Scratch built 1/72 Admiralty Department Navy Plane

Evening All,

I have joined two GB's on other sites for which this next project will qualify: it is the Admiralty Department Navy Plane. As most people will never have heard of it (and nor had I until I came across a reference to it in the IPMS newsletter some years ago), here is an image of the same:

It was built in 6 weeks in 1916 as a reconnaissance machine for the Admiralty and was intended to be powered by the 150hp Smith radial engine - the same type that was to have powered the Blackburn TB, ( a model of which I scratchbuilt some years ago and can be found on this site if you scroll back far enough). Unfortunately the Smith engine failed to deliver the power expected and only one of these aircraft was built and tested. I believe Chorozy make a kit of this but I am told that it is not very good: however that may be I do not build kits any more.

I have made a small start - I have made three of the four floats and cut out and shaped the flying surfaces. The main floats were made from 20 and 30 thou card with internal supports:

A completed float is on the left - the grey on the plastic is there because it was cut from some scrap. The stretched sprue was used to put supports inside the sides to prevent small surfaces from sinking into the gap when applied to the rear of the floats. The large floats are finished: the rear floats were much smaller and were shaped from some laminated card that I also found in the scrap plastic bag:

In the image you can see that one of the floats had not been shaped - it is still in the raw laminated card state.

I have cut out and shaped from 30 thou card all of the flying surfaces - wings, rear stabilizer and elevator, and fins and rudders, although I have not separated the control surfaces yet, nor have I added the ribs, which will be 10 x 20 thou plastic strip sanded down:

Thanks for looking.

Stevef.