Alex Posted September 14, 2023 Share Posted September 14, 2023 So it's been along while since I joined a group build, and I'm going to jump into this one in violation of my "one kit at a time" rule. I picked up this kit last winter at my "LHS away from home", Wheels and Wings in Toronto, which is conveniently just down the block from where my daughter lives. The Bristol M1 is one of the few monoplanes to see service in the Great War, another being the similar-looking Moraine-Saulnier Type N (which Special Hobby has also done a 1:32 kit of). Its combat deployment was limited to a few dozen aircraft used in the Middle East and Balkans. In the Balkans, 150 Squadron of the RAF (formerly 47 Squadron, RFC) re-equipped with the M.1c in August 1918. A number of notable aviators flew the type in that squadron, but my model will be the only plane that, as far as I can tell, a flying ace actually scored his fifth victory in. Captain Fredrick Dudley Travers scored his first four victories flying Royal Aircraft Factory planes (both B.E.12 and S.E.5), but in August 1918 switched to the M.1c, and then on Sept 2, 1918 shot down a German reconnaissance plane, beginning a run of victories that would see him complete his career total of 9 by September 16, all in the same aircraft, s/n C4976. Notably, this will be my first WW1 model ever! Gazzas, LSP_Kevin, MikeC and 13 others 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted September 14, 2023 Share Posted September 14, 2023 A great addition to the Group, and definitely something different. Very interesting story from a forgotten theatre of that war. Looking forward to this one. Richard Alex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loic Posted September 14, 2023 Share Posted September 14, 2023 Welcome to the GB Alex! Looking forward to see you building this rather unusual aircraft. Alex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradG Posted September 19, 2023 Share Posted September 19, 2023 Nice choice and good story too. Alex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayovan Posted September 20, 2023 Share Posted September 20, 2023 " in violation of my "one kit at a time" rule. " Rules are meant to be broken... Alex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted September 20, 2023 Author Share Posted September 20, 2023 At least started cutting some plastic on this one. This is a typical early-2000s Special Hobby short-run kit. Details are quite good (note the stitching depicted where the linen sections are sewn onto the aluminum surfaces around the forward part of the fuselage), but there are no engineered aids to assembly - no locating pins, tabs etc. You are left to figure out alignment for yourself. The large parts of the kit also have a fairly rough texture as delivered, so need a light sanding everywhere. Looking at the size of that cockpit opening sets one to thinking about just how much effort ought to go into detailing out the cockpit... LSP_Kevin, Panzerwomble, Loic and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted September 23, 2023 Author Share Posted September 23, 2023 Lots of fiddly cockpit bits cleaned up and primed. There's some delicate hand painting to be attempted here (so it can then be invisible once the fuselage is closed up ;-). I taped up the main framing structure and cemented all of the cross members on one side to hopefully make final assembly easier later on. It looks like the wings will be fairly easy to attach near the end of the build, so that will make painting easier. You can see where I clumsily sheared off one mounting tab while cleaning up the wing-to-fuselage fit, and had to replace it with brass. Next I'm going to drill some holes for brass rod to attach those ailerons with. dutik, Panzerwomble, D.B. Andrus and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loic Posted September 23, 2023 Share Posted September 23, 2023 Nice progress Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted September 26, 2023 Author Share Posted September 26, 2023 0.5mm brass to fix the ailerons firmly. I'm finding that I need to drill out the holes in the PE control levers with my smallest drill bit to get the Modelkasten rigging line to pass through. All of those little rigging bits - anchors, turnbuckles, etc - will also need to be opened up to allow the 0.2mm line to easily pass through. Gazzas, Paulpk, Loic and 10 others 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted October 7, 2023 Author Share Posted October 7, 2023 The inside of the fuselage has raised detail to represent the framing members around which the linen skin was wrapped. So to paint those I first sprayed the insides with a linen color... And decided to measure the spacing between those ridges and fire up the Silhouette to make little rectangular masks to fit, rather than messing around with doing it "freehand" with tape. I ran into a bit of trouble because I measured on side and made the incorrect assumption that the spacing on the other side would be the same. But some minor fiddling got it sorted. Next up I'll spray some wood tan on this and the cockpit parts. Fanes, Gazzas, Landrotten Highlander and 10 others 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loic Posted October 8, 2023 Share Posted October 8, 2023 Very clever solution, looking forward to the final results. Alex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted November 13, 2023 Author Share Posted November 13, 2023 Nope, I haven't given up on this one - just was focused on wrapping up my last fast jet build. I should never start two kits at once because I can't seem to shift focus - I stay locked on one til it's done. That said, the singular focus is NOW getting this GB project done while I ponder what comes next. I've finished assembling and painting the interior structure. Photos follow. Note that I have not gone to great lengths to clean up parts of this owing to how little of it will be visible once the fuselage is closed up. Here's how it sits into the fuselage... And what you'll see once the build is done... According to the instructions, next up is building the engine. But I think I'm going to take a break from tiny pieces and attack the exterior. All the movable flying surfaces and empennage need additional pins to hold them securely, plus I'm going to need to fabricate anchors for all of the rigging, as the PE ones provided with the kit are just too small to fit the 0.2 mm rigging line I want to use. Paulpk, Alain Gadbois, dutik and 13 others 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loic Posted November 13, 2023 Share Posted November 13, 2023 Great work Alex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted November 13, 2023 Share Posted November 13, 2023 Beautiful clean work! Love the wicker seat in particular, it's very convincing. Richard Alex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted November 13, 2023 Author Share Posted November 13, 2023 1 hour ago, R Palimaka said: Beautiful clean work! Love the wicker seat in particular, it's very convincing. Richard Thanks! The quality of the seat is 100% down to the good folks at Special Hobby, who included that lovely piece of resin with the kit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now