'Steady as the Rock of Gibralter...' Handley-Page HP42W

[Defiant911]

Cool plane, I bought the 1/72 air fix 0/400 handley page but have not yet got around to building it.
pits a nice looking WW1 aircraft

[rtfoe]

Cool plane, I bought the 1/72 air fix 0/400 handley page but have not yet got around to building it.
pits a nice looking WW1 aircraft

I think the Airfix version is smaller than 1/72...

Cheers,
Richard

[Steve-the-Duck]

And now, compare and contrast - again... I may be doing this a few times on this build (and it gives me a reason to do a restoration job on a thirty-year-old build)
On the right, the tail of this bird so far - on the left, the Airfix 1/144 HP42.

Yes, they're about the same size!

[Steve-the-Duck]

So, the tail, does not, near completion

Taking Tony's advice, a bit of light re-sanding and re-spraying and, much better
Then, on with the upper tailplane

And the rigging has begun
Except...
I'm now looking at pictures of the tail on the original, and there are no panel lines among the fabric.
But there are ribs, or rather, longerons, visible in some close ups, right where those panels are marked
I have a cunning plan forming
Just wish I'd thought of it before priming and painting

[Steve-the-Duck]

Well, here's the tail, and my cunning plan reaches fruition:
:
Masking tape strips over the panel lines. Then varnish spray over.
It works, but will it stay?

Empennage rigged with two thicknesses of micro steel rod

And next:

These are the 'stick-on' letters, and I'm not quite sure how they'll work. The instructions are a little vague too
Time to experiment with some spare letters and a test piece

[Steve-the-Duck]

This was almost a disaster

The self-adhesive stickers look fine, now they're on. I'm not showing the other side yet, as I've got to re-position them all.
What happened was: you're supposed to peel off the backing, put the letters in place, then peel off the front sheet to leave the letters behind. Which is great because on the sheet they're already correctly spaced
Only, most of the letters for the port side stayed on the backing. So I've had to carefully unpeel each one and then place them on the fuselage. Now I just have to re-align them to match the starboard side above
Couldn't exactly do that with wet transfers for sure

One thing about all the HP-42s, as seen in photos, is the registration letters are in a different place or at a different angle on every 'plane!

[rtfoe]

Steve, it's similar to the way precut stickers are attached to glass windows or doors and even sport SUV's. I have dine some of this while helping production crews out on a shoot.
Best to peel the backing horizontal wise halfway so you can tease the stubborn ones away from the backing. Place on the surface after positioning correctly then burnish from the center outwards then peel the front at a sharp angle as if rolling off as opposed to lifting off.
Funny they would use this method of decaling...just how thin are the characters?

Cheers,
Richard

[Steve-the-Duck]

Richard, thanks for the advice, I'll try that
How thin? About sellotape thickness. They're going to be a bugger on the corrugated underside of the fuselage, but that's out of sight. The maker advise using 'instant glue' to get the smaller markings to conform. I think he means cyano. The test piece I've tried conforms with panel lines quite well but they're definitely 'to be viewed at a short distance'
Part of me wants to try using the large letters as masks for painting... But so far I'm happy

As to why he chose this method, I couldn't say. But you don't get many Japanese aftermarket decal makers

[Steve-the-Duck]

So, now onto the fuselage and passenger compartment. haven't decided yet which, and how many, of the doors to open, as I'll only have to make sets of stairs - of which there are plenty of pictures


I'm already sanding the edges of the passenger floor so there're no gaps when I close it up. That may take a while
There are clear sheets, and stick-on frames, for the main windows. In the photos of the real thing, the perspex, or whatever it is, sometimes looks a bit crinkly. It's also flush with the outside... Hmm... The windows come as large acetate sheets.

I've also been testing whether the decals are suitable to use as masks for the lettering on the wings - which they are, but I have to find the right shade of blue, among my many! Still in two minds, having mixed results
We'll see

[Steve-the-Duck]

Well, here we are again - slow progress.
The two cabin interior pieces needed some careful sanding on the edges so the two fuselage halves will fit without any gaps. Due to the surface detail, any filling is going to be nigh on impossible.
One thing about 3D printed models, and a lot of CAD designed kits, is the VERY fine tolerances on part fit. So much so a coat of paint will put them out of fit. This I will have to consider next

Seats all fitted. I'm skirting disaster at every stage of this build. I was halfway through placing the seats in the rear compartment when I realised I was FITTING THEM THE WRONG WAY ROUND! D'Oh!
Fortunately the instant cyano wasn't so instant

So, this is the toilet compartment. Which has no windows... I will be painting it properly, and fitting mirrors, scented bottles... But no-one will ever know
But where does the water come from?

I won't be fixing these together until they go into the fuselage. Lots of detail work up coming

[Steve-the-Duck]

So, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, but here's the main wing all together. There are four pieces, grey, to the center section, and the two big green bits are single printings

Still not decided finally about the codes. Paint or stickers..?

[Steve-the-Duck]

Been taking a while but things are progressing
It's me that's slow

Upper wing built and painted - I used the stick-on markings as masks, and I think it's turned out fine


Main body is just simple silver, centre section is chrome for a more metallic look. The biggest problem so far is it's not until the silver is on can I see where joins or surface detail that needs attention shows up. Straight on, one wing is slightly warped, but that should correct with the spars


Engines undercoated and painted, whish also shows the surface to be smoothed a bit. They're one piece printings, and are pretty good in detail, especially from the back. I've considered drilling out behind the pipes, but that's a lot of work for all four engines, and the angle is difficult to not do more damage than it's worth

Engines pinned in place just to see how they look
Needs more work...

[Steve-the-Duck]

And for my next trick, the two cabin pieces


By now, I've finished the upholstery on the rear cabin.
Just some work to do on the cockpit and radio operator's compartment
There are two tiny windows in the roof of the toilets, BTW
Now, I'll probably havbe all the doors open, including the luggage compartment. Just need to get hold of some 1930's railway figures for 'decoration'

[Steve-the-Duck]

Lower wings prior to painting

I intend to paint and mask the undersides, then fit all the struts, exhausts and extra details. The struts are laid out on a sheet, so I'll have to fit them individually to not lose correct placement
We're getting there

[yak face]

Brilliant progress steve , loving the laura ashley seat fabrics !! The wing looks great , nice work on the serials, cheers tony