Aerotech DH-88 Comet . Finished.

[ericg]

My attention now turned to the rear of each cowl. It took me a while to find a period picture of the part that I wanted to modify, just to ensure that the pictures of the same area on the restored example did not lead me astray into modifying it wrongly. The kit has the cowls aft of the main wheel wells too fat... sort of like cankles on a fat chick. The real aircraft is far more streamlined and I thought that the modification would be justified.  I carved the area with a knife and smoothed it  with sanding sticks before blending it with wet and dry sandpaper. It improves the kit quite alot.

 

Resin dust..lovely stuff

 

 

Getting there

 

 

 

Here is the comparison between the kit and the modified cowl.

 

 

 

 

Another detail that was catching my eye on the 1930's aircraft was the small fairing just in front of the instrument coaming. As I intend to display the canopy open, I thought it would be good to include it. A small sliver of plastic card was fixed into position and then blended with mr surfacer,

 

Here is the original coaming. You will also notice that there are two very small pieces of plastic card at the top of each groove that the instrument panel sits in. The kit will have you inserting the panel so that it sits just outside the line of the coaming. My references of the 1930's aircraft indicate that it sits fully inside the line of the coaming so I plugged the holes. I also thinned the coaming lip.

 

 

 

 

Eric.

[Vandy 1 VX 4]

Nice shaping of the rear nacelle

 

Cheers

[Guest Peterpools]

Eric

Nice rework of the engine cowl. Could you post a photo of the aircraft with the shape your are after?

Keep 'em coming

Peter

[ericg]

Hi Peter,

 

I have tried to save the image but I cant for some reason as it is a link.

 

Have a look at this link http://www.globalaviationresource.com/v2/2014/10/23/aviation-feature-macrobertson-air-race-80th-anniversary/#

 

Scroll down the page until you see the colour photos of the restored example. Under those are a section of B+W pictures of the race that have to be clicked to expand. Then look for the picture that is 4 down from the top and in the middle column of the clickable B+W pictures. It should be the comet as viewed from the rear. You can clearly see how the light catches the sharp contour of the cowl. Hope that explains it!

 

Eric.

[geedubelyer]

The re-shaped nacelle is a big improvement Eric. Nice job.

 

Peter, click this link to see the restored example: http://www.britmodeller.com/walkarounds/aircraft/dh88/88%2018.jpg

I think MARU previously posted a link to the complete walkaround.

 

Also, have a look at this thread: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234968762-de-havilland-dh88-comet-grosvenor-house/

AlphaDelta210 took pics of Grosvenor House at Old Warden this summer. Scrolling down reveals a superb underside view that illustrates the shape of the nacelle to perfection.

 

HTH

 

Cheers.

Edited November 9, 2014 by geedubelyer

[ericg]

That underside pic is really nice and I wish I had that when I did the nacelle correction! Anyway, I was happy with how my ones turned out as they match what can be seen on that shot.

 

Anything else you guys see on the Aerotech kit that should be corrected?

 

Eric.

[Hubert Boillot]

Good spotting on the underside nacelles, Eric, and great correction !

 

I have not forgoetten your question, but have to do some photo-editing to clarify what I mean ... so please bear wit me a bit more.

 

Two points regarding the decoration and the cockpit. The cheat-line was not plain-white as on the restored example. It was definitely fading, like the tail of a comet it was supposed to reprsent. There was even some discusssion as to whteher it was white or silver, but white seems more probable.

There was some kind of sunshade installed inside the canopy for the race, at least that is what the pics of the refuelling in Allalabad indicate.

Both statements from studying pics of the David Ogilvy "DH88 - The sory of De Havilland's racing comets" book. Will try to sacn and post the pics later on, under fair use conditions.

 

Hubert.

Edited November 9, 2014 by MostlyRacers

[ericg]

Hi Hubert, thanks very much.

 

I have spotted the sunshade in some of the pics that I have and have considered it but will see how I am going to execute the canopy framing to begin with before going down than path.

 

I saw a post on Britmodeller which turned into a shemozzle regarding that cheatline.... white/silver etc. Mine will be white to match the white markings as supplied in the kit, unless someone waves a portion of the fabric torn off the aircraft in the mid 30's containing a sample of the cheatline proving it to be silver or similiar, or provides more compelling evidence of same. I will however represent the fading out of the cheatline just forward of the Registration markings as per the original.

 

Keep it coming guys, I appreciate the input and extra eyes on the corrections that I am making.

 

Eric.

[Guest Peterpools]

Thanks Eric

Fantastic site and it's bookmarked for sure. I found the image and it shown the contour.

I was able to download the photo and if it alright, I added to my reply.

 

[Wolf Buddee]

What a beautiful build Eric! If you look up the word "elegant" in the dictionary it will be accompanied by a picture of this aircraft. Simply gorgeous!

 

Cheers,

Wolf

[scvrobeson]

Great correction work Eric. The Comet is such a beautiful airplane, your extra work is really going to make it look special.

 

 

Is this going to be another plane you Dremel polish, or do you have other plans for the high gloss finish?

 

 

 

Matt 

[ericg]

Hi Matt,

 

No sure how I am going to accomplish it yet. It will more than likely involve the Dremel though.

 

Eric

[Simon P]

 The cheat-line was not plain-white as on the restored example. It was definitely fading, like the tail of a comet it was supposed to reprsent.

 

Never noticed that before but now I look at period photos you're right!  Now whenever I see the original up at Old Warden it's going to bug me....

[ericg]

Not much of an update as I have been busy flying this little RC beast around, plus some work on a top secret project and of course the Meteor:

 

 

I almost shelved this Comet as the built up instrument panel has temporarily located itself in a concealed location of which I am not sure. I worked out that should it re-appear, then I will be able to fit it to the assembled kit so I pushed on with that expectation.

 

The kit cowls are a bit of a mess. The opening for the carby intake needs alot of work plus the cooling intake needed sorting as well. Glued together there is substantial gaps that need filling.

 

 

I sanded all of the detail off the cowl, and re-shaped the cooling intake.

 

 

A small tear drop shaped piece of Tamiya PLA paper, and some brass tube and it is looking alot more like the period photos.

 

 

From another angle. You can see that I have scribed a line from the leading edge of the wing to the nose cone as per references. This shot also shows to good effect the 3D look of the wing to fuselage fairing.
 

 

Its all together now and still has a long way to go to get it looking just right before the paint goes on. I have filled all of the engraved panel lines in preperation for the application of the fabric effects to the control surfaces and wing. Some other minor filling has occured to sort out some fit issues, but otherwise it isnt too bad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hubert Boillot]

Nice work, Eric!

 

Maybe it is due to the angle of the pic, but you should check the training edge of the port and starboard Karman fairings. It looks 'shorter' on the starboard side and non-symetrical, and IIRC, it was a criticism raised against the kit when it was issued: worth a second look to be sure.

 

Hubert