct, the nacelles forward of the leading adge are parallel in plan to the front of engine camshaft boxes/ first exhaust stub  and then gently curve into an elipse around the spinner tip.

I disagree with your assessment that the nacelles forward of the leading edge are parallel-sided. The outer tips of the exhaust stubs form parallel lines, the sides of the cowlings taper towards the front. It may be that the taper on the kit is excessive, but there should be taper.

Note that I am not making a judgment one way or the other on the spinner diameter: that is simply a question of linear measurement which I hope we should be able to bottom out authoritatively and objectively in due course.

 

Edited October 4, 2020 by Work In Progress

[gunzo]

Sorry, but I think you are being misled by the slight angle of the shot and the obvious tapers on the round out below the exhaust stubs- and I think you are falling into a common visual trap that has perhaps been the main source of the issue. You need to refer to images  around the stub outlets.

 

Les

[gunzo]

I do not have facilities to post images her, but the rear cover shot  of 'DH Hornet & Sea Hornet' showing PX351 will amply demonstrate what I am getting at.

 

Les

[gunzo]

Ref spinner diameter, extrapolated from  drawings presented during David Collins' CF NF21 build, for 1/48 @15.7mm and for 1/72 @ 10.5mm.

 

Les

[mike romeo]

1 hour ago, gunzo said:

Ref spinner diameter, extrapolated from  drawings presented during David Collins' CF NF21 build, for 1/48 @15.7mm and for 1/72 @ 10.5mm.

 

Les

By my - admittedly imprecise- measurement, the diameter of the spinner backplate is  'somewhat over' 9mm.  Between 9 and 9.5mm, certainly.

 

So, glass half full, it's 'only a mm or so'; glass half empty, as G Boak, Esq, may remind us, that's over 10% undersized.  Probs well noticeable to the naked eye. 

 

Well, what view you take on the subject is up to you.  At the moment, I'm more worried about how to get the nacelles attached neatly and in the correct orientation to the wings.

 

Rgds,

 

Martin

[gunzo]

 

On 10/4/2020 at 8:06 AM, Work In Progress said:

which I hope we should be able to bottom out authoritatively and objectively in due course.

Checking through some old e-mails, David Collins informed me the spinner diameter was 32" (@ 11.3 mm in 1/72) so my drawings extrapolations were somewhat under. My AZ has arrived and the spinner mics out at 9.1mm, a whole 2.2mm shy and that makes for quite a bit of visual difference (and space for a merlin). Frog original is on its way so shall shortly be able to contrast and compare.

 

Les

[Work In Progress]

3 minutes ago, gunzo said:

the spinner diameter was 32" (@ 11.3 mm in 1/72) so my drawings extrapolations were somewhat under. My AZ has arrived and the spinner mics out at 9.1mm, a whole 2.2mm shy

That is a pretty massive difference, 20% under diameter. Not great.

[mike romeo]

8 hours ago, Work In Progress said:

That is a pretty massive difference, 20% under diameter. Not great.

Indeed.  They went to the trouble of getting the nose and canopy right, but . . .

 

Rgds

 

Martin

[Seahawk]

11 hours ago, gunzo said:

 

David Collins informed me the spinner diameter was 32" (@ 11.3 mm in 1/72) so my drawings extrapolations were somewhat under. My AZ has arrived and the spinner mics out at 9.1mm, a whole 2.2mm shy and that makes for quite a bit of visual difference (and space for a merlin).

Strewth!

 

I shall continue watching this thread with interest to see what the final result looks like but nothing I have seen or read so far is inspiring me to reach for the credit card.

[alt-92]

Would the spinner from a Tamiya Mossie work? In that case, making a casting copy might be a way to go.

[gunzo]

 

17 minutes ago, alt-92 said:

Would the spinner from a Tamiya Mossie work?

I did once check out a 4 blade Sea Mosquito prop for the CA Hornet and it was entirely the wrong size and shape- I ended up turning my own. FWIW the front spinner of the 1/72 Trumpeter Wyvern is close to the right diameter and might make a better starting point.

 

les

16 minutes ago, alt-92 said:

 

 

[gunzo]

Info from David Collins;

 

Frog Hornet spinner diameter 10.7mm

 

Special Hobby Hornet spinner diameter 9.3mm

 

So, within short run moulding margins the SH is similar the EZ whilst the Frog appears to be only a couple of generous primer coats away from spot-on (diameter that is- havn't yet got mine to check shape)

 

To my eye the EZ top cowling line looks OK and I would fit larger spinners by lowering the prop shaft and thereby reduce the excessive 'chin' noted earlier by MikeRomeo.

 

Les