forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com
WW1 Aircraft Modeling => Under Construction => Scratch builds => Topic started by: Old Man on October 06, 2015, 10:04:10 AM
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I have been working on this for a bit already, but most of the work I have done is on the wings, and they are not too photogenic, being basically long white rectangles. But I have got some good work in on the motor and nacelle now, and have something worth showing....
The machine is quite obscure, and this has been a problem, as no accurate drawings are available, and there are not that many photographs out there, either. Here is one doubled picture that has been quite useful, to give you some idea of what the thing is supposed to look like....
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/hf27indiaflight_zpsctjagxbw.jpg)
My original intention (back last March before the troubles) had been to do an RNAS example that flew into supplies Kut, but since then, I came upon a number of photographs of these machines operating with No. 31 Sqdn on the Northwest Frontier from Risalpur, and for several reasons including ease of markings, this seemed a good choice of subject. The picture above is from India, though I suspect it is of a derelict machine out of service but still surviving on an aerodrome (it is missing a radiator, among other things).
At any rate, to start with, here are the wings (upper wing first, then lower wing), with ribs in and trailing edges scalloped, under a coat of primer....
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_6816_zpsvpavwjix.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_6818_zpsqmiz9wdz.jpg)
The best photographs I can find of this show no trace of either tape or cane strips capping the ribs, and a definite 'peaks and valleys' to the surface. I have accordingly reverted to an old method of sanding and scraping the 'valleys' into the surface of the plastic, leaving raised 'ridges' between. Thin 'swizzle-stick' strips of sanding stick have been a great help in this.
Scallops are cut in with a knife and regularized with a dowel wrapped in sand-paper. Rear portion of the wing surface is sanded and scraped down to get the trailing edge to a proper thin-ness.
Wing were made from 1mm sheet, and cold bent to camber, with the undersurface regularized by sanding with heavy paper taped to a large pill bottle, and upper surface sanded to necessary taper to front and rear. This took very little time.
Blank center on lower wing is where nacelle will go.
At this point I was still contemplating assembling the wings as a unit and spitting the lower wing to insert the nacelle and central interplane struts (a better usage in this instance, I think, than cabane struts).
But the more I looked at what pictures I have, the less viable this course seemed to be. At minimum, some of the nacelle was going to have to be built with the lower wing (in the manner employed by the old Revell and more recent Eduard kits of the Dh-2)....
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_6821_zpsvged8jja.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_6822_zpsuysntew3.jpg)
Here is a piece of 0.5mm sheet cut to the proper length and width of the nacelle, shown first upper surface, then lower surface. It is not stuck directly onto the front of the wing piece, but rather the center was notched to receive it, After seams were eliminated, a sheet of 0.25mm sheet was added as binding reinforcement.
Here is the nose of the nacelle floor shaped, and a false start on the nacelle structure (at this point my idea was to do the portion of the nacelle structure that involved the central interplanes, and then proceed to do the wings as a unit...).
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_6928_zpspzpa57y1.jpg)
But it just did not feel right somehow, and so I put that line aside and set to the motor, a nine cylinder Canton-Unne/Salmson water-cooled radial. Here is the basic blank completed....
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_6936_zpsf4fcf6fe.jpg)
The crankcase disc is a laminate of three circles of 1mm sheet (easier to keep sides straight that way, slants can develop easily on a thick piece). I used an old 9 cylinder radial from the spares box as a template for orienting the cylinders. The basic cylinder is a length of 2mm rod, the cap at the head is a disk of 2.5mm rod. In fastening these, I put holes in the cranckcase and in the base of the cylinder, and applied CA gel; this squeezes into the holes and form a plug which functions pretty much like a pin, and makes for a joint that can stand up to some handling much better than a straight butt joint. The actual dimension of the circles in the template are a half millimeter greater than their printed diamenter as allowance is made for the width of the pencil point, so the actual dimension of the peace is about 13.25mm.
Here is the engine with some basic detail, front and back, and painted....
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_6948_zps2lecy4eu.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_6950_zpswsmrn78t.jpg)
But the engine could not really be taken further at this point until I had its bearers arranged, as I have to be sure the various water and fuel pipings would be clear of the bearers....
After further study of photographs of examples used by the English, it became clear to me that the drawing I have (a 1/144 scale effort in the Davilla and Soltan book of French Aircraft of WWI)cannot be relied on at all in a most crucial area, namely the rear of the nacelle and the engine mounting. The drawing does show some features which appear in photographs of machines in Russian service, and for all I know there may have been extensive modifications of the engine arrangements made by the Dux factory, and so it could be possible the drawing accurately reflects such, but be that as it may, I realized I would have to proceed on the basis of photographs in this area, which is key to the entire build....
So last weekend, I took up the nacelle again, resolved to ignore everything but my scanty stock of photographs and what made sense to me as likely features of aeroplane construction and design in the period (I like to think my WAGs have at least a bit of education behind them...).
I decided, too, that it would be better to start with the sides of the nacelle, rather than its interior structure. So I cut a long strip of 0.25mm/10thou sheet, and trimmed out of it two lengths running from the rear of the covered portion to where the bend begins...
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_6939_zpsr31wusle.jpg)
Though I had not planned to, at this point, since I had enough strip remaining which I knew was identical in height, I decided to plunge on ahead and do the nose portion as well....
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_6941_zpsz5zb9vbn.jpg)
A sharp bend got the 'point' and pressing with a tweezers got the rest of the rough shape. Lying this over the piece got me some pencil lines for cutting, and once it seemed to fit glue was applied, to the bottom and the mating edges. Wife lent a third hand here, as both mine were fully occupied holding the wing the new bit in place at the proper curves, and she dropped a good deal of accelerator onto the general area. Things held well, and then it was just a matter of a bit of patching in a small gap on the port side and general seam cleaning, inside and out....
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_6942_zps7bjvfzo3.jpg)
I started the internal structure with 0.5mm rod laid around the joint of floor to sides. I then started on the verticals. My intention was to do just the portion of the forward central interplanes that were under the rim of the nacelle, but I used a longish bit of 1mmx0.5mm rod to do so, figuring this would be easier to align and that I could trim it down later. But it seemed so well aligned with the locating holes for the rest of the struts that I figures to go with the flow, and trimmed it of at the proper strut length (27mm from the lower wing surface). I put in its mate on the other side, and built both up with an additional length of 1mmx0.25mm strip, and proceeded to do the rest of the structure of the crew area of the nacelle....
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_6944_zpsunpevkla.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_6945_zpsyqbpetyd.jpg)
(the brown wash is mostly to show the strruture, but will, I epect, show though the interior coloring later)
I then did the structure in the rear portion of nacelle (which contains the fuel tanks and bears the radiators, and the motor itself), including the rear central interplanes....
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_6952_zps9zwl66k7.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_6954_zpss0fz0znl.jpg)
At this point, I gave the upper wing a shot at resting on the central interplane struts, and am reasonably happy with their spacing and alignment....
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_6958_zps2z1hojxb.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_6960_zpsqp8rkrs6.jpg)
Next will be the nacelle interior (it is almost completely open), the nose cap and engine bearers, and final detailing of the engine. I will be starting on this tonight.
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Great to see you start on another of your wonderful scratch builds. This is a somewhat obscure type but what you have achieved so far is excellent, the wings in particular look brilliant. Looking forward to following along with this build. Out of interest OM, what length are the wings in 1:72 scale, they seem very long.
Des.
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Great to see you start on another of your wonderful scratch builds. This is a somewhat obscure type but what you have achieved so far is excellent, the wings in particular look brilliant. Looking forward to following along with this build. Out of interest OM, what length are the wings in 1:72 scale, they seem very long.
Des.
Thank you, Sir.
I shall be cribbing shamelessly from your old Voisin build in detailing the motor.
The wings are a hair under nine inches in 1/72, wingspan was 53 feet by the old Harleyford tables. I think I set the thing at 226mm, to have an even center-line. I am willing to fudge a little for measuring convenience at times....
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Lovely work on the wings - that's not a "quick fix" to get the scallops and ribs like that!
Ian
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great work so far old man. nice to see you on the bench again
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you are already ahead...
i will follow with interest
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Wonderful modelling as usual from your quarter. Until you started this project I too had never heard of these machines, but they are extremely interesting nonetheless.
Your method of constructing wings with the ribbing is very impressive indeed - I must give your method a try on one of my future projects as I always find the ribs difficult to get to look right. The detail in the nacelles is also excellent and I am sure that the engine will really look the part when it is finished.
Looking forward to more.
Stephen.
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Outstanding work and a very good engine, OM.
Cheers
Martin
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A great start OM! I'm really looking forward to this one.
Best wishes
Nigel
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Terrific work to date! I am always amazed at how quickly you can scratch build wings, tubs, etc. Beautiful!
RAGIII
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Outstanding project my old friend. I'm looking forward to following this latest Masterpiece. Keep up the excellent progress.
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette
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Great stuff OM.
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I am sure, this one is going to be another fantastic project of yours. I will be watching it with great interest.
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Thank you all very much for interest, and kind words.
I think i am now over the hump on this. There has been a good deal of wheel spinning and some false starts, because I was having to guess more or less blind on the engine mounting, which, since it is completely exposed is certain to draw the eye.
I had seen two basic styles of motor mounting employed by Farmans for radial-style engines --- one a sort of 'cross' with a collar in the center, the other a sort of truncated pyramid with circular indentation instead of a pointed peak.
I tried the 'cross' first, and once I had it, realized I would have to do a anew engine, because there was not enough crankcase behind the cylinder row to accommodate the plumbing behind the cylinders and engage any substantial bearing piece.
So I made a new motor, with a deeper crankcase. I made a central disc out of 2mm sheet, which once I had locators holed for the cylinders I sanded to nonagonol faceted. this, and the cylinders being of 2mm rod, made attachment and alignment easier. I then added 1mm discs front and back, and with the new blank in hand, tried the truncated pyramid style, rendering it solid. It fit, and looked like it would work, but another millimeter needed to be added at the rear of the crankcase.
At this point, I got lucky. I had put up an inquiry on a small forum dedicated to the South African Air Force, seeking information on the use of the type in German Southwest Africa. A fellow there replied with several pictures from a period history, which not only nailed the markings of the Farmans employed there, but included a close, fairly clear shot of the motor taken from the port quarter: the first god look I had got of the arrangements there.
Wife put the old picture through Photoshop and coaxed even more detail out of it....
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_3309a_zpsvcfivjlu-rev%202_lo-rez_zpsmvvln9db.jpg)
So with something to go on that reduced the need for guesswork greatly, I did some re-working of the nacelle rear, and mixed the truncated pyramid bearer, in modified form, with an arrangement of three steel tubes bolted to the crankcase, which I have seen in drawings (and in our Des' excellent large-scale scratchbuild) of the same Canton-Unne/Salmson motor mounted on a Voisin. Some of it may be a trifle over-scale, but that cannot be helped.
Here a couple of shots showing the motor in its early stages dry-fit into its mounting on the as yet only partially revised nacelle rear:
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_6982_zpsah5ixzo9.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_6985_zpsodi9qlty.jpg)
As you can see, while all of this was going on, I got the interior painted and partially rigged. Te nose 'cap' is simply resting in place, not actually attached. It was made from a block of two rectangles of 2mm sheet laminated together, after which everything no the desired part was cut and sanded away. A bit of extension was added in the rear on each side, but these may be cut off, as they do not seem to be evident in the S.A. pictures. Wife has previously remarked on seeing items like this that they resemble the 'stick on' nails girls use nowadays, buyable by the pack in the beauty section, and she may have a good point....
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_6976_zpslpppnpxy.jpg)
Here is a look at the nacelle rear in final form, ready for the motor to be attached....
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_7002_zps0kyq6vwr.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_7003_zpsujrc9lbp.jpg)
Here is the new engine (greatly magnified), painted, about mid-way through, front and back...
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_6994_zpsrtguvjqx.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_6991_zpsabruf0u9.jpg)
Here is the motor with lifters and rods and ignition leads complete:
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_6997_zpswy2nn0h9.jpg)
Copper tone is a wash of brown over sprayed silver, topped with clear orange (washable marker picked up with Future).
Finally, here is the motor attached to its mountings at the rear of the nacelle.
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_7004_zpsukbsiyew.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_7007_zpslzgqjfm4.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_7006_zpsbijqa62j.jpg)
I can now proceed to the relatively straightforward business of furnishing the 'office' for the crew, after which I will do the fuel tank, finish the exhaust arrangements and fuel feeds, PAINT the thing, and then do the radiators and water-feeds. I feel reasonably sure I can get that done over the coming weekend.
In any case, I will finish this as one of the South African machines employed in the campaign in German Southwest Africa (if nothing else, it will save some time on decalling...), which was an extremely odd passage, and the first use of the type anywhere. Indeed, the machines delivered to South Africa could be fairly called in more modern parlance a 'pre-production' batch.
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This looks fantastic OM - a really novel piece of modelling. It is interesting to compare it with the Longhorn as there are similarities and important differences. I am really enjoying watching this one being built - really pleased that you were able to get good photos of what are rather rare machines.
Stephen
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Old Man,
What outstanding progress my old friend. Very impressive skill and craftsmanship are a hallmark of all your Master Class projects.I must comment on your wings,they're nothing short of amazing. Well Done my old friend. When painted one wouldn't be able to tell they weren't part of a kit.Yet another fine testament to your absolutely awesome scratch building ! Keep up the high standards of excellence and keep us posted as to your progress.
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette
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Fantastic work, OM.
Cheers
Martin
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Thank you for posting these, Old Man. This really is proper modelling!
I am interested to know how you made the wings.
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Very well done with the engine OM, I had enough trouble building mine in 1:32 scale but you have pulled it off beautifully in 1:72 scale, this model is shaping up extremely well.
Des.
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This looks fantastic OM - a really novel piece of modelling. It is interesting to compare it with the Longhorn as there are similarities and important differences. I am really enjoying watching this one being built - really pleased that you were able to get good photos of what are rather rare machines.
Stephen
Thank you, Sir.
Certainly the nacelle is very much in the Maurice rather than Henry Farman style. This machine is often referred to as a variant of the HF-20, and I really do not think that is correct. It is something separate: cribbed in some measure from the Voisin, with wings completely different from the Henri style, and with a nacelle that might have come off an MF-11 in most respects; only the tail assembly shows regular Henri Farman features. So does the F-40, but no one calls that an HF-20 variant, even though actually, its wings are a bit closer to the early Henri pattern than those of the HF-27.
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Old Man,
What outstanding progress my old friend. Very impressive skill and craftsmanship are a hallmark of all your Master Class projects.I must comment on your wings,they're nothing short of amazing. Well Done my old friend. When painted one wouldn't be able to tell they weren't part of a kit.Yet another fine testament to your absolutely awesome scratch building ! Keep up the high standards of excellence and keep us posted as to your progress.
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette
Thank you, my friend.
Very glad to see you active here again.
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Fantastic work, OM.
Cheers
Martin
Thank you, Sir! Much appreciated.
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Thank you for posting these, Old Man. This really is proper modelling!
I am interested to know how you made the wings.
Thank you, Sir.
For the wings I have reverted to an old method of sanding and scraping the 'valleys' into the surface of the plastic, leaving raised 'ridges' between. Thin 'swizzle-stick' strips of sanding stick have been a great help in this. These are narrow strips of the padded emery sold as 'salon boards' in beauty sections (or as 'sanding sticks' by hobby suppliers). The strips run between 2.5mm and 3.5mm, which is a pretty good match with most 1/72 rib spacings, and come in grits ranging from very coarse to fairly fine. Mark the ribs in with pencil (best to work from the center out, rather then from one tip across to the other). Then hit the space between the lines with one of these emery strips of coarse grit, taking care to leave the pencil marks intact. Follow this by scraping with the edge of a curved blade (a #10), which smooths things down a bit. Follow this with a narrower coarse grit emery strip, and then scrape again with the blade. It is laborious but not hard, and with a little practice you can get fairly precise in the effect. Once every channel is is, you can smooth further with something like 600 grit paper, moving chord-wise, not span-wise. After this a coat of primer (I use Tamiya Fine White, but everyone has a favorite), will give you a good surface.
Scallops are cut in with a knife and regularized with a dowel wrapped in sand-paper. Rear portion of the wing surface is sanded and scraped down to get the trailing edge to a proper thin-ness. Some work will be needed on the 'valleys' in the upper surface, but most of the thinning can be done to the under-surface.
Wing were made from 1mm sheet, and cold bent to camber, with the undersurface regularized by sanding with heavy paper taped to a large pill bottle, and upper surface sanded to necessary taper to front and rear. This took very little time, about an hour for both wings (as opposed to about eight hours, and a lot more dust, when sanding an airfoil section into thick sheet).
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Very well done with the engine OM, I had enough trouble building mine in 1:32 scale but you have pulled it off beautifully in 1:72 scale, this model is shaping up extremely well.
Des.
Thank you, Sir.
I found pictures of your motor very useful. The exhaust manifolding on this type does not seem standard. As you can see in the picture, pipes join and wrap around the rear strut, and there is only room for three cylinders to feed into an upper manifold, rather than the familiar five seen on preserved motors. Doing a cockpit (I am taking a break from seats and such just now) is a walk in the park by compare to that rat's nest in the rear....
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this is coming out nicely old man. i especially like your treatment of the engine. quite a bit of detail in such a small item
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Outstanding progress !Beautiful results as always !
RAGIII
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That is outstanding in ANY scale, but in 1/72 scale? Incredible!!
The other Old Man, Pietro
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this is coming out nicely old man. i especially like your treatment of the engine. quite a bit of detail in such a small item
Thank you, Sir.
In this build, the engine is the star --- it has to be presentable.
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Outstanding progress !Beautiful results as always !
RAGIII
Thank you, Sir. There has been an unfortunate two steps forward one step back quality to this at times, but I hope the worst is passed.
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That is outstanding in ANY scale, but in 1/72 scale? Incredible!!
The other Old Man, Pietro
Thank you, Sir.
When I was a young man, I worked as a jeweler for some years. And in the small scale, there are things you can get away with that could never pass in larger pieces.
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Getting down to the wire with this one.
Save for intervals of sleep and the odd meal and other necessities of life, I have been pretty much stuck into it on the bench non-stop, and not always too happily, either. Things have got well into 'I need this #@%$!!! hobby to relieve my stress!' territory.
Today is my 'sanity' break. Even with the deadline looming up I am doing no modelling at all. Made a nice lunch of lamb shanks for us, and even drank a glass of wine. There is a fine line between sticking to it and getting stupid, and I want to stay on the right side of it.
I have gotten a good deal done. Though the pictures stop a bit short as you will see, interior and motor arrangements are complete, basic painting is in hand, upper wing is on and rigged, and the undercarriage set up (though not yet painted, and lacking its wheels). This weekend will be devoted to the tail assembly, which is pretty much all there is left.
A couple of things cost me time.
First, once I decided on doing a South African machine, I felt the basic interior needed some revision. When I was intending a late service English machine out on the Northwest Frontier, I figured 'it's dark and dirty in there' would be fine for the interior, but the South African machines were new, were in modern terms a 'pre-production batch', and were something H. Farman hoped would lead to substantial orders. So I felt a 'best foot forward' finish was appropriate, and the factory standard for Henri Farmans seems to have been interior of metal panels (I suspect the whole nacelle was covered in aluminum) painted white or very pale buff, and structural members painted black or very dark grey. Painting white over what I had did not go well, and I wound up up having to do things no modeller should do, or having done, own up to doing. But I did emerge from the passage with a couple of tips worth passing on. One: if you are using Model Master style acrylics, and you have an unsightly thickness of paint building up where it is not practical or safe to get at it with conventional methods, a cotton bud (Q-Tip) wet with rubbing alcohol will do a good job of smoothing down and removing the paint (it might evn work to blend colors in a 'soft' demarcation, the way thinner over enamel can), and will do so even if the stuff is pretty well cured. Two: Titanium White from an artist's acrylic tube covers very well, even when cut down with Future. I wound up doing the frames in pencil, which is nice and dark but can give a metallic glint if the the light hits it right, unless treated with a matte coat. Which leads to odd tip number three. If you mix Tamiya Flatting agent into Future, and the mix builds up a bit where raised detail meets flat surface, when it dries it does what a dark wash does, only white. Oddly useful, here, it turned out --- one for the 'do it once, it's a mistake; do it twice, it's a technique' file.
Second, I learned a bit more about the engine mounting. Someone brought to my attention a better resolution version of a picture I had seen before but not studied closely, a profile shot, and it showed some upper fittings similar to the 'shackle' arrangement prominent at the lower corners in the South African picture. As photographs will, when you have reason to thing something is there, I could discern these now in the South African picture. When I tried to put them in, the motor dislodged, and a good many little bits at the rear began to come loose. It was extremely aggravating, and hard to tell for a while if I was making progress or losing ground. Finally got through it, however...though there were moments when Mr. Farman could well have been abruptly introduced to Mr. Wall, and left to make the best of it with his new pal.
Anyway, here are the pictures....
Elsewhere, someone asked what I would do to keep this from being a tail-sitter it made me think. That had not occurred to me, and I did not think it too likely, but it seemed worth taking out some insurance over, so...
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_7012_zpshtiwgnhv.jpg)
The seating arrangements and the fuel tank conceal a good deal of lead....
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_7010_zpsteewwym1.jpg)
Here are some pictures showing the finished interior and mounted motor, wings and nacelle in the early stages of painting.
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_7014_zpsiaavijcu.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_7016_zpslqyvdttv.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_7017_zpsasugob0d.jpg)
Here are some pictures showing the construction of the exhaust manifolds (they are not yet painted). Note how pipes wrap around the nacelle framework. The nose cap is on, and painting more advanced. The camera flash exaggerates the yellow, and the difference in tone between wings and nacelle. The white piece across the interior is just a spacer wedged in place, to prevent bowing in the nacelle sides during handling for the extensive work at the rear.
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_7022_zpsthne6e4l.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_7023_zps7uyicwjf.jpg)
The pipes feeding fuel to the motor ran alongside the exhaust pipes, in the thicker section of the vertical element, and feed into the charging manifold through the pipes which branch off level where the thicker portion of the vertical ends. Here is a shot showing the fuel feed from the tank, and the housing of the carburetors and the exhaust outlet below the nacelle....
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_7026_zpswb3zgw9j.jpg)
Here are some shots of the completed motor area, with the radiators and their plumbing in place. A bit of pre-rigging has been done in preparation for attaching the upper wing.
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_7027_zpstlnigmkb.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_7029_zpssucrzout.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_7030_zpsyn2gsegk.jpg)
Here are some additional elements: the underside of the upper wing, the horizontal tailplane, and the rudder. The bit of decal is a representation of the Henri Farman logo which wife put together for me. It took considerable manipulation to manage.
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_7034_zpsoryhvypg.jpg)
Here are some shots of the upper wing attached to the four central interplane struts. At this point things are extremely wobbly....
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_7035_zpsd9sdmtxc.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_7036_zpsqmutp9ml.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_7038_zpssuorfesz.jpg)
The finish is somewhat conjectural. Henri Farmans used bleached linen, and it was common to employ a linseed oil varnish when a machine had a rotary motor, as early Henri Farman machines did, since this stood up better to the oil than normal varnish. It has a distinct yellow tint. Photographs of early HF-27s do not seem so translucent as would be expected from plain doped linen, so I suspect some pigment was involved in the covering. Tones for wings and nacelle seem very close, suggesting a paint over the metal matched to the fabric color. While this became a general French practice during 1916 (the 'yellow finish' of early SPADs and others), examples have been noted from much earlier.
Here are some pictures from the early stages of adding struts and rigging. The method is to work out from the center, to keep on top of potential alignment issues, with each strut made and fitted individually.
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_7045_zpsdp1sxps9.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_7040_zpsabhnwvve.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_7041_zps8zl77ich.jpg)
As I said, I stopped doing pictures at this point, and carried on with the business at hand, getting in all struts and structural rigging, and assembling the undercarriage.
Tomorrow I will be back at the bench, and while the rating remains 'fighting chance', I sense somehow resistance is weakening on the ridge-line....
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An excellent progress report OM. The fuselage interior is looking grand, you did a superb job with the fuel tank, great colours, and the additional bits and pieces on the engine certainly adds detail to this model. The wings appear to be very long in comparison with the nacelle but I know it is all in proportion, great job on the radiators and the initial rigging, looking forward to the next update.
Des.
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The seating arrangements and the fuel tank conceal a good deal of lead....
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_7010_zpsteewwym1.jpg)
You do realise that it'll never get off the ground with all that lead? ;D
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Spectacular update O.M. I continue to marvel at the detail you and our other pre-eminent "Scratcher", Lone Modeller, produce in this tiny scale! Simply marvellous work, REAL Modelling in progress! 8)
Cheers,
Lance
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Exellent work, OM.
Cheers
Martin
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This is truly magnificent work. I like the idea of lead in the file tank - obviously they did not consider the environment too much in those days!!
Actually that is an excellent idea which I will remember when I tackle a couple of tricycle undercarriage pushers that are currently on my list.
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do you know that lead can be toxic, why not use gold for your ballast . lol but anyway she is turning out stellar old man and worthy of your great skills.
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Hi,
this is looking so good. :D
I have seen your other Building reports now.
Excellent what i´ve seeing there. You build always in 1/72?
Oh, i think i would broke my fingers when i try to build in this scale.
I´m looking forward to see more of you.
Kindly regards
Jörg
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Your build is really taking shape from the interior to the rigging! Outstanding scratch building!
RAGIII
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Spectacular work, OM! The rigging is superb.
Cheers,
Bud
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An excellent progress report OM. The fuselage interior is looking grand, you did a superb job with the fuel tank, great colours, and the additional bits and pieces on the engine certainly adds detail to this model. The wings appear to be very long in comparison with the nacelle but I know it is all in proportion, great job on the radiators and the initial rigging, looking forward to the next update.
Des.
.
Much appreciated, Sir. And at that, the engine and its arrangements are brutally simplified. I get the feeling I could have coated it in white glue and dropped bits of wire over the thing and left it set for a week, after the major parts were done, and not have been far off, at last to a casual eye. Close up pictures of these things are a modeler's nightmare....
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The seating arrangements and the fuel tank conceal a good deal of lead....
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_7010_zpsteewwym1.jpg)
You do realise that it'll never get off the ground with all that lead? ;D
The commander of the contingent in GSWA liked how heavy these things were, Sir. Made them more stable amid the thermals flying over the desert.
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Spectacular update O.M. I continue to marvel at the detail you and our other pre-eminent "Scratcher", Lone Modeller, produce in this tiny scale! Simply marvellous work, REAL Modelling in progress! 8)
Cheers,
Lance
Thank you, Sir.
Our 'Lone Modeller' does excellent work. I remember first seeing his stuff when he was doing extreme conversions; part of this kit's fuselage and that kit's tail and another kits wings and such. A lot of scratch-building is breaking things down into simple shapes, that can be made and put together to a whole. He has a very good eye.
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Exellent work, OM.
Cheers
Martin
Thank you very much, Sir.
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This is truly magnificent work. I like the idea of lead in the file tank - obviously they did not consider the environment too much in those days!!
Actually that is an excellent idea which I will remember when I tackle a couple of tricycle undercarriage pushers that are currently on my list.
Thank you very much, Sir.
It turned out be absolutely necessary. The weight is just sufficient to keep the thing on its wheels. Make sure the fuel tank is in front of your rear axle. One thing I have thought of since is possibly tucking lead foil under a floor-board piece; you can get away with an interior being a bit shallower than the exterior would suggest it ought to be.
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do you know that lead can be toxic, why not use gold for your ballast . lol but anyway she is turning out stellar old man and worthy of your great skills.
Thank you, Sir. Not sure gold would have been heavy enough, and it is not too good for you either....
Glad you like the piece shaping up.
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Hi,
this is looking so good. :D
I have seen your other Building reports now.
Excellent what i´ve seeing there. You build always in 1/72?
Oh, i think i would broke my fingers when i try to build in this scale.
I´m looking forward to see more of you.
Kindly regards
Jörg
Thank you, Sir.
Welcome to the forum.
I do indeed work only in 1/72. It does take a lot of tweezer work....
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Your build is really taking shape from the interior to the rigging! Outstanding scratch building!
RAGIII
Thank you, Sir. It has been a slice, and has turned into something of a speed-build....
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Spectacular work, OM! The rigging is superb.
Cheers,
Bud
Glad you like it, Sir.
Lots more rigging coming up....
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After my sanity break, I got in a pretty intense two day run, including an old fashioned all nighter (not something I do much nowadays), and have gotten a great deal done,,,
Here is the thing pretty near where the last entry left off, but with the undercarriage painted and the wheels on:
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_7047_zpsjsdcotx8.jpg)
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_7048_zpsgo0gqbth.jpg)
The bit projecting from the upper wing are the start fo lugs to which the upper longerons attach.
I caught a break, finding wheels of appropriate sizes in the spares bin (as well as a properly sized and shaped propeller which I have put aside).
Here it is with the basic tail boom assembly on:
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_7052_zpsmtbe5o9b.jpg)
What you see is the second pass. I first tried using 30 thou rod, but it was just a hair too flimsy, and in any case, I wiped it out dropping the model (strictly speaking, I did not so much drop it as nudge it towards the tail setting it down, and it slid over the edge of the bench tail first). You will read comments saying elastic line adds no strength to a model, but they are wrong. Six or seven strut to wing joints popped (in the excitement I did not count), but all the rigging held, and at first glance it seemed hardly any damage had been done save to the tail boom. So what could have been a final disaster was held to merely a set-back by the well-set EZ-Line. Repair took no more than twenty minutes. I up-sized the longerons to 35 thou rod, and having all the dimensions known made replacing the boom assembly go much quicker than making it before had done, too.
The longeron structure is assembled to the model, lower longerons first. I used a length of 20 thou rod for a vertical (temporary) spacer at the rear, to support the upper longerons in assembling them. The struts were cut from 1mm x 0.5mm strip, and trimmed till they just fit without displacing the longerons. The temporary spacer popped out as I was fitting the last of the rear struts, which saved me the trouble of cutting it.
Here is the longeron assembly painted, wit basic rigging in and the rudder attached:
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_7055_zpsrdw9ptl7.jpg)
Here is the model with the tailplane in place, and all structural rigging in:
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_build/IMG_7059_zps3vswu2ov.jpg)
This was the last picture taken, but things have progressed a bit beyond it. Control rockers are on the nacelle, aileron horns and pulleys are on, and the long control runs to the rudder, elevators, and ailerons are complete.
What remains to be done is addition of about half a dozen short bits of wire to the tail (braces and bit of control wire), ten short bits and four loner bits of rigging associated with the ailerons, making a skid/ruder protector for the tail, making a windscreen, and adding the propeller, along with, of course, a bit of touching up in spots....
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Very impressive, Old Man! The fact that this is in 1/72 and scratch built makes it even more impressive!
George
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Looking absolutely superb OM, the tail booms and rigging are excellent and being in 1:72 scale makes this scratch build amazing.
Des.
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I'm lurking around and keeping an eye on that build, but decided to drop by and say that this is an Excellent build, one can learn a lot by checking it and the result so far is more than great!
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This is a really superb piece of scratch building - well up to the usual very high standard which you routinely produce. Hitherto I did not know much about the HF designs, but I am certainly learning from you. The radiators are extremely good - how did you make them? Was it laminated card?
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Wonderful build of a very elegant aircraft,inspirational OM Bravo!
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An exellent work OM.
Cheers
Martin
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Very impressive, Old Man! The fact that this is in 1/72 and scratch built makes it even more impressive!
George
Thank you, Sir!
I suspect I would go mad working in a larger scale....
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Looking absolutely superb OM, the tail booms and rigging are excellent and being in 1:72 scale makes this scratch build amazing.
Des.
Thank you very much, Sir.
I suspect the booms are really a hair over-scale. The 30 thou looked just right, but it really was too flimsy. I probably should take a leaf from our 'Lone Modeller' and start looking for wire rather than styrene rod. It is the ease of the plastic I prefer; much easier to trim and size, and work after attachment when necessary (as it not infrequently is).
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I'm lurking around and keeping an eye on that build, but decided to drop by and say that this is an Excellent build, one can learn a lot by checking it and the result so far is more than great!
Thank you very much, Sir!
Most of this is really pretty simple stuff. To be blunt, I do home-builts better than I do kits....
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This is a really superb piece of scratch building - well up to the usual very high standard which you routinely produce. Hitherto I did not know much about the HF designs, but I am certainly learning from you. The radiators are extremely good - how did you make them? Was it laminated card?
Thank you, my friend.
This is a very obscure machine, but it actually had quite a career; rather like the hitch-hiker in the old Johnny Cash number, it has been everywhere --- everywhere but over the lines in France and Flanders, anyway....
I think the radiators were solid, from 3mm sheet, which I sanded a bit thinner. I scribed vertical lines in them, close and regular as I could manage. The 'caps' at top and bottom are separate pieces, and the bands are 1/64" striping tape. Coloring them was kind of tricky, because the dark wash to hit the lines overwhelms the brown over silver color. I wound up using several final coats of straight transluscent orange to bring the copper tome back a bit.
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Really delightful to behold!! And more inspiration for a scratch-build!!
Cheers from NYC,
Michael
Thank you, Sir.
I hope you try and tackle one. I have always maintained scratch-building is more a question of nerve than skill; if you have the nerve, the skill will come. Getting something not quite right first go is not like messing up parts of a kit, after all --- you can always make another one. This is my twelfth, and I am still finding ways t do things better, and looking at pieces or assemblies and deciding I better do it over. This one was unusual in being done under time pressure, and so does contain a few things I would have done over had I not had a deadline looming close.
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Wonderful build of a very elegant aircraft,inspirational OM Bravo!
Thank you, Sir.
Glad you like it. 'Elegant' sits a little strange to me for this one, I view it as a pretty angular, by the yard effort. I do like the color, though I wish I were absolutely sure it is correct....
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An exellent work OM.
Cheers
Martin
Thank you, Sir.
I was glad to get it done, by the end there....
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As noted, I did get this one completed.
I will be doing a proper write up in R.F.I. next week.
Here is a sample picture....
(http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/vieuxhomme/steel_farman/steel_farman_entrypics/IMG_7075_zpszgw4qbcw.jpg)
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Bravo, Sir! Absolutely stunning in every respect! I believe this is your best yet, OM, and that's saying a lot, given the high standard at which you always work.
Cheers,
Bud
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Spectacular, OldMan! I am looking forward to see its glory in the full gallery.
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Superb OM, you have created another masterpiece, the rigging looks amazing, looking forward to seeing a full set of photos.
Des.
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Congratulations on a superb construction and excellent model. I have been following this over the last weeks and I'm always impressed by scratch builds, especially in 1:72 and achieving this high level of quality and detail.
regards,
Ivo
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Beautiful OM!!!
Regards,
Bob
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Bravo, Sir! Absolutely stunning in every respect! I believe this is your best yet, OM, and that's saying a lot, given the high standard at which you always work.
Cheers,
Bud
Who am I to disagree with my Amigo! Just a Beautiful build from start to finish!
RAGIII
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Exellent model! ;D
Cheers
Martin
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I'll join in the chorus, excellent model, Old Man!!
George
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Really excellent sir!
Warren
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I can only echo what has already been said...gorgeous piece of work!
Ian
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Hi,
I knew that it would be great!! :D
Congratulation
Kindly regards
Jörg
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Sorry that I am late but I have been away. Absolutely first class or even better. A wonderful model.
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OM,
Congratulations my old friend she's an absolute Masterpiece. As always your scratch build threads are a pure joy to follow and learn from. A big of the hat for that!
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette
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Thank you very much, Gentlemen.
Write-up and gallery will be up in RFI momentarily.