CliffB Posted November 5, 2021 Share Posted November 5, 2021 Hi all Having withdrawn my unstarted An-14 from the Group Build (due to a lack of remaining time), here's my simpler/quicker alternative offering. It's a 1/200 scale, white metal/PE kit by Shed Models of the Hunting 126, STOL research aircraft. It's a delightful little kit (if you like that sort of thing), with a pleasingly comprehensive decal sheet. The H126 was designed to allow the investigation of the 'jet flap' principle as an aid to STOL performance. It first flew in 1963 and operated from RAE Bedford. In 1969 it went to the US for a period of wind tunnel testing at NASA, before being retired from service in 1972. It currently resides in the RAF museum at Cosford. As I understand it, the thrust from the aircraft's single gas turbine engine was ducted to various outlet nozzles. 55% of the thrust was blown over the wing flaps in order to provide additional lift. 30% of the thrust went to conventional fuselage jet pipes (to provide propulsion), whilst the remaining 15% was ducted to small nozzles on the wing tips and tail to provide roll, pitch and yaw control at slow speeds (as later copied in part, on the Harrier). The net result of all this was a stall speed of just 32 mph. Cheers 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted November 5, 2021 Share Posted November 5, 2021 2 hours ago, CliffB said: (as later copied in part, on the Harrier) The Hawker P1127, precurser to the Harrier, flew 3 years before the Hunting 126, so it could be said that Hunting copied Hawkers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted November 5, 2021 Author Share Posted November 5, 2021 18 minutes ago, Dave Swindell said: The Hawker P1127, precurser to the Harrier, flew 3 years before the Hunting 126, so it could be said that Hunting copied Hawkers. Fair enough! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted November 7, 2021 Author Share Posted November 7, 2021 Hi all, I managed to get some time this afternoon on the Hunting. Although the parts were pretty nicely cast, they nevertheless needed a little sanding and filling to get them 100%. As usual, doing this with white metal is a very messy business . The sanding also obliterated some of the panel lines, so some re-scribing was necessary. The plane is yellow overall, but with bare metal areas wherever hot gases are discharged. I thought I might as well use the kit material as the 'bare metal', so I polished the relevant areas and masked them off. These macro photos suggest that there is still some surface roughness in the canopy/wing root area, so hopefully a coat or two of primer will address this . You may also notice a small hole on the underside of the fuselage, between the jet pipes. I've drilled this to accept a fine wire prop, as the model will otherwise be a mega tail sitter! Cheers 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted November 23, 2021 Author Share Posted November 23, 2021 Time for an update, as things are now looking a bit more colourful Gloss and decals next... Cheers 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted November 23, 2021 Share Posted November 23, 2021 Nice project, CliffB. This had me rummaging the book shelves for a book I haven't looked in for too long. My daughters got me "the X Planes of Europe" some years ago now, and your little H126 features on the front cover. So much cool and crazy stuff in there! I had no idea this little model even existed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted November 24, 2021 Author Share Posted November 24, 2021 7 hours ago, rob Lyttle said: Nice project, CliffB. This had me rummaging the book shelves for a book I haven't looked in for too long. My daughters got me "the X Planes of Europe" some years ago now, and your little H126 features on the front cover. Thanks for this Rob. That looks like a fascinating book, with a couple of B&W photos there that I hadn't seen before I typically build a couple of little 1/200 scale kits each year, mainly as a bit of light relief from more involved projects. This one caught my eye when it came up on eBay as I regularly see the original at Cosford. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted November 26, 2021 Author Share Posted November 26, 2021 Coming to life now with the decals in place.. Just the u/c and PE struts to paint and place now! Cheers 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted November 26, 2021 Share Posted November 26, 2021 Looking good cliff, its so tiny though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted November 27, 2021 Author Share Posted November 27, 2021 On 11/26/2021 at 8:45 AM, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: Looking good cliff, its so tiny though. Thanks Dennis. It is indeed small, but probably weighs more than several of my plastic kits put together! Anyway, I'm pleased to say that it's finished now (although I've struggled to get clear photos ). Thanks to all of you who have supported this brief build Cheers 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srkirad Posted November 27, 2021 Share Posted November 27, 2021 Pretty cute miniature one I like that "Danger" box decal behind wing 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted November 27, 2021 Share Posted November 27, 2021 From a rough metal finish to a finished gem. 'Magic our Maurice'. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted November 27, 2021 Share Posted November 27, 2021 Thats pretty clear to me I can read the decals. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted November 27, 2021 Share Posted November 27, 2021 Hmmm, I see you are now buying your Humbrol enamel in 2.5l tins. Is that for the front door?? 😁 Excellent little gem you have crafted here, Cliff. Love it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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