Airfix 1/72 Airco DH4

[Early Bird Fan]

A kit that had been on my birthday pressie radar for a while is this oldie from Airfix, i finally got to unwrap one last month. Spurred on by Brads rather excellent looking build and while building up the courage to fit the top wing on the S.E.5a i decided to make a start on it. I won't be making as many changes as Brad but i do love building interior framework so here's where i'm at so far...

Here's the box and sprue shots


Interior detail is sparse to say the least, some quite nice detail on the outer surfaces though


ejector pin marks on the flying surfaces are a bit annoying and will need some careful removal


First job was to remove the ejector pin marks and seat mount points from the interior. Then i could set about knocking up some framework which is based on the interior from the 1/48 roden kit. There's a couple of small things to add but it's pretty much done


I added some ledges for the floor to sit on and they should help with keeping it located during final fitment. Also added a small rear bulkhead and some 'axles' which go through the fuselage for the elevator control horn to fix on to, i'm going to have to make the horn as there isn't one in the kit.


The kit seat on the right is a bit oversize so i'll use a spare roden seat i have which is a better looking mold and size, i also have a spare IP which seems to be a near perfect fit so i can use that. Thought i'd do the floor in one piece from .75mm evergreen, i just need to make a couple of bulkheads and furnish the floor with some control sticks and pedals.


Took a bit of time pondering on how best to fit the front seat when i stumbled upon a seat frame in my spares stash for a Camel. Turns out it was pretty much a perfect fit for both the seat and the width of the fuselage. I've opted to fix it to the floor rather than the fuselage side.


It looks a little low like this


but with a figure in the seat the height is in the right ball park so i'm calling that bit sorted, the fuselage halves also still meet in all the right places. You can see the .5mm rod sticking through the fuselage for the elevator control


A few more bits to add then it should be ready for primer

[Rookie]

Hi Stephen,

Nostalgia!

I did this one back in the 80's, with brush paint, crumpled decals and no refererences. I remember I was very proud of the result. Sadley, it didn't survive the many moves and wanderings.

I like the enhancements you did on the interior, and I will follow this build closely!

Will you be doing a special colour-scheme?

Willem

[FAf]

Good work on the interior! Looks very promising!

I'm guessing that the elevator control rod from the observers pit is the same kind of solution that the Brisfit and my current FK8 had. I find it very fascinating that the observer had a lever to control the elevation, but that he was supposed to control the rudder by simply grabbing the rudder cables running through his pit - at least that was the idea in the FK8.

/Fredrik

[Early Bird Fan]

Hi Stephen,

Nostalgia!

I did this one back in the 80's, with brush paint, crumpled decals and no refererences. I remember I was very proud of the result. Sadley, it didn't survive the many moves and wanderings.

I like the enhancements you did on the interior, and I will follow this build closely!

Will you be doing a special colour-scheme?

Willem

thanks for the comment (my names Dave BTW  ), i've got no plans for a special colour scheme, it'll be going grey/green

Good work on the interior! Looks very promising!

I'm guessing that the elevator control rod from the observers pit is the same kind of solution that the Brisfit and my current FK8 had. I find it very fascinating that the observer had a lever to control the elevation, but that he was supposed to control the rudder by simply grabbing the rudder cables running through his pit - at least that was the idea in the FK8.

/Fredrik

thanks for the comment, as far as i can make out from photos i've looked at the DH4 had proper controls for the observer with rudder pedals and a control stick and even a throttle control.

[Rookie]

I don't know where I got that from...

Sorry Dave 

Willem

[FAf]

thanks for the comment, as far as i can make out from photos i've looked at the DH4 had proper controls for the observer with rudder pedals and a control stick and even a throttle control.

Pure luxury! 😁

[William Adair]

I dreamed of owning this kit as a kid, but it never seemed to reach the shops round here.  Really nice to see it come together now   

[lone modeller]

That is one of Airfix's classic kits. I remember building this when it was released and making a conversion to a DH 9 based on an Airfix Magazine article. The extra details that you are adding are super.

Stephen.

[RAGIII]

Looking outstanding!
RAGIII

[Stuart Malone]

Dave,

So cool!  Nice to see one of the moldy oldies being done.  I recall having a Dickens of a time with those struts, even when I got older.  It'll be fun watching your build!  Thanks for sharing.

Stuart

[Alexis]

I like the detail you added to the side walls !


Alexis

[Brad Cancian]

Nice work Dave, i'll race you to the finish (I am guessing you'll win, my build has become glacially slow, sadly).

I like what you've done in the cockpit. This isn't a bad kit, all said and done, especially dimensionally. Yep there's a little bit of work to refine the details but the kit provides a solid start point to build upon.

Looking forward to seeing more!

BC

[RichieW]

I love seeing these old kits getting treated with the reverence modellers like you give them. Following with great interest.

Richie

[KiwiZac]

I love seeing these old kits getting treated with the reverence modellers like you give them. Following with great interest.

Richie

Hear hear. I love building old kits (with some exceptions) and it's wonderful to see a favourite type like the DH.4 get this attention.

[Early Bird Fan]

many thanks to all for your comments and for following me on this build, tis very much appreciated

it's highly possible i've gone too far with the interior on this one, but hey, the fun is in the doing 

a rudder cable fell off while taking the pics...shoddy workmanship 

and it seems the floor has taken a slight warp but it should sort itself out once i glue it in place