Hanriot D.1 conversion?

[Major Flannel]

 

Amodel's Nieuport IV or the rarer 48th scales seem to be the perfect kits with which to hack to produce this fine looking bird. Apparently it was flying during 1912 with the Regio Esercito.

 

Has anyone attempted this conversion? If so, do your results justify the means? Long shot I know but someone might have. One Amodel Nie. IV left at home and prepared to at least try.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

[Chief Cohiba]

I'm afraid I haven't done, or even attempted it, but looking at the mere specs, as listed in Wikipedia, I'd say one runs into mayor issues. The Hanriot was about 1m shorter and had 3m more wingspan, so this is quite some difference. Also with the different shape of the rear fuselage, as well as different wingshape, and the need to recreate the shape of the ribbed wings, well...

I wouldn't say it can't be done, but it would definitely need a more patient and skilled person than me. 😉

 

An alternative would be to build this from scratch with various evergreen stock, but this would be a significant amount of work aswell.

 

Of course I'd love to watch either of these builds, so if you feel more daring than me, keep me informed and proof me wrong. You'd have me on the edge of my seat,  

[Major Flannel]

Thanks for your viewpoint, Chief.

When all's said and done, It's still a boxy, typical for the period, monoplane structure that could form the basis of an unusual project -- but not a trivial project as you say -- quite the opposite. Earlier I was reading on hyperscale or someplace about a scratch build where a technique for external ribbing was such a damn good idea it is worth copying or nicking and ideal for this. Or instead depoussage (sp?) could be the basis of the thing by default (much more linear a process) and already looking again at such limited info, it could be done to some level of satisfaction if the sources were in agreement, such as they are. If there are good sources at all.

 

Is the Nie. IV a good basis for it? Or for that last kit, a Nie.II (2) (another beauty) instead as a project? There's a wealth of info out there by comparison with the H. D.I after all. I perhaps think an absolute web crawl of epic proportions is required before lifting a hobby scalpel in anger, perhaps to no avail. But I do like the look of the Hanriot. It has chutzpah. We shall see.

 

Best wishes to you.

 

[ColonelKrypton]

There is a nice three view drawing / plan for the Hanriot D.I in Charles A. Mendenhall's book The Air Racer on page 15.

 

Noted as being of the 1912 version which was flown by Andre Frey in the 1912 Gordon Bennett race held in Chicago Illinois, USA.

 

The book has been out of print for some time ( published mid 90's I think ). I can scan the pertinent page if interested.

 

https://chicagology.com/transportation/1912gordonbennett/

 

I have a soft spot for these old racers and was working on a 1/48 Ponnier D.III which I must get back to soon.

 

It will be interesting to see where you go with this.

 

cheers, Graham 

 

 

 

[Old Man]

It would be a pretty straightforward scratch-build, it looks like. Those squared-off fuselages are pretty easy to make out of plastic card.

 

Here is a link to a most helpful book, if you've never tried scratch-building:

http://web.archive.org/web/20080122045153/http://www.wwimodeler.com/harry/contents.htm

 

It is keyed to 1/48, and shows the embossing technique, and ways to curve the wing to airfoil section.

 

If you work in 1/72 (I build only in that scale), most of this transfers well, but I've never used the embossing rib method, as the 'core' would be awful thin. it is not difficult (though a bit laborious) to simply 'break the plane' of the wing to a shallow depression between the ribs, and represent the tapes by anything from 1/64" striping tape to strips of decal film, or even lightly scoring two parallel lines close together.

 

 

[Major Flannel]

Thank you gentlemen. Perhaps there's the kernel of a project going now, these infos are greatly appreciated. As for repoussage, the Wings of Intent website has practical demonstrations aplenty by someone who has promulgated the pioneering era in aviation for years. A damn good, often surrealist, read too with some satirical prose.

 

I think our Hanriot will see the light of day, why not?

[Major Flannel]

Oho!

Seek and ye shall find... sur l'abomination Ebay terrible. Pour €6.  On the same subject...

 

"After a series of little holes, I wanted to escape, like the average lilac punch.
Without jokes there couldn't be pre-drilled their binoculars." -- Google translate (French).

 

 

Contains a humungous RC plan (curiously, only the fuselage though) of exactly what was required but on a seperate page, wonderful scale drawings and info galore. On first glance 72nd scale, or close to it. The Hanriot - Pagny is a single rudder craft and it really won't take a year of effort to sculpt it from the Nie. IV, given enough determination and lack of sheer unmitigated laziness.

 

Quite chuffed, mes amis! I'll scan the 3 view plan at soon as I remember to.

 

 

Edited August 27, 2021 by Major Flannel

[Major Flannel]

 

Scale is lost due to trying to fit the page. Lots of RC babble which flies noisily over my head but there's some good general info here. Click image to get a better size.

 

best wishes.

 

 

Edited August 28, 2021 by Major Flannel