forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com
WW1 Aircraft Modeling => Under Construction => Topic started by: lone modeller on April 17, 2026, 06:57:13 AM
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Evening All,
My subject for this GB is the AD1 Navyplane of which only one example was built:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55210950877_9c08746bf6_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2s7Nyba)
It was constructed in 6 weeks in 1916 as a reconnaissance machine for the Admiralty and was intended to be powered by the 150hp Smith radial engine - the same type that was to have powered the Blackburn TB, ( a model of which I scratchbuilt some years ago and can be found on this site: https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=10639.0). Unfortunately the Smith engine failed to deliver the power expected and only one of these aircraft was built and tested. I believe Chorozy make a kit of this but I am told that it is not very good: however that may be I do not build kits any more.
I have made a small start - I have made three of the four floats and cut out and shaped the flying surfaces. The main floats were made from 20 and 30 thou card with internal supports:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55211989878_fafb77eac2_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2s7TT2Y)
A completed float is on the left - the grey on the plastic is there because it was cut from some scrap. The stretched sprue was used to put supports inside the sides to prevent small surfaces from sinking into the gap when applied to the rear of the floats. The large floats are finished: the rear floats were much smaller and were shaped from some laminated card that I also found in the scrap plastic bag:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55210933462_c53f5c066c_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2s7NsZU)
In the image you can see that one of the floats had not been shaped - it is still in the raw laminated card state.
I have cut out and shaped from 30 thou card all of the flying surfaces - wings, rear stabilizer and elevator, and fins and rudders, although I have not separated the control surfaces yet, nor have I added the ribs, which will be 10 x 20 thou plastic strip sanded down:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55211989873_3f5ae2ff07_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2s7TT2T)
Thanks for looking.
Stephen
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Such a cool looking machine , following with interest Stephen ... ad you are off to a great start so far !
Alexis
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What a great subject Stephen.
I have the Choroszy kit and it looks good to me, but I haven't tried building it.
Looking forward to your progress with interest!
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Another intriguing subject from you Stephen, you've made (as always) an excellent start and I'm looking forward to more.....
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Great start on another excellent subject Stephen. Throw in some booms and a nacelle and the job's a good 'un ;D
Looking forward to seeing this one coming together
Paul
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You have a habit of picking very interesting subjects Stephen. I will follow with interest.
Alan.
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Hi Stephen,
another thread I will follow more for the craftsmanship than for the beauty of the prototype! ;D
Regards Joachim
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Excellent choice Stephen. Nice start so far!
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Looking forward to your continued progress as always Stephen!
RAGIII
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Evening All,
A belated thanks to you all for your kind comments - they are much appreciated.
Progress on this project has been slow because life keeps getting in the way, and some of the construction processes take a long time. Ribs were added to the flying surfaces by glueing 10 x 20 thou strip to the upper surfaces. The strips were sanded down and Mr Surfacer 500 added to the edges: this too was sanded down when dry. The booms on the upper and lower wings were cut from florist?s wire and superglued to grooves filed into the upper surfaces of the wings, and slots in the leading edge of the horizontal tail surface. The crossbar at the rear of the lower box was also superglued in position.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55285490422_96196e7c32_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2seoAbJ)
The engine was made from 60 thou card for the engine block: I scribed a circle on to the plastic and cut and filed the circular shape. I drew a simple template to allow me to make the cylinders the correct length and angle - the cylinders are made from 40 thou plastic rod. Later I will make push rods from thin stretched sprue.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55286558998_85a2294514_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2seu4Qs)
The nacelle has taken a long time to make because it had to be moulded. I started with the block of wood shown in the first photo in this post. I managed (just) to insert it into the chuck of an electric drill and with the drill turning I was able to round off the corners of the block to make a cylinder of wood.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55286821615_1c3a6c4170_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2sevpUk)
The nacelle tapered to the front and rear, so I cut some card templates using a circular cutter - each template represented the diameter of the fuselage at measured points. I had to make the mould slightly smaller than the plan because I had to allow for the thickness of the plastic. I turned the cylinder of wood between two fingers and thumb of my left hand while I used coarse glass paper to shape the other end. When one end was of the correct diameter I repeated the process for the other end. The process was a little slow but in the absence of a lathe it was accomplished. I did try to use the drill as a lathe but the chuck left indentations on the wood, even though I tried to use thick paper to prevent that from happening.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55286412316_ce10e6d256_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2setjes)
The two halves of the nacelle were moulded in the usual manner: a hole of the correct size was cut into a sheet of plywood, 30 thou plastic sheet pinned over the hole, the plastic sheet heated under a grill and the male mould used to push the softened plastic sheet through the hole in the plywood. The fuselage halves could then be cut from the plastic sheet.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55286646569_0d04bd6bf0_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2seuvSi)
I made a simple cockpit: two wicker seats from Barracuda, a floor and joystick for the pilot, an instrument panel and a bulkhead behind the pilot. I have no information on the interior of this machine so all is pure guesswork. I added a couple of strips of plastic to give the impression of internal structure to the fuselage sides but this again is pure guesswork. Before I joined the fuselage halves I cut out the two cockpit openings and the slot in the front of the fuselage which had a window for forward observation. The cockpit, bulkhead and instrument panel were cemented to the starboard fuselage side and then the fuselage halves joined and allowed to set.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55286646564_44814c9844_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2seuvSd)
The joints of the fuselage halves were cleaned up with a file and then the rear of the fuselage cut off so that I could add a piece of 60 thou card to the rear which can be shaped for the engine mounting.
Fuselage before surgery:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55286646554_f797682b43_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2seuvS3)
after surgery:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55285575787_474db73612_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2sep2yx)
and with the 60 thou card in place.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55286731789_6c82e1a520_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2seuXcB)
Thanks for looking.
Stephen.
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I never cease to be Amazed at how you take sheet plastic and bits and create an incredible Model Stephen!
RAGIII
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Superb modelling skills Stephen. I think your guesswork on the interior is fine, it's going to look very effective.
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Great progress on this one Stephen. I must try plunge moulding something again (The last thing I did was a canopy on a control line model many years ago and I remember my mum not being happy about the smell that lingered around the oven . . .) ;)
Paul
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Excellent job on the fuselage nacelle Stephen :)
Alexis
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Excellent Stephen! This will surely be a great model.
I have used the same technique for forming a DH.2 nacelle once, and it's still magic to me...
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Evening All,
Many thanks Rick, Nigel, Paul, Alexis and Enathan for the very kind comments - the help to keep me going when like Paul I sometimes lose motivation because things seem to take so long.
Painting and decorating of the Navy Plane has been almost completed - there will be more to do later as will become clear in this report. The colours of the original machine are not entirely clear as there is no authentic record that I can find. (The colours given by Chorozy Modelbud are not accurate for a number of reasons if the photographic sources that I am using are anything to go by). I have chosen PC 10 for the upper surfaces, fins, floats and nacelle - for this I used Revell acrylic Olive Drab (361) which is probably a little too green, but trying to mix in some chocolate brown and get a consistent shade was too fiddly for me! The undersurfaces are clear doped linen - a mix of acrylic white and Revell Beige (314). I have painted the booms in Revell tan (SM382 enamel), but I may change that to Olive Drab later as the wing and float struts were clearly also PC 10, not grey as suggested by Chorozy. The wing cockades were home printed, as was the number (9095) on the nacelle which can be clearly seen in photographs. (Although a serial number was assigned to this machine it is not on the rudders in the photos that I have access to: they were probably taken when the aircraft was completed and rolled out of the workshop and before delivery to the RNAS, so the serial may have been painted on at a later date. Chorozy supplies the serial their kit, but shows the fins as CDL - again the latter is not supported by the photographic evidence). The rudders were painted with enamels.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55327247217_ce62d000d3_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2si5B2t)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55328379119_bd5171998c_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2sibpv2)
With the painting and decorating over I joined the main floats with two strips of 30 x 40 strip, and added the reinforcing plates on the tops of the floats, also from strip. A small indentation was filed into the plates after the cement had set. The assembly of the wings and fuselage needed some thought and planning - eventually I decided on the following procedure. I attached the fins/rudders to the underside of the horizontal tail surfaces and the two forward inner struts to the underside of the upper wing:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55328163966_46961a82f7_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2siaixu)
When the fin/rudders and struts were completely set I put drops of cement into the locating holes in the lower wing and superglue on to the bottoms of the fins and lowered the upper wing/boom assembly on to the lower wing/boom. I ensured that the wings were properly square with a simple jig:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55328163961_a7697c0925_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2siaixp)
When this assembly was dry I had a structure which could be handled with care while I inserted the outer wing struts which gave a much more robust structure:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55328163951_55f3883726_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2siaixe)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55328325943_b19594ef34_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2sib8Gc)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55328587620_e3edaf93d8_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2sicttS)
The nacelle was attached to the lower wing via a single pillar to the rear spar and two splayed struts to the forward spar. I made the rear support from 30 thou rod and the struts from 30 x 40 strip which had been filed to aerofoil section. The rod was inserted into a hole on the nacelle and the struts into small depressions. When the cement had been allowed to set for approximately 20 minutes I lowered the nacelle on to the lower wing and was able to adjust the struts so that they fitted into the holes in the wing. While this was drying out I provided support to the nose of the nacelle with another jig:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55328379094_1d8f33d463_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2sibpuA)
The nacelle was held between the wings by four curved struts. These were cut from 30 x 40 thou strip which was filed to streamlined section and then carefully bent mid-section - I used dividers to measure the distance from the lower wing strut attachment point to the side of the fuselage where the bend in the strut was required. It was then a case of trial and error to get each of the 4 struts to fit between the wings and braced to the nacelle. I added the rear struts which were ahead of the booms at this stage:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55327247152_2ddf8fe262_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2si5B1m)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55328325893_a392e7ead5_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2sib8Fk)
The main float struts were attached to the lower wing by a pair of forward-rear V struts and a pair of V struts which were attached to centre section of the wing:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55328587595_4964ad699d_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2sicttr)
The main floats will be attached next via the existing strut arrangement and 4 more struts which were attached directly to the nacelle. A quick look at the photos and drawings show that one of this pair had an unusual configuration which will need some care to get right, but given the arrangement of the other struts on this model, that should come as no surprise.
Thanks for looking.
Stephen.
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That's looking great Stephen 8)
Colour choices seem like a pretty good bet based on what else was around and the way stuff was usually painted, although nothing surprises me these days ::) I think I would have probably gone for a similar scheme (the home printed decals look the part too)
The whole contraption looks terribly Heath Robinson, like so many aircraft of the period and I think you've done stirling work to get everything attached given the gawky nature of the original - Can't wait to see the floats and rigging added; it'll be another interesting model to add to your collection :)
Paul