1/72 Deperdussin Monocoque

[Tim Mixon]

My next project will be this crude 12 Squared injection molded kit. The kit depicts one of the racers in the 1913 Gordon Bennett race. I’m going to build it as a production aircraft with the longer wingspan and two sets of control wires per wing.
This kit will need a lot of love to bring it to fruition. The one piece wing is too thick and has an incorrect shape.  The engine cowling is also too small and incorrectly tapered down towards the prop.

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I’m going to try and make use of an Eduard Nieuport 17 cowl. I’ll have to add Evergreen strip to lengthen it.

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I’ve added a few internal details and scratch built the Deperdussin steering column.
You can see the cowling extension I’ve added
I’ll scratch up the wing using Roseplane wing blanks

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You can see on the plans that the trailing edge of the wing tapers back to the fuselage from the tips. I’ve read that this design helped increase the wing warping for maneuvering. 

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That’s all for now. Thanks for looking in!

Tim

[davec]

This looks like it will be an amazing project - the kit will need a ton of modification.  Looking forward to watching it evolve.

[IanB]

My kind of modelling. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with this!

Ian

[lone modeller]

Looking at what you have to do I thinkk that scratch building one of these would be easier! Good luck with the project - an excellent choice. I will be following closely.

Stephen.

[osterkamp]

  he's going to have some work to do on this little racer 
 can't wait to see it under construction

[Tim Mixon]

Thank you gentlemen. Yes, this is a rough kit but I’m going to try and use as much of the original parts as possible.

I’ve completed the interior work and closed the fuselage halves.  There were some significant gaps to fill so it’s setting till I get back home Friday.  I used Eduard color PE seatbelts and a PE steering column.  The rest is scratch.
After a base coat of acrylic Depot Buff, I liberally added Windsor Newton Burnt Umber oil paint.


That set for two hours and then I removed most of the oil paint with a dry brush

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Painted the seat and instruments, then added the seatbelts

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The kit has no Gnome Lambda Lambda double row engine. I want to have something visible through the large cowling cutouts, so I decided to scratch build one.
Then I got the idea to make a silicone mold for my first time. I decided to use an ICM Oberursel U.III

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My silicone mold:

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If it works out, I’ll make a few spares. One half I can use to replace the nine cylinder Oberursel in my recent Fokker E.I.

If it doesn’t turn out, I’ve started making cylinder heads by wrapping thin gauge wire around plastic tube

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I won’t be able to try casting till next weekend.

Thanks for looking in!

Tim

[Dutch522]

Looks great so far, Tim. Can I ask what you used to make the mold? It's very cool looking, whatever it is!

Dutch

[Tim Mixon]

BBDINO super elastic silicone mold making kit. I bought it on Amazon for $22 USD.  I also bought Environmental Technology 32032 molding and casting material (resin)   
I’m a complete novice at this so I’m not sure how or if it will work. 

[Dutch522]

Neat! Thanks, I'll check it out. I've been wondering whether you could use UV-hardening resin for molding, like the stuff Richie uses for filler, too...

Dutch

[Flamingo]

Hi Tim,

this is a very interesting project. Never saw a Deperdussin with tapering wings so I started a search on the net,
yes, on some photos it looks there is either taper or anhedral.

What is the the big metal device on the left?
Have fun Joachim

[NigelR]

Wow. That's one hell of a project! Great start.....

My next project will be this crude 12 Squared injection molded kit.

I think you mean "injection melted"...........

[KiwiZac]

Good luck and more power to you Tim - I have total faith the end result will be a gorgeous model that betrays nothing of its origins. Great work so far!

I think you mean "injection melted"...........

[Tim Mixon]

Part 3.

My resin casting attempts were a partial success.  First attempt was totally short shot on the cylinders. Second attempt was better with only three incomplete cylinders. I was able to cut off the cylinders from my first cast and add them to the second. 

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The 12 Squared tail section is really rough!

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I’ve marked the area to be discarded. I also decided to scratch up the tail fin and rudder from Evergreen sheet.

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Here is the primed fuselage. I had to fill and sand this several times to get this far. It’s not perfect by any means but it’s good enough for me. 

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Next I added black decal for the rib section and framework. I actually applied rib decals before priming as well to create the slight relief on the wing.

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Here it is after painting the fabric. I’ve added a topcoat of Clear to protect it for masking. Next step is to paint the fuselage and prepare it for wood planking. 

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Thanks for looking in!

Tim

[ScottJ]

Tim, for what you originally had to work with, it's looking really good!  Your modified Eduard Nieuport cowling looks like it turned out just about perfect.
Have a feeling you're going to nail this one.
Take care
Scott

[Tim Mixon]

Thanks Scott,
A 1/72 Oberursel engine wouldn’t fit in the original kit piece. I figured the Eduard Nieuport cowl would be about the best shape to work with.  Here’s a picture of one variant. It seems like no two of these were built the same way!