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From Sea to Sea (for the first time by air). Airco DH9A. ++ Finished ++


CliffB

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Hi all.

 

With my earlier dreams of building an ultra-fragile, 3D-printed, CRJ-1000 now shattered (quite literally), I feel that I've learnt my lesson.

So this time around I've chosen a kit that's made from solid metal ⚒️.

 

It's a 1/200 scale DH9A kit, which was produced in Norfolk by a gentleman called Chris Sayer, trading as Shed Models.  It's a beautiful little thing, representing the top end of quality white metal kits.  Sadly, Chris passed away in 2019.

 

P1130256.JPG

 

In October 1920, a group of enthusiastic Canadian aviators completed the first air crossing of the nation, from Halifax to Vancouver.  The flight was undertaken as a relay, using different aircraft for each leg. The final leg (Winnipeg to Vancouver), was flown using an ex-RAF DH9A, which is to be the subject of my build.

 

As far as I can see, the aircraft still carried it's original RAF scheme, but to which had been added the Canadian civil registration G-CYAJ.  Here's a link to a nice photograph of the plane and here's another to an article on the flight.

 

The kit includes decals for RAF, RAAF, Soviet and Afghan aircraft, so I should be OK for the roundels at least.

 

I'll probably try to add a little bit of rigging, but will draw the line at trying to replicate those spoked wheels :winkgrin:

 

Cheers

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hooray!  I've finally got round to making a start on this one.

 

P1130270.JPG

 

Following a quick clean-up of the parts, the next job was to drill holes in the wings to accept the interplane struts.

Then, the lower wing and tail assembly were glued to the fuselage.  I used CA glue - first tacking the parts in place with a small blob of gel (to allow some wriggle time), then running thin glue into the gaps once everything was correctly positioned.

 

Cheers

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2 hours ago, Grandboof said:

Did you mention rigging ? The best of luck with that . 

 

Thanks Martin.  It will just be some token rigging - probably just a few interplane wires ;)

 

Here's the current state of play (the top wing and prop are still loose).  On with some primer next.

 

P1130271.JPG

 

Cheers

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Time for another update, as the painting is finished.  It looks pretty rough under the macro, but much better in real life :winkgrin:.

 

P1130277.JPG

 

Next up, I'll need to pull together some decals.

 

Cheers

 

 

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4 hours ago, 81-er said:

That's really impressive for the size, Cliff. I'm guessing it's about 5cm long?

 

James

 

Thanks James.  Yes, it's just under 5cm long, so quite a sweet little thing.  I do find this scale very attractive, plus there's the practical benefit of being able to fit a lot of stuff on the shelf!  Having said that, I only build a few of these tiddlers each year, leaving plenty of time for some larger scale stuff too.

 

Cheers

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I had a productive time this morning and managed to get this one finished 🙂

 

P1130301.JPG

 

As promised, I've added a bit of rigging for effect.  In reality there's much more that should be there...

 

I've really enjoyed this little build, so thank you to all who have followed along and especially to @zebra for hosting.

 

Cheers

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  • CliffB changed the title to From Sea to Sea (for the first time by air). Airco DH9A. ++ Finished ++
  • 3 weeks later...
On 30/09/2022 at 14:18, CliffB said:

Airco DH.9A - part of the first trans-Canada flight (October 1920).

 

The model represents the ex. RAF aircraft that, in Canadian civil use, flew the final leg (Winnipeg to Vancouver), of the first trans-Canada flight.

It's a Shed Models, 1/200 scale white metal & photoetch kit, finished with spares box decals.  I've added a small amount of rigging (just for effect), using stretched sprue.

 

P1130301.JPG

 

Cheers

 

Amazing job! A mini miracle!

 

Best regards 

 

Peter 

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