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Last year I picked up a couple of old Pyro kits, one an Avro Triplane, and the other this Martin Handasyde 1911. There isn't much on it, but I did manage to locate a W-W-1 Aero Magazine article that gave enough information to do a decent little model. My first intent was to buld this right out of the box. :blink: Yeah yeah I know.. fat chance of that happening.

The more I looked at it the more I saw areas of improvement. I decided to use the kit wings and tail, and much like my DH 10, make a new fuselage. Instead of carving a master and vac-forming a plastic fuselage, then painting it to look like wood, I combined another hobby of woodworking, and made a new fuselage out of 1/32nd" mahogany veneer. The fuse shape is very simple. In cross section it's a triangle, so I just used the kit fuselage to trace 2 new sides and a new top on the veneer, cut them out and sanded to final shape, then glued it all together with CA. The whole thing took me about 20 minutes... I loved it. For a finish I sealed the grain first, then put on 4 coats of Minwax polyurethane, sanding between each coat after it dried overnight. The final finish looks like a piece of fine furniture. The rich red color of the mahogany will contrast nicely with the natural doped linen the rest of the model will be made from. The real airplane used a lot of copper and brass, and I will use them as much as possible in construction. It should be a pretty little airplane, and certainly something you don't see every day... plus I should be able to bang this one out in no time..lol.

Cheers,

Mike

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You know, for someone who claims to be "all thumbs", your ten thumbs outdo most other modeler's (mine included) ten fingers.

Awesome!!

My only question concerns the fuselage. Was the Handasyde built using (what appears to be) only three pieces of wood? I'm just thinking of other aircraft, like the Albatros series that used multiple sheets of wood "tacked" to some underlying structure.

This in no way questions your modeling ability at all. Your models are some of the most awesome around!

And I think it's time for a few of us to contribute to a ticket to bring The Finger Chooper to upper NY. :wave:

Edited by mbittner
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a very interesting project as usual

Hi Robin, thanks for the comments. It was one of those little things that seem to subliminally say "build me, build me, build me" in a wee small voice... how could I refuse? Sometimes a subject jumps out at you that seems right at the time.

My only question concerns the fuselage. Was the Handasyde built using (what appears to be) only three pieces of wood? I'm just thinking of other aircraft, like the Albatros series that used multiple sheets of wood "tacked" to some underlying structure.

Hi Matt,

That is a million dollar question. The framework, according to the Aero article, was "plywood over an ash frame". The photos and the drawings aren't clear if there are joints or panels anywhere, so it's anyone's guess. I did a little ejimicated guessing and deduced that common boat building techniques would have been used at the time, so one piece of plywood running the whole length was determined to be accurate enough for me.

And I think it's time for a few of us to contribute to a ticket to bring The Finger Chooper â„¢ to upper NY.

just make sure he springs for lots of beer. :lol:

Cheers

Mike

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Fascinating subject sir, and beautifully done as usual. I can't wait to see its progress. I vaguely recall building a Pyro early aircraft many, many years ago but I seem to recollect that it was a triplane, and part of a 'Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines' series. Of course my fading memory may be playing tricks on me.

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Hi Ed,

I vaguely recall building a Pyro early aircraft many, many years ago but I seem to recollect that it was a triplane, and part of a 'Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines' series. Of course my fading memory may be playing tricks on me.

No your memory is right on the money. This is from the same series, and includes the Martin, a 1910 Bleriot, 1911 Bristol Boxkite, 1911 Deperdussin, 1911 Avro biplane, and your 1911 Avro Triplane. I've also built the Bleriot and recall it was a dandy little kit as well, in spite of it's age.

I identified the landing gear as in need of updating from the lump of plastic the kit had. I used the main downward leg, but cut off the spring and support arms and axels. I used Fotocuts PE spoke wheels and cast resin copies of the kit wheels, which just happened to be the same diameter of the PE spokes. I made four of these, and sanded them down to 1/2 thickness, then removed the center cast spoke detail so I had 4 half o-rings of resin. I sandwiched the spokes between the two halves, filled the center seam of the tires and came up with 2 reasonably nice wheels. Brass wire of .032" diamter makes the axles, and I laminated .005 strip plastic to make the leaf spring. The real MH used wood for the spring, so this was painted wood accordingly. The nose-over skid was cleaned up, and I'll vac-form a "spoon" for the shoe in place of the huge blob of plastic the kit had. I need to make the telescoping arms for the upper struts, then add the wing warping gear, sprocket and control arm for rigging later. I will begin the engine after that, and because it hangs out in the open so much, it will be a small model in itself.

Cheers

Mike

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The Main gear is finished with the addition of the telescoping struts and spring shackles. I made the struts from fine wire with the insulation partially stripped off, and .003 wire for the shackles. I made a new tail skid as the kit's was woefully too short according to the drawings I have, along with a new Rudder post from .040 cut into strips, and the bracket made from .005. I have it mocked up to check for fit at the moment, nothing is glued permanently in place yet. This is a fun build, going together fairly quickly.

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I could just sit and look at these threads all day, truly inspiring work, my hat goes off to you for recreating some of these 'obscure' subjects with such attention to detail.

I think it would not be pushing things to suggest that these models would grace any museum display unit and be a star attraction.

I'm transfixed, more please :worship:

Cheers

Matt

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First of all thanks everyone, I appreciate all the comments. This is certainly a fun little model. ( EGAD... I said the "F" word...)

Poking some goodnatured fun at another post in the Genral Forum regarding accuracy... horror of horrors... hope nobody notices my 1:1 scale woodgrain is WAY out of scale and therefore "Inaccurate" :lol:

Anyways.. a little more mocking up to get things aligned so that there are no surprises later when I assemble it. I used the kit seat to make a new one out of .010 sheet, same for the Wing Mast, which is made out of .040. I joined the wings together, drilling through the two spars of the wings with a .030 bit to insert brass pins for added strength, then epoxied the halves together. Once the epoxy cured I sanded the spar back to shape and fiilled the seams with a dab of CA where needed and sanded again. It looks like a once piece spar now. Next to be made will be the two fuel tanks and this puppy can go together and get ready for rigging. I will be using monofilament on this one as it will need the strength. It's a pretty frail little bird.

Till next time,

Cheers

Mike

:cheers:

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Hi Trevor.

Isn't this the 'British' entry into the Magnificent Men and Their Flying machines race?

It could very well be, but it's been eons since I have seen the movie ( I should get it now just find out) to know for sure. I do know the kit is part of their Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines series, so odds are real good it is.

Cheers

Mike

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It's funny how some of the kit's parts are totaly klunky, yet others are perfectly useful with just a bit of clean-up. The Control Wheel is an example. It was petitely molded and correct in size and number of spokes, and the Column was a good start. I just added a PE bracket to the top and a pully punched from .020 and it was all it needed. I added the wing warping cable pullys to the bottom and top sides of the fuselage and ran the cables. Next I can install the wing and tail surfaces after they get painted. The engine will be the biggest challenge, as I'm trying to figure out how to use as much of the kits as possible but bring out the detail of the fins and valve gear, without major surgery. It should be fun.

Cheers

Mike

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Hi Pete,

Glad to see you made it and are all settled into your new place. Good hearing from you again.

is this a new magnum opus?

Well I'm not sure about that, it'll turn out nice I think, unless I turn it into a magnum oopsies by doing something dumb.

George Lee is smiling down on you from above my talented friend!

Wow thanks Pete, that's quite a compliment, but I am not even in the same league to tie Mr. Lee's shoelaces (or tie one of his ties?) much less build on par with him, but he certainly is a level to strive for. If I ever get 1/10th as good as him then I'd be quite satisfied. Thinkgs have been on a short term hiatus, although I have been working a bit on the engine. The kit's comes as 3 plastic lumps of heads and crankcase. I've split it all up and added seperate rocker shafts and intake/exhaust. It should look pretty decent.

Have you got your new modeling digs up and running at the new place? Hope to see you in a few weeks at ROCON.

Cheers

Mike

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Have you got your new modeling digs up and running at the new place? Hope to see you in a few weeks at ROCON.

Cheers

Mike

Oh...sort of! ;) I've got a temporary set-up that'l work until I can really set it up properly...

Say "hey" to that good-looking tall lass for me. Shooting for ROCON :thumbsup:

Regards,

Pig

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