Vickers Wellesley B(PR)III

[PR19_Kit]

To randomly quote from Toy Story, that's an impressive wingspan you've got there!

How do you get it through doors???

Very, VERY carefully................. 

[Rheged]

To randomly quote from Toy Story, that's an impressive wingspan you've got there!

How do you get it through doors???

Very, VERY carefully................. 

I'd prefer NOT to be the chap in charge of getting this aeronautical device  into the hanger  when it was due for   heavy maintainance.  I suppose  he'd be instantly  recognisable  as the bald  bloke  with the  panic-stricken  look on his face.

[PR19_Kit]

[Victor Meldrew mode on]

I DO NOT BELIEVE IT!!!!! 

[Victor Meldrew mode off]

I was putting the models away in my glass doored cabinet and on the shelves and while moving the Wellesley I caught one of the prop blades on the door of the cabinet! One prop blade broke off so we're back where we started from again!

Should I upgrade it to a Griffon and a 5 blader perhaps?

[tc2324]

Should I upgrade it to a Griffon and a 5 blader perhaps?

Kit, very well done on this and that span is very impresive.

Try and keep a 4 blade IMPO. It would be in keeping with the time frame for this whif.

[sequoiaranger]

>Should I upgrade it to a Griffon and a 5 blader perhaps?<

Keep the current prop. A dab of Cyanoacrylate will cure the problem.

Or...are you thinking that if you put a 5-blader on it, if you break a blade off again, you at least still have four???  

>I'd prefer NOT to be the chap in charge of getting this aeronautical device into the hanger when it was due for heavy maintainance.<

*MAYBE* the plane is rigged to have its landing gear rotate 90 degrees so it can be pushed "sideways" into a normal hangar!

[Old Wombat]

Keep it 4-bladed, Kit, but find a prop that has individual blades which slot into the boss (or mod one so it does).

That way you can remove them for transport (put them in a slightly over-sized plastic bag & either tape or cling-wrap the bag to the plane) then only put the blades back on when the plane has been put in its place.



Guy

PS: Kit, you're not going bald & wearing a panic-stricken look under than hat, are you?

[PR19_Kit]

Thanks for the suggestions gentlemen, I'll give the super-glue a try, and hope that it works better than it did on the 3-blader.

I like the idea that a broken blade on a 5-blader still gives you 4 to fly with...........  

[Martin H]

Your not having much luck with that beast. It certainly doesn't seem to have the charmed life of its more famous big wing companion.

[pyro-manic]

Keep it 4-bladed, Kit, but find a prop that has individual blades which slot into the boss (or mod one so it does).

That way you can remove them for transport (put them in a slightly over-sized plastic bag & either tape or cling-wrap the bag to the plane) then only put the blades back on when the plane has been put in its place.



Guy

PS: Kit, you're not going bald & wearing a panic-stricken look under than hat, are you?

Surely a far simpler option would be to just leave the prop unglued? I never glue the props on my models if I can help it, for just that reason.

[PR19_Kit]

Surely a far simpler option would be to just leave the prop unglued? I never glue the props on my models if I can help it, for just that reason.

But then it would fall off, the prop-shaft is stupidly short and about half the diameter of the hole in the back plate.

[rickshaw]

Surely a far simpler option would be to just leave the prop unglued? I never glue the props on my models if I can help it, for just that reason.

But then it would fall off, the prop-shaft is stupidly short and about half the diameter of the hole in the back plate.

I use a little bit of blu-tac to hold my propeller spinners on.  They stay in place and if encounter an object which is immovable (or moving) they fall off.

[Gondor]

When I built my Curtis SeaHawk (based on the P-40Q) I used a disc of plastic and a couple of pieces of plastic tubing.

Onto the centre of a disc of plastic I stuck the larger of the two pieces of tubing. The disc was then fitted inside the nose of the aircraft as below....



The smaller tubing, which just happened to fit snugly inside the larger tubing was then fitted to the centre of the propeller and in this case it also fitted snugly through the centre of the contra-rotating  propeller hub as you can just make out in the left of the above picture. Unfortunately the picture is blurred, but you get the idea.....



Hope this gives inspiration for you kit

Gondor

[Pellson]

Thanks for the suggestions gentlemen, I'll give the super-glue a try, and hope that it works better than it did on the 3-blader.

Glueing propeller blades is a magnificent pain in you-all-know-what. Generally, I find that even if you succeed in the first instance, the susceptability for the damn thing to come off as soon as you turn your back to it is overwhelming. To mitigate, I always try to reinforce the joint with something dureable, generally metal. Now, propeller blades are thin things, so you'll need something very smallish inside. I have had success with staples, cut to fitting length.
Good luck!

[Gondor]

Maybe I should have painted that as a toothy grin?

Gondor

[PR19_Kit]

I found a nice Aeroclub metal 4 blader from a Spitfire IX in my 'Spitfires Bits' box and superglued that onto the front of the Wellesley B(PR)III. Then I painted up the blades and the spinner and we should be OK to deflect any and all objects that threaten to snap any blades off again!