HPA

I've been thinking about doing a Sopwith Dove for some time and have started drawing up a plan for one over the last few weeks... well I say a drawing a plan it's more like rescaling some 3 views and scribbling on those.

 The Interwar years I find fascinating with some unusual approaches and ideas often trying to convert wartime designs into civil aircraft to turn a postwar penny, most I think it's fair to say failed not least the Dove but the times produced some interesting designs along the way

 As you may already know the Dove was an attempt by Sopwith to build a civilian 2 seat aircraft and was a design it had underway even before the end of the first world war. It's based on the Pup though many of the construction parts had more of a reference to the contemporary Snipe than the Pup. The aircraft retained many of the Pup's fine handling qualities and looked a good choice for a model

I came down to a choice of 3 for which one to build.

The best documented is G-EAGA which is a replica built by Skysport, it looks very attractive in the pale blue scheme as well

I am very tempted to do G-EBKY which the Dove that Richard Shuttleworth converted back to a Pup and no resides in the Shuttleworth Collection as a Pup. It's history is fascinating as it was put together by a young budding designer who later went onto work for Hawkers.The story goes (according to Harald Penrose) that the hawkers were having a clearout in the early 1920's in the corner were a load of unfinished Dove's converted from Pups that were unsold after company ordering them went bust and they were to be collected by the scrapman. The young designer keen to try out his skills asked if buy one to build into an aircraft, the rather bemused foreman agreed anything he could load on a lorry was his for a fiver. He took the best fuselage and wings but a tail couldn't be found so a snipe one was added to the lorry along with an engine. Things didn't go that well covering the wings and they had to be returned and covered in the factory and another engine had to be bought from the factory as the first was unserviceable but that in essence is the Shuttleworth Pup a true parts bin special. There's a few period photos with the snipe tail but colour would be a guess..

The final subject would be the single seat version that was built for Bert Hinckler to fly to Australia in to claim the world record. The front seat was removed and large fuel tank added, the aircraft finished mostly in natural doped linen. In the end the Government refused permission to fly solo across the world so close to end of the war the project flopped.The aircraft was reportedly return the factory and converted back to a two seater. The single seat makes for an attractive aircraft and the finish fairly simple

In the end the deciding factor acme in the form of a carrier bag full of documentation handed to me by Mike Smith on loan for the build so G-EAGA it is then. Mike reports his own larger IC model was a lovely flyer so hopefully that bodes well for this one

So far I have some good scale drawings from the Air Britain book on the Sopwith Dove along with Mike Smith's excellent plan for this 50" IC powered version.

Scaling up the 3 view and scaling down Mike's plan gives a good starting point with former positions and cross sections all transferable from the plan ( I am a fan of cheating were ever possible). Added to that I found a great side on shot of G-EAGA so I could make up a composite and the original factory drawing (in red) and use that as a basis for my own design which will essentially be a slimmed down version Mike's

Ok I have come up with a plan, both a mental and physical one for the Dove. I've reduced Mike Smith's FF IC plan to 24.75" so 1/12th scale and will use that for all the formers wing ribs and outlines. I reduce a lot of the extra strengthening for the large IC version and use balsa throughout with a moulded cowling. I'll remove some of the formers particularly on the rear turtle deck and may not use scale rib spacing ...not sure or maybe scale ribs but all in light 1/32".Not sure wether to do it with detachable wings or not either. It would make storage and transport so much easier but I don't want the extra weight. I'll think on that, it perhaps need more of an Richard Crossley approach to wing joiners I'll have a look how he does it   

/me pulls up the comfy chair and opens a packet of posh biscuits...

Quote from: SquirrelnetI am very tempted to do G-EBKY

Quote/me pulls up the comfy chair and opens a packet of posh biscuits...

Likewise. But I think the Chilterns/Mayfair/Cotswolds types would feel happier if you went for G- AGA.

Stephen.

Thanks ...G-EAGA it is

Well I made a start at least with a 3/32 sq side frame

What a beautiful little airplane.  I had never heard of her before.  Will be watching this with great interest.  I always wanted to try CO2, but found it a little too expensive for me.

A bit of progress with the Dove this afternoon

Another fuselage side has been made up from 3/32" sq using the first side as a guide for the upright placing to avoid any which side of the line did I use errors ??? I don't build one side on top of another as I've had some issues with it all not being flat enough with the risk of miss aligned joints when I've tried it but that's no doubt entirely my own error as many seem to make it work for them

To build the basic fuselage frame I have got into the habit of using steel rules to create a straight edge to build against. The side panels have the top edge pinned in this way to keep it straight while the bottom curved edge is soaked in boiling water to set the curve

The front former is from 1/32 sheet so that forms a square to start with the next 3 bays done first as that's the straight bit. Once thats dried I added the rear sections using my Christmas Cracker plastic mini set squares to keep things square. I love these little plastic toy squares I use them all the time.

The basic fuselage came together quite quickly. The final bay to the rudder post needs a fair bit of bending some once it's all thoroughly dried out I'll apply some local boiling water from the kettle before pulling it together and joined the two sides

A bit more on the Dove...


The cabane will ultimately be attached to formers inside the fuselage TBC but I wanted to get the top deck and cockpit cutout done first. The original has a sharp angle at the front which presumably they did on one sheet of plywood, I can't see a join on my (well Mike's actually) photos so I came up with a plan to try to mould some 1/32 into that shape.

I found a bit of plastic waste pipe which I cut to form the angle needed then wrapped some light 1/32 sheet that I'd soaked in boiling water


Well it might work ... we'll find out tomorrow when its dried

The rest of the fuselage rear deck is more straight forward with stringers to the tail. I've used some 1/16" square and used half the number of formers on Mike's larger IC plan. All the top formers are from light 1/16" sheet

Blimey the plastic pipe top deck mould actually worked. :o  I was sure it would probably end up with a crease in it but it came out the right shape.


This was then trimmed to shape and glued on with lots of masking tape to keep it in the right place

The downside is in the excitement I mounted it to fuselage slightly further forward than I intended only realising my error when the glue had dried. Static judges look away now !!! the slope forward of the cockpit isn't quite right but hey..

The cockpit coaming is done by adding a 3/32 sheet section to the outer dimensions of the cockpit plus the coaming with the outer edge fished to a round section. This is currently drying having been soaked in boiling water and taped round a suitable 2" can with some grease proof paper inbetween, When it dried I'll gukle that to the  top deck and the cut out the aperture with a sharp scalpel the inner edge can then be finished

With the top decking dry I could add the 1/32" sheet for the top cowling and you can perhaps see how the slope from the front of the decking stops short of the front cockpit rather than continuing to the cockpit edge. Annoying but not annoying enough to do anything about it , it is a 'flying only' model...well it is now  ;D

The fuselage side will be in filled with some 3/32 sheet but before that I need to figure out the GM300 engine mounting, tank position and cabane and UC fitting


While I ponder on that I made up some jigs form cardboard to laminate some fin and tailplane outlines in 3 x 1/32 balsa using my usual method of soaking in boiling water and gluing with Aliphatic resin

This is going to be yet another lovely model from this classic era. Really enjoying seeing it come together in your usual well thought out workmanlike way.

 

Very nicely done, watching with interest.

Thanks guys


A bit more progress. The cockpit coaming sections have dried out taped round a 2" can so they were then glued to the top decking. Once stuck down the inner dimension of the cockpit was cut out with a new scalpel blade and shaped to to rounded section of the complete coaming

Ultimately the front section of the fuselage will be a 3/32" box section back the rear cane strut but as the tank will be built in I need to sort the engine mounting before that with it's 8 deg down !!! and 3 deg side thrust

I've added the side formers to the nose to give the circular shape and i think I'll face the front in 1/64 ply to glue the engine mount onto.

I've also made up a tail and fin using the laminated outlines a did last week. I've gone for a very simple structure following scale lines out of 3/32" sq, so flat plate tail . The control surfaces are built in as well so no moving surfaces for trimming

Couldn't resist a quick lash up of the bits so far  ;D

Very nice

Fitted the engine today so I can build the rest of the fuselage around it.

The front former has been faced with some 1/32 ply, not too worried about weight upfront on such a short nosed design.  The engine sits on 1/16 ply mounting box which I drew up from Mike's 50" IC plan settings of 8 deg down and 3 deg right.

Like the other Co2 Sopwiths I've done I've left the top of the mounting box open so I have easy access to the mounting nuts so I can get the motor out for servicing etc and fine tuning thrust adjustments can be made with shims between the engine backplate and the mount   

To make sure the engine still exits the cowling, which I have not yet made, in the right central location I made up a guide from a circle of card with a central hole so I could make sure lining it by eye. Obviously any future thrust line changes during trimming will effect this but good to try to start off in the right place at least.

Once happy with position I marked it up and the ply engine mount was epoxied to the bulkhead

The tank is built into the model and is located as far forward as I can on the rear of the bulkhead. I did consider fitting even further forward inside the cowling but it looks tight so decided against it.

The tank is held in with a 3/32 former and will boxed in on the left side with another 3/32" panel. The filler is underneath which should be ok with the undercarriage on. Ultimately the tank will sit a tad lower and there'll be a v shape cut into the front former as per the original which will allow some warming air over the bottom of the CO2 tank and supply pipework

Needless to say with the engine fitted CG is WELL forward but once everything else is built I'm pretty confident it won't be

Squirrelnet

I haven't seen mentioned which CO2 motor that is.  I have a GM-160 that I got a while ago but am not sure which size model it can handle.

Stuart

Hi Stuart

This is from George's CO2 Motor List he complied for a CO motors FB group

GM160 - Wingspan 650-800 / 26"-31"  suggested model weight  60-100g


The GM300 is quite large for the 24" span Dove but the motors do work well throttled back if you can afford the extra weight up front . With these rotary engine types the answer is usually yes. Staying comfortably under the max weight is the way to go with CO2 motors IMHO

Thanks S

The GM160 should do me well then for a medium size model.  Maybe I could get it in my Guillows Thomas Morse Scout.  Only 24" but being a bipe it might work or it could be too heavy.

That GM300 sure looks big.  I'm guessing about twice the size of mine. 

Stuart

A bit of revision this afternoon.

George very kindly pointed out that that is a lot of downthrust on my previous shots so I thought I'd measure it ...er.. 10 degs  :o . It does line up with the drawing which says 8 degs but it's clearly too much so I gently removed the engine mount and re adjusted it to less downthrust. I've actually gone with about 7 degs which has worked well on 3 previous short nosed models with CO2 power and there is scope to easily add more with packing if needed. I spent the rest of the time pondering how to do the undercarriage. I was thinking of just using bass wood but feeling the weight with the gm300 it may need some wire in it to withstand flying outside

I decided to go with a wire frame for the undercarriage which was formed from some 18swg.

The front leg will attached to the main engine firewall but the rear is attached to a strip of hard balsa that has been covered on 3 sides with some Proskin. This is preformed glassfibre and epoxy sheet . It takes superglue very well and can be lamianted with balsa to form something as strong as Ply but for a fraction of the weight

The rear leg mount has not been glued in yet while I consider the rest of the super structure. The cabanes are next ...

I just love the way you did the coaming around the cockpit openings.  Must have been very fiddly.

Thanks Glen

 It really isn't that fiddly to do, once the top section is stuck on it's fairly strong and easy to sand the inside to shape


 Cabane struts today.

I've used wire for the undercarriage as this will be an outdoor model so difficult landings in difficult conditions is par for the course but for the cabane taken a different approach. The plan is the lower wing will be structural part of the biplane wing set up with possibly a 1mm carbon spar joining the two wings to the fuselage. It's a technique borrowed from Bill Dennis and means the cabane structure can be much lighter in construction. Wire would no be overkill for the cabane so after talking to Mike Stuart at the last Trinity I've gone for nylon strimmer cord to join the cabane struts to the fuselage. This will provide a flexible mounting so the model will be one piece and use working thread rigging to hold everything square

First step was to make up a test strut to see how it works. The struts have a 1mm ply core with balsa either side, a 3/8" long slot is cut in the end and some 1.3mm strimmer cord cyano'd in. The nylon takes cyano well and provides a strong joint. To join the cabane to the fuselage another slotted ply plate will be attached to the inside of the fuselage

With the test piece looking like it will work I made up a set of 4 cabanes using the same technique


On the Dove the front ones are wooden to an airfoil section while the rear ones are round metal ones so the were cut and sanded to shape


I've made a cardboard template for the centre section so I can attache the struts to fuselage and get them in the right position. Further accurate fitting of the final centre section can be done when the nylon cord is attached to the wingspars

The front cabane strut mount is just a small triangle of 1mm ply with a 1/16 balsa spacer so I can glue to the bulkhead. As this mount will take any bad landing impact the top surface was given a covering of Proskin cyano'd on.

With very thing jigged up so it's at least in the right ballpark when it comes to fitting the actual top wing the mountings were cyano'd into the fuselage

The rear struts are fitted in the same way with ply gussets slotted for the strimmer cord

These were easier to fit as the mounting could be attached on the workbench and the strut fed through the hole in the top decking. A 1" strip of 3/32 joins the cabane to the UC mount with the strut mounting cyano'd to the rear of this

Now the cabane and undercarriage mountings have been done the side cheeks can be added with some light 3/32" stringers and 1/32" sheet . Taped and clamped while the glue dries

The flex mounting of the cabane struts is interesting Chris. Does this system rely on the rigging to keep the top wing accurately in position?

John

Hi John

 Yes indeed the rigging will dictate the exact position of the centre section, though I must say the system has a far bit of rigidity to it already more than I expected . This also means the model will be one piece

More undercarriage today with the spreader bar and wheels

I'm trying to keep the weight down so was reluctant to add a heavy wire spreader bar along with a wire axle which I'll need for springing. The plan is to use a wire axle attached only at the centre so the flex provides some springing in the same way as the original with it's centre split axle and bungee cord suspension.

The idea is to use some 3mm carbon tube which is located by thinner wire fittings solder to the UC legs. the fittings extend 3/8" into the spreader so no need to glue them in and like the wings the thread rigging will hold it together

Wheels are the same construction I've used before. A balsa core of two laminations of in this case 3/32" with Proskin Cyano'd on to make a composite structure. The tyres will be 6mm neoprene cord but I haven't got any in that size so just ordered some from ebay . The hubs will be birch dowel but that's a job for tomorrow


 Note as well I've cut a V section in the firewall in a similar manner to the original but in this case to provide some warming air to the bottom of the CO2 tank

Thanks Chris. I'm thinking of using a similar approach for sections of undercarriage not taking any loads.

John

Moved onto the tail skid this afternoon which is from some spruce hardwood. It locates at the front in a 3/32 sheet former while the centre attachment is from 1mm carbon rod with some balsa dowel centre drilled to give some extra diameter. The carbon rod extends up into the tail post . I noticed as well that the tail fin post is separate from the fuselage so I've modified the rear of the fusleage accordingly

The wheels have had their hubs made up too from some 3/16" birch dowel . the wheel s were drilled to take the dowel which extends into the space behind the wheel cone and small gussets added for strength

 

Spent some time this afternoon sorting out the wings. I've decided to go for 2 spars of 1/8" sq with the front one in spruce. The LE is 1/4 balsa dowel and TE is flat 1/16 x 1/2" . After about hour or so therapeutic cutting out round a ply template I have a rib set of 40 ribs which is enough for the wings, I'll sort the centre section later. The ribs are mostly 1/32 with the root ribs 1/16 for the top and 1/8 for the lower wings


The tips are drying after forming 3 x 1/32 laminations around some card formers. I had almost run out of 1/32 Basswood sheet but I note Hobbycraft have 1/32 x 24" x4" sheets back in stock so got a couple of those which should last a while 

Hey - that's a bit much - using the lathe to centre drill the wheels  :)

Very nice build, Chris.

John

QuoteHey - that's a bit much - using the lathe to centre drill the wheels

...well I have justify it's existence  8) and means if nothing else the hole's in the middle..at least until the first heavy landing

Wings today - I have the bottom wings basic assembly done with the 3x 3/32 basswood laminated tips fitted

Top wings this afternoon. Quite quick to do as I'd already cut out the ribs set. I did the centre section too .The top wing will be one piece so I'll join it altogether tomorrow with 1/32" ply dihedral braces.

Dihedral is 3 deg which rather luckily at this scale works out at 1/2" at the tips so that should make it easy tomorrow


...couldn't resist a quick lash up as well

The top wing is one piece so will dihedral braces from 1/32" ply as the wings also sweep back I've added a small wedge shape to the spars so the the plate can fitted to flat to the spars. Dihedral was set to 3 degs but looking at it didn't really look enough particularly when looking at flying shots of Mike Smith's FF IC powered version so I increased it from 1/2" at the tips to 3/4". Not very scientific but it looks better for a FF model

For the centre section I'll get the fit and mounting right but  may cover and paint the fuselage before I actually glue it on , similarly with the lower wing


I look at the interplane struts next which given it's a one piece model will be simple sockets to glue the struts into .

Really nice Chris, well worth the effort

What a neat looking little biplane Chris.

John

Your building skills are so far ahead of mine, you make mine look like they are banged together with rocks!  Beautiful work.

Thanks very much guys.

Not a huge amount of progress today but I have worked out how to do the interplane struts. I think like the cabane struts they'll have a core of a strip of 1/32 ply with encased in balsa and sanded to shape . The ply strip contacts both spars so gluing them in should be fairly strong .

I need to look at the lower wing fixing next as I'll cut holes in the 3/32" strip that forms the bottom of the fuselage to locate the spars in it.

Fitted the wings today. The lower ones locate via the spars in the 3/32" balsa strip in the fuselage to give +2.5 deg incidence then the top of the cabane struts were fine trimmed to give the same on the top wing.

 The strut's are just strips of 1/16" ply to find the length I need then I'll make up the final struts. I think the ailerons will just be drawn on so the wings and most of the fuselage just need sanding before covering.

The cowling I was thinking of moulding but looking at it I think I'll just do a balsa and ply one using some 1/64" ply for the cylindrical part with a balsa front for the curved section.

The plan is once the struts and cowling are done to finish and paint the wings and fuselage where I can before final assembly. The underside of the fuselage and the top of the centre section will be left open until I've fitted it all together...well that's the plan

Lovely structure Chris!

Watching with interest...

George

Thanks for the excellent pics to scrutinize,  Chris!    8)

Lastwoodsman
Richard

It's looking very neat Chris. I didn't realise that that the wings had so much sweep.

John

Thanks guys.

John - It is a fair bit. I think the sweep was because it was adapted from the Pup .It allowed for a rearward cockpit so an additional forward one could be added and maintain the CG point

Added some hard points to tail and dummy riblets from 3/32" sq. The fin should have a gap under it where it fits to the tail but I'm not wether to do that or not, it feels like it could be quite vulnerable or add to much weight make it strong enough ...not sure about that yet. They are sanded to shape now as well so pretty much ready to cover

Made up some balsa rings of the cowling as well . The front is 2 layers of 1/4" whic I can carve to the rounded shape while the cylindrical section behind it will be rolled 1/64" ply

Maybe use a clear plastic spacer glued between fin and fuselage for security whilst creating the illusion of separation?

Thanks Ragged Flyer good thought, I'll have a think about that

Made a start on the cowling with the sections joined together and the rear section in rolled 1/64 ply added

The rear former that joins to the model has a temporary spreader bar just to make it stronger while wrapping the 1/64 ply

Carved the cowling to shape this afternoon.

Not looking too bad. I've made so many errors with this cowling. It nearly went in the bin when as you can see from the previous pics, I missed off the bottom edge of the cowling altogether to begin with. I had in my head a Nieuport style cowling even after putting it on to top of the drawing. It's only when I started rough carving it I realised the error but after thinking about it I decided to keep going and try to rectify it.

In the process the inside has grown a bit large to make circular so for the internal edge I've laminated up some basswood to form a ring around an old can which I'll attach to the inside, hopefully this will also give a hard edge.

Well that seems to have worked well actually giving a better edge to the inside of the cowling. I had to extend the basswood ring slightly with os end grain 1/32 balsa wrapped round it but now the glue has dried and I've sanded it I think I can safely say I got away with that one  ;D

A coat of primer has help show up any imperfections, of which there are many but a bit more sanding and few more coats should get looking right.

I need to sort out fixing the cowling to the model probably with small dowels so its removable to make it easier to get to the motor but I have started covering with Asuka tissue

More sanding down on the cowling, more painting and also some 1/8" dowel pegs have been added to hold the cowling on.

I want the same finish on the fuselage cowling panels as the painted cowling so I have primed those bits in arcylic car primer as well. I'll rub down again and give it another coat to fill the grain. The plan is the cowling and metal parts will be sprayed silver and then given a engine turned effect using a method Dave P mentioned of covering it with a decal of engine turning on clear decal film . I've found a suitable source I can make up a sheet the right size in Photoshop.

The fuselage, fin and tail are now covered and doped, though the section under the fuselage where the wing fits will be left open until the lower wings have been fitted.

Next problem is finding a suitable pilot ....

... The great Dave Banks pilots seem to be in short supply now, VMC are out of stock, I wonder if Dave is even making them anymore ? I do have a few recruits in various sizes but unfortunately they are all currently employed. 

There is one though that has a very easy life, largely hanging around in the workshop roof in my CO2 Bleriot XI. The only snag with co-opting him into the Dove is the broad shouldered chap doesn't fit down through the cockpit opening has would have to be inserted from below (insert your own joke) and he'll need some surgery which will mean he's too short for the Bleriot. He looks the part and no doubt will up to the job thanks to wonders of foam safe Cyano but it's a shame to rob the Bleriot of it's only pilot unless anyone out there has a spare 1/12th Dave Banks sitting a draw needing to hone his skills ??

NB ... I have dusted off the Bleriot after taking that shot and really must flying it again this year and rid it of it's hanger queen reputation

 

1 step forward 2 steps back today

The Tailplane covering was a right mare with surfaces that actually made a crinkly sound when you touched them they were so slack. I did everything as normal but it just didn't work this time. I sanded the tissue off and recovered it using the same method. This time it worked perfectly.

I think I must have water shrunk the tissue before the tissue paste had properly dried so the edges pulled as the tissue shrank.

I'd like to cover the wings but realised I need to add a couple of things before I do. On the lower wing the landing wire passes through the wing and attaches to the UC leg. I've added some paper tubes attached with some 1/32 so I can run the rigging through it. I'm going to add attachments for the wing hoops so I can add them later if it flys. I'll just have stubs from cocktail sticks that poke through the covering and if all goes well I can make up a bamboo or basswood hoop that can be attached with a short piece of heatshrink tubing

QuoteI think I must have water shrunk the tissue before the tissue paste had properly dried so the edges pulled as the tissue shrank.

I think you may be correct - I have had the same experience.

it looks tight and wrinkle free now Chris.

John

Thanks John, Now doped and looking good

Made a start on the wings this afternoon. They needed very minimal sanding having ribs cut from a template, balsa dowel leading edge and sheet trailing edge. Most of the work was round the tips to thin the 1/32 x 1/16" basswood laminated tips and blend them into the LE

I'm keen to fit the bamboo wing hoops (is that what they are called) if it does indeed fly as they are so much a character of the aircraft.

To fit them I have added some cocktail stick mounts at 12 deg to the wing ready to accept them using some heat shrink tubing to give a flexible mount...if it gets that far

Still got to cover the top but down the tips in separate small section 

A bit more covering this afternoon.

Lower wings now drying having been water shrunk . Just the top of the top wings to cover now

Slowly doing the covering. Top wing water shrinking. The centre section will be left open so I can fit it once the fuselage is pinted

First a screw up or oversight if you're being kind. Having rushed on with the covering it was only when looking at the photo's for which bits to paint that I realised I have missed out the open section in centre section  ::). Luckily I had only covered the underside so a bit of correction was possible .This proved quite easy adding the curved rear sections front and rear and gluing them to the spars and the covering. Once dry I could cut out, the cut out part

So I'm now at the point I can paint it before the final assembly and finishing. Before that I did one last trial assembly to check I haven't forgotten anything else. At the moment the CG is slightly ahead of where it should be but I think even the lighest coat of paint will sort that out

 First up - this is the new recruit to fly this model courtesy of Pete Fardell who kindly released him from his duties and dispatched him down to me. Thanks Pete

He does look a bit daunted by the prospect now he's painted but then most of my pilots from the Dave Banks School of Flying look terrified   

It was out with the cardboard box spray booth today to spray the doped linen surfaces with some Xtracolor enamel. I've tried using Xtracolor thinners this time and it seems to work well but there are couple of spots where didn't like the doped finish and left a large pinhole so I think for the blue I'll use cellulose to thin . I've gone for a very light coat just enough to colour it and still have some translucency, I know the fullsize is very much opaque but I think it looks good on small models . The top blue will be a more solid coat though

I've also painted the cowling. This was just brush painted as the plan is cover the painted surface with a decal to represent the engine turned finish on clear film so the silver shows through.

I did a small test section which looks OK I think so I now need to repeat that pattern to form a sheet I can cut the decal panels from

QuoteHe does look a bit daunted by the prospect now he's painted but then most of my pilots from the Dave Banks School of Flying look terrified   

Actually he looks like the worried farmer from "Shaun the Sheep"  :)

Very close to the flying/trimming stages now Chris. Interesting way of showing engine turning.

John

Well I got the most important part of the blue done but then when thinning the next batch of paint I accidentally added way too much thinners so I gave up . I'll have to get some more paint but they don't open until thursday ..oh well should have bought more than 1 tiny tin

There's other things I can do on the fuselage before I fit the top wing anyway so I'll get on with that. I have a Dashboard which I'll just do as a print out. It's one I got for a past Pup resized to fit...not quite right but close enough

Its just looking so beautiful.  Absolutely lovely.

Sun April 19 2026

Hi Chris.    Your paint job on your very real looking Banks pilot,  for your Sopwith Dove,  is quite well done.    8)    Banks pilots are my favorite scale pilots also.

Lastwoodsman
Richard

Thanks Richard

Not a huge amount of progress but I got the white panels painted and some of the fiddly bits brush painted

Wow Chris!  Those colors look great great!   8)

Lastwoodsman
Ricahrd

Cheers Richard. G-EAGA is a very pretty aeroplane

Some decals today - I had run out of decal paper sprayed black for the registration letters to be cut from so sprayed up some more. The first didn't really work. I used some Revell matt black with Humbrol enamel thinners and it really pin holed and refused even after some drying time to fill them. In desperation I chucked that paint and mixed up some with cellulose thinners which happily covered over everything. Not sure what happen there the decal paper was some of the last of my Sunnyscopa straight from the packet so should be contamination???

Next stage was the engine turned cowling which I have produced an a4 shhet of the pattern which i printed onto clear decal paper. This was then applied to the sliver painted cowling. I did give the matt silver a light coat of gloss acrylic varnish as decal paper doesn't really like matt surfaces

Once the black decal sheet had dried I cut the reg letters out and applied those.

The cockpits now have the dashboards which are just printouts onto photo paper given a coat of acrylic spray both sides to waterproof them

Getting the decal to conform to the front edge of the cowling is the main challenge now. I have gone for small strips attempting to continue the lines from the side part.

I'm not sure about it but I'll let it dry and see how it looks. It could be the whole thing is given a very light coat of silver over the top to soften the effect ... as I say not sure at the moment

The cowl decals look good on the photos. As you said; I hope that they stay stuck down. The dashboards look really convincing as well.

I am enjoying this great build.

Hi Chris, I admire your workmanship, this is brilliant. I wondered how you would make the decal fit around the cowl but you have successfully done so, I agree a light coat of  silver should tie it all together. Well Done!

  I meant to ask, what glue do you use in your Balsa constructions. TIA

Thanks Dave and Piecost

It was your comment Dave in another thread that set me going on the decal method so thanks for that. I was a bit unsure about the front edge but now the decals have dried and flattened properly onto the surface I think you are right it will work with a light spray. I will make up a little test piece to see how the silver over top will work before committing

I use Aliphatic resin to build the one from Deluxe, mainly because it's strong and sands easily. There's some cyano where that works better such as fixing Proskin (GF sheet) to balsa and the strimming cord to the wood and some epoxy over thread binding to fix the UC to the fuselage. Aliphatic resin is my default though

  Thanks for that Chris, I tried the Aliphatic from Icky Sticky but that seemed to "dry" with a rubbery feel to it so I stopped using it. Will give Deluxe a go.

  As I started this Post with "Thanks for that Chris" the predictive text helped me out with "tmas Card" ;D  ;D

Thanks for the 'almost Christmas Card' too  ;D  ;D  ;D

I have used the Superphatic from Deluxe which does dry to a rubbery 'not very sandable' finish, the original Aliphatic resin they do does sand well though

I did a test piece today to see how I could make the engine turning a bit less wrapping paper like using a wash of silver enamel over the top using a brush to give some lines and variation as there seems to be with the original.

I think that will work well so I have finished off covering the cowling with small strips , using Micro Sol to soften and suck the transfer onto the cowl for that painted on look.

Yesterday I got some more paint from Hannants so I also sprayed the rest of the blue to the lower wings and tail. The top wing Il paint once its assembled and the centre section covering fitted

Couldn't resist at least cutting out the G for the rudder . It is a very pretty aeroplane :-)

I applied a patchy silver wash over the top of the cowling today which I think makes that much more effective

Looks great.

Thanks Dave

 I used another technique today that came from you via a post in the old HPA2.

You put me onto a translucent masking film made by Avery Dennison I can't remember it's exact name but looking online I think it must be signmask. It was a while ago and although I did some test peices which looked ok I had not used it anger on a model.

The lower wing Reg letters are very large so I though this is an ideal opportunity. The "signmask' (well let's call it this for now) is low tack but to make handling and placement easier for the letter G, after I cut out the mask I cut it into sections which did make life easier when placing on the model. I think a carrier film can be used for more complicated masks but I don't have any of that anyway.

First coat of enamel thinned in cellulose was very light , just a dry mist really to seal the mask to the surface followed by a heavier coats.

I'm very pleased with the results, very crisp lines with no bleed under the mask at all just a few wips where the film had not quite followed the surface.No doubt my own fault for making absolutely sure it properly stuck to the surface.I have used waterslide decals for the side and tail markings but based on that I will spray the top wing markings when it comes to that using the masking film

One HUGE advantage to this build is having all Mike Smith's docs and drawings for the markings which just needed manipulating in PS to the right size  ;D  ;D  ;D Thanks again Mike

There's a few other small details added too, the steps in the side and the block tube inlet in the cowling from some 3/16" ali tube

It's looking really nice Chris.

Impressive finish Chris.

John

Hi Chris,  Yes it is called AVERY Signmask,  I was given a part roll of the film that is used to keep the mask in position when you remove the backing paper and that works very well.  I congatulate you on getting those thin letters all nice and square without the carrier film. This model is a real credit to you, the finish is stunning!

Thanks Dave

Smaller letters are printed decal paper though but very impressed with Signmask

Stuck the tail and fin on today doing a part assembly to make sure it's all square. In the end I decided against leaving a gap between the fin and tail and instead just painted a black line to represent it

 I've a few more details to add , a screen for instance but getting to the point where I can stick the wings on

Nearly ready to stick the wings on. I've made a screen and painted the inside of the centre section cutout. I think I just need to attach the rigging wires to the inside of the fuselage before I can actually glue it together

Pic2 ....Sisters - 1919 Sopwith Dove and 1919 Grahame-White GWE-6 Bantam. They are roughly the same size but the Dove is 1/12 scale, the Bantam 1/10

Finally got a chance to do a bit more to this one and hopefully finish it in the few weeks.

 The Struts are finally finished 1mm x 3/32" core laminated with 1/20" balsa, stained and varnished