1/72nd AZ Model DH Hornet FR.4,.... 45 Sqn, `Op. Firedog', Malaya, 1954 **FINISHED***

[tonyot]

Hiya Folks,..... had this one on the back burner for a while,..... with the interior painted and ready to go,... but was distracted elewhere,..... but I got it out this afternoon!

 

We all know that the Hornet is a beautiful aeroplane,.... and thankfully  new kit is now available,.... but at over £22 I found it a little steep, mybe if it had come in under £20 I would have bought more? I`m intending on building this model as an overall silver Hornet of 45 Sqn wearing the units OB codes,... using a combination of kit decals and RAFDecs.

 

The parts are typical A Models limited run plastic so we`ll see how we get on,......

 

The first job was the sand the mating edges of the wing and fuselage halves,.... like you do with a vacuform kit,..... as otherwise the fit is poor and the parts will be far too fat when joined. I then built up the pre painted cockpit parts;

 

 

The fuselage halves were then joined, as were the wings but only after the radiator and air intake inserts plus the wheel well blanks were fitted;

 

Onto the nacelles,.... these were again sanded as per the other parts to help them mate together properly. As I wanted to add the exhausts after painting,.... I added plastic card blanks inside each of the openings,.... which were also opened out slightly as they were surrounded by flash. The later style fin wa also prepared ready to fit,.... the kit includes the early Mk.I style fin and rudder without a strake fitted and the shorter horizontal stabilisers and elevators,...... plus the later style parts too;

 

Next,.. the nacelles were assembled,....

 

,.... And then fitted to the wings,..... the fin and rudder was also attached to the fuselage. I over did the sanding where the nacelle fits to the left wing and so had to pack the gap with two sections of plastic card;

 

Then the wings were attached;

 

... Along with the tailplanes,..... and the wing tanks and wheels were also asembled too,..... so that they could be left to dry and sanded later ready for painting;

 

So by the end of the evening the main airframe parts were assempled and could be left aside to dry;

 

Hopefully the propellers and spinners will be good and not a let down as they were in the Special Hobby kit,..... and speaking of that I`ll also test fit the canopy,..... but I`ll do that another day,,,,

Cheers for now,

                          Tony

 

Edited July 18, 2021 by tonyot

[2996 Victor]

Wow, Tony, amazing progress! I realise you already had the innards prepped, but that's brilliant!

 

The dH Hornet is an aeroplane that I know very little about, so I'll be following along if I may and learning more about it!

 

Cheers,

Mark

[Gazontipede]

I've got an F.1 slowly, ever so slowly, coming together, so I'll tag along on this if you don't mind.

I've always found it helpful to watch someone who actually knows what they are doing before I wind up butchering something myself!

[Edge]

Great start Tony. Looking forward to seeing how the rest goes together.

 

Edge

 

[tonyot]

1 hour ago, 2996 Victor said:

Wow, Tony, amazing progress! I realise you already had the innards prepped, but that's brilliant!

 

The dH Hornet is an aeroplane that I know very little about, so I'll be following along if I may and learning more about it!

 

Cheers,

Mark

Cheers Mark,..... I don`t know if you`ll learn anything mind you!

58 minutes ago, Gazontipede said:

I've got an F.1 slowly, ever so slowly, coming together, so I'll tag along on this if you don't mind.

I've always found it helpful to watch someone who actually knows what they are doing before I wind up butchering something myself!

Crikey,... you don`t want to pay Any attention to what I`m doing,..... I just make it up as I`m going along LOL!! 

55 minutes ago, Edge said:

Great start Tony. Looking forward to seeing how the rest goes together.

 

Edge

 

Cheers Edge,..... so am I mate,..... unchartered water lies ahead!

[Gazontipede]

9 minutes ago, tonyot said:

Crikey,... you don`t want to pay Any attention to what I`m doing,..... I just make it up as I`m going along LOL!!

Well we both brush paint acrylics, so I figure I'm in excellent company anyway!

 

Mine is still mostly on the sprues although I've already done a bunch of coats already. (The base gloss black, then some gloss silver over that and some subsequent differentiation of panels in gun metal and aluminium. Still a bunch of coats to go though.) That may have been a mistake given the amount of sanding/filling I suspect will be needed... We shall see! I'm also referencing David Collins' excellent WIP thread for the build as I figure I'll need all the help I can get!

 

How tricky was locating all the cockpit internals to the fuselage? I'm looking at my various sub assemblies (IP, seat stick & floor and battery/radio(?) rack) and getting a little concerned about stuffing it all in there correctly.

[tonyot]

1 minute ago, Gazontipede said:

Well we both brush paint acrylics, so I figure I'm in excellent company anyway!

 

Mine is still mostly on the sprues although I've already done a bunch of coats already. (The base gloss black, then some gloss silver over that and some subsequent differentiation of panels in gun metal and aluminium. Still a bunch of coats to go though.) That may have been a mistake given the amount of sanding/filling I suspect will be needed... We shall see! I'm also referencing David Collins' excellent WIP thread for the build as I figure I'll need all the help I can get!

 

How tricky was locating all the cockpit internals to the fuselage? I'm looking at my various sub assemblies (IP, seat stick & floor and battery/radio(?) rack) and getting a little concerned about stuffing it all in there correctly.

Oh you`ll need lots of sanding,..... maybe some filler too. The cockpit fits together OK,.... you just have to test fit it first,..... and `fettle' it a bit! Those little ridged attachment parts to the sprues can be a bit of a pain and they need removing from most mating surfaces,.... even the two part instrument panel.  

[Gazontipede]

1 minute ago, tonyot said:

Oh you`ll need lots of sanding,..... maybe some filler too. The cockpit fits together OK,.... you just have to test fit it first,..... and `fettle' it a bit! Those little ridged attachment parts to the sprues can be a bit of a pain and they need removing from most mating surfaces,.... even the two part instrument panel.  

 

Right-ho, thanks! A bunch of sanding and fettling lies in my future then! I'll just have to cry a bit when I sand back all the painted detail I've put in already. Serves me right, I never learn!

I might grab a photo or two for posterity though. Anyway, enough of my blather. Proceed sir!

[tonyot]

On 5/15/2021 at 12:15 AM, Gazontipede said:

 

Right-ho, thanks! A bunch of sanding and fettling lies in my future then! I'll just have to cry a bit when I sand back all the painted detail I've put in already. Serves me right, I never learn!

I might grab a photo or two for posterity though. Anyway, enough of my blather. Proceed sir!

Sorry about that,.... I`ve never had an AZ Model kit yet which didn`t require a lot of sanding and some filler too!  

[tonyot]

Another update,.....

 

Well the model has been sanded and filled and sanded and then more filler required!! The canopy has been test fitted and is a very good fit thankfully, as are the propellers,...... but there is a story of more sanding and fettling,..... standard AZ Model fayre! The underwing 1,000lb bombs have been constructed and the wings tanks and wheels have been sanded,.... I may yet opt for  set of resin wheels with post war style cross thread pattern? 

  

 

As you can see above,.... one propeller has been assembled with the other alongside showing the parts straight off the sprue.  In order to get the assembly to fit together, the rear of the propeller centre section needs to be thinned considerably and the holes for  in the spinner was also enlarged a little,..... the blades were also tidied up by sanding them. To make the tail look more authentic, the elevators were also removed and re attached in a slightly dropped stance;

 

 

 

Here you can see one propeller completed and test fitted, while the other has been sanded as described above, ready to assemble;

 

And that i it for now,

Cheers,

            Tony

[John Masters]

This is looking good Tony.  I have two of these for my 19 Sq. Build-a-Thon.  Thanks for the reconnaissance!  Yours seems to be coming together well enough.

[bigbadbadge]

A cracking weekends work Tony,  looking good and has come together quickly.  Great work fella.

 

Chris

[tonyot]

46 minutes ago, John Masters said:

This is looking good Tony.  I have two of these for my 19 Sq. Build-a-Thon.  Thanks for the reconnaissance!  Yours seems to be coming together well enough.

Thanks John,.... I have the F.1 kit and like the 19 Sqn option with the blue and white chequered fighter bars,..... but I have trouble believing that the nacelles and undersides werre PRU Blue.... so I`m waiting to see a photo to confirm the scheme.

47 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said:

A cracking weekends work Tony,  looking good and has come together quickly.  Great work fella.

 

Chris

Thanks Chris,..... yeah just catching up on a series on telly and whittling away,....... a nice quiet Sunday! 

[bigbadbadge]

1 hour ago, tonyot said:

Thanks Chris,..... yeah just catching up on a series on telly and whittling away,....... a nice quiet Sunday! 

You lucky thing, I was given jobs to do!!!

Chris

[tonyot]

Another update,.... all sanded and filled and ready to paint,..... I`ve taken the propellers out of the spinners to make the spinners easier to paint and apply decals to;

 

Cheers

          Tony

[2996 Victor]

Great progress, Tony - this is coming together very nicely, indeed!

 

Cheers,

Mark

[bigbadbadge]

Yes it is looking good Tony.  

 

Chris

[stevehnz]

That is looking really good Tony, those things just did have good looks to spare & this one is well on its way to catching that so well.

Steve.

[tonyot]

5 hours ago, 2996 Victor said:

Great progress, Tony - this is coming together very nicely, indeed!

 

Cheers,

Mark

Thanks Mark,..... hopefully I`ll get it painted very soon.

 

4 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Yes it is looking good Tony.  

 

Chris

Cheers Chris,.... takes some sanding nd filling,.... usual AZ fayre! 

 

4 hours ago, stevehnz said:

That is looking really good Tony, those things just did have good looks to spare & this one is well on its way to catching that so well.

Steve.

Thanks Steve,.... yeah very good looking indeed,.... you can see the design of the Vampire cockpit pod in the Hornet too,..... r

[Lord Riot]

Looks excellent, that’s a very sleek looking aeroplane. 
 

Where did you get your dog mug from? my missus would love one of those with one of our cats on!

[tonyot]

2 hours ago, Lord Riot said:

Looks excellent, that’s a very sleek looking aeroplane. 
 

Where did you get your dog mug from? my missus would love one of those with one of our cats on!

Thanks mate,..... dunno,... my sister bought the mug for a prezzie. There will be loads of stuff on line if you search and most photo places will put a picture on a mug for you these days.

Edited May 20, 2021 by tonyot

[tonyot]

Hiya Folks,... a bit of an update,...

                                             ,..... I`ve got a couple of coats of silver onto the model, although I do like the 80 Sqn option, I`m aiming at doing the 45 Sqn option;

 

Getting there,.... slowly!!

                                  Cheers

                                         Tony

Edited May 21, 2021 by tonyot

[tonyot]

And here are some reference pics showing 45 Sqn Hornet`s taking part in the Malayan `Emergency',......Operation Firedog, based at Tengah and Butterworth;

 

  

 

And a lovely painting by artist Steven Heyen;

 

As you can see,... the main armament fit was four rockets and a pair of bombs,.... so that is looking to be the armament fit of the model,...... BUT,..... the spinner bands are still a bit of a puzzle and need more research if this is going to be a 45 Sqn model!

Cheers

           Tony

[Edge]

Don’t envy your job masking those spinners mate!

 

Edge

 

[bigbadbadge]

Looking great with the paint on Tony.  

Would it be possible to mount the spinner with the spinner spindle in a hole, say in a bit of Balsa and then you can rest a brush on something at the right level for your bands, you could paint the red and use a sharpie for the black lines using the rotating method too. 

Good luck which ever way you end up doing it fella.

Chris