Bleriot XI

[KiwiZac]

I'm excited to see Fuselage v.2, Edo. I forget if I mentioned but our cats haven't done much damage on The Bench - frustratingly in the past they waited until models were on display shelves to do things like chew the tail (Airfix 1/72 Gnat) or prop (Corgi Spitfire XIV)! They have a designated sleeping spot on the bench and are generally careful if they walk on the workspace itself.

That said, I may close the room when I get to rigging the SPAD and Pup...!

[Bughunter]

The engine really looks superb!
RAGIII

Exactly, and it triggers me to think about how to do that engine in 1/48
But I think other projects have priority

Cheers,
Frank

[Edo]

hi all!
thank you for the kind words!

Frank, in theory, you could just scale it down (or up) and get any scale you want.... in practice, I fear that some details will become too small compared to the printer resolution.
but you triggered my curiosity, so I’ll give it a try, just to see if it works. I’ll let ypu know how it goes....

ciao
edo

[Bughunter]

Edo, that is very kind of you, but don't spend too much effort!
There is a white metal engine in the kit, with not very crispy details. I want also to try a method with packed washers, created on lathe, to create the cooling fins.

Cheers,
Frank

[Edo]

Having to reprint the engine mounts for a design problem, I took also up Frank's challenge and see how it goes scaling the engine down to 1:48.
I printed only one cylinder, but to me it is ok... have a look and tell me what you think!
ciao
Edo

[KiwiZac]

I'd build that as-is, Edo, it looks excellent! And I have been thinking a 1/48 version would be good to tackle first...

[Bughunter]

Thank you Edo for the effort you spent!
I think it is a bit better then the white metal engine in my kit.

Hmm, if I'm compare the result with the original ones from Richies pictures:
(see https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=12324.0)

_V5A7312 by Richard Williams, auf Flickr

then I see the diameter of the cylinder continues between the cooling fins, and only very thin cooling fins. My plan was to try a tip from the Windsock International about scratch engines using brass and plastic plates. And this type if early is a ideal candidate to try that method. I'm not sure if a 3D printer can show a hard edge like metal?
It sound a bit crazy, but may be you some of my crazy models?
I know, the cooling fans are only 3mm high, so this is hard to replicate in that scale.

Thanks again,
Frank

[lone modeller]

I have only just found this Edo - what a super project. Shame about the fuselage as it was looking very good, but if you have managed to make another one it will not matter too much. The engine is very convincing and is better than my current attempts to score the cooling fins in plastic. Fins on air cooled engines are a scratch builders nightmare... give me a water cooed engine every time!

Stephen.

[Edo]

hi guys!
it took me a while, but in the end I recovered from the crash of some times ago...
I really appreciate your support and incouragement and I am glad to report with a new fusolage for you!!
here we go!







Next up are the wheels... I have some ideas on that, but I don't want to spoiler you right now... so stay tuned!
ciao
Edo

[PrzemoL]

Oh my... how have I missed this. Amazing work. Both, the engine and the fuselage are spectacular. I will follow with great interest.

[Bughunter]

Edo, I really like your fuselage!
The little coil springs are so sweet
Please continue to keep us entertained with this great build!

Cheers,
Frank

[KiwiZac]

Edo, I've missed you! You wouldn't believe the smile on my face when I saw the "NEW" tag next to this topic! The new fuselage looks superb - exquisite work!

I forget: are you working from some drawings? As I mentioned earlier I'm keen to build an XI of my own in 1/48 (albeit with ailerons and a more modern engine to represent an NZ-based replica) and I'd love to get copies of what you're working from if possible.

[RAGIII]

That is a really Awesome recovery and great progress! I have been reading the French Aces Encyclopedia and several French Aces flew Bleriots in the beginning of the War. Makes Me wish I had scratch building skills 
RAGIII

[gbrivio]

Beautiful fuselage and suspension, woodgrain looks very realistic.
Ciao
Giuseppe

[Edo]

Hi all!
thank you, thank you for the kind words! I really appreciate them!!
Kiwi! my friend! I am not using original drawings, but some I found on the Internet. After some research, I settled to the draws you can find on this site: www.paoloseverin.it
It is a wonderful site, half in Italian, half in English by a guy who makes flying models. The Bleriot he built is 1/4th scale, you can find many pictures of his build and even an article (in Italian) and the plan he used (in English) that I use too, I scaled them down to A4 size and it is 1/32ish I think. I think he adapted something to make it airborne, for instance the wing profile he admittedly says it is an Albatross profile as he was more confident with it (I think he already made an airowthy Albatross, but I am not sure). Anyway, I think the drawing are accurate enought for my build...

Now, speaking of my build, I told you I had some ideas for the wheels... so here it goes.

To tell the truth all started from the spoked wheel: I wanted to find a better way (and an easyer one, indeed) to craft them... so I thought a way to do that in 3D printing and from there I moved to other parts and, at the end, decided to give it a try to the plane itself... so, this is the background, now to the production line.

The first problem I wanted to solve was the need of a "sendwich" rim... this was easy enought to do in 3D, but then the hub.... well, have alook it is easyer...

the rim... (24 holes in it, I had to redrill them as the 3D printer failed and let only a mark on where they were supposed to be)





the hub... (6 holes per side, so each hole has to "bear" 2 spokes that will be 12 per wheel side)





that was the easy part, now how to put them togheter... in the end I decided for this jig: the idea is to lay the rim on a plane that is halfway the hub height so that, with all in place and firm, one could "sew" in the spokes themselves...  here is the jig:



as you can see one rim-stop broke off while cleaning and was replaced by a brass rod... also the heigth is not correct so I had to add some wood spacers (too lazy to go back to drawning board...), but, hey!, it worked!!







As you can see it is only half spoked, now I have to cut the monofilament and turn the wheel to complete the rigging on the other side... so not sure on how will it be in the end, but seems promising...

I hope you enjoy it as much as I am!!

ciao
Edo