discussion FROG 1/72 de Havilland DH 60 g Gypsy Moth

[Gern]

That's excellent scratchery Tony - but why do you torment yourself so much with these ancient kits?

PS Considering your usual attention to detail, ain't it about time you replaced that k*******d old knife blade?

 

[Jim R]

Excellent scratch work to drag this geriatric up to standard.

 

[Andy T]

Brilliant work so far Tony, with a wide array of techniques and materials used to drag it up to standard.

 

[yak face]

Belts have been added to the seat and its now been fitted . The engine cylinders have been been glued in and the exhaust manifold made from a piece of solder bent to shape , sanded and drilled . After giving the engine a coat of paint the fuselage was glued together and a bit of filler was needed on the underside .

 

[yak face]

Fuselage now together and seams sanded , just a couple of sink marks to sort yet . The lower wings fasten to the fuselage with a couple of tiny pins - not a strong fixing at all , plus they need to have a slight dihedral to match the upper wing so the interplane struts meet . I decided to drill all the way through with the rear hole and will insert a brass rod . The corresponding pin on the wing has been cut off and drilled out . Once the wings are slid onto the rod it will be a much stronger joint and with a little careful bending I can get the dihedral to match the upper wing . The standing figure of Amy has had a base coat of white primer and doesnt look half bad .

 

[Jim R]

Better and better. Amy does indeed look OK.

 

[Steven000]

Nice overhaul Tony, figure looks good indeed, keep it coming, cheers

 

[yak face]

Got the wings on this morning, once slid over the brass rod and superglued they were gently bent up to the correct angle . Ive also got the undercarriage glued , the axle being replaced with brass tubing for a bit more strength , wheels to go on last off . The tailplane and rudder were fitted and the bracing rods also replaced with brass as the kit ones were a bit poor.
The front cockpit has had the fairing fitted , wine foil being used for this .

 

[Steven000]

Looks very sturdy with all the brass reinforcements, very nice work so far, cheers

 

[yak face]

After looking at loads of period pics of Amy and the aircraft I decided the figure , good as it is , was missing something . Theres a great picture of Amy sat on the cockpit edge in full flying gear at the time of the record attempt ( not sure if it was at the start or finish ) and like a lot of photos it shows a large furry collar on the flying jacket . Taking inspiration from @Neil Merryweather and his amazing figure builds I thought a bit of squadron green stuff putty would be ideal and I have some thinned down a bit with cellulose ( the old stuff , not the rubbish ‘safe’ new stuff)
Rather than ruin the kit figure if it didnt work out I experimented first on a random figure out of the spares box ( dont know where I got him but he looks like Blakey from ‘on the buses ‘ ! ) It came out ok so the Amy figure was done and has now got a fur collar.