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de Havilland 82a Tiger Moth (Revell)


mozart

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It still astounds me that the old Matchbox/Revell kit of 30 years+ antiquity is the only player in town representing arguably the most influential war years training aircraft and which before that helped train numerous pilots belonging to private flying clubs, some of them the gentlemen and ladies destined to become vital ATA pilots, I'm talking of course of Geoffrey de Havilland's famous Tiger Moth.  I spent several hours last year learning to fly one (they are not easy even to taxi accurately never mind fly!!) so the Tiggie has a significant place in my heart.

 

Since I have easy access to five Tiggies and an intimate knowledge of them I'll be attempting to correct and detail the pretty basic Revell kit.  Should be fun!
Max
Edited by mozart
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Excellent choice Max. Glad you're building one of these as it means I can shamelessly  steal crib umm, borrow all of your enhancements and ideas.

I almost forgot that I've got one of these in the loft and could scale up G-ANSM for this group build :hmmm:

 

I look forward to seeing what you come up with. (Cracking scheme BTW)

 

Happy New year Max,

 

Cheers.

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Excellent choice Max. Glad you're building one of these as it means I can shamelessly  steal crib umm, borrow all of your enhancements and ideas.

I almost forgot that I've got one of these in the loft and could scale up G-ANSM for this group build :hmmm:

 

I look forward to seeing what you come up with. (Cracking scheme BTW)

 

Happy New year Max,

 

Cheers.

 

"Borrow shamelessly" with my blessing Guy.....and a happy New Year to you too!

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That's a great looking plane.  And given the age of the kit, I guess it means you also qualify for the Jurassic Plastic group build too.  Two group builds for the price of one!! :lol:   I will be following this one!!!

 

 

Cheers,

Mike

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I bought the kit some time ago and put it to one side but it wasn't until I looked at it yesterday that I saw that the box was still sealed and the sprue all bagged, quite amazing really.  Anyway, obligatory box art and sprue shots:

 

r6Qosx.jpg

 

P7vdWb.jpg

 

ahC2YG.jpg

 

RIuK0B.jpg

 

Rick asked how many Tiger Moths I've built, the truthful answer is this will be my fourth, the shameful truth is that none of the previous three is yet finished!!

 

lJZQbd.jpg

 

I've experimented in one way or another on each of the earlier builds, two of them were destined for a dio of a collision that occurred in S Rhodesia in 1943, and they will all be completed at some point, but this one is going to be a straightforward build......hhmmmm!!  :hmmm:  :frantic:

Edited by mozart
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I've made a tentative start (almost guiltily because I must finish my Typhoon!) just separating the rudder area from the short vertical tailplane then scoring the horizontal tailplane/elevator line on both sides before easing the elevators downwards slightly, running a line of glue down to set it in this position.  The reasons for this are shown in detail pictures of the real thing below:

 

tWfTcN.jpg

 

xQgs57.jpg
 
Four points to note:
 
1. The short vertical tailplane is not attached to the horizontal tailplane
2. There is no visible gap between the elevators and the horizontal tailplane, it's bridged by canvas
3. The  vertical tailplane is attached to the aft of the fuselage by a vertical strut or bar
4. There is a metal "fairing" covering the forward join of the vertical tailplane to the fuselage 
Edited by mozart
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So here's the start of empennage improvements as described above.  Also, the horns on the rudder and elevators are far too thick so I've started to thin the rudder one, you can see the difference:

 

Ws2dLu.jpg

 

DuRa2Z.jpg

 

The gap in the horizontal tailplane was filled using the tab which I'd cut off the vertical tailplane, then trimmed afterwards.

Edited by mozart
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VERY cool Max!

 

 

I too cant believe that this long in the tooth kit is the only representative of the Moths.............kind of a shame really. And such a simplified kit, still holds up today. 

 

Fortunately this moth of yours wont be yellow, and maybe will lead to completion.   :lol:

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This is a short video that I recorded with a GoPro attached to my helmet when flying in 2015 over North Dorset/Somerset practising rate 1 turns, gives a small indication of the Tiger Moth experience - so much to concentrate on!

 

Edited by mozart
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