Old Man Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 During the Abyssinian Crisis in 1935, a force of Hawker Demon two-seat fighters (later designated 74 Squadron) was sent to defend Malta. These machines were painted in a camouflage finish, as shown below: There are a lot of misconceptions about this finish in circulation, but there are documents relating to it that describe it accurately and adequately. I am very grateful to Mr. Edgar Brooks for sharing his researches on this matter with me. Not much of the kit is likely to survive into the finished model. The wings of the kit manage to be both one of the worst instances of 'starved cow' ribs I have ever seen, and too thin by far. If the ribs were sanded flat, there would be practically nothing left of the wing. Accordingly I am scratch-building new wings, from 3mm sheet for the upper wings, and 2mm sheet for the lower wings. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted July 13, 2011 Author Share Posted July 13, 2011 Another area where the old kits badly needs improvement is the interface between the crew positions, and the gun ring. There is a crisp, thin partition, pierced by some cut-outs, behind the pilot's seat, and the gun ring is set too far back on the kit piece; it must be moved forward a bit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
clioguy Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 I will be watching this with great interest.... myself being Maltese!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted July 14, 2011 Author Share Posted July 14, 2011 I will be watching this with great interest.... myself being Maltese!! Glad you like it, Sir! It is an odd little bit of history, this. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ross blackford Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 (edited) :D, Another masterpiece on the production line I see Old Man. I too will be watching this build as it's the first I've ever known about this quirky little bit of history, and besides I have a soft spot for the Demon and all its variants. Great choice and nice going. Did you use the kit's gun ring or is that a scratchbuilt one in there. , Ross. ps. At the moment I'm working on the Mac Pfalz DIII as you know. I have the fuselage together and the seams filled and sanded, priming to come when I have a bit more time. Edited July 15, 2011 by ross blackford Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gregair Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 A great choice of subject and a fantastic photo! You have just got to love the Roundel placement on the origional photo, I would build the second one from the bottom with the roundel near the centre section I really look forward to seeing this one! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted July 16, 2011 Author Share Posted July 16, 2011 :D, Another masterpiece on the production line I see Old Man. I too will be watching this build as it's the first I've ever known about this quirky little bit of history, and besides I have a soft spot for the Demon and all its variants. Great choice and nice going. Did you use the kit's gun ring or is that a scratchbuilt one in there. , Ross. ps. At the moment I'm working on the Mac Pfalz DIII as you know. I have the fuselage together and the seams filled and sanded, priming to come when I have a bit more time. Thank you, Sir. The ring is from scratch; the kit material at the cockpit interface has to be completely destroyed. My method for the ring is the usual 'make a hole in some sheet, then file down the sheet till you almost meet the hole'. It is put on top of the new decking, which has a hole matching the interior diameter of the ring cut into it. looking forward to seeing youe Pfalz. I have a Roden Pfalz going myself, over at 'The Aerodrome'. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted July 16, 2011 Author Share Posted July 16, 2011 A great choice of subject and a fantastic photo! You have just got to love the Roundel placement on the origional photo, I would build the second one from the bottom with the roundel near the centre section I really look forward to seeing this one! Thank you, Sir. I like that one myself, but have not yet made my selection. There are other pictures of these, though this is certainly the most striking of them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dndieje Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Really looking forward to this build I have an old issue of Scale Aircraft Modelling which described these Maltese aircraft. The camouflage scheme is really something I'd like to try some day. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 A good deal of progress on this, Gentlemen, amid the work on other builds. Interior has been constructed, and the fuselage closed. The fuselage was greatly thinned out from the inside. Here is the basic side-wall detail... Here is the sidewall more fully developed, and the pilot's perch and basic instrument panel. Here is magnified detail of those last elements. The instruments are Mike Grant decals. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 Here are some shots of the closed fuselage, with views into the cockpits from several angles. I expect to be re-doing the panel lines, and there are some protrubances that need to be restored on the nose. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
toniosky Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Nice project. On your picture, I like the position of the national insignia for the aircraft #2 and #6, quite original. Are you going to do the same ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted September 15, 2011 Author Share Posted September 15, 2011 More progress on this one, Gentlemen. Here a look at the nose, with all the various bits and bumps added, back or de novo.... The tear-drop fairings are made by cutting rectangular bits of sheet to the right size, tacking these onto a piece of heavy sheet with a little CA gel, and then shaping them with knife edge and emery sticks. Once shape is right, they are popped off the heavy sheet by slipping a knife's edge in at the seam. The little louvrings are .25mm x .5mm strip, heavily sanded down and trimmed. Fasteners are pin-pricks. Here are the scratch-built radiator and oil-cooler.... Radiator is basically just a cube with an open face, assembled from .30" sheet. Oil-cooler is assembled from lengths of 1.5mm x .25mm strip, sanded thinner, and a couple of lengths of .6mm rod. Once rods had been set to the bottom element, a strip with properly aligned holes was made, and this used as a guide for putting holes in subsequent strips. There are five elements, though probably there should be seven,but as things are a hair over-scale in thickness, really, the five are about the same height as a seven element cooler would be. Looked at square from the side,you can see daylight between the elements. Here are the lower wings, set in rough position against the fuselage.... Here are pictures of the tail surfaces, and the rear of the fuselage.... There are some tricky elements to the tail assembly of Hawker biplanes in this period. The horizontal surface had variable incidence, pivoting on its front spar, so when it is set in neutral alignment, there should be a wedge of daylight underneath, between it and the fuselage, and above it, between it and the fin. The vertical fin was offset a bit, with the leading edge a bit to starboard, as torque compensation. No kit I have yet seen gets all of this right, at least in 1/72. The Airfix kit simply lays the horizontal stabilizer across the rear, but the turtle-back has to extend a bit, covering the very front of the horizontal tail-plane structure.My piece is notched a bit on its under-surface, as well. Both tail surfaces are in blank form as yet, without any ribbing or other detail put in. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HOLMES Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Old Man Been following this and it looks fabulous.. Great COOL subject and neat work so far Sir. HOLMESY Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted September 21, 2011 Author Share Posted September 21, 2011 Lower wings are now attached, Gentlemen, and the thing given a preliminary shot of primer; it is beginning to look like an aeroplane.... I must say I am reasonably p;leased with how the surface detail came out --- you never really know till it is under some paint. Looking close there are a couple of small bits I will be tending to, but that is all. The wings are simply butt-jointed, it was a case of tacking on with a little CA gel to get the alignment and dihedral right, then tightening things up with bits of shim and more CA gel. Here is a look, somewhat magnified, into the cockpits.... Next steps will be attaching the tail surfaces, radiator and oil cooler, dealing with the undercarriage structure, and detailing the upper wing: in short, getting the decks cleared to begin painting.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted October 26, 2011 Author Share Posted October 26, 2011 Further work on this, Gentlemen.... As you can see, the radiator has been detailed and attached, and the oil cooler fitted, while undercarriage and struts and most of the tail is in place. I have made a new oil cooler, with seven elements,using .005" strips, but only because I managed to mis-place the first one I had made. The rear legs of the kit undercarriage struts have to be trimmed about a millimeter and a half, and some work done where the axle is fitted. The axle is scratch-built. Kit interplane struts are employed, and cabanes are scratch-built: lengths of .5mm x 1mm strip, scraped to a proper section. Note the fin is off-set slightly to starboard,in a manner that would turn the machine to the left; this was to offset torque of the big Kestrel motor. The picture below shows some of the further detailing on the tail.... The rod showing through the openings is the jack-piece which moved the rear spar of the horizontal stabilizer up and down, and the fuselage opening is where rear bracing strut attaches, while the fin opening is where its upper bracing wire attaches, so that these moved in tandem with the adjustment of the tail-plane incidence. Here are a couple of pictures of the upper wing at present.... The fuel tanks and aileron workings are indicated with 'foil tape' got at a local hard-ware: it is about twice as thick as kitchen foil, but still thinner than .005" sheet. I do not mind admitting the actuators for the Handley-Page slots on the undersurface were a true pain. This is pretty much ready to paint now, which will be the fun part of the project.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted October 30, 2011 Author Share Posted October 30, 2011 After further cleaning up and re-priming, painting is underway, Gentlemen! The pattern is modeled on the second from the bottom in the picture of 74 Sqdn machines in flight above. Colors are Light Green, Dark Green, Light Earth and Dark Earth. By comparing a photograph with color fields identified with a plain black and white version of the same picture, it seems that the lightest shade of grey is light green, the middle shade light earth, and the darkest shade dark green or dark earth; the annotated copy,plus comment in documents, suggests very little dark earth was used, and that mostly on fuselages. Under-surfaces were left aluminum dope. Metal panels on cowling were painted grey; this was intended as a primer, but the camouflage dopes ate the paint, and the annotated photograph indicates grey was then employed as final finish on metal surfaces. Tones on upper-surfaces are not final, this is still a preliminary stage of painting the thing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted October 30, 2011 Author Share Posted October 30, 2011 Having the cabanes on was too delicate, so I have removed them, and will attach them again when the upper wing is on the interplanes. Here are a few more pictures showing the nose details, the profile, and a close-up of the tail workings.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HOLMES Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 Looking quite good...Nice work Sir. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted October 30, 2011 Author Share Posted October 30, 2011 Looking quite good...Nice work Sir. Thank you, Sir. This is one that has been tickling to be done for a long time; I made one earlier attempt, but was working from a verbal description of colors employed that was erroneous; there has been a lot of error and guess-work about this one-off scheme in circulation for years. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted November 23, 2011 Author Share Posted November 23, 2011 (edited) A good deal of further progress on this, Gentlemen. I held the 'putting off doing the ####### windscreen' stage to a minimum, and have the upper wing on, as well as such items as tail-plane struts and gunsights and exhaust pipes. Color tones have been finalized (the dark green drabbed down, the light green greyed a bit, and the light and dark earths yellowed out somewhat),and the roundel decal applied. Cabane bracing wires and aileron control wires have been 'pre-positioned' (attached at one end to the fuselage and the upper wing,rspectively). These wires will be finished before the cabane struts go on. That, and the rest of the rigging,will be the next steps,but I will not be at the bench till after Thanksgiving. Still, this is getting pretty close to finished. The camouflage pattern is modeled on that of the second Demon from the bottom in this in-flight picture of 74 Squadron Demons over Malta: Edited November 23, 2011 by Old Man Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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