Revell 1/72 DH.2 saved from the parts bin

[KiwiZac]

Hi all,
For my 20th birthday a good friend gave me the then-latest boxing of the classic Revell pusher kit. As a fan of all things DH and Airco - and at that time living in Blenheim so saw the Redfern DH.2 replica at the local museum quite regularly - this was a wonderful gift but I simply didn't feel up to the challenge of building it. I put the fuselage nacelle together and mounted it on the lower wing, and painted some parts, but fear of assembling and rigging all those struts put me off. Over the years it surrendered some parts (the tailbooms were hacked for their longitudinal parts, and the horizontal tail for a What If? Bristol Bulldog-based autogyro) so I ended up taking everything off the sprues and putting it into my spares stores.

Fast-forward 15yr and inspired by the many terrific larger-scale DH.2 builds on the forum of late I scrounged through my boxes and was able to assemble this kit of remaining parts (many thanks to Dave_W for the scale drawing):
Revell 1/72 Airco DH.2 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

As you can see the two real issues (despite inaccuracies of the original mould) are the lack of tailbooms and the butchered horizontal tail. Of the latter, see this - rather a large chunk missing!
Revell 1/72 Airco DH.2 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

But further digging unearthed an unused 1/48 Fokker F.I tail which could provide a base for a new part:
Revell 1/72 Airco DH.2 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

A template was marked and cut from clear sheet styrene...
Revell 1/72 Airco DH.2 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
Revell 1/72 Airco DH.2 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

The new part razor-sawed roughly to shape - a few swipes at several angles and the excess broke off very simply (the same was done to separate the original kit elevators from the butchered tail):
Revell 1/72 Airco DH.2 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

Some gentle sanding, a little glue and voila!
Revell 1/72 Airco DH.2 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

Sure, the outline isn't spot-on but for my purposes it's perfect.

The pilot (who may not even be used) also received reverse liposuction to fix a sink mark:
Untitled by Zac Yates, on Flickr

The kit's engine is infamously anorexic so it was returned to spares and the KP DH.5's engine will be substituted, likewise a much nicer-looking gun will replace the original kit's blob.

The biggest issue facing me is how to replicate the tailbooms. I have a length of wire from a trashed balsa kit that looks about right in scale, and I think I may have the original inter-boom struts from the kit. We shall see how it progresses!

The other issue is the decals are nowhere to be found. If anyone has spare 1/72 DH.2 decals please let me know - I have no subject in mind, I'd just like to get this little thing finished 

[RAGIII]

Excellent fix on the tail surfaces Zac. I look forward to the next update!
RAGIII

[Rick_H]

You are engaged in a noble enterprise.  Back in 1966, that kit was a wonderful gift from Revell to modelers, and most of us were completely unable to give it the work it deserved.

I really like your use of another kit's tailplane to carve out the missing part.

Best of luck to you.
Rick
Seeattle, USA

[WD]

OK, everyone raise your hand if you grew up with pilots that were "gut shot" with those sinkholes. 

As was said, a noble enterprise Zac, you are a brave man.

WD

[KiwiZac]

Thank you folks! I'm reminded of a line by Hauptmann Heidemann from The Blue Max: "He was either very brave...or very foolish!"
Revell 1/72 Airco DH.2 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

[lone modeller]

Just found this Zac: I too remember this being relaesed by Revell and some years later built a better model from the kit, albeit OOB. Well done for resurrecting it - any pusher is worth making. The restoration of the tail is first class and the booms should be straightforward - just look at some of my builds and you can see how/why.

Stephen.

[Bughunter]

It is always good, if a model is saved from the parts bin, especially if it is a pusher like the DH-2!
So another build of that type running, as mine seems to be very close to the finish.
Is that a wire on the last picture for the tail boom?

If I look at the parts I know why I do not like that scale very much - not much details, and fine structural things like struts and undercarriage needs to be out of scale to be robust enough in injection moulding. The other extreme 1/32 causes huge models which needs a lot of space, so for me the 1/48 seems to be the best compromise.

But hey, my thoughts should not disturb you! Have fun with this kit, which is the most important part of the hobby.

Cheers,
Frank

[KiwiZac]

Is that a wire on the last picture for the tail boom?

It is, from an old Guillow's balsa kit. Seems like scale thickness based on the drawings Dave W was kind enough to send me, so the next step is to plan how to put it all together

so for me the 1/48 seems to be the best compromise.

I feel the same way. There are a couple more 1/72 projects I have in mind but my preference is 1/48 for everything smaller than a de havilland Mosquito (still want a 1/48 Vimy though...), and reserving 1/32 and larger for particular passion projects.

[RAGIII]

You are progressing nicely with your Little DH2 Zac.
RAGIII

[KiwiZac]

Thank you! Weather and mood have conspired against much bench time lately...and I admit the prospect of making the tailbooms is a daunting one, but there's nothing for it but to get into it! Hopefully I'll have progress to share soon!

[WD]

You've got this Zac! 

WD