De Havilland D.H.80A Puss Moth - AVI Models 1/72nd scale

 

 (For the completed model please go here:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2022/10/de-havilland-dh80-puss-moth-avi-172nd.html

 

De Havilland stamped its seal of elegance and good proportions in all its designs, most of which have become classics. Not only I have modeled many of them, but occasionally several iterations of the same type (i.e. DH88, DH89), so visually pleasant and appealing they are to me.

Here is a Puss Moth, released by AVI Models from the Czech Republic. It should supersede/replace a previous resin release by Omega Models of about 10 years ago, being a vast improvement over it. AVI has been presenting nice kits of civil models, and I just acquired their Gasuden KR-1 -they also have previously released the Fox Moth, of which the Japanese KR-1 was just a barely disguised cosmetic re-do.

A short-run kit of general nice molding and detail, AVI's Puss Moth has different boxings of which this is the floatplane version, containing the normal kit + the necessary elements for the conversion, being rendered as nice resin parts. Researching the subject (G-AAVB) a bit, I discovered that at one point it flew on wheels (present in the common sprue), and I even found a photo of it in Egypt in the book "Airwork, a History" by Keith McCloskey, thus the nice floats and struts will happily go to the spares bin waiting for a scratch opportunity, and I can still use the kit decals.

The kit provides some interior, with just a mere shape for the inst. panel (no detail relief or decal for it), joystick, floor and seats. The transparencies are really nice, clear, sharp and well molded, but no masks are provided for them, and they were acquired separately (Peewit PEE72235) -for a price plus S&H, sigh.

Strangely, AVI forgot that to access this plane you need doors. These will have to be engraved following photos. If you are building the float version, the black floats bottom is an inaccurate call, they were all aluminium, as many photos of the original show, plus the nose tip of the floats was visibly padded. Mooring cleats will need to be added too. Small details (airbrake actuators, aileron mass balances and linkages, rudder cables, etc.) are missing from the wings and fuselage, again if you feel like, check good photos of the original. On the other hand the vertical tail shows three prominent round spots (inspection lids?) that are not present in any photo I have. 

 Contents:

Very nice transparencies:

Sort of muddy-rendered unclear graphics, an unfortunate call derived from the computer modeling of the kit:

Nice restrained surface detail:

Good depictions for some parts (wheels, nicely-detailed seats, especially the tiny one with a pattern on the back), poor for others (nose intake lacking depth and detail behind). The flaps ( à la Fairchild 71) -that you can also see below- point to the potential of representing the kit with wings folded:

Decal sheet:

The resin floats, nice in general and well-cast, but lacking the bumpers and with perhaps too deep panel lines:

The other resin parts:

Parts washed. So...where are the doors?:

The trailing edges are not fantastically thin (other short-run manufacturers achieve thin ones with no problem), in general not bothering me, but at the elevators they are just too thick:

These circles on fin and rudder below are present in just one of the many photos I have, and only on the left hand-side, so I erased them, as they are way too prominent anyway in the kit, but the "triangle" is ok, so good for the latter:

The tailskid mechanism is rendered as a blob:

Should look like this (in our case a simplified resemblance, but not a blob):

The kit is missing the airbrake's connecting rods:

Notice the uncommon and later replaced wheels:

A little air intake seen in photos but missing form the kit is added. The position in the plane is further back than in others (but the same as in the photo above). The flaps are glued:

The plane I am representing didn't have the wing strut diagonal reinforcement, but did have the Pitot on the aft left strut, absent from the kit. 

Some contemporary publications from the Gallica repository:

The interior is being assembled. I replaced the old style joystick (that in any case had a solid grip instead of a loop) for the more modern installed later:

 Then doors are engraved. The only benefit you can squeeze of AVI's forgetfulness is that Jim Mollison's G-ABXY had a special arrangement with long-distance fuel tanks in the fuselage and the left door moved way back to a custom pilot's position. Clips Here:

https://www.britishpathe.com/video/plane-named-the-hearts-content-amy-johnson-and 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi5ssIRmjVY

Removing of the blanked air intake begins:

Done:

Mock cylinder:

The cabin aft bulkhead is in place, and the seat against it made:

The now thinned elevator trailing edges:

Horns added to rudder:

Some parts ready for a paint session. Notice the "doors" also added inside, and the struts fairings already glued, with the position for some details on the wing already drilled:

The intake is painted blue, so the cylinder can be glued from behind and the opening stuffed waiting for general paint:

A new tailskid is made:

 At this point I would like to share something about the paranormal capabilities of my wife. You see, every time I am involved in making an extremely minute part, a very difficult correction, or otherwise engaged in performing the most delicate tasks pertinent to model-building, she would (if in different part of the house, and completely unaware of me doing this) scream in terror (at the sight of a minuscule spider), or in the loudest  possible voice ask some absolutely inane question like "What was the name of the long hair actor on that movie we saw when we visited the Clarks before the pandemic?", or just simply burst into the room where I build my models and start frantically clattering around looking for something that would be impossible to find here, like a frying pan, the coat she wore last week (that it is of course in the closet) or even the cat or dog WE NEVER HAD. And no, she has no idea that, at that very second, I am attempting the impossible. I had to make that tailskid six times, every time interrupted and falling into a (mental) apoplectic fit. Shall I wear a tin foil?

Base colors are applied to some parts:

Only the spinner was metal color in this plane, the prop was wood:

Thus, after painting the whole prop, a section of tube is used as a mask, adhering it with Blu-Tack:

Ready to paint the other color:

Another way to do the spinner in a different color is to punch a section of masking tape with the spinner diameter and place the mask over it, covering the rest of the prop.

A little work with oils to render a comfy look:

 

Have you seen the movie "Toby, the eight passenger"? well, he is seating there now:

Now that the interior is ready to go in...the instructions give no clue as to where exactly it should go. More guessing and trials for the modeler, less work for the manufacturer. That equation doesn't make me happy.

Dry-run. And guess what? the cockpit pan doesn't fit, needing a bit of shaving. What are the chances of this happening in most kits? 100%, one learns. Doesn't computer design account for plastic thickness? :

I love manufacturers that release civil subjects, and this is a nice kit, but with some sloppy mistakes that let it down a bit, unnecessarily so. The side transparencies have a little tab at front, but that tab won't fit as the parts are molded, as you can see if you make the part coincide at the back with the recess in the fuselage, the tab overshoots:

Conversely, if you allow the space for the tab (where the front transparency will rest), it doesn't fit at the back, again overshooting:

The fuselage is trimmed at the back "triangle" to allow the transparency to fit as it should. Someone was asleep at the wheel at AVI (the same person that forgot the doors, probably):

Same for the other side, carving the fuselage to allow for a good fit:

Now, another sloppy choice. See the step at the back of the transparency and the corresponding notch in the fuselage?

...well, the notch should have been, to reflect reality, at the front, as in the drawing, since the area in blue is actually part of the fuselage, not part of the window. As it is, now you have to putty and sand the seam created on the door, again unnecessarily so, by sloppy design...but wait, I forgot, the designer didn't include the door!:

If you, like me, were wondering about the two parts that look like struts that are present in the tree -but deleted from the instruction's sprue map- one may assume they belong to another version. Or another universe:

The fuselage needed some persuasion:

The wings have very small tongues that insert in recesses in the transparencies, and are held by the struts that connect to the fuselage at just one location barely marked, not a slot; that is, this is a not a mechanically strong connection, and care will be needed. Wings and tail will remain unattached until after painting. Once completed, this model will need careful handling as there is not much gluing area for the wings/struts, and the tailskid, as with other kit/models, will be a bit fragile too.

Fuselage ready for some primer, after a bit of puttying and sanding:

The airbrakes mechanism. You don't have to do this if you are building the floatplane version, of course, as there are no landing gear legs to rotate:

A recess is made to lodge the exhaust pipe, that otherwise would just butt against the fuselage bottom:

Some primer, some paint:

More paint:

Clever modelers may notice that I fell into the trap of this kit, that is, the side transparencies contain a portion of the fuselage side (thanks to the not very clever design described somewhere above), so you HAVE to install the transparencies BEFORE you paint, and work out the seam this creates mainly on the door (again, the door they didn't depict in the molds). I knew this, as I have noticed it, but modeling inertia prevented me from remembering it. Now I will have to add the transparencies, apply putty on the seam, sand and repaint. Lovely!

The photo of the plane on wheels shows no silver trim (other photos of it on floats also lack the trim) and with black regs. on the fuselage. 

In trying the transparencies, it was found that the fuselage top had to be sanded a bit, and the front and back ends of the top transparency too, to get a better fit. The inst. pan. is glued. The aftermarket masks that you have to buy separately have arrived:

The two side transparencies are secured. The top one will follow:

The transparencies are on, masked (by the way the Peewit set is great!), and then  a gloss light grey base coat is applied (this therefore will be color seen in the transparency frames inside):

The blue is re-applied, then masked and the metal frames painted:

Masks removed, ready to continue the general assembly:

The tail group, wings and struts are attached. The assembly is a bit fiddly. Plans show no dihedral, the arrow on the wing gives a bit of a droopy appearance. The decals behaved perfectly. Control horns, aileron weight balances, and fuel gauges were added:

 Home-made tailskid, rudder cables, landing gear legs, oleo struts and wheels are added, as well as the remaining decals (still setting), door handles and prop:

 (For the completed model please go here:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2022/10/de-havilland-dh80-puss-moth-avi-172nd.html