Hi fellow modellers
Afler long deliberation i've decided to start a build i have been considering for years. After the release of de WWI Ninak some gifted modellers ventured into the Twenties when these aircraft were deployed in a "policing" duty, in Mesopotamia and the British Indies. The actual aircraft were adapted for use in a hotter and harsher climate and for longer distance flights. There's a nice book on this piece of history by Vic Flintham : Truculent Tribes Turbulent Skies st. the RAF in the Near and Middle East 1919-1939 (9780851304687). Some time after the first DH9a WNW announced the future release of a post-war Bristol Fighter and Ninak. the sprues were displayed conform one of their announcement policies (I.E. a KIWI modellers fair). I personally consider the DH9a more or less of a footnote in WW1 so i decided to wait for what was coming... Eventually in 2015 in their last christmas surprise the kit was announced. By then the Windsock datafile 141 was already in my posession. The subject of my interests is displayed on the back. It is compared to the drab WWI PC clad planes a rather gaudy piece to work. What makes this plane so interesting is the amount of bits an bobs that it has sprouted compared tot the original. This is what i'm after! Alas WNW wasn't entirely helpful. Their new sprue contains the tropical radiator under the nose, the slats, the sturdier landing gear and spare wheels and a few details but the fuselage is still the same. Unfortunately details of the so-called camelback version ar extremely sparse. i've asked our expert Ray Rimmell but there's no issue of Windsock international that is of any help. Ronny Bar kindly provided me with pdf's of his artwork and in Windsock Datafile 139 there's a sideview of the late version.
2 gifted modellers went before me. Our forum member (king) Kong built one based on the original kit, Kudos! A British modeller (Bill van Heerden) displayed his model last year at Telford and has sent pictures ti WNW as can be seen in the customers models section. I've desperately tried to get in touch with him to pick his brain about the particular aircraft, alas op to now without success.
Well i'll give it a try myself then.
first the obligatory photos of the model and documentation:
the books:
extra's (i like the seatbelt, i'm not so sure about the fotoetch...
parts after a soak in lukewarm water with Dreft, our local brand of washing-up liquid :
the all important side view:
after a bit of experimenting with my printer setting i managed a print thats exactly the size of the model. with my trusty geotriangle
(an instrument dating back to my high school years, way back when) i found out that the incline of the deck behind the observer/gunner was increase from about 11 to 15 degrees.
BIG GULP, i have got to cut up the fuselage of a fantastic model to get what i want, so here we go:
and the result thanks to my razor saw:
next, i made a template using my print:
[URL=http://www.imagebam.com/image/7a7d77586591153] here's the result hardening after the first glueing together of the parts
As you may notice i'm simultaneously starting another postwar NINAK albeit not the camelback.
I have NO experience with deal printing, nor do i know anyone with an ALPS printer who might help me with the A, the Palm tree and the serial number. i'm no great painter. Any assistance will be greatly appreciated. Does ANYONE (KONG??) know what the dark part is below the observers position? An oblique camera window??