It’s been quiet on this build log for a while.
The thing is, my arthrosis has been playing up recently. It’s always there, but some days it hinders me more than others, especially in the hands. The moist weather and the high humidity don’t help either. It would have been wiser to start a slightly less ambitious project, but I intend to finish what I started, no matter how long it takes. If it is up to me, it will
NOT be shelved.
This build was triggered by the announced release of the Handley Page O/100 and O/400 by Wingnut Wings. Sadly, we all know that that is not going to happen anytime soon, if at all. To be honest, I find the news page on their website a little ambiguous.
"...for the time being..." suggest something that is temporary, but the last sentence sounds more like a farewell.... I was saving money to buy both kits, and build the V/1500 myself, so there would be a complete set of the Handsome Threesome.
Frankly, I still have no idea where I would have put them once they were finished, but I just
HAD to have them. Turns out that I only have to find space for one.
Fortunately, I downloaded the photographs, the instruction manual and the pictures of the sprues of the O/100 before they were deleted from the website.
On the Large Scale Planes forum, Mike Swinburne has published a fantastic build log of the only O/100 kit that was sold.
https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/84725-wingnut-wings-handley-page-o100/He has posted lots of beautiful pictures of the build, and was kind enough to send me a picture of the sprue with the control horns for the elevators and ailerons. Remarkably, the top of these, where the control wires run through, are not rounded, but angled. They don’t look anything like the prototype I made from brass. On the (few) pictures I found on all three bomber types, they look rounded. But details are vague, grainy and pixelated when magnified, at best.
I assume our friends at WNW did their homework, so the control horns on the sprue will be my starting point, although the dimensions are different, and the form may have developed into something else. After all, there are 2 years between the development of the O/100 and the V/1500.
Unfortunately, when I was in the RAF museum in March, I simply did not have the time to study all the drawings. The sheer volume of the drawings was overwhelming. There are more than 1100 of them and I only had 1 ½ day.
So what’s the score?Things go slow, but I
AM making progress. I already said that I’m in the process of applying the rib-tape (Bob’s Buckles). He custom made the for me and they are 1 mm wide. That may not seem much, but when they are clear-coated, primed and sprayed in the right color, the will have the desired effect.
However, when a started to stick them on, I found that the control surfaces were far from perfect. The angles were rounded and there were lots of dents and bumps, all the result of sloppy initial work. So, I correct these mistakes as I go along. When that’s done, the tape goes on and will be sealed with a couple of layers of clear coat.
Needless to say, the rudders that Ron Kootje casted for me are perfect. Only the leading edges need to rounded once I have separated the rudders from the guides.
I chose to glue the four elevators to the control surfaces and then spray them. I’m afraid they are too delicate to handle once painted. The hinges (three on each elevator) are strips of 0,5 mm copper sheet, 4 mm wide and 8 mm long.
Meanwhile, I’m jealously looking at the builds of Old Man’s ‘El Sonora’, Ken’s Avro 504, Stephen’s de Haviland and Kent’s ‘Skeletal' Fokker Dr. I’ just to name a few.
What? No pictures?No, not yet. You guys have seen enough of my fumblings, so I will post pictures when (and if) I have something really worthwhile to show.
Don’t worry, I
WILL be back.
Willem
