The Hawker Demon by Airfix - 1/72

[Jinxman]

22 minutes ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

 

It's not as good looking as a modern Eduard biplane would be, but it looks a lot better than my 1968 attempt. I've brought it into the nineties at least. 😃

I think you do yourself a disservice - it looks up to date from the base kit from where I am, (and even better for a Blitzenbuild).

[JeroenS]

I was instantly reminded of Monty Python's pilot banter sketch, I'm going to look it up and watch it right after this, it's hilarious. 

 

Anyway, things are looking very good there, Bertie. And we all have our "stupid moments", knocking over stuff etc. A bit of slapstick every now and then keeps the blood flowing 🙂 

[Bertie McBoatface]

As I glued the front of the interplane struts down, I felt one of the other joints give a little but no harm done - I went round them all with a reinforcing drop of glue. The CA had no visible effect on the Tamiya flat aluminium paint, fortunately.

 

 

Fitting the rear pair of cabane struts was simple but I'd made a mistake when I glued the exhausts on. They interfered with the fitting of the forwards cabanes. I was ably to wedge the stbd side one clear, the glue on the manifold end was weak. The wedge is cut from an eraser, a trick I used to use on AFV tracks to stick them to the return rollers.

 

Then I discovered that the forward struts were too short.

 

I don't think this is a fault with the kit but remember a couple of pages back when I shimmed the lower wing and moves it backwards by a mm or so? I wondered whether it would affect the rigging geometry and it probably did.

 

 

As it happened, the material I used for the replacement struts was flexible enough to bend around the exhaust pipes solving two problems in one. The port exhaust was stuck fast anyway. Once the cabanes were in place, I glued and pegged the stbd exhaust back in place. The peg made a handy stand while I repeated the CA gluing on the previously assembled undercarriage. That was so much easier than building it up on the aircraft at this stage.

 

 

There they are. The CA did mark the Vallejo chrome paint, sadly. 

 

Are you wondering why the cabane struts are of unequal lengths and not lined up in any way? I was so I did some research and found that cabane struts often carry engine thrust to the upper wing to overcome its drag, so the loads along each diagonal between fore and aft struts are unequal and they are often formed as N-struts, or in this case as 'virtual' N struts by offsetting them in every possible way. I'm smarter every day! 🤣

 

 

The tailskid was so small and the location hole so big that I would be cementing the skid to open space and I haven't a glue strong enough to do that. I made a replacement from a wood dowel, turned down in my Proxxon rotary tool. That's a technique from my boatbuilding alter ego. I made the skid long enough to go through the hole, which I had adjusted to the correct angle, and jam against the top of the fuselage interior. It's nicely solid and should be easy to paint to resemble wood. 😁

 

 

She stands up on her own!

 

Next, rigging the wings and undercarriage. Wheels, prop and MG go on afterwards because of the likelihood of the rigging wires tangling around them, which is something else learned from boatbuilding.

 

Those simple jobs took an hour and a half! I'm rounding up the odd minutes for convenience. Leaving me with 3h 45m left to wrap it all up. (The diorama I had in mind has been shelved. Whatever was I thinking?)

 

 

(That was my 13th proper photo-update by the way, not counting pictures of food and the dog. I was aiming for 16 over four days but I may not need them all. 🤞) 

[Bertie McBoatface]

Apropos of nothing, today is my fiftieth anniversary. I enlisted in the Royal Air Force on 27 December 1973. 
 

That means that, including the pension, they have had to pay me 600 times. 😁

[Bertie McBoatface]

I am adding the Supermarine S.6B to my list since it was flown by the RAF High Speed Flt. 

[JeroenS]

I can't see your pictures Bertie, there seems to be some kind of problem. Maybe a onedrive thing?

[Bertie McBoatface]

1 minute ago, JeroenS said:

I can't see your pictures Bertie, there seems to be some kind of problem. Maybe a onedrive thing?

 

I just said the same thing to Modelling Edmontonian. We must be patient.

 

[Heather Kay]

1 minute ago, JeroenS said:

I can't see your pictures Bertie, there seems to be some kind of problem. Maybe a onedrive thing?

What he said. 

[Bertie McBoatface]

22 minutes ago, Heather Kay said:

What he said. 

 

That's a pity because I just posted a selfie and goodness me I am so young, fit and handsome you just wouldn't believe it. 🤣🤣🤣

[BillF67]

1 hour ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

That means that, including the pension, they have had to pay me 600 times. 😁

Hmmmmm🤔

 

Pretty sure basic training involved weekly pay parades?

[Bertie McBoatface]

7 minutes ago, BillF67 said:

Hmmmmm🤔

 

Pretty sure basic training involved weekly pay parades?

 

And fortnightly for at least six months after my trainings until bank payments started in '74. But who's quibbling? Oh, you are. 🤣

 

I knew someone would remember. 😃

[81-er]

2 hours ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

 

That's a pity because I just posted a selfie and goodness me I am so young, fit and handsome you just wouldn't believe it. 🤣🤣🤣

Have you been to Specsavers recently, Bertie? 

 

James

[JeroenS]

Pics are back! Very nice result, will you make it all the way?

[Bertie McBoatface]

53 minutes ago, 81-er said:

Have you been to Specsavers recently, Bertie? 

 

James

 

Now that's really prescient of you because I was thinking only this morning that I needed new glasses. Really. 

 

46 minutes ago, JeroenS said:

Pics are back! Very nice result, will you make it all the way?

 

I just did! Give me a while to sort out an update and a photo shoot.

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

I've used three hours since five o'clock to rig the aircraft and assemble those last few details, and then another quarter hour to take photos so that takes my elapsed time to 23 hours and 30 minutes, over four days. I have a stinking headache from the rigging under bright lights and I'm dead tired but I'm rather chuffed that I did the thing! 

 

 

I can't recall why I took this photo, possibly to show you that there isn't much room for rigging these things. 😄 I didn't put all the wires in. Some of them are really hard to see and some of them are just really hard to do. I thought a representative sample would do. There are other things missing like the serial number on the rudder, the fuselage and under the wings. I guess we were expected to find our own numbers back when the aftermarket decals were designed. 

 

 

As always in a GB I must say that finding a way to hold the workpiece comfortably is at least half of the job. 

 

The rigging was fiddly because of the slipperiness and springiness of the fine fishing wire that I used. It wasn't really difficult though. I think the practice that I've had lately at tying hundreds of knots with tweezers has helped. Mostly here I didn't tie proper knots but simple half hitches which would hold the tension until the CA locked the wires in place.

 

I'll post the photos in a minute but first let me waffle on a bit about the experience of re-building a kit that I last did in 1968. It was really freaky at times. When I fitted the exhausts one of them went too deep into the hole in the fuselage, bringing the hot pipe too close to the fabric. I instantly thought "Damn, it's happened again!" It was a full-on flashback! This time I had tweezers to get it back out without breaking it like last time. 😀 

 

I've done few 1/72 kits since returning to the hobby aged 40. The Airfix Concord was one and a Revell Lancaster. I enjoyed neither. They seemed toy-like compared to 1/48. However, this old Demon was an absolute hoot to build and improve. It's on the display shelf now and there's lots of room for more. I'm serious about building a series of these interwar aircraft in 1/72 as a long, slow, intermittent thread in the Aircraft WIP section. I'll start it as soon as I need a break from the long slow builds of my wooden boats which remain my favourite type of model at the moment. So if you enjoyed this one, look out for the return of The Finest Flying Club in the late winter, early spring perhaps.

 

Building as fast as this was OK for a one off but it just doesn't make sense to me. It's like tap dancing as slowly as you can or climbing the lowest mountains in the world. I felt like I was working against the grain of the hobby and probably won't participate next year. The support that I got and the general banter was brilliant though. Thanks to everyone that joined in or indeed, just watched. 

 

Enough pontification. Stand by for the photoshoot.

 

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

 

It's a beautiful shape.

 

 

I tried for the Demon's lowered rear fuselage but it was hard to make it stand out.

 

 

I like the glint of the fishing line. It's brown coloured. 0.1mm dia. 2lb monofilament.

 

 

Oops, the gun's fallen over.

 

 

The superglue marked the paint. I only used it because of the time limit. Araldite and wood glue would have left no marks but taken lots more time.

 

 

Laminated propeller. It's black on the reverse and should be black  on the leading edge but there was no time for that.

 

 

Fingermarks and scratches mar the engine cowling.

 

 

I still like it though. 😃

 

 

The old decals did alright considering their age.

 

 

Some detail shots. Five hours in that cockpit!

 

I hope you enjoyed the show. Good night all and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

 

[JeroenS]

Wow, Bertie, it's really nice!! A great effort from your side. And I know this is really something, as the Blitzing thing is not really your cup of tea! You hung in there though, you may now be chuffed 🙂 

[marvinneko]

Fabulous job Bertie. Love the metal finish. You rescued the decals and they look great on the metal paint. Fantastic rigging, too! I am v jealous ! 

 

I seem to take 6 months to do a small plane. Doing one in 24 hrs was a great experience for me. I found myself trying new stuff, adapting and trying different techniques without overthinking it. It was a nice little boost between longer projects.

 

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

1 minute ago, marvinneko said:

without overthinking it.

 

I did my overthinking just as usual with my Araldite experiments and over detailing the cockpit. 😁

 

1 minute ago, marvinneko said:

It was a nice little boost between longer projects.

 

Yes, very much. Tomorrow I'm back in Bertie's Boatyard for a long slow build. Ahhhh!

[Bertie McBoatface]

26 minutes ago, JeroenS said:

Wow, Bertie, it's really nice!! A great effort from your side. And I know this is really something, as the Blitzing thing is not really your cup of tea! You hung in there though, you may now be chuffed 🙂 

 

Thanks Jeroen. It was fun and taxing too. 

[psdavidson]

You exorcised that Demon nicely

It seems like blitzbuilds ain't your thing, but well done for sticking with it. Looking forward to seeing more of the Flying Club next year

 

/P

[Bertie McBoatface]

Just now, psdavidson said:

Looking forward to seeing more of the Flying Club next year

 

I have bought a dozen of the things already. I wonder how many I'll do in a year?

[AdrianMF]

Terrific result! It's a very neat build and beautifully finished.
 

The Airfix kit isn't the most accurate in the world, so having limited time may have helped you avoid finding and wanting to do some tricky modifications. There's a lack of decent plans for the Hart family and a lot of detailed differences are missed in even the more modern publications.
 

I really like the decal option on yours too There's a real one flying around in that scheme, or it was a few years ago. Mrs MF pretty much killed the kit option for me by saying it looked like a circus tent. Sadly after I'd built it!

 

Regards,

Adrian

[CliffB]

This is fabulous Bertie - congratulations!  I'm looking forward to the next instalment .

 

Cheers 

[Bertie McBoatface]

6 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

Airfix kit isn't the most accurate in the world

Well that’s not a surprise. 😄

 

It’s not something that bothers me. I may make some changes to kits but I’m not concerned with accuracy as long as it’s recognisable as a pretty little aeroplane from an interesting period in aviation history. 
 

Beauty trumps accuracy! 😄🥲