Zorn’s Flying boat - Farman HF23

[Torbjorn]

 

 

 

I struggle to translate the name of the painting - that calmning little sloshing sound made by small waves lazily splashing against a jetty, oars or the side of a motionless rowboat. The reason it’s here is because it was made by one of favourite painters, Anders Zorn, and has at least some non-flying boats - I found no Zorn with airplanes. He is maybe more famous for painting ladies with less clothes on, but they would probably break some forum rule. He is definitely less famous for the connection with the subject of this thread:

 

In the early days of flight, the Swedish government was reluctant to divert funds towards developing military air capacity. Less so the populace at large: several fundraisers were arranged, and airplanes were bought from various sources and donated to the army or navy, each having their own budding little air force. More wealthy individuals bought a whole plane on their own. One example was the brewer Otto-Emil Neumüller who gifted a locally produced Bleriot XI on the condition that the navy arranged flying lessons for his daughter-in-law’s brother and that his own son promised NOT to do any flying - that Bleriot became the navy’s first airplane. 

 

Back to Anders Zorn: he earned well on his art  - and married a wealthy merchant’s daughter as well - and in 1914/1915 he donated not one, but two airplanes, one to the navy and one to the army. They were two Farman HF23, license-built by railcar manufacturer Södertelge Workshops, who called the type SW 11 - rather smugly, considering they appear to be identical to the originals. SW would later produce their own designs, but that’s another and rather failed story.  

 

I shall be building Flying boat number VI, the Farman Zorn donated to the navy. I have not found any photos confirmed as Zorn’s plane but here is one of her or one of her sisters in full gala uniform:

 

 

 

And before anyone says, ”actually, that’s not a flying boa...” I shall save you the embarrasment of being wrong: in typical flawless military logic, the navy operated boats, and therefore their flying machines were flying boats, no matter if they were fitted with floats, skis or wheels.

 

The model will be built from sheet and strip styrene, scrap metal and strings. I’ve already capitulated regarding the rotary engine: it will be be sourced. I’m armed with plenty of photographs, Kronmärkt by the Leifs Hellström and Fredin and Svenska Vingar by flying journalist Torsten Gullberg, who took his flight certificate in 1917 and documented the baby years of aviation from close range - and some drawings google came up with, which seem to fit the Swedish Farmans very well.

[Mjwomack]

It's more than a model-- it's a complete education, and with art thrown in! I'm sure I've learnt more on Britmodeller than I ever did in school and formal education

[pheonix]

Oh yes I am in on this one. A true aeroplane - ie a pusher biplane. I do not mind that it is a flying boat on floats - just waiting to see this one come together, especially another scratch build.

 

P

[AdrianMF]

Looking forward to this one!

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Ray S]

This looks very interesting, and what a shiny finish it looks like on the wings too!

 

Cheers, Ray

[Torbjorn]

Have spent a few days looking at photos and pondering how to build all the parts. Some question marks still stand.

 

 

Started with the slippers, as they were called, they were relatively simple affairs. Built them up simply, left to cover the under- and upper sides.

 

 

Also started with the fuselage. Decided on a relatively robust false floor (in reality it was mostly cloth and the aft section had no floor all). I will cut away the aft part of the floor piece. The sides will be made from a single piece of bent 5 thou sheet. The frame work was a combo of wooden frames and tubular metal, which I built with strip and copper wire by glueing it directly to the covering. It’s the first time I make a fuselage this way. Great care must be taken so the frames all end up symmetrically, but I think it’ll end up allright.

 

The top coaming was plunge moulded - not sure yet if my first attempt will fit at all, I will now paint what I’ve got and assemble before starting to make the furniture populating it. As common with these times the cockpit is relatively empty: a few dials, the stick, throttle and maybe a hand pump or fuel/oil level.

 

Here’s where the fuselage is so far, including the material used:

 

On 4/17/2021 at 11:29 AM, Ray S said:

This looks very interesting, and what a shiny finish it looks like on the wings too!

 

Cheers, Ray

 

 

Afraid mine won’t be as flashy as the fair display. I’m actually not sure exactly how.

 

When the war started down on the continent, the Swedes started using national markings. Almost everything aircraft-related in Sweden at that time ultimatelt came from France, and that is where they turned for inspiration for the markings. Blue-yellow cockades in French fashion were painted on the undersides of the wings (exactly which wings varied from plane to plane) and a naval ensign on the rudder, ”as large as possible”.  The cockades were shortlived. It turned out the roundels were difficult to spot from a distance, and reports from the war of the German black crosses on white background being highly visible led to the introduction of black three crowns on a white background in September 1915. Fb IV lasted until October 1916 when it crashed and was written off, so it was painted in either style at some points.

 

My machine won’t have any crowns though, I decided on the early look: 

 

 

The colours are an open question. Kronmärkt has them in light or greyish blue all over, while others suggest CDL for the wings and rudder. In the photo above the floats can certainly be blue (compare with the cockades and flag - the outer color is medium blue), but I’m wondering about the rest. The cockpit inside colours are completely unknown.

 

Another questionmark is the engine. According to internet lore, SW-built Farmans used Thulin A engines  - reverse-engineered Le Rhone built without license - but they were still in the future when my Farman was built in the winter 1914/1915. Although all Farmans seems to have been retro-fittet with Thulin A engines at some point, that would still likely not have happened when the plane still carried roundels. Engines were a great trouble for the budding Swedish aircraft industry and I haven’t figured out where SW got theirs. I’ll likely go for a Gnome Lambda (the display craft in the opening post seems to have one of those).

 

Edited April 21, 2021 by Torbjorn

[pheonix]

Good to see that you have started on this. What scale is it? It looks like the True Scale but could also be 1/48.

 

If it would be of any help I scratch built an MF 7 Longhorn in the True Scale and the build log is at:

 

https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=4228.0

 

I know that the MF 7 was not the same as the HF 23 but there were many similarities.

 

P

[Torbjorn]

1 hour ago, pheonix said:

Good to see that you have started on this. What scale is it? It looks like the True Scale but could also be 1/48.

 

If it would be of any help I scratch built an MF 7 Longhorn in the True Scale and the build log is at:

 

https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=4228.0

 

I know that the MF 7 was not the same as the HF 23 but there were many similarities.

 

P

It’s indeed 1/72. I sometimes regret not going into 1/48 but I’m stuck now.

 

Thanks for the link - a lovely model! I have started reading the log, and anything helps. I’m glad to see a simple jig helped to get the booms straight, and this one should be even simpler since they meet at the centreline. 

[pheonix]

I had not seen that the booms join on the centre line! In which case you might be interested in another of my builds where the booms also meet at the centre line. It shows how I mounted the upper wing, booms and rudder to ensure that everything lined up properly. Try this link: https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=6328.60

 

I have used this method, (and variations on it), for a number of scratch builds - I do have form when it comes to scratch building/converting pusher aircraft models. If you look on that site's scratch build index you will see several of my build threads there.

 

P

[Torbjorn]

Thanks pheonix, I shall have a look. Still contemplating what material to use, but booms of soldered metal for rigidity and to keep the shape while adding plastic struts and wires seems like the best option.

[stevehed]

I have never soldered but can see that a more rigid joint would be the outcome. But to suggest an alternative in case of problems I have used brass horizontal booms with Contrail struts as the uprights. CA gel proved more than adequate at the joints and the plastic card elevators were secured to the metal booms by the same glue. My builds are all 1/72 and this method was used on small fry like the FE8 and a large three engined whif that was built from a Vickers Vimy fuselage and HP 0/400 wings with brass and plastic booms. Must be six or seven years since construction and they are both in one piece. HTH

[Torbjorn]

On 4/23/2021 at 2:47 PM, stevehed said:

I have never soldered but can see that a more rigid joint would be the outcome. But to suggest an alternative in case of problems I have used brass horizontal booms with Contrail struts as the uprights. CA gel proved more than adequate at the joints and the plastic card elevators were secured to the metal booms by the same glue. My builds are all 1/72 and this method was used on small fry like the FE8 and a large three engined whif that was built from a Vickers Vimy fuselage and HP 0/400 wings with brass and plastic booms. Must be six or seven years since construction and they are both in one piece. HTH

 

 

Yes, I will do something similar. I only plan to solder the upper and lower V:s together, plus some anchor points for the plastic struts/rigging. I may utterly fail and resort to CA. I also noticed I have no brass of suitable diameter. The copper wire I have is too soft, so I will have to order some brass rod or tube, which typically come hardened. I think 0.6 or 0.7 mm should be suitable.

 

I also placed an order for a few smallstuffmodels engines.

 

The delivery time will cause a delay, but I have little time available for playing anyway.

 

—

For actual modelling there has been precious little progress. I put some paint and wiring in the cockpit and added chairs from aluminium sheet. Colours are completely unknown, so I made the floor and cloth-covered aft section in CDL and the rest in blue-grey to add some visual interest in variation. The outside will have the same blue - or a lighter/bluer version, haven’t decided yet.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 26, 2021 by Torbjorn

[AdrianMF]

A nice start! If you are going to be having metal booms, you might want to think about filling the fronts of the floats with weight (however paradoxical that sounds) to stop it "tail sitting"? On the topic of brass tubing, I am a great fan of the Albion Alloys slide-fit brass tubing sets.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Torbjorn]

1 hour ago, AdrianMF said:

A nice start! If you are going to be having metal booms, you might want to think about filling the fronts of the floats with weight (however paradoxical that sounds) to stop it "tail sitting"? On the topic of brass tubing, I am a great fan of the Albion Alloys slide-fit brass tubing sets.

 

Regards,

Adrian

 

Yes, I think I shall do that - I still haven’t closed the floats and there is room for plenty of weight.

 

I do have a set of two of those slide-fit tubes, but not enough. My only issues are that the AA brass is expensive in quantities and I’m a cheapskate   

Edited April 26, 2021 by Torbjorn

[pheonix]

I too recommend Albion Alloys brass rod - it is very good and not too expensive. (I am a cheapskate too - have to be on a limited income!).

 

P

[Marklo]

As another cheapskate you can get 1mm steel rod in florists for a lot less than the price of brass. In fact the last time I went in to buy some I actually got it for nothing. 
  
Granted it’s not as versatile as brass but for pins and struts etc it works just as well.

 

And yes I do have a stock of Albion tube and rod but i try to use it only where I have to. 

Edited April 27, 2021 by Marklo

[trickyrich]

I love what you have done so far.

[Torbjorn]

On 4/27/2021 at 7:22 PM, Marklo said:

As another cheapskate you can get 1mm steel rod in florists for a lot less than the price of brass. In fact the last time I went in to buy some I actually got it for nothing. 
  
Granted it’s not as versatile as brass but for pins and struts etc it works just as well.

 

And yes I do have a stock of Albion tube and rod but i try to use it only where I have to. 

 

 

Not a bad idea. And I do have some piano wire somewhere - if only I could find it.

 

Past weeks saw very little modelling time. Continued on the nacelle. Here’s a very fine photo of a Swedish Farman during maintenance, and even though I don’t know whether it’s a French or Swedish-built machine I’m using this to replicate several features. 

 

 

 

The back-plate holding the engine needs to be thin but sturdy, so I made it out of brass. This image shows how (the right lightening hole is being filed and the top strip bent into place and soldered: 

 

 

 

Finished and tested for fit:

 

 

 

Added top cover, windshield (leftover PE from a Nieuport kit), throttle, stick, tanks, the stationary parts of the engine (from styrene and wires and tubes) and called it finished:

 

 

And the chairs:

 

 

The engine is in transit, but I will bow shift focus to the flying surfaces.

Edited May 9, 2021 by Torbjorn

[pheonix]

There are some complex structures in there - master modelling in action.

 

P

[Torbjorn]

16 hours ago, pheonix said:

There are some complex structures in there - master modelling in action.

 

P

Thank you for the praise - these thin-walled open constructions do make it tricky to get things in scale but still sturdy. Fortunately it won’t bear any loads except the strain from the cobtrol wires.

 

 

Less masterfully is the first wing I made: I had printed the wing drawing in scale 1:100 🤬

[Torbjorn]

Getting closer. The lower wing is ready for painting, the upper is getting its trailing edge pedicured. The drawing doesn’t show it very clearly, but the trailing edges are supposed to be serrated.

 

When I started I didn’t realize how big the thing is (if I had I’d gone for something smaller). In scale the upper wing is a full 25 cm, dwarfing anything else in my cabinet. Here are the wings with an almost finished Triplane for size:

 

 

I used the same built-up wing with embossed skin-method already described here:

 

 

Both wings have a kink at the location of the landing gear (second strut), and therefore the skins were made in three pieces. The joints are weak points, especially when located at the same place on both wings, but there will be *plenty* of rigging that should be able to provide enough strength. Te drawing shows the three pieces forbthe upper wing: 5 thou sheet was embossed with the patterns from the drawing simply by placubg it on top on a glass board and embossing directly after the drawings.

Edited May 15, 2021 by Torbjorn

[Torbjorn]

More flying surfaces. Made the tailplane, cut away and re-attached the ailerons slightly off-centre.

Control horns of these early type planes are easy for the modeller - they are large. This is fortunate, because the elevator horns take 4 wires each and the ailerons 7: these need good attachment points and need to be sturdy. I made them from cut brass, drilling holes for the wires.

 

The upper wing taking shape, now looking like a breadknife, with the tailplane on the right.

 

The lower wing has been painted, getting it ready for starting assembling the thing. The plane is all baby-blue with the following markings:

-Naval ensign on the rudder

-blue/yellow cockarda under the upper wing

-the alternative national marking, a black “S” under the lower wing together with the pennant number 

 

There were quite some irregularities in how these markings were applied, but since no picture exists as far as I know, I based mine on an undersidephoto of no 27 (mine is no 29).

 

 

I opted for printing the markings, putting Tamiya tape on top and cutting out masks:

 

Results: I may even skip doing touch-ups:

 

I’ll try to take some pics showing the rib detail. I try not to overdo these, so they are only seen when the light makes shadows, but I see now it’s not overly photo-genic and I may have made them too subtle for once.

[Pin]

Wow, how could I miss this build! Very impressive!

[Torbjorn]

Thanks Pin!

 

 

—

Made struts out of round plastic rod. Squeezed in a vice first to get an oblong cross-section, then scraped with a scalpel blade to achieve a somethig resembling an aerofoil shape. Still haven’t found a good way of holding these things for painting..

 

 

Also decided to attach the undercarriage at this point. Usually this is among the last things I do, but the floats provide a good reference level that wheels don’t. 

I tried to emulate the shock absorbers using wire and plastic. There will be a bit of rigging, but I’ll wait with that. The cross-pieces are aluminium tubes, attached solidly into the floats, and slid onto wires going through the centreline cylinder for a reasonably sturdy construction.

 

 

Edited May 23, 2021 by Torbjorn

[pheonix]

Those floats look super. I use Evergreen strip and file it to aerofoil section for struts - but painting them is a problem. Try cutting them a little too long so that the end can be held in tweezers: cut the unpainted end off when ready to use.

 

P