From the archive (2006):
The Antoinette-Latham
Monobloc of 1911 produced a very elegant, retro-futuristic
shape that resembles an old refrigerator mated with an ocean liner.
Essentially another
canoe-shaped fuselage flying machine –well, may be not that flying- from the popular
Antoinette stables, this airplane is a sure candidate for simple scratch
modeling, offering a squared fuselage section, simple details, almost no
rigging (just control cables), no visible engine detail, no struts, no canopy
or windshield, no decals and it is a monoplane! So there you have it, as simple
as it can be.
Although some skills are required and a basic balsa airplane modeling construction experience would be useful, you may do well with this one. No exotic materials or accessories were used, just the tools of the trade. Not much is found in terms of graphic documentation for the Monobloc.
Although some skills are required and a basic balsa airplane modeling construction experience would be useful, you may do well with this one. No exotic materials or accessories were used, just the tools of the trade. Not much is found in terms of graphic documentation for the Monobloc.
The pictures will guide you
(hopefully) through the building process, where, as usual, a basic “kit” is
first made and the details are worked out in the way.
As common practice, I start
finding a plan or two, resizing it to 1/72 scale, and gladly
set out to cut some styrene sheet using the patterns already cut from a printed copy.
Then all very much proceeds
as building a balsa plane: two fuselage sides are cut and reinforced with
styrene strip along the upper and lower edges, formers (three in this case) are
made and upper and lower fuselage parts are created. A post in form of styrene
rod is glued at the front of one side, the positions of the formers marked at
their proper stations on the fuselage sides. Then what you can do is fix the
formers to the bottom floor and the add the sides later, or glue the formers to
one side and immediately glue the sides at the tail post, then curve the
fuselage around the formers and glue the sides again together at the front
post. With this last approach you have to be careful, because it may produce
the dreaded banana fuselage, equally feared by balsa and plastic modelers
alike.
It is a good idea to glue
here and there little reinforcements where you think that they may help. In
your soul, for example.
The tail in this case was
made of the whole shape of the horizontal stabilizer/elevator plus an added
curved section just at the front part to provide with some sense of airfoil. The
fin/rudder is one piece of styrene.
Since no instruction sheet is
involved, for one time in your life you are liberated from starting with the
cockpit. Ah, freedom at last!
Wings are just two pieces
(top and bottom) with a rod leading edge and a tube spar. Since the dihedral is
very pronounced, you will have to adjust the fit against the fuselage sides. The landing
gear presents itself as two pants, with an aerodynamic shape that hides almost
completely the two-wheel train per pant (front –smaller- and rear). I solved
the shape as two sides, a vertical former in the middle of the wheels and a
small piece of rod at the front, creating a rather sharp leading edge. The
holes for the axles of the wheels were drilled side to side.
A jig was devised to build
the side fuselage radiators from stretched sprue and tiny styrene rod.They were painted black and highlighted with copper Rub-n-buff, a creamy, wax-based metallic patina.
A floor was made
for the cockpit which was boxed-up and it was time for the interior parts. Two seats were fabricated from styrene sheet. For the propeller I tried a flying model
technique, gluing two pieces of three-layer, very thin plywood (0.8 mm). I
first carved the contours and then started to sand, aiming to give the
propeller a sort of airfoil. I glued a prop boss from a photo-etched set and
used the tip of a spare part as the spinner.
Regarding the wheels (as
said, four of them) two approaches were used. For the main ones “o” rings and a
tri-ply styrene disc arrangements was envisioned, and for the small ones a
styrene disc punched out from an office hole puncher was surrounded by solder
wire painted black (see images).
With the airframe put together it was time for the primer (white, spray can, household type).
From photos you can guess that the Monobloc color was very light, natural fabric. The panel where the exhausts stacks are located seems metal color, and the front of the fuselage seems black with a metal tip. The cockpit was given a light wood color, as the interior of the wheel pants.
Acrylic paint was used in several hues going from darker to lighter. Nylon monofilament painted black with a Sharpie was utilized for the control cables, for which tiny holes were drilled in the appropriate fuselage locations.
The exhausts were made of solder wire snippets glued -through holes drilled on top of the fuselage- to a hidden backing plate inside.
The stance of the Monobloc if something to behold. Considering that was 1911, the design is very modern, almost Art Nouveau.
A not so complicated build that renders a classic of old times, with gracious lines that will shine on any shelf.
With the airframe put together it was time for the primer (white, spray can, household type).
From photos you can guess that the Monobloc color was very light, natural fabric. The panel where the exhausts stacks are located seems metal color, and the front of the fuselage seems black with a metal tip. The cockpit was given a light wood color, as the interior of the wheel pants.
Acrylic paint was used in several hues going from darker to lighter. Nylon monofilament painted black with a Sharpie was utilized for the control cables, for which tiny holes were drilled in the appropriate fuselage locations.
The exhausts were made of solder wire snippets glued -through holes drilled on top of the fuselage- to a hidden backing plate inside.
The stance of the Monobloc if something to behold. Considering that was 1911, the design is very modern, almost Art Nouveau.
A not so complicated build that renders a classic of old times, with gracious lines that will shine on any shelf.
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