Two Airco 1/72nd DH10s.

[Paul Thompson]

    I've really given up on the Blue Max DH2, through no fault of the kit. I see there's still nearly a month to go on this group build so will try to fill the time with a couple of kits I've wanted to get done for a while. Actually, one I've wanted to get done, the other I've wanted to get away from. It should be obvious which is which.

 

First up, a kit from Eastern Star, the people responsible for importing NOVO and KP kits last century. As John Adams tells it, the mastermind behind it was not the best behaved chappie in the world, and John provided the white metal content. I'm not sure if he ever got paid. Nonetheless it is a pretty good kit and from this end of it, at least, looks do-able in a month. The vac was produced by stalwarts Joe Chubbock and Les Cooper.

 

 

 

Two stout vacformed sheets with all the major components.

 

 

 

Nice Aeroclub metal bits, a useable decal sheet, and some extruded plastic rod and strut material.

 

 

There're also several sheets of plans, exploded diagrams, and a potted history.

 

And from the sublime to the not at all sublime, here's one from Merlin.

 

 

 

Looks a lot better when slightly out of focus, as above. This kit has seen many hours of half-hearted cleanup over the time I've had it. The trailing edges of the wings vary from fine to 3mm. At least you get a spare bit  (I was once given a box of Merlin Curtiss Jenny kits by E D Models, with 5 lefthand fuselage halves and one righthand, so this isn't as odd as you might think). Kit 91 it says on the box, so way past their short era of halfway decent kits. Luckily I like a challenge. Even more luckily, I don't really care if I fail. I have seen a really good model made from this kit by Steve Perry, a great WW1 modeller who sadly is no longer with us. But he did replace most of the kit parts.

 

Progress may be slow since I've done something aggravating to my right arm and can't use it much at the moment.

 

Paul.

[81-er]

As you say, Paul, two kits from very different ends of the spectrum. I'll enjoy seeing what you make (or possibly don't in the case of the Merlin kit) of them  I hope your arm is back to full service quickly too

 

James

[Paul Thompson]

17 minutes ago, 81-er said:

As you say, Paul, two kits from very different ends of the spectrum. I'll enjoy seeing what you make (or possibly don't in the case of the Merlin kit) of them  I hope your arm is back to full service quickly too

 

James

A pity the Merlin isn't 1/24th scale, because it would be a no-brainer to make of it a hen house door. But then, I'd have to get a hen.

 

Paul.

[Mr T]

I shall watch this with interest, Paul, as I have the Eastern Star kit. I think the chap that ran Eastern Star had something to do with the infamous Beech Super King Air vacform, he certainly was a 'character' Talking of 'characters' that Merlin DH10 looks a nice easy kit for a wet afternoon, or more likely a year there of.

[Dave Fleming]

You're mad!

[Paul Thompson]

4 minutes ago, Dave Fleming said:

You're mad!

Takes one to know one.

 

Paul.

[Torbjorn]

Fabulous. I love masochistic builds!

[CliffB]

Brilliant choices!

[Marklo]

Welcome again Paul. Excellent choice.

[Paul Thompson]

The shoulder suddenly started to improve this morning, but I'll be prudent for once and not start scoring the plastic until tomorrow. But at least I've done the outlining of the parts and left them on the desk to nag at me:

 

 

[Paul Thompson]

10 minutes with a scalpel, and a cup of coffee. These are all of the vac parts. Now to sand them out, and decide what needs replacing (probably all of the nice looking cockpit will have to go, or at least serve as templates only).

 

 

 

 

Paul.

[CliffB]

There's something uniquely satisfying about a vac-form 

[DaddyO]

Great choices Paul 👍

 

Never seen the Merlin DH10 before, but seen a couple of  their kits and was appalled at the quality (Appeared to be carve from the lumps of plastic provided)

 

Hopefully the Vac will be a slightly easier build

 

Paul

[Paul Thompson]

23 minutes ago, DaddyO said:

Great choices Paul 👍

 

Never seen the Merlin DH10 before, but seen a couple of  their kits and was appalled at the quality (Appeared to be carve from the lumps of plastic provided)

 

Hopefully the Vac will be a slightly easier build

 

Paul

The folk wisdom is that the first 14 or so kits were okay/not bad, for the time and given the alternative. The white metal parts were even offered as aftermarket sets. Then something happened, and the idea of what was acceptable, let alone worth any money at all, diverged from reality. I have no idea why.  By the time things were being released in double sets, and 1/48th scale, we were definitely well over the border into La-la Land, and that ain't just my opinion..............

 

I recently got the DH5 (pre paradigm shift, number 12), and despite being a very simple kit lacking many detail parts we'd now take for granted, the standard of moulding is perfectly acceptable. I don't doubt I can build it without jumping through too many hoops. The DH10, less so.

 

 

Paul.

[Paul Thompson]

3 hours ago, CliffB said:

There's something uniquely satisfying about a vac-form 

I love them for WW1 stuff, due to the thinness of the fuselage sides and delicacy of the wings (usually single thickness in 1/72nd). This one is well moulded, and the original master looks to have been good. Pitfalls I see are the usual one of having to make up the undercarriage from stock - there are no templates, and I've always had trouble with the simple trigonometry that helps obtain something the right length when you work from plan and side views. Still, I spend more time moaning about it than it takes to actually do. The other two imponderables will be getting the engine bearing struts right (again, a rough template would have been nice) unless I do one of the aircraft where the engines mounted directly on the lower wing. Then there's stiffening the wings. They're double skinned here, but only a millimetre or so is available for a spar, and they're quite long (which is why they've been made double surfaced, I assume). Might not be needed, we'll see.  Should be fun, although my shoulder still isn't good enough today for sanding. I might see what can be used of the interior instead, although I should also crack on with fitting one of the new resin canopies to the Echelon Lightning that keeps luring me to the Dark Side.

 

 

Paul.

[Paul Thompson]

Checking something out, came accross thi, which I knew but forgot:  https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234916257-andy-pack-dh-10/

 

5th post down is by John Adams, saying that the white metal was actually by Lead Sled, proving once again how my memory shifts about identities, causes and effectses at random. Sorry about that.

 

Paul.

 

 

Edit - now I'm more confused than normal. In the Windsock Datafile entry about the kit it says metal bits by Aeroclub, and checking the instruction sheet that is indeed what it says.  Either Aeroclub made new bits later or aquired the Lead Sled bits and supplied them. Whatever. They're very nice, anyway.

 

 

Edited July 28, 2023 by Paul Thompson

[81-er]

I'm glad to hear things are improving with the shoulder, Paul, and nice to see you've been able to make a start

 

James

[Paul Thompson]

Photos later when I've got more to show, but state of play today is, fuselage halves sanded, as well as the separate long floor piece and the halves for the rear of the nacelles. The metal parts have minimal casting tags so I'm now cleaning those up as well. I think I'll put the nacelles and engines together this morning then cut out the openings in the fuselage halves, which might be worth a photo tonight. Putting the fuselage to the Ian Stair Plans  they match up close enough for me. Width is spot on, depth is too shallow by the thickness of the plastic (so that's fine) and length maybe 2mm too short. Not enough to worry about, anyway, and the openings match up in location although are too small, which is easily rectified. The only thing substantially off is the rake of the nose (it slopes more than the plan does) , and because it's hard to judge from the photos, most of which show the nose raised quite a bit, which exagerates it, I don't really know which is right. So, if you can't tell, it doesn't matter, right? The Merlin fuselage, accuracy-wise, is ................ different.

 

 

Paul.

[Paul Thompson]

57 minutes of fettling later - the exploded kit diagram has what amounts to a fantasy engine in it. Can't figure it out - the nacelle constuction is fine, but the engine bits look like the metal parts rotated through 90 degrees and the intakes transposed. I'll ignore them. Test fitting shows how the bits are meant to go, the only unknown left being the radiators. I think both plastic and metal parts are meant to be the same sort, for the Liberty 12-engine that most DH10s had, but while less detailed, the plastic conforms to the plans, while the metal is noticeably over-sized. I'll use the metal ones anyway, they being so much better detailed. 

 

 

Unfortunately, both decal options are of Middle-East based machines. These would have had greatly extended radiators (upwards), and the side panels removed for cooling. If it looks easy enough I'll have a bash at the extensions so I can use the kit decals. The side panels will stay, regardless, because I don't fancy scratchbuilding the engines and bearers.

 

Paul.

Edited July 28, 2023 by Paul Thompson
Eye splot a wod wring.

[Paul Thompson]

Plastic bits on left un-sanded, done on the right. Metal radiators glued to metal cowling top/bits the exhausts get stuck to.

 

 

 

The metal radiators are the same height as the plastic, but a lot wider.

 

The side panels, once sanded, are too shallow. I've cut one replacement so far from 20 thou card so you can see the substantial difference.

 

..............And on the right hand side we have the Merlin equivalents. Oh, happy day. Not 100% sure but suspect they go the other way up and sit on the wing, like the DH10 A and C. Or perhaps you're meant to grind them up and smoke them? Okay, they're both left hand side parts, but I'm not retaking the photo just for that.

 

Paul.

 

[Paul Thompson]

Next.........................

 

 

 

 

Main nacelle sub-assemblies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now waiting for the rear fairings to dry before reinforcing and removing the seams. Then they can be joined to the rest of the nacelles and some filling undertaken. That won't happen before tomorrow but I'm posting these so you can see that at least something is happening. For the rest of the day I foresee a large cloud of plastic dust as I get the wings into shape. Then instead of just knocking the poor wee dear I'll have a serious look at the Merlin kit and see what if anything I can do with it.

 

Paul.

[Paul Thompson]

Busy with other things today, so engines not ready yet. I did add Tamiya putty to the rear fairings before I got busy with other things this morning though, so can sand and attach them later today. But I have just tidied up the openings in the fuselage. Not the Merlin fuselage, obviously. The pilot's cockpit opening is fairly wong, but I'm probably going to live with that. Seen from today, at least, I intend to widen it just a little and then add a beading of sprue for the leather coaming.

 

 

 

I feel the need to say something positive about the Merlin kit. Here it is. You won't damage it if you drop it.

 

 

Odd thing with the Eastern Star/Andy Pack lower wing. The top piece is one bit, the lower is two. So the top bit needs the centre bit removing, to match the lower. Not a problem, but I just wonder why? ALso, no strut locations are marked, and neither is there a guide to position the lower wing on the fuselage. At least, being double thickness, it will be easy to add a horizontal spar for robustness and to ensure the centre section is level. The wings are all moulded without dihedral BTM, although that's par for the course and only slightly trickier to add with a double wing surface compared to a single surface (score, bend, fix with liquid glue).

 

 

Paul.

[Paul Thompson]

Engine nacelles constucted. Filling will be essential, but had I sanded the fairings until flat they'd have been too short in all dimensions. Which is also why I've ended up quite restricted in which aircraft to model. The kit parts are for long fairings, but these only apply to very early DH10s. Shortened to the commoner length they'd no longer have been tall enough, and I intended to make this a short build so don't intend to scratch replacements. Oh well............  The white metal top looks to be a top cowling piece with the intakes sticking out, and the bulges atv the rear are where the engines have their sticky-out bits. However, I haven't found any photo where this cowling has clearly been fitted. . Maybe I'm not as widely read as I think.

 

The tailplane is glued up but still needs the join sanding and the elevator drooping. The 3 lower wing pieces have had their initial ripping down and sanding, just needing some tweaking in a few areas before glueing up. I was wrong about the two upper bits, they don't allow for the fuselage thickness, so I can only think they were moulded separate so they'd fit on the sheet....................

 

 

 

 

Sorry for all the glaring white plastic. These photos are all with flash, so the ribs are glared out. The detail is restrained but nice and should show up fine once paint is on. Too lazy to reshoot in natural light at an angle - I'd need to set up the tripod and can't be fussed right now (shoulder still very painful, boo hoo, pity poor me, etc etc).

 

 

Paul.

[Brandy]

I wasn't aware of a vac kit of this, it looks pretty decent. Nice progress so far too.

 

I have no idea how you intend to finish these two in a month though!

 

Ian

[Paul Thompson]

Not a lot happening, but it takes 4 photos to show it so I won't repeat for the top wing. This shows the lower wing being assembled:

 

 

1 down.

 

 

 

 

2 down.

 

 

 

 

Top surface.

 

 

 

........and finally the bottom.

 

 

 

Looking at that, and at the placement of the parts on the uncut sheet, I still can't see why the bottom of the bottom is in two pieces................

 

 

Paul.