Evening All,
Now that my modelling sanity has returned and I am back to building models of real aeroplanes, I have started on my next project, which, like the Gordon Bennett racers, was another pioneering type for a number of reasons, the most important of which was that it was the first aeroplane to take off from a ship in the UK, and only the second anywhere in the world. In addition the same feat was performed shortly afterwards when it took off from a moving ship: these events took place in 1912. The aircraft in question was the Short S 27 Improved: it was also known as the S 38. The original S 27 looked like this:
(published with kind permission of Eastchurch Aviation Museum, copyright reserved).
A replica of the S 38 is in the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton:
(photo: Wikimedia Commons)
It was a design based on the Farman MF 7 so it consists mainly of struts and wires with a spare wing, engine and elevators - in other words an ideal subject. I will use a Barracuda wicker seat for the pilot (although the pattern is not strictly correct), and a Small Stuff engine. I intend to show the aircraft on a wooden platform above the front turret of HMS Africa and HMS Hibernia - the two warships from which the aircraft took off in 1912. There are no kits of King Edward VII class battleship main gun turrets in 1/72 scale so I will scratch build one of those and the wooden platform and part of the wooden runway. There are many photographs of the platform and runway, the aircraft being loaded on to and sitting on the platform on HMS Hibernia, and of the aircraft after take off. This is one source among many:
https://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/great_britain/battleships/hibernia/hms_hibernia.htmThis is a photograph of the aircraft at the start of the take-off run on the platform:
The flying surfaces are easy to make on these types: just some 30 thou plastic card cut and sanded to aerofoil section:
The booms and fore-booms on these aircraft were square section, so I used brass bar for these parts. They were CA'd to the wings and held by my highly sophisticated and expensive method of jigging as I have described in other builds of pushers:
When the CA had set I soldered the horizontal bars to the rear of the booms:
I made the flotation bags from some 1/4 inch (6mm) dowel. I turned the dowel in an electric drill and sanded the ends with coarse grade glass-paper, and finished by hand with fine grade glass-paper. I do not have drawings or the exact dimensions of the floatation bags so these are a best guess:
They will be treated with talcum powder and dope grain filler/sealant later.
Thanks for looking.
Stephen.
