Wings of Intent: January 2017

SZD-9 Bocian
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SZD-9_Bocian

(Completed model here):
https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2017/03/szd-9-1d-bocian-completed-172nd-scale.html

Among the oldies but goldies kits that I purchased on a trip to the Palm Springs desert, there is this Polish glider, a kit, OOP now of course, that nevertheless is frankly quite good.
The kit had many incarnations, and it is relatively easy to find.
This Polish kit of very good molding depicts the 1D variant, SP-1862, so if you want other liveries just be sure you get the variant right, since many were created with changes in the airframe, some subtle, some very evident.

The kit came with a mysterious little container seen in the photo. The contents, whatever may have been, have long ago dried out (my contact in the modeling underworld from Volkania, Sönke, tells me that the container used to be filled with plastic cement, but I can imagine more creative contents).

The surfaces, where applicable, are highly polished (well, this is a Polish kit after all) or show a fabric effect.

The meaning of the text on the box and in the instructions remains hidden to me, but there are clear enough schematics to guide you.

Decals seem fine, instructions are simple and in a size that doesn't require a microscope to interpret them, the transparency is quite ok and even a display base is included.

All in a plastic sleeve and in a sturdy, Russian era, two-component cardboard box, than more than anything else, elicits sympathy for the Polish people, who with scarce resources, hardly any capital, and a small market, managed to create a very good kit that some contemporary (circa 1980) US mainstream kits (backed by capital, resources and a huge market) would have liked to have.

I am not really that much into gliders (I have scratchbuilt three so far, IIRC) but I am anxious to build this one, simple and good and appealing and well engineered.

Parts are separated from the sprue and cleaned up (they were sharp and crisp already, unlike many other manufacturers'):

Some parts are fabricated for the interior, which only has two seats provided. If you plan to use the kit's canopy closed (the canopy is fairly clear, but not crystal), no need to add detail. I still do not know, I may vac a copy from the kit's canopy, cut it in sections to display it opened, not sure, so just in case:

The interior is glued to one fuselage side:

The detail on this kit is really good:

The cockpit is given some more detail and painted, and the fuselage halves are ready to be joined:

The fuselage is joined and clamped. A hole for the pedestal, a reminiscence of a bygone era, is plugged:

An instrument console is fashioned, later to be detailed:

All the interior elements in place:

The canopy is filled with epoxy and glued to a wood base, in order to later obtain a male master for the vac copy. A few spots on the fuselage are puttied to fill seams:

The master is ready for the Mattel Psychedelic Converter (with improvements made by Volkania A.G.):

The copies are pulled. One is trimmed to fit, the other is kept as a reserve:

To cut the canopy on its sections to pose it open, or not to open the canopy...a Hamletian dilemma:

Dry-fit of the components. Such a nice kit, and so elegant...:

Getting closer to painting stage:

The vac canopy after bathing it in floor polish:

The canopy is glued on, masked, and white primer is airbrushed:

And happy Valentine's day:

A cream color is applied:

You can compare the color against the white background:

The canopy mask is removed:

The frames will be cut from the airbrushed decal paper seen in the background:

The decals have arrived today from Arctic Decals!.

As usual, perfectly printed, with excellent detail and sharp:

Decaling in progress:

To be continued....

(this is the building article, for the finished model go here:
http://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2017/02/de-havilland-dh53-humming-bird-lympne.html

The lightplane concept was visited on the post of the Parnall Pixie:

http://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2017/01/parnall-pixie-scratchbuilt-172nd-scale.html

The De Havilland D.H.53 Humming-bird is one of such machines. It was contemporary to the Pixie and a small number of them were sold to particulars and the RAF. Power plants varied, and the first model had a Douglas of 750cc. According to information found on the Net, one plane ended up in Chile, two in Australia and one in Canada.

Choroszy released a resin kit of this plane, although, alas (surprise-surprise) in military guise.

The plane had a span of 30"1' (9.17 meters) with almost constant chord, but differential airfoil, which varied in thickness along the span.

The usual scratchbuilding techniques you may have seen on this blog were employed, to ensure a satisfying measure of accuracy and a bonafide reproduction. A resin prop cast by Matías Hagen (thanks Matías!) from Argentina was used, with resin wheels from the spares bin and adapted resin cylinders again from Matías. Care must be exercised in replicating the particular change in airfoil section, thin at the root and wingtip and thick in the middle, a detail often obviated by modelers.

A model of the Parnall Pixie, a plane -as said above- designed under the same concept and flown contemporarily to the D.H.53, is being built in parallel. Originally it even had the same Douglas 750cc engine.

A number of different decorations can be seen in photos, many of them most likely in aluminium dope, sometimes with the fuselage in a darker color, and in some photos it's shown with what seems wings of clear doped linen, with certain translucency.

I selected a subject (G-EBHZ) based on a very good photo I found on the Net, that had the same scheme as the restored machine that used to fly in England (G-EBHX), until unfortunately had a fatal crash in 2012. The machine chosen, G-EBHZ, changed schemes, and I was fortunate enough to find on the Net photos of them. One is an all-aluminium scheme with the logo of the Seven Aeroplane Club, an AC with seven feathers (thanks, Sönke). Another is blue and silver, like as said the machine restored.

Be sure that you get the position of the inverted wing struts and the ailerons right. The ailerons started inside of where the struts attach (i.e. closer to the wing root). Also pay attention to the wing struts, configured as a V, and wrongly depicted in some plans as the aft member being parallel to the TE, when in reality both struts converge at an angle (look at photos on the Net, easily found).

Bibliography: DeHavilland Aircraft since 1909 (A.J. Jackson)

N.A.C.A. Technical Memorandum No. 261

The Light Plane since 1909 - J. Underwood

The Light Plane Meeting at Lympne, Flight Magazine, Oct 18th 1923

The spar showing the changes in airfoil thickness:

Comparison between the D.H.53 and the Parnall Pixie, being built in parallel:

Control surfaces engraved, some of the interior parts:

Some reinforcement elements are added and a section of the deck prepared:

Details are added to the diverse parts. metal horns for all control surfaces, skid for the wingtips, holes for the rigging are drilled, etc.:

A general view of the parts so far:

The wing struts:

Decided to discard the seat from the spares bin and fabricate a wicker seat with a photoetched back. Once the interior is painted, the rest of the deck is going to be glued on: