1/24 Airco DH.2 Scratchbuild #4

[Jim Barry]

Hey!

 

I have been wringing my hands about what I'd get to scratchbuild next and though many great ideas have come up, I eventually settled on this. I just adored the Eindecker and thought it was such a fresh breeze to do WW1 subjects. They play nice with scratchbuilds too, so let's get going. 

 

A few things fell in my lap about this, one being a German Uberusel UrII engine in 1/24 "kit" laying about in the stash with no purpose. It's a Le Rhône 9J copy almost exactly, so it's going to work fine. The 9J was the upgrade power unit for the DH2. 110 hp.  The other thing is great resources including the Windsock book, Aircraft in Profile and even Wingnut Wings directions which are a treasure even if they did not build the kit too !  It's not a complicated plane either. What you see is what you get! 

 

The propeller would be easier if I just 3D printed it, but I'm going to resist that and carve it old school.  It was also quite expensive to send to the printers and I do not have my printer yet. The 4 Blade prop is really just two two 2 blade propellers  with a common hub. Really, the wood, when stained will be quite true to life so I think this should be worth it. 

 

 

 

In a nutshell,  this is Sir Geoffrey  de Havilland's claim to fame. The DH, if you did not know, are his last name initials. He went on to design other WW1 subjects ,but this one had an edge over the Germans for a few months, ending the "Fokker Scourge"  before the Albatross came on the scene and so it's perhaps his most famous WW1 design. The interwar Moth series are his planes, as well.  I'm not clear on how much he had his hand on the Mosquito, but I think he had the vision work for it and I think similarly other De Havilland planes Vampire, Venom, Sea Vixen, up through the Comet, the first commercial jet.  He died in 1965. Pretty good run! 

 

This little kite is going to be the dickens to rig. Bring it on. 

 

 

 

Look out, Jerry! (The DH. 2 could outturn the Eindecker) 

 

 

 

The bench this morning. 

 

 

 

Edited May 1 by Jim Barry

[Hubert Boillot]

 

Hubert

[RCPlym]

Rigging a go-go! Heh heh!!!

[Jim Barry]

Shots from the bench. Not my first rodeo crafting props by hand.  It’s my second! (The Fury has a carved prop from 2017). This four blade deal is a lot of work, and I could’ve gone with 2 blades but it would have been an accuracy issue since the Le Rhône engines only had the four blade. It is cool. It will be worth it. 

 

It can get weird as propellers have fronts and backs that are kinda the same but then they are not and your brain does an Escher painting double take. I find it fun. It’s hard blending the blades into the central disc, though 
 

 

 

They gotta be the same. Looking good, but need to still thin them more.  Then one of these will own the central disc and the other will donate its blades. In reality I have to think the join was a master carpenter blending thing, but that’s not happening here. The prop is set onto the engine in a reverse way since it pushes air away from the engine. Wouldn’t you think it would be more efficient pushing air away with no obstruction? That’s an advantage, yes, but there’s an offset disadvantage in that the air it gets is distorted and turbulent having to get past the fuselage and engine first. 
 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 2 by Jim Barry

[Hubert Boillot]

You know that doing it the way it was with period 1:1 props eases the carving work ?

Just glue your strips of veneer one of top of each other with a slight angular offset. Less material to remove as the pitch is already indicated, the symmetry is easier to achieve, and you can use different colors of veneer strips to achieve the multi-layered look you want …

 

HTH

 

Hubert

Edited May 2 by Hubert Boillot

[Jim Barry]

Thanks for weighing in, Hubert.  I think I'm just about over this hurdle now and just need to integrate the two props into one. 

[Gazzas]

Color me interested!  I would never build one of these myself...   that double British rigging is a major mental turn off.  Nice to see the props going together already.

[Martinnfb]

Just wow. Impressive undertaking Jim. 

[Jim Barry]

Ok, Prop and engine are going great. I think I have that old WW1 thing happening with my stain color (Vellejo Terracotta) and floor wax for the shine. 
 

Still more details needed on hub and tips which have metal plates. 
 

Loving the copper exhausts of the L9. Makes it. 

 

 

[Jim Barry]

Ok, engine and prop almost complete. I’ve ordered some small hex nuts to finish the hub. 
 

It’s a little useless, but until the plane is ready, I’ll keep the powerplant in a stand. 

[Mal_Belford]

Oh Dear buddy...youre nuts, complete mad, made me hit follow "button" once again im i mad or nuts?

 

And the start looks fantastic indeed, yes yes, love it.

[Jim Barry]

Great @Mal_Belford I gotta credit you for the stand. It’s such your style….the little things. 

[KiwiZac]

I've long had a soft spot for the DH.2 (there are two airworthy 1:1 replicas at my local field with a handful more underway by a syndicate) so I'm always eager to see models of them built. Even moreso when it's from scratch, and to such a standard! Beautiful start, Jim, and I'm excited to follow along!

 

Edited May 4 by KiwiZac

[Jim Barry]

1 hour ago, KiwiZac said:

I've long had a soft spot for the DH.2 (there are two airworthy 1:1 replicas at my local field with a handful more underway by a syndicate) so I'm always eager to see models of them built. Even moreso when it's from scratch, and to such a standard! Beautiful start, Jim, and I'm excited to follow along!

 

 

 

Great, Zac.  Hope on board!  That's cool you have some local DH.2s.  Do you live near Omaka Aviation History Centre? I just learned about it. It's looks SO impressive regarding WW1 exhibits.   

 

 

 

 

Who remembers this game from 90's PC games? "The Red Baron"  by Dynamix. I often selected the DH.2 as I remember. Woah pixels! 

 

 

The improvements in graphics are impressive in today's sims, but for me, the fun was always in the classic era when PC gaming was new. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tonight's work was building the buck for the fuselage vacform process. Given there is no glass canopy, this is very digestible work,  overall. I can't complain.  It's a fairly complex shape for sure, but once I cut the profile It was not that hard the feel out the rest of the shape. 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 4 by Jim Barry

[Archimedes]

Phenomenal work so far Jim! It is really impressive what you did with the prop.

 

Great to see a truly large version of the DH2 shaping up.

 

Kind regards,

Paul