Wings of Intent: Farman F.231

(Photos from the Gallica archive)

(Lalouette's F.231 completed model can be found here:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2023/05/farman-f231-marcel-lalouette.html

(The hydro completed model can be found here:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2023/06/farman-f231-hydro-scratchbuilt-172nd.html

(Sebastienne Guyot completed model can be found here:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2023/06/farman-f231-sebastienne-guyot.html

Simplicity, as long as it conveys the essential aspects of an object, its essence, its soul in a manner of speaking, produces an instantaneous appeal, such is the power of synthesis and abstraction.

There are many examples of this in aviation, and every person may have his/her favorites, for me one of them is the long line of designs that started with the Farman F.230, a succinct, well-proportionate, elegant low-wing touring monoplane. In spite of it exiguous size, which is certainly deceiving, it performed great feats of aviation, establishing records, winning races, and providing many happy customers with a jolly good day at the countryside.

Starting with the F.230, a prolific family of descendants was created with different engines, either radial or inline, transforming the plane occasionally into a racy one-person affair (the original design was for two people), exchanging the wheels for floats or having just one wheel, extending or shortening the fuselage, introducing diverse types of canopies, etc. As it was produced in surprising quantities, there are many types and schemes the modeler can choose from. I wish I could build them all, but I will make a start with two inline Renault-powered ones, as the nose is stylized and confers the plane even more elegance. I may change my mind on the way depending on pinpointing some aspects of the original from the very scarce material available, but I would like to represent a mount reputedly flown by Marcel Lalouette (notice that the surname can be heard as "L'alouette" ("the lark") -a surprising coincidence for a pilot- that reminds me of Frank "Hawk". I couldn't find a rights-free photo of it to post here. The second model would perhaps be the one belonging to Sebastienne Guyot (the first plane posted above, being apparently refinished or repaired), a female pilot that worked for the French resistance and was captured and tortured by the mfs, p.o.s., utterly despicable nassis.

For a simple plane, a simple approach, following the lines of what was already shown here many times regarding scratch, using flying models and paper models techniques, with a sprinkle of other solutions when needed. The plane didn't have fabric-covered ribs anywhere, so that simplifies the job regarding surfaces, which are all smooth.

First, a "kit" needs to be made. After decades of modeling, the spares bin provided some items to shorten the building time and make life easier:

Laminated thin plywood is used to make the blank for a prop:

And the build starts:

I am not doing the seaplane version, but couldn't resist making the floats:

The landing gear components are made with integral metal pins:

The two dogs painted on Sebastienne Guyot's plane were two famous comic magazine characters called "Ric et Rac" by Pol Rab. Here is a snippet from Gallica:

Working now on the second model:

Third model, so I can use those floats:

Not sure I will be completing all of them, we'll see:

The cockpits had a "deck" with cutouts which is installed and painted before skinning the top fuselage. The cockpit floor with all its elements will be inserted from below. Only the front position, according to photos, had an instrument panel:

Fuselage bottoms:

The cockpit pans and inst. panels being readied to be installed:

After installing in the three fuselages some P.E. parts depicting throttles and trim wheels, one pan goes in:

Viewed from the top:

All interiors in place:

Flanges are added all along the fuselage sides. They will help support and align the top fuselage skins:

Being easily carried away as I am, I saw a photo of a Caudron Goeland that had "Ric et Rac" too on the fuselage side.

Here is a photo of the very model I wanted to build beautifully made by friend and fellow modeler Jörgen Stendahl:

Strange weather for California:

The three wings in process:

Skinning starts on the center section:

As I am completing the wings, I noticed that photos show a long faring for the brackets that covers a large parts of the joint between the central and external panels (they were detachable) chord-wise, above and below the wing. I think I will try a thin half-round or triangular styrene strip for these. Also the area seems reinforced with an extra layer of plywood:

The wings are mostly ready. Between the effects of shingles and the associated medication, the pace has not been my usual skyrocketing to completion:

The top of the wing center section is excised...

...so wing and fuselage can be joined, the intrados of the wing doubling as the fuselage bottom skin:

(All dry runs of course):

Cockpit decks are made, with one to spare:

The three little buggers:

Curly, Larry and Moe:

The strip covers for the brackets are applied on top and bottom of the wings (just stretched styrene, as all commercial styrene strips, even the thinnest, were too big):

Now to work on the nose tips.

Carving a wood master to create a plug to vacuform a part:

Noses vacuformed:

Now the air intake openings and the hole for the prop have to be carefully carved on the little nose tips . A dummy cylinder will be added behind it. I am scratching my head thinking how would I hold those tiny parts while making and shaping the holes. Maybe pressing them on a bit of Plasticine to avoid movement:

This image shows those air intakes (in a plane that uses a different prop):

This is the engine that the 231 employed, as you can see the shape of the nose was dictated by the engine. The article states that the newly certified Renault 95hp was a derivative of the 80 hp. Unfortunately no aftermarket engine exists at this point. I thought I could modify the nice (inverted) Renault 4P released by Dekno, but was a bridge too far (I will use it on other projects):

It worked:

Note to self: Any time a project seems like an easy thing to do, knock oneself on the head until common sense is reestablished. The idea of installing a mock cylinder after the nose tip didn't look convincing, so the first bulkhead was carved out and a dummy engine fabricated to install inside the nose, with only the first cylinder being detailed (from spares bin) and the rest painted mat black as well as the inside of the nose:

The dummy engines, the first cylinder only being "real". The interior of the nose is painted black:

The engines are glued in, and the nose tips added. After a few touch-ups and stuffing the openings, they should be ready for a coat of primer to reveal the (at least for me) seemingly unavoidable boo-boos:

The Three Amigos and ancillaries have been primed:

Now that the Three Amigos are primed, some touch ups are done, and drilling of the exhausts, Venturi position and carb intake follows. Next will be the engraving the cockpit small doors:

Most Farman of this family had under the nose what looks either like an oil cooler or a section of the engine oil pan exposed:

A base of gloss white is airbrushed:

The seaplane Amigo has been painted in red over the white. The decal is to simulate the plywood reinforcements on the wing panels joint and some small inspection panels:

The blue Amigo has now the base color. A band of darker blue will go on the fuselage sides as per photos. Ancillaries are also painted, including a vent that the blue Amigo has on the left side of the nose, made with bend thin aluminium. Three were made to chose the best and in case (as they are thin) one gets squashed:

The third Amigo, the stripy one, requires that the areas for the regs be reserved:

Strip by strip the masking goes on. This takes time, so get your beverage of preference:

The red paint goes on. Even the landing gear legs have stripes:

With all those pieces of tape, chances are that some touch-ups will be needed after removing the masks.

Et voila:

The blue Amigo is masked and an area on the fuselage sides is painted dark blue:

Masks off. The holes for control cables, control horns, air intakes, exhausts, etc. can be seen:

A bit of progress on the Stripy (Lalouette's) Amigo: the landing gear (legs, oleo struts, tailskid) is added, as well as the prop, all control horns, the exhaust stacks, walkway, carb intake, cockpit doors (as decals), plywood wing reinforcements (as decals), oil cooler (as a decal), a small vent tube that points upwards and backwards, most decals: