Blue Rider DH9 conversion w/scratch built parts, plus Pegasus DH4, 1:72

[Brandy]

Right then, time to elbow my way in here and get a spot at the bar! I'll be on vacation back home in UK from 26th until May 16th so I'll get an initial post done now as there will be no updates until after my return.

 

Geoffrey De Havilland was born in my hometown of High Wycombe, in Buckinghamshire so I've always had a soft spot for his aircraft. Wycombe was, historically, a furniture town and most of the factories were converted to aircraft parts manufacture for the duration. Obviously there was a good supply of skilled woodworkers in the town, and many more came in from other areas.

His father was a church minister, and Geoffrey was born at Magdala House, (now Terriers Green House) at Terriers, near Hazlemere on 27th July 1882.

(reference "High Wycombe's Contribution to Aviation" by David Scott and Ian Simmons).

 

My subjects (yes, I'm going to attempt 2!) are:

First, the Airfix (actually MPC boxing) of the DH4, with the Blue Rider DH9 conversion.

 

 

 

This will be built as a 144Sqn aircraft based in Ramleh, Palestine (now Ramla, Israel) in September 1918

 

 

My reference:

 

 

and some after market goodies in the form of Miniworld guns and Gaspatch pilot's seat

 

So what do we have to be going on with?

I'm sure most of us are familiar with the old Airfix kit. It's actually pretty accurate shape wise, but unfortunately when I pulled it out to check it, I noticed that the wings were a little warped....

 

 

 

Taking into consideration the amount of work required to remove all the surface detail and fill the strut attachment points I decided it would be easier and quicker to scratch build the wings - I don't think much of this kit is going to be used! 

 

The Blue Rider fuselage is, to put it politely, a tad thick....

 

 

but the detail is nice and it matches plans, so that's a bonus!

I've made a start on preparing the fuselage and making new wings as those tasks represent quite a bit of work before construction can even begin, although no construction will be done until after the build start date.

 

First the fuselage:

Blue Rider do provide a template for the engine and cockpit openings

 

 

so that was photo copied and cut out. The fuselage halves were taped together and the template was attached to give me the guide I needed to mark the plastic that needed removing.

 

 

I marked the edge of the black areas with a fresh number 11 blade. The plastic is quite soft so that was easy enough and that gave me my cutting references.

I started with the engine as for some reason I thought that would be easier. No idea why I thought that!

 

Cutting the plastic away was fairly easy. As mentioned above the plastic is fairly soft so I used a micro saw to cut the ends then scribed it with the blade just within the lines until eventually I could snap it out. It was then shaped with blades and files to the correct outline. Once the shape was complete, I had to thin the edges considerably. Much cutting out of lumps and scraping with a curved blade eventually reaped results.

 

 

getting there.....

 

 

 

With both sides done it was then fine tuning to get the engine to fit.

 

 

 

That will do! The engine will be detailed later as part of the build proper.

 

Then it was time to attack the cockpits. Again saw cuts front and rear, and careful scribing with a blade until I could snap the main piece of excess plastic away, and then fine tune with blades and files as before, followed by much scraping of the fuselage insides to reduce their thickness!

 

One side done

 

 

 

and completed.

 

 

 

I also removed the step under the fuselage where the wings would mount.

  a) because my scratch built items won't need it, and b) because it increases the depth of the interior, also making it flatter. The gap will be filled and the wings attached separately with brass pins. I had started to adjust the gap to fit the wings before it struck me which is why one is slightly bigger than the other!

 

Wings were cut from 1mm sheet and shaped by sanding and filing. I am still in the process of thinning the trailing edges.

 

 

 

 

That is the end of play until return from hols.

 

The second build will be the Pegasus DH4 kit.

 

 

This will be built as a Liberty-engined US aircraft, Number 6, of 50th Aero Squadron. The pic below is number 5 but is basically the same except 6 didn't have the name on the nose.

 

 

This was the aircraft flown by 1st Lt Harold E Goettler and 2nd Lt Erwin R Bleckley in their final resupply mission to the "Lost Battalion" (which was neither lost, nor a Battalion, but they were surrounded) and during which they both lost their lives. Both were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

 It should be noted that this was not their usual machine, that being Number 2, but that had been so badly damaged in previous resupply missions earlier in the day that it had to be retired, hence they borrowed number 6, the usual mount of Lt Floyd M Pickrell and Lt Alfred C George.

 

References:

 

 

 

What I have to build from:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's it for now, see you mid May for the continuation of this madness!

 

Ian

[Marklo]

Welcome to the GB. Looking forward to your return but you’ll still have plenty of time to complete the two builds.

[CliffB]

Great choices Ian.  I hadn't realised that Blue Rider made conversion parts (I've used some of their decals in the past), and instructions in German?

 

Cheers

[Brandy]

58 minutes ago, CliffB said:

Great choices Ian.  I hadn't realised that Blue Rider made conversion parts (I've used some of their decals in the past), and instructions in German?

 

Cheers

This conversion was available in 2 versions: British aircraft, with armament, and Belgian/Swiss aircraft, without armament, and came with the appropriate decals. I have the Belgian/Swiss version so the instructions are in Dutch.

 

Ian

[CliffB]

27 minutes ago, Brandy said:

I have the Belgian/Swiss version so the instructions are in Dutch.

 

Thanks Ian.  My mistake re. the language! 

[AdrianMF]

Good start on the DH9 Ian. Enjoy your hols...

 

The Pegasus kit is rather nice. I had forgotten there's one in my stash!

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Colin @ Freightdog Models]

Hi Ian,

 

A couple of years ago I re-printed better decals for the remaining stock of the Pegasus DH-4 kits I have, if you would like a set pm me your address and I will send them to you (no charge). Look forward to seeing these progress, the Blue Rider DH-9 was also moulded by Pegasus for them (before I bought the Pegasus range).

 

Thanks,

Colin  

[Dave Slowbuild]

Very interested in this one, sorry these two, sure you’ll make a grand job of both!
I’ll tag along if that’s OK.  🧐  Much to learn.  

[Marklo]

This is exactly why I  love Britmodeller ( well one reason) the community is very supportive and generous, that’s a wonderful offer Colin, I don’t suppose you have any in 1/48  

[Brandy]

On 4/29/2023 at 9:03 PM, Colin @ Freightdog Models said:

Hi Ian,

 

A couple of years ago I re-printed better decals for the remaining stock of the Pegasus DH-4 kits I have, if you would like a set pm me your address and I will send them to you (no charge). Look forward to seeing these progress, the Blue Rider DH-9 was also moulded by Pegasus for them (before I bought the Pegasus range).

 

Thanks,

Colin  

That's a wonderful offer Colin, many thanks indeed!

PM sent.

Interesting note on the Blue Rider DH9 too!

 

Ian

[Paul Thompson]

Future reference, with a little shimming you can get the spare cowlings to fit the Airfix DH4. Just saying, like.

I'm glad your doing this - I have one of the conversion sets, and also one by DB, where the fuselage is a vacform. Looks like that will be easier to use to be honest.

 

Paul.

[PeterB]

The two old Pegasus kits I have - Vickers FB.5 and Halberstadt D.II have nice looking decs but there is a note saying because they are screen printed use distilled water! Not sure if that is the case with later issues but my local car parts shop now only stocks "de-ionised" water  - I presume that will work - anybody got any thoughts on this?

 

Pete

Edited May 2, 2023 by PeterB

[Paul Thompson]

28 minutes ago, PeterB said:

The two old Pegasus kits I have - Vickers FB.5 and Halberstadt D.II have nice looking decs but there is a note saying because they are screen printed use distilled water! Not sure if that is the case with later issues but my local car parts shop now only stocks "de-ionised" water  - I presume that will work - anybody got any thoughts on this?

 

Pete

Normal water has always worked fine by me, but avoid setting solutions or the inks will probably loosen up, as well as the decal shrivelling non-recoverably.

 

Paul.

[marvinneko]

8 hours ago, PeterB said:

use distilled water

I got a huge gallon? jug of distilled water from a pharmacy for less than a dollar. Will last a lifetime. I use it for my airbrush.

[Paul Thompson]

2 hours ago, marvinneko said:

I got a huge gallon? jug of distilled water from a pharmacy for less than a dollar. Will last a lifetime. I use it for my airbrush.

 Conspiracy theory susceptibility hat on. In the UK it can be hard to buy anything that might be deemed slightly chemical in nature. With distilled water, you might weaponise it, or set fire to yourself. Part and parcel of the reason why, at 65, I have to provide photo ID to the checkout lifeform should I wish to purchase zero alcohol Guinness (and then only legally during licensing hours). Conspiracy theory susceptibility hat off.

 

 

Paul.

[AdrianMF]

On 03/05/2023 at 07:14, Paul Thompson said:

In the UK it can be hard to buy anything that might be deemed slightly chemical in nature

Compare and contrast to the ability of a fourteen year old to buy potassium nitrate and sulphur from the Boots in New Street Station in Brum in the early 1970s. Admittedly, not together, and I never tried to buy charcoal...

 

With all dodgy/delicate decals, I try to float them on (normal) water so that the front of the decal never gets wet, and, as Paul said, I also avoid additional chemicals.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Brandy]

Right, where were we?

Firstly, a huge thank you to @Colin @ Freightdog Models for his very generous offer of the newly printed decals for the Pegasus kit. They really are a huge improvement!

I had to extend my stay in UK as my Uncle passed away while I was in Guernsey with my brother and sister. We didn't have a will so my sister and I had to go through the house searching for one. Not found, so now she has to take on the tasks of getting everything sorted.

Today I finally got back to the bench and made a little more progress on these two. First the 9:

 

The gap in the fuselage halves where I'd removed the moulded attachment points was filled with plastic card and then given a coat of PPP to smooth it all out. Then I smoothed off the inner surfaces of the fuselage sides and added a false floor to hide the seam,

 

 

 

 

 

The recesses for the main landing gear legs were filled with UV resin and cured with my mini light sabre, then PPP was added to finish it off. Final finishing will be done once the fuselage halves have been mated.

 

I then took a look at the Pegasus DH4 fuselage. It too needs a bit of work! 

 

 

Lots of flash, and the insides need thinning a little around the cockpit edges but nothing major there. The main issues here are:

a) The rear fuselage is too deep at the tail end.

b) The pilot's cockpit is only correct for the RAF 3a engine version. For the RR Eagle and Liberty engines the cockpit was a little further back so that will have to be changed.                     

 

Plus, of course, I will have to chop the nose off and replace it with the Liberty engine nose, but that will be done once the fuselage has been joined. Or, that is the plan at present anyway!

 

I made a start on the first of those issues this afternoon. This is what needs changing.

 

 

The slope on the rear fuselage aft of the observer's position was also increased to meet the tail end correctly.

Here I have one half done and compared to the original.

 

 

That's it for now, slow but sure!

 

Thanks for looking in!

 

Ian

[CliffB]

Sorry to hear about your uncle, Ian, and I hope that you get probate sorted OK.

Good luck with your DH challenges too!  It looks like you're off to a good start.

[Brandy]

On 5/27/2023 at 10:01 AM, CliffB said:

Sorry to hear about your uncle, Ian, and I hope that you get probate sorted OK.

Good luck with your DH challenges too!  It looks like you're off to a good start.

Thanks Cliff. My sister has everything in hand and all is progressing as well as we could expect.

 

I have been fairly quiet modelling wise of late, but I have managed a little more these last couple of days.

Further progress on the DH4 fuselage....

 

I decided after trial fitting of the nose that it would be better to remove it prior to joining the fuselage halves as the new nose pieces are not exactly matched in length. Another factor is that the kit nose is slightly off square

 

 

I checked the fuselage against plans and it appears the error is the forward face of the nose, not the upper panel, that is off square, so the cut was made perpendicular to the top of the fuselage using my mitre box, after first overlaying the new nose piece and marking the cut line with a fine marker. Of course I cut on the waste side of the line like a good woodwork student was taught at school!

 I have cleaned up the replacement nose pieces, thinned the rear lower edge which should be open, and opened up slots for the cooling gills with a razor saw.

 

 

I'm happy with that! Another thing I found is that the nose pieces are slightly narrower than the fuselage. Fortunately the error is with the fuselage so the two sides were gently sanded on their mating surfaces to get them the same as the nose. It will be easier I think to fit the nose after the fuselage has been joined. I will leave the front of the fuselage forward of the cockpit unglued so I can get the best possible fit and minimize the need for filler. I have already taped the parts together and sanded them to get a square fit - I really don't want a bent nose!

 

I previously mentioned the need to move the cockpit aft slightly and work has started on that too.

 

 

You can see here how much off it was.

 

I tried to use UV resin to extend the forward edge. It went on OK, or so I thought. I had to add it with a toothpick then zap it with the light for just a fraction of a second to set it, then twist the toothpick to separate it. It was built up fairly quickly but I noticed how thick it was getting.

 

 

This stuff is a pain to sand and in the end I just snapped the whole lump off and started again with my faithful Mr Dissolved Putty. It takes longer and can be easily broken off later if handled badly, but it works well. Once it's all done I'll give it a thin coat of thin CA to add a little more strength.

 

 

Does anyone know what can be added to Mr Dissolved Putty to thin it once the pot starts drying out? It's expensive stuff to have to bin it after less than half a pot has been used!

 

That's where I am at the mo' and I'm off work today. Since the new cockpit is drying I may take a look at the DH9 wings.

 

Thanks for looking in!

 

Ian

[AdrianMF]

Sorry to hear about your uncle. I hope your sister doesn't have too much trouble with the paperwork.

 

The DH4 promises to be as much work as the conversion! I'm looking forward to seeing you master them both.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Paul Thompson]

Perhaps quicker (if you hadn't already spent time on it) to have cut the whole of the top decking off and made a new one with the forward cockpit opening in one piece from 20 thou plastic card. With a slot each side for the forward struts and a bit of plastic under for them to sit on, and another backing piece so you can file the recess for the Vickers.  Having seen your travails I'll give it a go when I next do one.

 

 

Paul.

[Brandy]

8 minutes ago, Paul Thompson said:

Perhaps quicker (if you hadn't already spent time on it) to have cut the whole of the top decking off and made a new one with the forward cockpit opening in one piece from 20 thou plastic card. With a slot each side for the forward struts and a bit of plastic under for them to sit on, and another backing piece so you can file the recess for the Vickers.  Having seen your travails I'll give it a go when I next do one.

 

 

Paul.

I did briefly consider 3d printing one. I will have to fill the Vickers bit as this one had twin Marlins, and I'm going to have to make the shell ejector ducts anyway. We'll see, I still may....

 

Ian

[Paul Thompson]

3 minutes ago, Brandy said:

I did briefly consider 3d printing one. I will have to fill the Vickers bit as this one had twin Marlins, and I'm going to have to make the shell ejector ducts anyway. We'll see, I still may....

 

Ian

Amazing what you forget when you look the other way for a second - I should have picked up on that. Are the Marlins also recessed or do they just sit on the decking, like Hollywood often would have us beleive? (I could look it up but am both tired and lazy at the moment, and presumably you know already.............)

 

Paul.

[Brandy]

3 hours ago, Paul Thompson said:

Are the Marlins also recessed or do they just sit on the decking

From the pics I've seen they sit on the decking.

 

Ian

[Brandy]

Another small update today, but first an apology to @Colin @ Freightdog Models for not showing the replacement decals he so generously sent me.

I shall right that wrong now!

 

 

A huge improvement, as mentioned earlier, and many thanks once again Colin!

 

More work had been done on the cockpit repositioning and here is the current state of play

 

 

Since that pic I have added some PPP and smoothed it all off, however on further checking it is apparent that sides need to be lowered a little more, so that will be taken care of next session.

I have also added the new nose to the right fuselage side. The other half will be added when the fuselage is joined to ensure the best possible join.

 

 

 

In addition to lowering the cockpit sides, I also need to add some more depth under the mid/forward fuselage. That will be done after the halves are joined.

 

I also took a quick look at the wings

 

 

The incorrect shape of the rear cutout was easily corrected with a file. The thickness is another matter. Although the detail is actually very nicely done compared to many other kits, it will be removed on account of the fact that the wings are too thick. That is one area that always looks wrong if left unattended and in my opinion makes the model look toy-like. The wings will therefore be thinned and the detail replaced afterwards.

 

On the 9, I have started adding interior detail.

The first problem I needed to solve was how to get the inner panels at the correct level. There was a strip of wood added over the join on the outside of these aircraft and the inner horizontal panels lined up with that. I used a high tech solution here: tweezers!

With the end positioned on the ridge on the outside of the fuselage, I simply turned it over and made a small dot under the end of the tweezers on the inside. I am assuming the ends are the same length of course, but it seems to have worked!

 

 

 

That gave me the reference I needed

 

 

The easiest way, as I saw it, was to add the instrument panel and cockpit divider, then join the two. As long as they were the correct size the rest would fall into place.

 

 

 

 

 

That seems to have worked OK so far, now I need to do the rear. That could be a little more tricky as the observer's cockpit had semi-circular fore and aft edges instead of the angled ones in the pilot's 

I think I'm going to cut a blank to fit, then cut or drill the centre out. Probably a combination of the two. That's the next job on the list....

 

The last item I tackled this weekend was sanding the wings to shape.

 

 

All they need now is to be cut and pinned with the correct dihedral.

It sounds simple if I say it quickly!

 

So that's where I am as of now. More to follow soon, I hope.

 

Thanks for looking in!

 

Ian