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BA overthink the 'Retro' thing - DONE!

Started by PR19_Kit, March 22, 2025, 04:48:55 PM

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Old Wombat

#45
April 08, 2025, 07:06:28 PM
Yup, is good! :thumbsup:
Has a life outside of What-If & wishes it would stop interfering!

"The purpose of all War is Peace" - St. Augustine

veritas ad mortus veritas est

Wardukw

#46
April 09, 2025, 02:20:19 AM
Yup it's definitely good ☺️ 😊
This will be getting a vote from me for sure  :thumbsup:
If it aint broke ,,fix it until it is .
Over kill is often very understated .
I know the voices in my head ain't real but they do come up with some great ideas.
Theres few of lifes problems that can't be solved with the proper application of a high explosive projectile .

PR19_Kit

#47
April 10, 2025, 03:55:30 AM
It got to the decal stage last night, but much as I usually love seeing the model 'come alive' with the decals, the HP42 was a real PITA!

Many of the needed decals are very small, scripts less than 1.5 mm high, and on that corrugated surface they just would NOT stay in place! I've got the big reggies and the massive 'IMPERIAL' in place, but I'm going to have to re-print the sheet and apply the small stuff over a coat of wet varnish.

Then it'll be just the windscreen to make...............  :-\
Kit's Rule 1 ) Any aircraft can be improved by fitting longer wings, and/or a longer fuselage
Kit's Rule 2) The backstory can always be changed to suit the model

...and I'm not a closeted 'Take That' fan, I'm a REAL fan! :)

Regards
Kit

PR19_Kit

#48
April 10, 2025, 03:18:37 PM
Got ALL the decals on now.  ;D

Gluing them on with a brushful of Klear was the solution, and now I've filled all the side windows with Glue 'n Glaze and started on the windscreen. Two windscreen side windows are in place, and I'll have to wait till tomorrow for them to to dry before I can add the others.

I just may have it done by Saturday.
Kit's Rule 1 ) Any aircraft can be improved by fitting longer wings, and/or a longer fuselage
Kit's Rule 2) The backstory can always be changed to suit the model

...and I'm not a closeted 'Take That' fan, I'm a REAL fan! :)

Regards
Kit

Rick Lowe

#49
April 10, 2025, 10:51:25 PM
 :thumbsup:

Wardukw

#50
April 10, 2025, 11:30:01 PM
Ohh I'm waiting with baited breath  ;D  ;D
If it aint broke ,,fix it until it is .
Over kill is often very understated .
I know the voices in my head ain't real but they do come up with some great ideas.
Theres few of lifes problems that can't be solved with the proper application of a high explosive projectile .

PR19_Kit

#51
April 11, 2025, 03:33:30 AM
Almost done, only 3-4 windscreen panels to go now.

But it's not easy trimming them to size when they're only 4  mm long x 3 mm wide anyway.  AND you can't see them either!
Kit's Rule 1 ) Any aircraft can be improved by fitting longer wings, and/or a longer fuselage
Kit's Rule 2) The backstory can always be changed to suit the model

...and I'm not a closeted 'Take That' fan, I'm a REAL fan! :)

Regards
Kit

Weaver

#52
April 11, 2025, 01:14:14 PM
Nicely done Kit. :thumbsup:

You could always claim that the former piston engine nacelles now contain jet fuel tanks. After all, your new engines will use way more than the old ones, and you can't exactly build integral tankage into those wings, can you?
"Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and dreams are the shadow-truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes, and forgot."
 - Sandman: A Midsummer Night's Dream, by Neil Gaiman

"I dunno, I'm making this up as I go."
 - Indiana Jones

PR19_Kit

#53
April 11, 2025, 01:49:18 PM
If the HP42J even reaches the airport boundary with those four Lycomings burning, it'd be a miracle!  ;D
Kit's Rule 1 ) Any aircraft can be improved by fitting longer wings, and/or a longer fuselage
Kit's Rule 2) The backstory can always be changed to suit the model

...and I'm not a closeted 'Take That' fan, I'm a REAL fan! :)

Regards
Kit

PR19_Kit

#54
April 11, 2025, 03:08:32 PM
And it's finished.  ;D



Here's the HP42J in all its imperial glory, mostly showing the 'Retro' business desired by BA's Marketing Dept. but with a few tweaks demanded by the CAA and others.




Back in the 30s the airlines weren't shy about letting you know the reggie of their aircraft, thus the 7.5 FOOT high letters!




Nor were they shy about letting you know which airline was flying over your head either!  ;D




BA wanted you to know the original airline's title, but slotted their own in there as well.




And just to make doubly sure you knew who was actually doing the 'Retro' thing, they ensured their tail logo appeared on both sides as well! The fuselage side reggies weren't exactly minimalist either.......




Of course the prime difference between the original HP42Es and Ws and the retro HP42J were the four Lycoming 502 turbofans in place of the original Bristol Jupiters, giving about a fourteen times increase in horsepower! The Jupiter's cowlings were an integral part of the wing structure and were faired in on their leading edges, and their volume used as very necessary fuel tanks!




From a modelling point of view the HP42J needed a few bits of scratchwork as some parts were missing, one of which was the port landing gear strut. As some of the centre section struts had been replaced by the large mono-strut on the wing centre line I bent one of the spare struts and filed its ends to match the real gear strut on the other side.  ;D




The other missing part was the windshield assembly, so I made one from six tiny pieces of clear plastic supplied from a Tescos Tiramisu packet!  ;D  The largest one of these was all of 5 mm x 4 mm, and all were glued together with copious quantities of Glue 'n Glaze, which also supplied the numerous side windows, and very nicely it worked too. I'll have to do a bit of gap filling with it later on, but for now the HP42J is done and dusted.

Those of you who know your 1930s airliners may well ask where the G-AAXJ reggie and the name 'Horus' came from. The real G-AAXJ was a de Havilland Puss Moth, but a Japanese comic strip appropriated the reggie for an HP42 in one of their stories, and came up with the name too. I thought the J suffix was just the job for an HP42J and used it unashamedly.  ;D



Kit's Rule 1 ) Any aircraft can be improved by fitting longer wings, and/or a longer fuselage
Kit's Rule 2) The backstory can always be changed to suit the model

...and I'm not a closeted 'Take That' fan, I'm a REAL fan! :)

Regards
Kit

buzzbomb

#55
April 11, 2025, 03:13:41 PM
Oh yes.. right on zone for this GB

 :thumbsup:  :thumbsup:

kerick

#56
April 11, 2025, 06:32:58 PM
Most excellent!  :thumbsup:
And a good job on those extra tall letters. That's harder than it looks.
" Somewhere, between half true, and completely crazy, is a rainbow of nice colours "
Tophe the Wise

Weaver

#57
April 11, 2025, 10:23:36 PM
Splendidly silly - well done Kit!  ;D  :thumbsup:
"Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and dreams are the shadow-truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes, and forgot."
 - Sandman: A Midsummer Night's Dream, by Neil Gaiman

"I dunno, I'm making this up as I go."
 - Indiana Jones

Wardukw

#58
April 11, 2025, 11:31:56 PM
Top marks on this build Kit ...an epically bad idea 💡 😅
Love it 😀
If it aint broke ,,fix it until it is .
Over kill is often very understated .
I know the voices in my head ain't real but they do come up with some great ideas.
Theres few of lifes problems that can't be solved with the proper application of a high explosive projectile .

Robomog

#59
April 12, 2025, 03:49:39 AM Last Edit: April 12, 2025, 05:49:24 AM by Robomog
Beautifully bonkers, nice save on the canopy and wheel strut. :thumbsup:  :thumbsup:

Love it  :wub:  :wub:   :wub:  :wub:

Mog
>^-.-^<
Mostly harmless ...............
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