The Bristol Adonis

[Spey_Phantom]

insperation came in a flash at work this morning, as ive thought of an 1930's airliner. that was the thought that got things started on my first sparesbuild model for the GB

for the fuselage im gonna use a spare tank from a 1/48 C-130H witch i had lying arround. the wings are spares from a 1/72 gladiator kit. the engine will be a 9-cylinder piston engine from a scrapped RoG Blackburn Skua. the propeller comes from a scrapped 1/48 T-6G Texan.

my goal is to build it into a 1/144 scale airliner witch i named "The Adonis", made by the Bristol Company in 1935 as an early wide body single engine airliner to fly between London and Bagdad in the mid-30's
as for the color scheme, im thinking Air France, BOAC or Sabena 

here's a pic of the gathered parts up to now, now i gotta figure out where to put the darn cockpit 

[jcf]

This is how Bristol did the cockpit in 1925 on the Ten-seater/Brandon/Express Freighter:



In 1935 Bristol was flying the Type 142 'Britain First', the aircraft that sired the Blenheim bomber.

Jon

[Brian da Basher]

Congratulations of having the first declared entry Nils! I think you're onto a really great idea, just one small thing - you're going to need a tail for it.

Brian da Basher

[Spey_Phantom]

well ther's a small update, ive managed to find parts for the tail and the cockpit 

for the cockpit, i thought of an open cockpit like those of the 1920's airliners. although thepic above shows a 2 bladed prop of a 1/48 T-6, the part has now been replaced with a 4-bladed prop of a scrapped 1/72 P-47D 

im gonna post pics a little later, i still have some dremelwork to do for the cockpit 

[Spey_Phantom]

im ready to continue working a little more on the Adonis 
after that its going on hold until i can salvage the main landing gear from somewhere 

meanwhile the wings have been mounted alling with the underwing support bars from styrene card.
also notable on the top is the cutted fueltank from a 1/72 etendard tank, thats where the cockpits gonna go.
it will be an open cockpit in the 1920's airliner style.

here's a pic of how she is comming right now 

[Brian da Basher]

That's some very nice progress, Nils! I really like the headrest fairing you added. It never ceases to amaze me how small modifications like that can totally change the look of a model.

Watching with keen interest,
Brian da Basher

[John Howling Mouse]

I like how you've already begun to capture the feel of that era so well and you're just getting started!   

[The Rat]

Looking GOOOOOOD! Don't forget though, a lot of aircraft of that era had SPATS!

Oh, and as far as using 'Adonis' goes don't worry, I hereby waive all claim to my nickname. (Vanity, thy name is The Rat  )

[Spey_Phantom]

its been more then a week since i managed to get some work done on the Adonis.
but now i will have some time to work on in, as i will be home for atleast a week (due to lack of work, im gonna be unemployed again for at least a week  )

so plenty of time to do some work, what i still need to do is to paste on the tail sections and find a way to make the landing gear, thinking of spats, witch is tipical for that age 

as for decals, still need to find out, im thinking of custom decals with my own civil registration code (G-NILS  )
as for the operator, still have no idea 

i was gonna post new pics on my image hosting, but that server has been down for a week now 

[John Howling Mouse]

i was gonna post new pics on my image hosting, but that server has been down for a week now 

www.photobucket.com  is free and very dependable.

[Spey_Phantom]

ive been having a bit of buildersblock on this one, as i still cant find out what to do for landing gear, but ive been looking at some pictures from old 20's aircraft, and i think im getting a brainstorm anytime soon.

here's a pic of how it looks now, she's been gathering dust for over a month now, and i really wanna get this (and 4 other models) finnished soon 

[kitbasher]

Floats or skis for something north of the Arctic Circle or in and around Antarctica, perhaps? 

[jcf]

Nils,
have you ever seen the retractable gear Bristol Racer from 1921?











Cheers,
Jon

[Brian da Basher]

Now I know where Grumman got the idea for the landing gear on all their stuff from the FF-1 on up! Thanks for the pics, Jon!

Nils, it seems Jon's hit on something there. If you've got a Wildcat gathering dust in your stash you could go that route, or just glue wheels to the underside of the fuse near the cowling for the in-flight version.

Brian da Basher

[jcf]

Now I know where Grumman got the idea for the landing gear on all their stuff from the FF-1 on up! Thanks for the pics, Jon!

Nils, it seems Jon's hit on something there. If you've got a Wildcat gathering dust in your stash you could go that route, or just glue wheels to the underside of the fuse near the cowling for the in-flight version.

Brian da Basher

Hi Brian,
the "Grumman" landing gear was actually based on Loening designs and is quite a bit different from the gear on the Bristol..
Roy Grumman had worked for Loening.

Jon