Hubert Boillot

Of course I knew it wouldn't go without a hitch... The roots of the vertical stabilizers had nasty interfaces with the fuselage... this is after my best efforts to make them sit flush:
 

 

 
But on real photos - they are flush... like it is a single panel with very sharp curves, I mean there are no seamlines at all. So... I deviated from my initial dream to make them ''detachable'' (for easier handling/transportation) and I must glue them permanently. Then,  their leading edges were okay-ish, but check the trailing edge...
 

 
And after a legit ''thinning'' procedure, here is the difference side by side - one thinned properly, and one as it was originally:
 

 

 
Not to mention that there is also some funky stuff going on with the horizontal stabs, but I didin't figure it out yet... how to proceed. Maybe they will be next. 
 
The second mishap was with the humbpack on top of the fuselage... I was aware of the edits required just after the canopy because it is too flat, but I notice that its entire shape to the far rear side of the fuselage is a bit wrong. I noticed it only once I glued both sub-assemblies of the fuselage, which posed other challenges by itself. Here I tried to capture with blue stipes some key curves, and compare them with a pic of the real plane on the background - check out the curvature of the panel lines on top of the humpback:
 

 

 
It's not a matter of POV, nor image distortion or things like that. It definitely needs quite some sanding, and the issue is that the plastic is not thick enough. So I tried to insert some extra material from the front of the fuselage through the tiny spaces back to the rearmost bulckhead... Of course I couldn't do it as I would beforehand. This lead to some holes in the humpback, which I had to additionally fill from the top, then sand over and refine the shape again and again... I think I kinda did it, anyway, it's times better than before:
 

 

 
The side profile changed ever so slightly, which is good.
 

 
The tires are mounted and the MLGs are just about done. Some wiring and final painting required. I will have to sand the tires from underneath to make them sit slightly flat at some point.
 

 

 

 

well.... i am doing it - the main parts will be IM
 
great for you guys, but sad for me - this lovely wing for example... scrap... weeks of work...
 

 
..I can use some of the design as templates, but IM has very specific rules for successful mould separation and surface detail, none of which is complied with in this design..
 
back to the drawing board..
 
 
I would love to, but that's even more design & complexity so to keep a reasonable timeframe I have not chosen to do open panels, or an engine - much as I want to
 
 
 
clearly it is, surely...well maybe, well maybe not... I know what I want to do next which will be Biblical if I can pull it off
 
Got to stay focused and get on with the rebuild..
 
Peter

The basic decals are done. There are a few small ones left and you can varnish and flush.

Finished with decals on small parts. Moving on to the glider

Hello here, there and everywhere....
 Thanks for dropping in Tom! Thank you!
   The top and side engine cowlings were used to locate the radiator and its shroud, the top cowl and the radiator are glued on.  Only the top engine bearers are glued in, that way we had a little wiggle room. 

 
 
   
 
 

 

 

 

..Ahh.. by the way...here is Jont "R" - 😄..
 
 
 

..that's it for the moment.
As you can see, ther^s still a lot to do..
Thomas

Workshop update

First of all, thanks for the very good reception of this workshop. I am glad that it has aroused such interest. I hope that I will not disappoint your expectations. Okay, that's enough of the introduction, time for the report.
 
Progress on the cockpit continues steadily. I haven’t built a machine like this in quite a while, so on the one hand I feel that great excitement that comes with trying something new, and on the other—some hesitation in taking the next steps. Fortunately, I’ve got a detailed painting plan that focuses on recreating the textures and colors of the materials used in the original cockpit structure. Naturally, everything will be enhanced with tonal variation and weathering to convey a sense of long-term operational wear.
 

 
 
My Duck represents a spring 1942 aircraft—after months of intense duty. By that time, the airframe would have shown heavy signs of use, and that's exactly the look I'm aiming to achieve in the model.
 

 
 
After several sessions of careful color layering, I’ve prepared the base metallic surfaces of the cockpit components. What you see in the photos is almost a complete set—still missing are the pilot’s seat (awaiting belts), the observer’s bench (which was mounted in the float), and a variety of wires and tubes that will be added later. The metallic finish was deliberately exaggerated—complete with discolorations and chips. This layer will receive a primer coat followed by the final color applications. That means I need to think ahead now about how these early effects will appear once partially obscured by later layers.
 

 
 
Before moving on, I had to carefully determine what colors should go on which elements—control column, rudder pedals, radio units, and so on. This part took several days of comparing photos, footage, and talking with other modellers. Once that was sorted, I was finally able to start masking. With such a complex assembly, it’s a tedious task, but well worth the effort. Wherever I could bring some contrast to a part, I went for it. For masking I mainly used tape and liquid mask. Once that was done, it was time for the primer—Yellow Zinc Chromate. The result can be seen in the photos.
 
 
 

 
That’s it for today.
Lukasz

Crappy picture but slowly getting there ....
 
 

Thanks Chukw, Spook, Matt, and Mal for your messages!
 
Today was all about the spinner and the prop.
I’m kinda ashamed to admit it, but I spent a whole hour online hunting for a nice spiral for the spinner.
Finally found one on Scalemates, vectored it in Silhouette Studio, and of course cut it out with my Cameo.
Took a few tries to get the spiral just the right size to fit nicely.
I painted the spinner white first, then applied the spiral mask.
For the spiral itself, I used a 50/50 mix of black and Tyre Rubber.
I never paint with pure black, it's totally unrealistic.
The mask lifted slightly in a few spots, so I ended up with some little flaws, but I fixed those with AK’s black and white pens (super handy for tiny touch-ups, by the way). 
 

 

 

 
I gave the spinner a coat of gloss varnish.
 

 

 
For the prop blades, I went with Mr. Color NMF (yeah, same stuff I used on my Jug...), then glossed them with GX100.
After that, I "paint" them with a layer of hairspray (what can I say, I like to stay stylish...), then sprayed RLM 70.
I followed up with a misting of RLM 70 + 10% white using a mask for some random blotches, and then added tiny streaks with RLM 70 + 10% black across each blade.
To blend it all in and keep the weathering from looking too over-the-top, I went back over everything with diluted RLM 70.
Then I wore down the propeller blades a bit using Micromesh 6000 and some water to reveal the NMF underneath.
I used two different panel liners (because of the black and white on the spinner), did a bit of chipping with a grey pencil, and finally sealed everything with a semi-matte varnish to lock it all in.
 

 

 

 
So yeah, quite a bit of work for “just” a propeller, right?
But honestly, it's worth it – the spinner and its spiral really catch the eye, it’s kind of the visual signature of this 109.
Anyway, a spiral on a spinner is either spot-on or totally ugly.
There’s sadly no in-between…
 
Et puis, comme on dit en français : le diable est dans les details !  
 
 
Here are a few pics of it in action.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is another of my latest builds. The base is Lukgraph's Potez 25, heavily moded with some home-designed and 3D-printed parts. It was built as part of the "Sandbox" GB on LSM, where you can find a more detailed build log.
 
Before the pics, some background on this project. The idea was to build a project "that had something to do with use in the sand or desert". When doing some preliminray reserach, I stumbled upon some pictures which had an irresistible appeal for me . Let me explain why :
 
1. French colonial presence in North and Western Africa.
 
In the the XIXth and XXeth Centuries, France expanded its colonial empire across large chunks of Africa, in the North, with Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, and in the West and Center, expanding from the Ivory Coast and along the river Niger. In 1893, Ensign Aube, on an armed launch, went thus up the Niger river, until he reached Tumbuctu, with the goal of establishing a French presence there. After a few weeks, he was unfortunatley massacred with his expedition by the local tribes, which were subsequently defeated and submitted by a French ground brigade.
The French presence in Africa went with the development of routes between the colonies, and thus the French had to tackle a major hurdle between the North and the West of Africa, i.e. the Sahara desert. This was was progressively mapped and crisscrossed with a number of roads, during the 1920s. A road was thus departing from Morocco, Tunisia or Algeria, to merge in Algeria in the North of Sahara, and then went south across the Tanezrouft and Sahara towards Mali and West Africa. Along this road, a number of stations were established, every 50 kilometers, initially by burrying a barrel of water ("bidon" is the French word for barrel), and developing limited infrasructures along these "Bidon" outposts, namely ways to refill the tanks of the trucks, coaches, cars ... and aircrafts which attempted to cross the Sahara. A famous post is "Bidon 5", in the Tanezrouft, which even had a "hotel" made of the bodies of two coaches.
 
The "Black Cruise" ... and the Pink Cruise
 
In 1933, France established the Air Force as a separate entity from the Army. To celebrate this event, a PR stunt was put in place : the "Black Cruise". The idea was to have a major force, made of about 30 aircrafts, that would fly from Paris to the Western African colonies, and back. Under the command of General Vuillemin, the Black Cruise was a huge success, and demonstrated the capacity of the newborn Armée de l'Air to project its force across the empire.
 
This widely acclaimed feat warmed the inter-service rivalry between the Air Force and the Navy, which had its own aerial component, and more specifically the feelings of Rear-Admiral De Laborde, a consumate sailor AND aviator, who commanded the French Navy forces in Africa. De Laborde wanted to show that the French Navy was as able as the new Air Force, by replicating the Black Cruise. In December 1934, a commemorative plaque for Ensign Aube was to be unveiled in Tumbuctu. De Laborde informed the Ministry, that, as the most senior French Navy representative in Africa, he would personally attend the commemorative ceremony, with his wife. He only "forgot" the mention that he intended to reach Tumbuctu by aircraft, in a remake of the African leg of the Black Cruise.
 
Thus, in November 1934, De Laborde, leading a flight of three aircrafts, with his wife as passenger, took off from Bizerte  in Tunisia, to cross the Sahara and reach Tumbuctu. The flight was a success, and although a veil was put on it officially to avoid fostering the inter-service rivalty, the flight earned the somewhat derisive nickname or "Pink Cruise", to take into account the presence of Countess de Laborde, wife of Jean de Laborde.
 
I found a period picture of the three aircafts, adorned with their "fishhook" roundels typical of the French Navy aircrafts, during a stop in the middle of the Sahara. The idea of a Navy aircraft about 3000 kms away from the nearest shore was just irresistible for me. And thus my GB entry was set !
 
2. The Potez 25
 
The Potez 25 can, in many aspects; be considered the F-16 equivalent of the 20s and 30s. Built by Potez (who had been associated in WWI with Marcel Bloch to build propellers, before Bloch and Potez parted ways in the early 20s), using conventional WWI construction techniques, but with an innovative engine bearer structure that allowed almost and 500 hp engine to power it, it was produced at more than 3 500 units, and sold un used by 24 countries, not a bad number for these troubled peacetimes.
 
It was thus sold to Poland, and it is because of this Polish Aviation link that we now have a 1/32 kit of the Potez 25, thanks to Lukgraph.
 
The main variant of the Potez 25 was the A2, powered by the very successful and reliable Lorraine W12 engine, and this was the one used by the Polish Air Force and therefore represented by Likgraph.
 
Bu the French developed a specific version for the Potez 25, the "TOE" (for Theâtre d'Opérations Extérieures", aka foreign opertions theater). Compared to the A2, the TOA had many differences, starting by a heavier weight  dur to an enlarged main tank (which was jettisonable in flight in case of fire), and an additional fuel tank of 300 liters, conforming to the belly of the Potez. The extra CFT and larger main tank implied a revised nose cowling, to fair into the deeper belly, and a fariring of the under-rear fuselage, up to the tail.
The TOE had also a larger radiator, to cope for the wemer climates it was supposed to operate into. This was achieved by adding "ears" to the radiator, fairing in the covers of the lower cylinder banks of the Lorraine W12 engine.
To cope for the heavier weight, a new oleo undercarriage was developed by Messier, as well as a new tail skid.
The Potez TOEs of both the Black and Pink Cruise also had two extra water tanks that prolonged the fairings of the lower cylinder banks.
 
De Laborde's aircraft, coded "BZ 65) (BZ stand for Bizerte, the main base of the French Navy aircrafts in North Africa), also had a revised upper fairing above the cockpit, with the suppression of the rear gun position, a new windscreen for this position, a head-rest fairing for the rear position. It also had a seat comparable to the pilot's one in the rear position, as opposed to the initial bench-type for the rear gunner, and a set of radio emitters and receivers, identical to the ones used during the Black Cruise.
 
3. Building and converting Lukgraphs' Potez 25
 
The Lukgraph kit ias a sound, if not perfect, basis for a Potez 25 A2. To represent a TOE, I had however to proceed to some major surgery and changes. I designed the conversion parts, and 3d-printed them.
The list of new parts include:
- a new radiator,
- new fairings for the clyinder banks, including the extra water tanks
- a new lower nose / cowling
- an extension of the mainfuel tank
- a new underbelly conformal fuel tank
- a hew fairing for the rear fuselage
- a new main undercarriage
- a new tail skid
- a second seat for the rear position
- new wheels as the TOE ones wear of bigger diameter and larger thread than the A2 ones. The standard practice for aircrafts crossing the Sahara was to have a third, spare, wheel fastened to the side of the fuselage.
- radios for the emitters and transmitter (3 sets overall)
- a new upper fuselage fariring over the cockpit. This Included the head-rest fairing.
- a new windscreen for both the pilot and the rear passenger. In the end, i designed the whole new upper fuselage with the windscreens, and then printed it in clear resin.
- new throttle quadrants and throttles, as the supplied PE parts were too flimsy …
 
The kit is a typical high-quality resin kit, with some 3D-printed parts. It has, however, a significant issue, namely the - large - main upper wing is molded solid. When assembled, the upper wing alone weighs 186 grams. And the finished aircraft with all the additions is close to 370 grams. One of my pet topics is trying to replicate the "mass feeling" of the original subject in kit form. In theory, using the same materials, we would have a similar density. Thus, if the all-up weight of the Potez 25 was 2500 kilograms, the 1/32 kit shoudl weigh 2500*1000/32^3 = 76 grams. The finished kit is almost five times more heavy than it should be if the density was constant !
 
This creates issues of their own : a) large resin wings are known to sag and flex over time, b) the 3d-printed resin undercarriage may not be strong enough to withstand durably the weight of the finished kit, c) the supplied interwings struts and cabane struts, in 3d-printed resin, may just as well be unable to withstand the weight of the upper wing in the long run, as they have holes for just stub inserts of rods, but are not designed to have the reinforcind rods going through them.
 
So I modified the lower sesquiplane wings to incorporate a span-continuous double spar made of 2 mm aluminium tubing. The spars are connected to a reinforced carry-through structure in the fuselage. New struts were designed and printed that allowed to insert  1mm-dia steel rods across their wole length. The undercarriage was similarly designed to allow the introduction of brass rods reinforcements, and to be connected to the internal carry-trhough structure. By the way, the 3d-printed tail skid did not resist the weight and snapped after about a week. I replaced it with a new one sratchbuilt out of brass. The upper wing is made of three parts (a central and two outer wings panels). They were drilled to a significant depth to allow to insert 2mm-tube spars. And the rod-reinforced interwing struts and cabane struts all connect to the carry-through structure inside the fuselage or the lower sequiplane spars.
 
The Potez 25 TOE was the workhorse mainstay used both for the Black Cruise and, as a utility aircraft, by the French Navy, and therefore for the « Pink Cruise ».
 
De Laborde's Potez, coded BZ65, sported the 4-star pennant of a rear-admiral on its fin. This made BZ65 a true "Blue Goose" aircraft. The markings are a mix of masks, home-made decals and the kits decals (the "fishhooks" come from the Lukgraph decal sheet. All the rest is either masked or home-dessigned and printed.
 
4. The saynette
 
I found many pictures of the various Sahara stops performed by French aircrafts. Whilst the major "Bidon" stops had fuel pumps, for both the wheeled vehicles and the aircrafts, in other places, the fuel drums were brought in by 4-legged bowsers, namely camels ! I had my scene : BZ65, the Potez of de Laborde and his wife, stopped in the Sahara, whilst camels bring in the fuel drums to replenish the aircraft.
I found that the drums in these occasions used were not the "standard" 200 or 225 liters drums, but smaller, more handleable ones of 70 liters. A net search provided the specs of these 70-liters drums, which I also designed and printed. The ubiquitous "Japy" hand-pump was used for refueling. One was designed, printed and inserted in its location in the lower fuselage, where it cannot, unfortunately, be seen ...
The 1/32 camels are 3d-printed, found on a German website.
The figures, including Mrs de Laborde and his husband, are from various sources, like Red Dog or The Bodi Capsata, or others.
Finally, a picture showed that these airbases in the Sahara had a windsock. One was designed and printed in clear resin. Duly painted, the see-through effect of the fabric windsocks was restituted pretty convincingly
 
 And now, after this lengthy intro, on to the pics. You can click on them to get enlarged versions. At the end are some detailed pics of the WiP process.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
I hope you like it.
 
Hubert
 
PS: the scene also had an « interesting » ingredient to it : part of the « sand » is actually some curry powder I had mixed up to the « right » colour on the Marrakech souk. The odour is now faded out, but my work area smelled very good for a few months 😂 …

Here is another of my latest builds. The base is Lukgraph's Potez 25, heavily moded with some home-designed and 3D-printed parts. It was built as part of the "Sandbox" GB on LSM, where you can find a more detailed build log.
 
Before the pics, some background on this project. The idea was to build a project "that had something to do with use in the sand or desert". When doing some preliminray reserach, I stumbled upon some pictures which had an irresistible appeal for me . Let me explain why :
 
1. French colonial presence in North and Western Africa.
 
In the the XIXth and XXeth Centuries, France expanded its colonial empire across large chunks of Africa, in the North, with Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, and in the West and Center, expanding from the Ivory Coast and along the river Niger. In 1893, Ensign Aube, on an armed launch, went thus up the Niger river, until he reached Tumbuctu, with the goal of establishing a French presence there. After a few weeks, he was unfortunatley massacred with his expedition by the local tribes, which were subsequently defeated and submitted by a French ground brigade.
The French presence in Africa went with the development of routes between the colonies, and thus the French had to tackle a major hurdle between the North and the West of Africa, i.e. the Sahara desert. This was was progressively mapped and crisscrossed with a number of roads, during the 1920s. A road was thus departing from Morocco, Tunisia or Algeria, to merge in Algeria in the North of Sahara, and then went south across the Tanezrouft and Sahara towards Mali and West Africa. Along this road, a number of stations were established, every 50 kilometers, initially by burrying a barrel of water ("bidon" is the French word for barrel), and developing limited infrasructures along these "Bidon" outposts, namely ways to refill the tanks of the trucks, coaches, cars ... and aircrafts which attempted to cross the Sahara. A famous post is "Bidon 5", in the Tanezrouft, which even had a "hotel" made of the bodies of two coaches.
 
The "Black Cruise" ... and the Pink Cruise
 
In 1933, France established the Air Force as a separate entity from the Army. To celebrate this event, a PR stunt was put in place : the "Black Cruise". The idea was to have a major force, made of about 30 aircrafts, that would fly from Paris to the Western African colonies, and back. Under the command of General Vuillemin, the Black Cruise was a huge success, and demonstrated the capacity of the newborn Armée de l'Air to project its force across the empire.
 
This widely acclaimed feat warmed the inter-service rivalry between the Air Force and the Navy, which had its own aerial component, and more specifically the feelings of Rear-Admiral De Laborde, a consumate sailor AND aviator, who commanded the French Navy forces in Africa. De Laborde wanted to show that the French Navy was as able as the new Air Force, by replicating the Black Cruise. In December 1934, a commemorative plaque for Ensign Aube was to be unveiled in Tumbuctu. De Laborde informed the Ministry, that, as the most senior French Navy representative in Africa, he would personally attend the commemorative ceremony, with his wife. He only "forgot" the mention that he intended to reach Tumbuctu by aircraft, in a remake of the African leg of the Black Cruise.
 
Thus, in November 1934, De Laborde, leading a flight of three aircrafts, with his wife as passenger, took off from Bizerte  in Tunisia, to cross the Sahara and reach Tumbuctu. The flight was a success, and although a veil was put on it officially to avoid fostering the inter-service rivalty, the flight earned the somewhat derisive nickname or "Pink Cruise", to take into account the presence of Countess de Laborde, wife of Jean de Laborde.
 
I found a period picture of the three aircafts, adorned with their "fishhook" roundels typical of the French Navy aircrafts, during a stop in the middle of the Sahara. The idea of a Navy aircraft about 3000 kms away from the nearest shore was just irresistible for me. And thus my GB entry was set !
 
2. The Potez 25
 
The Potez 25 can, in many aspects; be considered the F-16 equivalent of the 20s and 30s. Built by Potez (who had been associated in WWI with Marcel Bloch to build propellers, before Bloch and Potez parted ways in the early 20s), using conventional WWI construction techniques, but with an innovative engine bearer structure that allowed almost and 500 hp engine to power it, it was produced at more than 3 500 units, and sold un used by 24 countries, not a bad number for these troubled peacetimes.
 
It was thus sold to Poland, and it is because of this Polish Aviation link that we now have a 1/32 kit of the Potez 25, thanks to Lukgraph.
 
The main variant of the Potez 25 was the A2, powered by the very successful and reliable Lorraine W12 engine, and this was the one used by the Polish Air Force and therefore represented by Likgraph.
 
Bu the French developed a specific version for the Potez 25, the "TOE" (for Theâtre d'Opérations Extérieures", aka foreign opertions theater). Compared to the A2, the TOA had many differences, starting by a heavier weight  dur to an enlarged main tank (which was jettisonable in flight in case of fire), and an additional fuel tank of 300 liters, conforming to the belly of the Potez. The extra CFT and larger main tank implied a revised nose cowling, to fair into the deeper belly, and a fariring of the under-rear fuselage, up to the tail.
The TOE had also a larger radiator, to cope for the wemer climates it was supposed to operate into. This was achieved by adding "ears" to the radiator, fairing in the covers of the lower cylinder banks of the Lorraine W12 engine.
To cope for the heavier weight, a new oleo undercarriage was developed by Messier, as well as a new tail skid.
The Potez TOEs of both the Black and Pink Cruise also had two extra water tanks that prolonged the fairings of the lower cylinder banks.
 
De Laborde's aircraft, coded "BZ 65) (BZ stand for Bizerte, the main base of the French Navy aircrafts in North Africa), also had a revised upper fairing above the cockpit, with the suppression of the rear gun position, a new windscreen for this position, a head-rest fairing for the rear position. It also had a seat comparable to the pilot's one in the rear position, as opposed to the initial bench-type for the rear gunner, and a set of radio emitters and receivers, identical to the ones used during the Black Cruise.
 
3. Building and converting Lukgraphs' Potez 25
 
The Lukgraph kit ias a sound, if not perfect, basis for a Potez 25 A2. To represent a TOE, I had however to proceed to some major surgery and changes. I designed the conversion parts, and 3d-printed them.
The list of new parts include:
- a new radiator,
- new fairings for the clyinder banks, including the extra water tanks
- a new lower nose / cowling
- an extension of the mainfuel tank
- a new underbelly conformal fuel tank
- a hew fairing for the rear fuselage
- a new main undercarriage
- a new tail skid
- a second seat for the rear position
- new wheels as the TOE ones wear of bigger diameter and larger thread than the A2 ones. The standard practice for aircrafts crossing the Sahara was to have a third, spare, wheel fastened to the side of the fuselage.
- radios for the emitters and transmitter (3 sets overall)
- a new upper fuselage fariring over the cockpit. This Included the head-rest fairing.
- a new windscreen for both the pilot and the rear passenger. In the end, i designed the whole new upper fuselage with the windscreens, and then printed it in clear resin.
- new throttle quadrants and throttles, as the supplied PE parts were too flimsy …
 
The kit is a typical high-quality resin kit, with some 3D-printed parts. It has, however, a significant issue, namely the - large - main upper wing is molded solid. When assembled, the upper wing alone weighs 186 grams. And the finished aircraft with all the additions is close to 370 grams. One of my pet topics is trying to replicate the "mass feeling" of the original subject in kit form. In theory, using the same materials, we would have a similar density. Thus, if the all-up weight of the Potez 25 was 2500 kilograms, the 1/32 kit shoudl weigh 2500*1000/32^3 = 76 grams. The finished kit is almost five times more heavy than it should be if the density was constant !
 
This creates issues of their own : a) large resin wings are known to sag and flex over time, b) the 3d-printed resin undercarriage may not be strong enough to withstand durably the weight of the finished kit, c) the supplied interwings struts and cabane struts, in 3d-printed resin, may just as well be unable to withstand the weight of the upper wing in the long run, as they have holes for just stub inserts of rods, but are not designed to have the reinforcind rods going through them.
 
So I modified the lower sesquiplane wings to incorporate a span-continuous double spar made of 2 mm aluminium tubing. The spars are connected to a reinforced carry-through structure in the fuselage. New struts were designed and printed that allowed to insert  1mm-dia steel rods across their wole length. The undercarriage was similarly designed to allow the introduction of brass rods reinforcements, and to be connected to the internal carry-trhough structure. By the way, the 3d-printed tail skid did not resist the weight and snapped after about a week. I replaced it with a new one sratchbuilt out of brass. The upper wing is made of three parts (a central and two outer wings panels). They were drilled to a significant depth to allow to insert 2mm-tube spars. And the rod-reinforced interwing struts and cabane struts all connect to the carry-through structure inside the fuselage or the lower sequiplane spars.
 
The Potez 25 TOE was the workhorse mainstay used both for the Black Cruise and, as a utility aircraft, by the French Navy, and therefore for the « Pink Cruise ».
 
De Laborde's Potez, coded BZ65, sported the 4-star pennant of a rear-admiral on its fin. This made BZ65 a true "Blue Goose" aircraft. The markings are a mix of masks, home-made decals and the kits decals (the "fishhooks" come from the Lukgraph decal sheet. All the rest is either masked or home-dessigned and printed.
 
4. The saynette
 
I found many pictures of the various Sahara stops performed by French aircrafts. Whilst the major "Bidon" stops had fuel pumps, for both the wheeled vehicles and the aircrafts, in other places, the fuel drums were brought in by 4-legged bowsers, namely camels ! I had my scene : BZ65, the Potez of de Laborde and his wife, stopped in the Sahara, whilst camels bring in the fuel drums to replenish the aircraft.
I found that the drums in these occasions used were not the "standard" 200 or 225 liters drums, but smaller, more handleable ones of 70 liters. A net search provided the specs of these 70-liters drums, which I also designed and printed. The ubiquitous "Japy" hand-pump was used for refueling. One was designed, printed and inserted in its location in the lower fuselage, where it cannot, unfortunately, be seen ...
The 1/32 camels are 3d-printed, found on a German website.
The figures, including Mrs de Laborde and his husband, are from various sources, like Red Dog or The Bodi Capsata, or others.
Finally, a picture showed that these airbases in the Sahara had a windsock. One was designed and printed in clear resin. Duly painted, the see-through effect of the fabric windsocks was restituted pretty convincingly
 
 And now, after this lengthy intro, on to the pics. You can click on them to get enlarged versions. At the end are some detailed pics of the WiP process.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
I hope you like it.
 
Hubert
 
PS: the scene also had an « interesting » ingredient to it : part of the « sand » is actually some curry powder I had mixed up to the « right » colour on the Marrakech souk. The odour is now faded out, but my work area smelled very good for a few months 😂 …

Very nice result on a kit I have expected for more than 15 years. .
 
I gave Peter a hand (mostly by sharing my abundant documentation accumulated over the years) in developing his set, and promised him I would give him the files of any 3D-printed improvement I’d develop for the TBD (the bombardier position being an obvious one, as you mention, the torpedo recess area - a clear shot of which eluded me for a decade - in the underbelly being another). The only issue is that the Lukgraph’s Duck is a « clear the bench » kit for me, and may push the TBD down the line when I finish my Fisher Cutlass  
 
Anyway, kudos again for a magnificent result 👍 !
 
Hubert
 

Here is another of my latest builds. The base is Lukgraph's Potez 25, heavily moded with some home-designed and 3D-printed parts. It was built as part of the "Sandbox" GB on LSM, where you can find a more detailed build log.
 
Before the pics, some background on this project. The idea was to build a project "that had something to do with use in the sand or desert". When doing some preliminray reserach, I stumbled upon some pictures which had an irresistible appeal for me . Let me explain why :
 
1. French colonial presence in North and Western Africa.
 
In the the XIXth and XXeth Centuries, France expanded its colonial empire across large chunks of Africa, in the North, with Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, and in the West and Center, expanding from the Ivory Coast and along the river Niger. In 1893, Ensign Aube, on an armed launch, went thus up the Niger river, until he reached Tumbuctu, with the goal of establishing a French presence there. After a few weeks, he was unfortunatley massacred with his expedition by the local tribes, which were subsequently defeated and submitted by a French ground brigade.
The French presence in Africa went with the development of routes between the colonies, and thus the French had to tackle a major hurdle between the North and the West of Africa, i.e. the Sahara desert. This was was progressively mapped and crisscrossed with a number of roads, during the 1920s. A road was thus departing from Morocco, Tunisia or Algeria, to merge in Algeria in the North of Sahara, and then went south across the Tanezrouft and Sahara towards Mali and West Africa. Along this road, a number of stations were established, every 50 kilometers, initially by burrying a barrel of water ("bidon" is the French word for barrel), and developing limited infrasructures along these "Bidon" outposts, namely ways to refill the tanks of the trucks, coaches, cars ... and aircrafts which attempted to cross the Sahara. A famous post is "Bidon 5", in the Tanezrouft, which even had a "hotel" made of the bodies of two coaches.
 
The "Black Cruise" ... and the Pink Cruise
 
In 1933, France established the Air Force as a separate entity from the Army. To celebrate this event, a PR stunt was put in place : the "Black Cruise". The idea was to have a major force, made of about 30 aircrafts, that would fly from Paris to the Western African colonies, and back. Under the command of General Vuillemin, the Black Cruise was a huge success, and demonstrated the capacity of the newborn Armée de l'Air to project its force across the empire.
 
This widely acclaimed feat warmed the inter-service rivalry between the Air Force and the Navy, which had its own aerial component, and more specifically the feelings of Rear-Admiral De Laborde, a consumate sailor AND aviator, who commanded the French Navy forces in Africa. De Laborde wanted to show that the French Navy was as able as the new Air Force, by replicating the Black Cruise. In December 1934, a commemorative plaque for Ensign Aube was to be unveiled in Tumbuctu. De Laborde informed the Ministry, that, as the most senior French Navy representative in Africa, he would personally attend the commemorative ceremony, with his wife. He only "forgot" the mention that he intended to reach Tumbuctu by aircraft, in a remake of the African leg of the Black Cruise.
 
Thus, in November 1934, De Laborde, leading a flight of three aircrafts, with his wife as passenger, took off from Bizerte  in Tunisia, to cross the Sahara and reach Tumbuctu. The flight was a success, and although a veil was put on it officially to avoid fostering the inter-service rivalty, the flight earned the somewhat derisive nickname or "Pink Cruise", to take into account the presence of Countess de Laborde, wife of Jean de Laborde.
 
I found a period picture of the three aircafts, adorned with their "fishhook" roundels typical of the French Navy aircrafts, during a stop in the middle of the Sahara. The idea of a Navy aircraft about 3000 kms away from the nearest shore was just irresistible for me. And thus my GB entry was set !
 
2. The Potez 25
 
The Potez 25 can, in many aspects; be considered the F-16 equivalent of the 20s and 30s. Built by Potez (who had been associated in WWI with Marcel Bloch to build propellers, before Bloch and Potez parted ways in the early 20s), using conventional WWI construction techniques, but with an innovative engine bearer structure that allowed almost and 500 hp engine to power it, it was produced at more than 3 500 units, and sold un used by 24 countries, not a bad number for these troubled peacetimes.
 
It was thus sold to Poland, and it is because of this Polish Aviation link that we now have a 1/32 kit of the Potez 25, thanks to Lukgraph.
 
The main variant of the Potez 25 was the A2, powered by the very successful and reliable Lorraine W12 engine, and this was the one used by the Polish Air Force and therefore represented by Likgraph.
 
Bu the French developed a specific version for the Potez 25, the "TOE" (for Theâtre d'Opérations Extérieures", aka foreign opertions theater). Compared to the A2, the TOA had many differences, starting by a heavier weight  dur to an enlarged main tank (which was jettisonable in flight in case of fire), and an additional fuel tank of 300 liters, conforming to the belly of the Potez. The extra CFT and larger main tank implied a revised nose cowling, to fair into the deeper belly, and a fariring of the under-rear fuselage, up to the tail.
The TOE had also a larger radiator, to cope for the wemer climates it was supposed to operate into. This was achieved by adding "ears" to the radiator, fairing in the covers of the lower cylinder banks of the Lorraine W12 engine.
To cope for the heavier weight, a new oleo undercarriage was developed by Messier, as well as a new tail skid.
The Potez TOEs of both the Black and Pink Cruise also had two extra water tanks that prolonged the fairings of the lower cylinder banks.
 
De Laborde's aircraft, coded "BZ 65) (BZ stand for Bizerte, the main base of the French Navy aircrafts in North Africa), also had a revised upper fairing above the cockpit, with the suppression of the rear gun position, a new windscreen for this position, a head-rest fairing for the rear position. It also had a seat comparable to the pilot's one in the rear position, as opposed to the initial bench-type for the rear gunner, and a set of radio emitters and receivers, identical to the ones used during the Black Cruise.
 
3. Building and converting Lukgraphs' Potez 25
 
The Lukgraph kit ias a sound, if not perfect, basis for a Potez 25 A2. To represent a TOE, I had however to proceed to some major surgery and changes. I designed the conversion parts, and 3d-printed them.
The list of new parts include:
- a new radiator,
- new fairings for the clyinder banks, including the extra water tanks
- a new lower nose / cowling
- an extension of the mainfuel tank
- a new underbelly conformal fuel tank
- a hew fairing for the rear fuselage
- a new main undercarriage
- a new tail skid
- a second seat for the rear position
- new wheels as the TOE ones wear of bigger diameter and larger thread than the A2 ones. The standard practice for aircrafts crossing the Sahara was to have a third, spare, wheel fastened to the side of the fuselage.
- radios for the emitters and transmitter (3 sets overall)
- a new upper fuselage fariring over the cockpit. This Included the head-rest fairing.
- a new windscreen for both the pilot and the rear passenger. In the end, i designed the whole new upper fuselage with the windscreens, and then printed it in clear resin.
- new throttle quadrants and throttles, as the supplied PE parts were too flimsy …
 
The kit is a typical high-quality resin kit, with some 3D-printed parts. It has, however, a significant issue, namely the - large - main upper wing is molded solid. When assembled, the upper wing alone weighs 186 grams. And the finished aircraft with all the additions is close to 370 grams. One of my pet topics is trying to replicate the "mass feeling" of the original subject in kit form. In theory, using the same materials, we would have a similar density. Thus, if the all-up weight of the Potez 25 was 2500 kilograms, the 1/32 kit shoudl weigh 2500*1000/32^3 = 76 grams. The finished kit is almost five times more heavy than it should be if the density was constant !
 
This creates issues of their own : a) large resin wings are known to sag and flex over time, b) the 3d-printed resin undercarriage may not be strong enough to withstand durably the weight of the finished kit, c) the supplied interwings struts and cabane struts, in 3d-printed resin, may just as well be unable to withstand the weight of the upper wing in the long run, as they have holes for just stub inserts of rods, but are not designed to have the reinforcind rods going through them.
 
So I modified the lower sesquiplane wings to incorporate a span-continuous double spar made of 2 mm aluminium tubing. The spars are connected to a reinforced carry-through structure in the fuselage. New struts were designed and printed that allowed to insert  1mm-dia steel rods across their wole length. The undercarriage was similarly designed to allow the introduction of brass rods reinforcements, and to be connected to the internal carry-trhough structure. By the way, the 3d-printed tail skid did not resist the weight and snapped after about a week. I replaced it with a new one sratchbuilt out of brass. The upper wing is made of three parts (a central and two outer wings panels). They were drilled to a significant depth to allow to insert 2mm-tube spars. And the rod-reinforced interwing struts and cabane struts all connect to the carry-through structure inside the fuselage or the lower sequiplane spars.
 
The Potez 25 TOE was the workhorse mainstay used both for the Black Cruise and, as a utility aircraft, by the French Navy, and therefore for the « Pink Cruise ».
 
De Laborde's Potez, coded BZ65, sported the 4-star pennant of a rear-admiral on its fin. This made BZ65 a true "Blue Goose" aircraft. The markings are a mix of masks, home-made decals and the kits decals (the "fishhooks" come from the Lukgraph decal sheet. All the rest is either masked or home-dessigned and printed.
 
4. The saynette
 
I found many pictures of the various Sahara stops performed by French aircrafts. Whilst the major "Bidon" stops had fuel pumps, for both the wheeled vehicles and the aircrafts, in other places, the fuel drums were brought in by 4-legged bowsers, namely camels ! I had my scene : BZ65, the Potez of de Laborde and his wife, stopped in the Sahara, whilst camels bring in the fuel drums to replenish the aircraft.
I found that the drums in these occasions used were not the "standard" 200 or 225 liters drums, but smaller, more handleable ones of 70 liters. A net search provided the specs of these 70-liters drums, which I also designed and printed. The ubiquitous "Japy" hand-pump was used for refueling. One was designed, printed and inserted in its location in the lower fuselage, where it cannot, unfortunately, be seen ...
The 1/32 camels are 3d-printed, found on a German website.
The figures, including Mrs de Laborde and his husband, are from various sources, like Red Dog or The Bodi Capsata, or others.
Finally, a picture showed that these airbases in the Sahara had a windsock. One was designed and printed in clear resin. Duly painted, the see-through effect of the fabric windsocks was restituted pretty convincingly
 
 And now, after this lengthy intro, on to the pics. You can click on them to get enlarged versions. At the end are some detailed pics of the WiP process.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
I hope you like it.
 
Hubert
 
PS: the scene also had an « interesting » ingredient to it : part of the « sand » is actually some curry powder I had mixed up to the « right » colour on the Marrakech souk. The odour is now faded out, but my work area smelled very good for a few months 😂 …

The EE Lightning ? Or a cold SR-71 with full tanks …
 
Hubert

The EE Lightning ? Or a cold SR-71 with full tanks …
 
Hubert

If I had been that airplane, I would have refused to fly.  Even a SLUF has limits to the “ugly” part.

Hi guys,
Some occasional updates.
1. My fiance found another Elegoo Saturn 3 Ultra for me so now my printer set up is 7 printers. However, the Mars 5 is waiting for some structural parts and the Saturn 2's LCD just reached its end of life the other day. It served me well for the past 3 years through so much abuse. So now I'm down to 5 printers, but fast and big ones. I'm still deciding if it's worth it to get the Saturn 2 back up and running again since the original screen for it is more than $100, around $130-150, which is on the same range where I can buy a barely used Saturn 3 Ultra. Or, I can get the Chitubox 14k upgrade set but will it be worth it being at $160 something. Sure I'll get 14k quality but I don't need that much and I'll still be stuck with the S2's slow speed. Anyway, the other 5 work fast enough for me so not much worry.
 

 
2. The Elegoo Mercury X wash and cure can't keep up with the print load from all the printers, resulting in me having to spend so much time everyday washing prints, so I bought an ultrasonic cleaner. It works wonder, I can cut my wash time in more than half, more like down to 1/4 of what I usually spend, which is great. And no vortex cleaning = less broken parts, and cleaner prints.

 
3. Orders have been going out steadily, a few of them a day and I'll try to increase the number of orders shipped in the coming days once more parts flow in. Beside the very first 2 orders, none are reported to have parts broken in transit so far, which means my protective cages work as intended. This is a sample of the 1/32 kit waiting for some final parts.
 

 
4. I just want to remind you guys that it's a one-man operation, I do everything from printing, washing, curing, printer maintenance, sorting parts, packing, designing, ordering supply, etc. so it will take time. Rest assured I'm aiming to have all back orders out the door within the month. Sometimes my fiancé helps me in Saturday but since she has only "our" day to really rest I avoid having her do so too much. So please bear with me. 
 

 
5. More stuffs are coming. I've placed a decal order and they should be done by the end of next week and I'll have the decals on hand before the end of the month. Beside more decals for the 3 original AD-5 schemes, I've added 16 sets for the last VNAF AD-5 shot down in the war, flown by Maj. Truong Phung. What his AD-5 looked like was all speculation though and I drew my decals on the best guest I can gather around. In addition to that, there will also be 11 sets each in 1/32 and 1/48 for the AD-5N, AD-5Q, and AD-5W. I'll print final test parts next week and once the decals are confirmed to be on the way, I'll put the AD-5N, AD-5Q, and AD-5W on my website and start taking orders for those. This time y'all don't have to wait for too long to get those kits. Once I get enogh sales I'll order more decals in addition to adding more paint schemes too all kits. I plan to buy decals for the AD-5U and AD-5S next time too, as well as the white and international orange Navy scheme for the AD-5.
 

 
6. Next Saturday I'll visit Lionheart Hobby in Kyle, Texas to deliver their first wholesale order in addition to taking my fiancé out for a roadtrip, I haven't taken her out for somewhere out of Houston for a while, so there'll be some down time.  After that, I'll fly to California for our friend's brother's wedding and her daughter's first bday, I plan to stay in OC, California for a couple days then spend a few more days in LA to meet my customers and also try to see the YO-3A there, so I'll probably be out for almost a week. After that I'll head home and start printing kits to bring to National.
 
That's it for today. Have a fun weekend y'all. 

Here is another of my latest builds. The base is Lukgraph's Potez 25, heavily moded with some home-designed and 3D-printed parts. It was built as part of the "Sandbox" GB on LSM, where you can find a more detailed build log.
 
Before the pics, some background on this project. The idea was to build a project "that had something to do with use in the sand or desert". When doing some preliminray reserach, I stumbled upon some pictures which had an irresistible appeal for me . Let me explain why :
 
1. French colonial presence in North and Western Africa.
 
In the the XIXth and XXeth Centuries, France expanded its colonial empire across large chunks of Africa, in the North, with Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, and in the West and Center, expanding from the Ivory Coast and along the river Niger. In 1893, Ensign Aube, on an armed launch, went thus up the Niger river, until he reached Tumbuctu, with the goal of establishing a French presence there. After a few weeks, he was unfortunatley massacred with his expedition by the local tribes, which were subsequently defeated and submitted by a French ground brigade.
The French presence in Africa went with the development of routes between the colonies, and thus the French had to tackle a major hurdle between the North and the West of Africa, i.e. the Sahara desert. This was was progressively mapped and crisscrossed with a number of roads, during the 1920s. A road was thus departing from Morocco, Tunisia or Algeria, to merge in Algeria in the North of Sahara, and then went south across the Tanezrouft and Sahara towards Mali and West Africa. Along this road, a number of stations were established, every 50 kilometers, initially by burrying a barrel of water ("bidon" is the French word for barrel), and developing limited infrasructures along these "Bidon" outposts, namely ways to refill the tanks of the trucks, coaches, cars ... and aircrafts which attempted to cross the Sahara. A famous post is "Bidon 5", in the Tanezrouft, which even had a "hotel" made of the bodies of two coaches.
 
The "Black Cruise" ... and the Pink Cruise
 
In 1933, France established the Air Force as a separate entity from the Army. To celebrate this event, a PR stunt was put in place : the "Black Cruise". The idea was to have a major force, made of about 30 aircrafts, that would fly from Paris to the Western African colonies, and back. Under the command of General Vuillemin, the Black Cruise was a huge success, and demonstrated the capacity of the newborn Armée de l'Air to project its force across the empire.
 
This widely acclaimed feat warmed the inter-service rivalry between the Air Force and the Navy, which had its own aerial component, and more specifically the feelings of Rear-Admiral De Laborde, a consumate sailor AND aviator, who commanded the French Navy forces in Africa. De Laborde wanted to show that the French Navy was as able as the new Air Force, by replicating the Black Cruise. In December 1934, a commemorative plaque for Ensign Aube was to be unveiled in Tumbuctu. De Laborde informed the Ministry, that, as the most senior French Navy representative in Africa, he would personally attend the commemorative ceremony, with his wife. He only "forgot" the mention that he intended to reach Tumbuctu by aircraft, in a remake of the African leg of the Black Cruise.
 
Thus, in November 1934, De Laborde, leading a flight of three aircrafts, with his wife as passenger, took off from Bizerte  in Tunisia, to cross the Sahara and reach Tumbuctu. The flight was a success, and although a veil was put on it officially to avoid fostering the inter-service rivalty, the flight earned the somewhat derisive nickname or "Pink Cruise", to take into account the presence of Countess de Laborde, wife of Jean de Laborde.
 
I found a period picture of the three aircafts, adorned with their "fishhook" roundels typical of the French Navy aircrafts, during a stop in the middle of the Sahara. The idea of a Navy aircraft about 3000 kms away from the nearest shore was just irresistible for me. And thus my GB entry was set !
 
2. The Potez 25
 
The Potez 25 can, in many aspects; be considered the F-16 equivalent of the 20s and 30s. Built by Potez (who had been associated in WWI with Marcel Bloch to build propellers, before Bloch and Potez parted ways in the early 20s), using conventional WWI construction techniques, but with an innovative engine bearer structure that allowed almost and 500 hp engine to power it, it was produced at more than 3 500 units, and sold un used by 24 countries, not a bad number for these troubled peacetimes.
 
It was thus sold to Poland, and it is because of this Polish Aviation link that we now have a 1/32 kit of the Potez 25, thanks to Lukgraph.
 
The main variant of the Potez 25 was the A2, powered by the very successful and reliable Lorraine W12 engine, and this was the one used by the Polish Air Force and therefore represented by Likgraph.
 
Bu the French developed a specific version for the Potez 25, the "TOE" (for Theâtre d'Opérations Extérieures", aka foreign opertions theater). Compared to the A2, the TOA had many differences, starting by a heavier weight  dur to an enlarged main tank (which was jettisonable in flight in case of fire), and an additional fuel tank of 300 liters, conforming to the belly of the Potez. The extra CFT and larger main tank implied a revised nose cowling, to fair into the deeper belly, and a fariring of the under-rear fuselage, up to the tail.
The TOE had also a larger radiator, to cope for the wemer climates it was supposed to operate into. This was achieved by adding "ears" to the radiator, fairing in the covers of the lower cylinder banks of the Lorraine W12 engine.
To cope for the heavier weight, a new oleo undercarriage was developed by Messier, as well as a new tail skid.
The Potez TOEs of both the Black and Pink Cruise also had two extra water tanks that prolonged the fairings of the lower cylinder banks.
 
De Laborde's aircraft, coded "BZ 65) (BZ stand for Bizerte, the main base of the French Navy aircrafts in North Africa), also had a revised upper fairing above the cockpit, with the suppression of the rear gun position, a new windscreen for this position, a head-rest fairing for the rear position. It also had a seat comparable to the pilot's one in the rear position, as opposed to the initial bench-type for the rear gunner, and a set of radio emitters and receivers, identical to the ones used during the Black Cruise.
 
3. Building and converting Lukgraphs' Potez 25
 
The Lukgraph kit ias a sound, if not perfect, basis for a Potez 25 A2. To represent a TOE, I had however to proceed to some major surgery and changes. I designed the conversion parts, and 3d-printed them.
The list of new parts include:
- a new radiator,
- new fairings for the clyinder banks, including the extra water tanks
- a new lower nose / cowling
- an extension of the mainfuel tank
- a new underbelly conformal fuel tank
- a hew fairing for the rear fuselage
- a new main undercarriage
- a new tail skid
- a second seat for the rear position
- new wheels as the TOE ones wear of bigger diameter and larger thread than the A2 ones. The standard practice for aircrafts crossing the Sahara was to have a third, spare, wheel fastened to the side of the fuselage.
- radios for the emitters and transmitter (3 sets overall)
- a new upper fuselage fariring over the cockpit. This Included the head-rest fairing.
- a new windscreen for both the pilot and the rear passenger. In the end, i designed the whole new upper fuselage with the windscreens, and then printed it in clear resin.
- new throttle quadrants and throttles, as the supplied PE parts were too flimsy …
 
The kit is a typical high-quality resin kit, with some 3D-printed parts. It has, however, a significant issue, namely the - large - main upper wing is molded solid. When assembled, the upper wing alone weighs 186 grams. And the finished aircraft with all the additions is close to 370 grams. One of my pet topics is trying to replicate the "mass feeling" of the original subject in kit form. In theory, using the same materials, we would have a similar density. Thus, if the all-up weight of the Potez 25 was 2500 kilograms, the 1/32 kit shoudl weigh 2500*1000/32^3 = 76 grams. The finished kit is almost five times more heavy than it should be if the density was constant !
 
This creates issues of their own : a) large resin wings are known to sag and flex over time, b) the 3d-printed resin undercarriage may not be strong enough to withstand durably the weight of the finished kit, c) the supplied interwings struts and cabane struts, in 3d-printed resin, may just as well be unable to withstand the weight of the upper wing in the long run, as they have holes for just stub inserts of rods, but are not designed to have the reinforcind rods going through them.
 
So I modified the lower sesquiplane wings to incorporate a span-continuous double spar made of 2 mm aluminium tubing. The spars are connected to a reinforced carry-through structure in the fuselage. New struts were designed and printed that allowed to insert  1mm-dia steel rods across their wole length. The undercarriage was similarly designed to allow the introduction of brass rods reinforcements, and to be connected to the internal carry-trhough structure. By the way, the 3d-printed tail skid did not resist the weight and snapped after about a week. I replaced it with a new one sratchbuilt out of brass. The upper wing is made of three parts (a central and two outer wings panels). They were drilled to a significant depth to allow to insert 2mm-tube spars. And the rod-reinforced interwing struts and cabane struts all connect to the carry-through structure inside the fuselage or the lower sequiplane spars.
 
The Potez 25 TOE was the workhorse mainstay used both for the Black Cruise and, as a utility aircraft, by the French Navy, and therefore for the « Pink Cruise ».
 
De Laborde's Potez, coded BZ65, sported the 4-star pennant of a rear-admiral on its fin. This made BZ65 a true "Blue Goose" aircraft. The markings are a mix of masks, home-made decals and the kits decals (the "fishhooks" come from the Lukgraph decal sheet. All the rest is either masked or home-dessigned and printed.
 
4. The saynette
 
I found many pictures of the various Sahara stops performed by French aircrafts. Whilst the major "Bidon" stops had fuel pumps, for both the wheeled vehicles and the aircrafts, in other places, the fuel drums were brought in by 4-legged bowsers, namely camels ! I had my scene : BZ65, the Potez of de Laborde and his wife, stopped in the Sahara, whilst camels bring in the fuel drums to replenish the aircraft.
I found that the drums in these occasions used were not the "standard" 200 or 225 liters drums, but smaller, more handleable ones of 70 liters. A net search provided the specs of these 70-liters drums, which I also designed and printed. The ubiquitous "Japy" hand-pump was used for refueling. One was designed, printed and inserted in its location in the lower fuselage, where it cannot, unfortunately, be seen ...
The 1/32 camels are 3d-printed, found on a German website.
The figures, including Mrs de Laborde and his husband, are from various sources, like Red Dog or The Bodi Capsata, or others.
Finally, a picture showed that these airbases in the Sahara had a windsock. One was designed and printed in clear resin. Duly painted, the see-through effect of the fabric windsocks was restituted pretty convincingly
 
 And now, after this lengthy intro, on to the pics. You can click on them to get enlarged versions. At the end are some detailed pics of the WiP process.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
I hope you like it.
 
Hubert
 
PS: the scene also had an « interesting » ingredient to it : part of the « sand » is actually some curry powder I had mixed up to the « right » colour on the Marrakech souk. The odour is now faded out, but my work area smelled very good for a few months 😂 …

Thank you all for your appreciation.
It was a fun little project.

Hubert
 

Yes....done with em pedals.
 
Theese look...well not so good right.
when got all this PE and all that goodies for this kit.....
 
Not big detail but bigger impact to the whole.
 
Modelkits pedals..
 

 
 
Hmmmm wich one to choose hmmmm when comparing, its hard to choose here, right 😁, left or right, left right.....LoL.
 
 
 

 
Just messin, yes...yes way better Mals Way....suits me just fine, more scratch awaits in cockpit...but later, small steps, as enjoying this kit every minute....
 

Peter’s work is, as always, remarkable. 
 
However , , I could not help but notice that the plate behind the prop blades seems flat, when it’s obviously slightly rounded on the reference pic you posted … Tssk, tssk, , there goes what looked like a perfect design  . Unbuildable, I tell you 🤣😂🤣
 
Cheeky Hubert 😛

Now then Cheeky Hubert! You will have to bear in mind of course that these are very early copies of Peter’s WiP on the Typhoon, and his first reaction to me when he saw that photo was that the prop hub in its current state is lacking some detail, ie clamping bolts etc. I don’t doubt that he will be addressing these matters.
Now go and sit on the naughty step until I tell you to come back! 

Peter’s work is, as always, remarkable. 
 
However , , I could not help but notice that the plate behind the prop blades seems flat, when it’s obviously slightly rounded on the reference pic you posted … Tssk, tssk, , there goes what looked like a perfect design  . Unbuildable, I tell you 🤣😂🤣
 
Cheeky Hubert 😛

Peter’s work is, as always, remarkable. 
 
However , , I could not help but notice that the plate behind the prop blades seems flat, when it’s obviously slightly rounded on the reference pic you posted … Tssk, tssk, , there goes what looked like a perfect design  . Unbuildable, I tell you 🤣😂🤣
 
Cheeky Hubert 😛