Deperdussin Monocoque 1912
Very early this year I started a project without any plastic - a multimedia kit with many PE parts made by the french company
AJP Maquettes in 1/48: Deperdussin Monocoque
Other projects have interrupted this build, but now the aircraft is complete.
This was a very successful racing aircraft 1912 and 1913. A nice article about the original:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deperdussin_MonocoqueI first wanted to show the hull wrapped from thin wood. The hull of the kit is also made from wood, but the grain was too coarse. So I changed my mind and modeled the existing machine in the Paris Air and Space Museum.
Source: wikimedia.org
I scratched a lot of parts, made a complete new cowling with help of some parts turned on lathe. The wings and tail planes are thickened with wooden strips and covered with paper. This model is equipped with a 14-cylinder rotary engine
Gnome Lambda-Lambda made by Small Stuff and turnbuckles by Gaspatch models. The air screw and steering wheel are again real wood.
There are no decals in the kit, so I cut masks with my electronic cutter and airbrushed the markings. Here mainly Gunze paints are used, and Alclad primer and metal paints. The wooden parts in the cockpit are painted with acrylics.
For more information you are invited to browse through the build log, if not done already:
https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=10851I really like the model - the shadows through the translucent wings and the new engine cowling are my highlights! Really pity that many of the AJP models are to big for my wall cabinet!
This racer looks very elegant and fast, much more modern than all the biplanes that appeared years later!
And now enjoy the pictures:
Cheers,
Frank