Boeing Model 200 Monomail -1/72nd Dekno resin

 

 The completed model is here:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2022/12/boeing-model-200-monomail-dekno-172nd.html

 

(Photos below from the San Diego Air and Space Museum photostream):

There are seminal moments in aviation development, designs that clearly mark a departure from the usual formulas and take evolution a bit above and beyond the current trends. These inflection points, however, are not without precedents, and usually are the product of a compilation or refinement of previous discoveries. The Boeing Model 200 Monomail is one such defining design, an all-metal cantilever monoplane with retractable landing gear and landing lights of beautifully streamlined lines, at the time when biplanes were still very much alive and kicking. In fact, Boeing itself had insisted so far in that arrangement (Boeing 40, 80, 95 and 100, for example). After the Monomail (that wasn't however a selling success) everything changed, and this iconic beauty pioneered the "modern" plane formula. Much has been written, then and now, about this subject, and it has been profusely published. The curious mind can read to its heart content either online or in aviation libraries. The Monomail first flew in 1930, while the Northrop Alpha, of similar conception (but no retractable landing gear) first flew in 1931 (the Alpha successor, the more refined an famous Gamma, didn't fly until 1932). The Model 200 airmail plane would evolve into the passenger-carrying 221 and 221A, but only two frames were produced (and updated to the last model). It would be interesting if these later variants are also released.

Congratulations are in order to Dekno of Spain for releasing this wonderful plane of such historical significance and elegant lines. It should be noted that the late Jim Schubert, dear friend of many, drew the plans that made possible this kit. Be this build a little homage to that long friendship that provided fun, knowledge, and above all a measure of what a true gentleman is. Thanks, Jim, wherever you are.

The kit, in 1/72nd scale, surprises a bit for its size, as the Monomail was indeed a big plane, and out-sizes many of the single-engine monoplane models I made. The kit is in line with the more modern Dekno releases, practical, cast without blemishes and with good detail, presenting two types of propeller, a nice cockpit and a complete engine sub-assembly, with a complex exhaust system, Townend ring and front shield. The landing gear is also detailed. Extracting the parts form their pouring blocks and cleaning them was a simple matter that took only a couple hours (but never, ever, rush it, or there will be consequences, especially if you are new or relatively new to resin, or not that experienced). A few little air holes were found, but all the casts were sound and serious blemish-free. A good wash of the parts followed, being very careful not to lose any of the little parts. Dekno provides color calls in the instructions, so that makes life easier. Two clear resin landing light "lenses" that go under the wings, two (one spare, thanks Dekno!) vacuformed canopies and a decal sheet complete the package, all in a very sturdy box and with all the parts bagged in groups (thanks yet again, Dekno). Dekno also keyed the three wing sections to help the modeler with alignment and rigidity. Looking at the separate part the depicts the front top of the fuselage, I felt mightily tempted to open those hatches that accessed the mail compartment, as they are clearly marked on both sides of the part. As I can never refrain myself from modifying, substituting and adding, I replaced the Venturi for an aftermarket item that had better shape and size, the stab struts for metal items for rigidity, the landing lights (as I have made long ago a batch in many sizes for these occasions) and a couple of landing gear parts for metal tube, as the finished model is somewhat heavy. As the horizontal tail is not keyed, metal-pins were installed in the parts and corresponding holes in the fuselage were drilled. A Pitot tube needs to be added as well as the rigging that goes from stab to fin, and navigation lights on the wingtips. The fuselage panel lines may be toned down for better effect. I added P.E. control horns for the rudder.

If you are the kind modeler that enjoys a bit of research and looking at photos, you will notice that occasionally the 200 flew without the Townend ring and (the kit provides one) with NC and X regs and two or three-blade props. Other minor details can be seen changing: very small air scoops,  the shrouding of a portion of the exhaust pipe under the fuselage, etc., if you are prone to concern yourself with small details. For me, they make for added fun. For the adventurous or the ones looking for a bit of variation on the paint scheme, the plane appears in early photos unpainted (but with registrations) or painted but with an unpainted ring, or unpainted but with a painted ring and the three-blade prop (with "X" regs). Another detail: while using the X registration, the nose "truncated cone" immediately after the exhaust had longitudinal ribbing (as represented in the kit), but with the NC registration, there were many rows of small louvers. To easily represent the later, those ribs may be sanded, and the louvers can be added from an Archer Fine Transfer set of proper size.

Here is a clip of the Boeing Model 200:

http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675027485_mail-delivery-plane_plane-flies_plane-on-field_plane-takes-off

Contents of the box:

Nice instructions:

Color calls:

Contents well protected:

Parts removed from their bags:

Two clear resin landing lights and a two (one spare!) vac windshields are provided:

 The cockpit interior sidewalls have detail:

And a cockpit is provided:

That little pip between the two walls is an auxiliary tailskid, in case the tailwheel collapses:

Parts removed from their blocks and cleaned up:

The Townend ring is marked "up" on both parts as a gluing guide:

The three sections of the wing come with locating devices, the fit is firm but not perfect, it has to be tweaked especially on the right panel where material needs to be removed to make the trailing edges coincide. As the fit is not perfect, there will be gaps that will need later filling and sanding, which is not bad as the "rib" that represents the strip of metal that covers the panel unions is a bit prominent and needs subduing too. Be sure you achieve the right dihedral following plans. Epoxy could be the way to go here to allow for some adjustments as the glue cures, but I used cyano glue. Again, check your dihedral:

The engine sub-assembly:

There is cavity under the wings for the clear resin landing lights (dry run):

At this point all the parts are carefully washed and let dry. Do not lose the smallish parts!:

Once the Townend ring halves are glued together, some refining is needed. The engine as it comes won't fit inside, it is molded full size as a provision in case you want to model the plane as it appears in some photos, without the ring, but if you want the ring you will need to sand down a bit the cylinder valve covers (uniformly!):

The horizontal tail halves do not have locating devices, so holes are drilled for metal pins (with corresponding hole in the fuselage):

Accounts depict a fire extinguisher to the right of the pilot, so one is made:

The two props provided come as hubs (with holes for the blade roots) and separate blades, and have to be assembled taking care of the blade incidence angle and proper angular separation between blades:

The wing is glued. As mentioned, the fit needs adjustment especially on the right panel, and care must be taken to establish the proper dihedral. The small gaps will need filling and tiding up:

Some base colors are applied:

A bit more of paint touches and we are ready to close the fuselage:

Decided to add instrument decals, and I am trying to see if I can come up with a scratched bit to represent the mail hold hatches open (without modifying the kit's part, that I will keep as a back up just in case):

The narrow gaps filled:

Interior ready:

The fuselage sides are glued with epoxy, to allow for small adjustments as it sets:

I continue to mull on the idea of open hatches. I have one photo that shows the plane being loaded with mail, and I have already built an air mail truck:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2013/01/highway-miniatures-187-1925-ford-mail.html

Although in 1/87th scale, it could be played convincingly with the right photo angles. 

Some trials:

The wing is given a coat of primer to review those seams:

Trials proceed:

Structure seen in photos is added from stretched sprue:

 

The compartment interior is lined:

Props ready for the decals:

The apex of the cockpit fairing was nicked in my sample. To help restore the shape and to cover the seam in the middle a piece of styrene is shaped:

The wing is added. The fit needs adjusting and as with the external wing panels the seam will need some filler. Check the perpendicularity related to the fuselage as you glue:

Due to the peculiarities of molding, the two sides of the mail compartment are very slightly leaning inwards. To correct this, a bulkhead is crafted...

...and inserted, lightly pushing the edges apart to the correct position. You have to make sure that the bulkhead is located between the hatches. This is perhaps a feature that could be included in future releases to lend more rigidity (as it was done in the mold with the cockpit area):

Masking and puttying the gaps:

For those of you with a penchant for reading old magazines with a nice drink at hand and escargot (from the Net, Gallica and the Internet Archive):

The passenger-carrying model 221a:

The rudder and horizontal tail are added, and work progresses on all the seams:
 

Primer is applied:

I decided to go for those open hatches. I ordered a 1/72nd RPM Ford truck to modify it as an Air Mail vehicle as seen in contemporary photos of the Monomail. We'll see how all this goes. One more coat of primer after correcting some blemishes, and some paint on ancillaries:

 Some photos show a little air scoop on the left side of the nose, so one is fabricated heating and bending a styrene rod:

And then carving the mouth with a spherical bit:

A couple of "mail sacks" are fabricated so spice up things:

The landing gear is painted:

 A diversion to deal with an accessory I would like to pose with the model:

The instructions printed ion the box that at first seemed ok, resulted to be extremely imprecise regarding the exact location of most items. Bad instructions that will leave you guessing a lot:

The kit is not really good, not at all like the -even smaller, 1/87th- "Highway Miniatures" products of old. A quality that now, decades after their initial release, remains unreachable for the almost totality of small scale vehicle manufacturers. I am very glad these other products are here, especially in 1/72nd, but I miss the Jordan HM level of detail, molding and price. There is flash -of course, thick gates, sink holes, rough molds, and some excrescences:

Bad sink marks, rough surface, protrusions:

Parts extricated from the sprues and cleaned up. The chassis was assembled -with no little guesswork, trimming and supplementing. Most other parts will be replaced. Pity this resulted to be a very poor base for the conversion, but you get what you get, as there is no other 1/72nd kit of the Ford truck that would resemble the mail truck:

The build so far. Now the scratch part will begin;

The making of replacement parts starts:

The headlights are hollowed with a drill bit, and home-made lenses prepared to be inserted after painting:

 A coat of paint to see where we are so far:

Getting there:

Compared with the Miles M.5. The 200 was a BIG airplane:

The two transparencies are removed from the backing sheet, trimmed, washed and given a bath of acrylic floor polish. After masking and painting the frames (in photos they look a darker color than the fuselage) the best will be chosen. It's so reassuring to have a backup, I wish all manufacturers would do this, in all media, as it costs pennies and it's one of the most important parts of a model and we modelers tend to screw it more often than we would like:

A visitor:

Progress on the mail truck conversion. The aft doors are glued, the battens that run along the sides are made of stretched sprue. The front windows, two fixed panels and two sliding doors are made of clear plastic and masked to be painted. The roof, still apart, will be painted a dull grey, and part of the vehicle in green:

A coat of paint for the base colors:

More painting and details:

After assembling most of the remaining parts. It's getting close now:

A better resemblance now. After decaling it will be completed:

(My thanks to John Newcome who tipped me about this kit truck as a potential conversion)

 

I received a kind note from Tim Kalina, providing excellent input regarding the Boeing colors used in this plane. Tim had discussed the subject with the late Jim Schubert (who drew the plans), and Jim hoped that the colors could be adjusted in the instructions of future releases of Dekno's Monomail. 

Here are the colors that Tim Kalina provided, and I quote:

"The correct colors are the standard Boeing house colors for this time 
period...
Boeing Forest Green
International Orange
French Grey
The 'Forest Green' is identical to 'Stinson Green'."

I will be following his lead based on samples of these colors, approximating to them as much as I can, given the subtle differences between charts and the additional effects of monitor settings, available hobby paint, and needless to say my own limitations. After some trial and samples, I got a French Grey color that I was happy with, and applied it to the model. It looks quite good (if not perfect) when compared to the charts, but a tad greenish by itself on the model, but the effect improves when I put close by objects that are orange and green, in comparison. I am thinking of adding an itsy-bitsy more of light grey and do a thin top coat (bear in mind that you are seeing the color thru my lighting, camera sensor, camera editing software, and your monitor). The endeavor goes on...:

 The canopy framing looks in good photos to be darker than the fuselage green. A dark metallic grey is applied after home-made masking (still working on the two provided to chose the best):

The fantastic set of decals and masks for the Monomail arrived from Arctic Decals:

The converted mail truck to be posed with the model is completed with the last image from the Arctic Decals set:

Now, when the Monomail model is completed, they can pose together.

The Arctic Decals masks are applied, and the green color is airbrushed:

Masks off:

The landing gear is on:

Now attaching the exhaust to the engine:

The wheels, tail rigging, rudder cables, engine, its shield and exhaust parts are added, decaling begins with the superb Arctic Decals set:

Windshield added:

Still to be added are the stabilizer struts, mail compartment hatches, propeller, mail sacks, navigation lights, and landing lights. But getting closer:

(Add to that list Pitot and Venturi, and the other thing I forgot to add that I will only realize after taking the photos of the completed model 😄).

And here it is. The completed model is here:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2022/12/boeing-model-200-monomail-dekno-172nd.html

To be continued...