1/32 Handley Page V/1500 scratch build (slowgress report)

[RichieW]

Very neat work again Willem, I'm enjoying learning from the precision you bring to the work.

Richie

[lone modeller]

The jig that you have made looks really useful - what a good idea. The end product looks as good as any kit part too - best of luck with the continuation of this project. So many good ideas here.

Stephen.

[Rookie]

Thanks Alexis, Rick, Richie and Stephen for looking in and the encouraging words.

Yes, the jig worked like a charm, all the ribs are aligned neatly. I will be using it again for the lower stabilizers and elevators.

To be honest, I'll be glad when the parts for the tailplane are finished, I've been working on them for soooo long now....

Willem

[gedmundson]

Hello Willem - for some reason I have not seen this thread and have just come across it. I'm amazed at the research and scratchbuilding involved here. Keep up this amazing work on your project and you'll have such a unique and well built replica at the end. I admire the work you've done here immensely.
Cheers,
Gary

[RichieW]

Hi Willem, I hope you are well and the build continues is good style. I saw this in a museum yesterday and thought of your project:

_V5A7511 by Richard Williams, on Flickr

t doesn't look much but it is a wing spar from a HP V/1500, the aircraft must have been a real giant because the spar was like a railway sleeper!

best wishes
Richie

[Rookie]

@ Gary:

Thank you for your positive comments. I am a (silent) admirer of your exceptional detailing and weathering skills and I think your Holt tractor and Morse gun diorama are second to none.


@ Richie:

Thank you for posting this picture. This is very interesting, because it shows lots of screws in a fixed pattern. This confirms that it is not solid, but hollow.

"With the double aim of saving weight and avoiding the use of long lengths of spruce, all the longerons and struts, except in the extreme nose of the fuselage, were made from hollow spars of circular or streamline section, rolled up from laminated spruce in the manner patented by the Southampton yacht builder McGruer."

(Source: C. H. Barnes - "Handley Page aircraft since 1907”)

And yes, this was a big beast with a wingspan of 126 ft. The only bigger WWI aircraft was the Staaken with a wingspan of 138 ft 5 in.

I am waiting for some AA brass I ordered to do some testing on the lower stabilizers to attach them to the actual fuselage.

The work on the flying surfaces of the tailplane is tedious to say the least, but it is nearing completion (no pics yet) and I will be glad when I have finished them. Several times I have been at the point of picking up a hammer and, well you get the idea...

I have been working on them for so long now, that I can hardly wait to start on an other segment of the model.

The fuselage will be next, and I'm taking a look at the cockpit area. I'm making sketches of a few cross sections and I'm trying to figure out the form, so I can plan the size of the instrument panel, which carried a lot of dials and switches.

BTW, I've been keeping record of the number of parts (Styrene sheet, strips, balsa and brass) used in this build so far.

With all 15 surfaces (4 fins, 4 rudder, 3 stabilizers and 4 elevators) including hardware completed, the counter is at 511. And twice as much in the scrap box. 

My pace will even slow down more the next couple of weeks, with family visiting from Switzerland, but,

I'll be back.

Willem

[RichieW]

Keep away from the hammer Willem! You are doing a brilliant job on this build and you  love modelling so a lot of time spent doing it is time well spent. For my next project I am going to follow tour example and try to make each piece as a perfect kit in its own right.

There will be plenty of uses for odds and ends of scrap styrene (I hope) so a box full of them will not truly be waste. Loving this project!

Richie

[Rookie]

The family will be going home to Switzerland  tomorrow.

I am eager to get back to the workbench.

There were times that I was a little fed up with the model, but now I can't wait to pick up where I left.

My hands are itching!

Willem

[RichieW]

Glad you're excited by the build still Willem and am very much looking forward to seeing the next update. I totally understand how you can get fed up at times. I have found that my first scratch build involves a lot of groping around in the darkness for solutions and many attempts to make each part.

Richie

[Rookie]

A little update:

The jig I used to align the hinges of the stabilizers and the elevators and the templates for the rounding and tapering of the wingtips:


The inside of the lower stabilizers with the balsa core and the two square brass tubes for the connection to the fuselage. The tips are in place but not yet rounded and tapered. Parallel to the balsa core is a hardwood strip that will support the struts. To secure the balsa core to the styrene sheet, I used the same double-sided tape as for the upper stabilizer:


The closed up stabilizers before cleaning up:


Scraping to get the taper:


The produce of a few hours off delicate scraping:


The by-produce of a few hours of delicate scraping:


The filled and sanded result, ready to apply the ribs:




This is one of the control horns for the elevators:


I’ll be back

Willem

[Alexis]

Nice work Willem 


Alexis

[RichieW]

Lovely, neat work Willem. You are a very methodical worker!

Richie

[RAGIII]

You may not be setting any speed records on your build but you are doing Amazing Quality Work!
RAGIII

[lone modeller]

Very methodical and accurate work Willem. The balsa cores will be necessary on a structure as large as the one you are making. The products of hours of scraping are minor at the moment: wait until you have finished the project and see the size of the pile then...!

Stephen.

[Rookie]

Thank you Alexis, Richie, Rick and Stephen for your kind words. It's more than I deserve.

I know, I'm a slow builder. Time to work on the model is limited, and sometimes I have to move my stuff from the kitchen table because it needs to be used as a ehmm... well, a kitchen table.

I managed to get the rib-strips on the lower stabilizers and elevators:



They need a little cleaning up before I can prime them.

Next will be the locating holes for the control horns, rudder pivots points, fin brackets and struts.

Willem