dh Hornet PR5

[PR19_Kit]

For those of you with short memories, the Hornet PR5 was the long span (Yes, really... ) long range, pressurised version that was used in the Pacific theatre to map the Japanese Islands prior to Operation Downfall, the planned invasion of Japan. 

Starting with the new AZ Hornet PR2 kit, naturally, I'll be extending the wings and adding various intake(s) for the pressurising system etc. Here's the mandatory box pic.



It does look VERY smart, doesn't it?


Next the obligatory sprue shot, well some of it anyway, I've already got one wing assembled....




AZ supply the kit with all possible variants in the same box, so it has short and long tailplanes, the basic fin and one with the dorsal extension. Plus you get all the bombs and rockets in the PR2 kit. The only thing that's definitely 'PR2' is the gun-less undernose fairing and the decal sheet.

I started with the wings as I'm going to extend them obviously, and if that doesn't work the whole idea's out the window. AZ have a very odd way of doing the sprue gates these days, and that seems to have started with their MB6 kit. With the MB5 kit, they're normal gates, there's a little tab up against the part, and that leads to a larger diameter gate and then onto the main sprue. With the extra fuselage sprue in the MB6 they changed the system.

Now the sprue gate not only touches down on the side of the kit part, it flows over the edges too. See the pic below of the Hornet's wing still on the sprue.




That means you have double the amount of filing to do for each gate, a bit of a pain sometimes. The joint surface bits of the sprue are still there after you've carefully trimmed off the rest of the gates with your trusty Xuron clippers.



After some serious filing and trimming, and following the instruction sheet, I added the two tri-angular pieces that are meant to box off the undercarriage bay. The instructions tell you that both sides have the same part no., 50, but it's pretty obvious that there are two DIFFERENT sizes, a big one and a small one!




Logic took over and I glued the smaller one on the outboard side, after all the wing would be thinner there, right? I doubt I'd glue those parts on in any further build, just as The Wooksta decided.

I'm not going to go into any more detailed assembly steps, but I'm not 100% confident that it'll be all that straightforward after the small amount I've done so far....

Next step is extending the wings, which I'm well practiced in of course. 

[Captain Canada]

I use a flat blade for that type of trimming. The sharp edge is at the from and it's flat on on side and sharp/ beveled on the other. Works great, but is kinda dangerous when pushing it away from yourself.

[PR19_Kit]

Good idea Cap'n, thanks. 

I've got a chisel type thing right here, so that'd probably work well. I'll give it a go on the rest of the kit.

[Tophe]

What approximate value will be the span increase? +10%? +30%? +60%?

[PR19_Kit]

Not very much actually.

Because the wing tapers so much you run out of chord pretty quickly, so it's about  a 27% increase in span, from 45 ft to 57' 4".

[kitnut617]

You probably wouldn't get much more that what the Mossie Mk.XV got would you -----

[PR19_Kit]

Here's the working drawing.



Thanks to Dave Huntley for the original drawings.

[Leading Observer]

It's a pity you started it this early - with Japanese markings painted over the RAF/SEAC ones it could have been in the next GB

[PR19_Kit]

You probably wouldn't get much more that what the Mossie Mk.XV got would you -----

Less actually, the Mk XV was 59' span, (some sources say 62') but the Hornet was lighter by some 3000 lbs. plus the engines were 300 hp each more powerful.

[PR19_Kit]

It's a pity you started it this early - with Japanese markings painted over the RAF/SEAC ones it could have been in the next GB

I had to keep my hand in while waiting for the start of the 'Captured' GB. 

[PR19_Kit]

Progress is being made, albeit slowly.

Most of the cockpit's together, but not painted as yet, and both wings are assembled, complete with radiators and oil coolers (or whatever the little outboard intakes are for) The port engine nacelle is done, which it was a fiddle fitting the two internal bulkheads, but they're there now.

Assembling the nacelle to the wing shows up a problem though. The upper surface of the nacelle is about 1mm lower than the wing, which will need some filing of the wing, or lots of putty, or both...........

I wish I'd bought one of my Skybirds 86 Hornets with me from home last weekend to act as a comparison. I expect the Skybirds kit would be a lot better, despite its rumoured inaccuracies.

[NARSES2]

I've got a chisel type thing right here, so that'd probably work well. I'll give it a go on the rest of the kit.

Must admit it's the chisel type blade that's the main reason why I have a couple of X-acto sets

[Captain Canada]

Ooh that's a nice looking machine ! I can see why you like a good long wing !

[kitnut617]

and oil coolers (or whatever the little outboard intakes are for)

They are actually the carb air intakes Kit, the Merlin 130/131 had down-draft carbs and the ducting came from these intakes inside the space between the main spar and leading edge. A feature they had was when the u/c was extended, a flap in the duct would automatically divert the incoming air through an air filter.

[PR19_Kit]

I think the PR5s had Merlin 140/141s for higher altitude performance, but still used the same intake system..............