HubertB

VIRTUAL, YET REAL, PROGRESS So, after my "study trip" in sunny, and dry, Morocco, I have completed this morning the round of designs for the conversion parts. Next steop will to print them, and starting cutting the kit ... Compared to the screen captures I posted above of some conversion parts designs, I have kept untouched 4 of them, namely the second seat, the spare wheel, the radiator, and the fairing above of the cylinder banks, with the water tanks extensions. I have modified the main tank enlergement part, following some better pics and a some (bad quality) drawings, and also because I decided that, rather than design the conversion parts around the inaccurate shape of the belly as represented by Lukgraph - a shallow V rather than a flat bottom in reality), I would remove the bottom altogether and add the conversion parts from a flat base. This has led also to more accurate measurements of the true profile of the kit fuselage, and changes to take them into account. For the main tank enlargement, I also took into account the fact that the whole tank was jettisonable in flight on the 1:1 aircraft, and had therefore to clear the undercarriage struts. Old (top pic) vs new (bottom pic) : I found a factory drawing for the supllementary CFT, which although heavily pixaleted to the point of being mostly illegible, had enough "good" information and numbers to allow a more accurate redesign. Old onb top vs new on the bottom : New shape (the difference is more subtle to see) for the new lower engine cowling, with slightly moire depth and revised angle for the carburetor intakes : Then there were the new parts needed for the conversion. The lower rear fuselage fairing : The new rear skid. The oleo-pneumatic Messier skid was a fairly complex contraption compared to the original simple one. The landing gear has been redesigned to represent the oleo-pneumatic Messier, and also to have a more accurate tread (thanks to some technical drwings from Potez I found on-line) : I next tackled the revised cockpit coaming for the rear passenger, with the gun ring deleted. I then noticed on pics that the pilot coaming had a small hump under the winscreen, when Lukgraph has it flat. So another part of the kit to cut off , and a complete coaming for the two seats to be designed : Next, and final - so far - is the radio equipment. I struggled to find proper references for the gear used by French aircrafts at the time, but, again, Potez "Notice Technique" about the changes to the Black Cruise aircrafts was of some great help. I just assumed the gear for the Pink Cruise Potez would be the same. The drawings showed an installation with three boxes, spread in the rear cockpit. TBH, the faces have some creative "gizmology" added, as I failed to find accurate references. So here are radio sets 1, 2 and 3. That's it for now. I now have to get all parts printed. Next week, I am off to France for a few health checks, so it may be a bit of time before the next update. Hubert.

Good to hear you are on the mend, Peter. As you point out, as we grow older, medical issues have a nasty tendency to creep on us, and this forum shows it (it also shows that the forum's average age is not that low 😂 ). I will not bother anyone with more of these health issues, but we have had our share of those in the last year. Things seem to get better now, but the alert was very very very serious and worrying - last Xmas the perspective was very somber at short term - for my elder son ... Hubert

Well, as I was labouring on the design of the conversion parts for my Potez 25, and looking at other’s submissions, I had an idea for a future group huild, maybe to park in the back of Martin’s mind ? « 3D-printed. Any kit that uses, in full or part, 3D-printed components in its build, whether the parts are home design or manufacturer’s design » I thought that could be an interesting way of taking stock of the arrival of this new technology. And then, in 20 years’ time, we could have a « any kit that still uses injection-molded parts » Hubert

Sorry to read this, Scott. My wife Patricia went through this (in the cervical vertebrae area) in early 2017. With numbness gaining the arms and hands, it was a matter of urgency. The neurosurgeon, a brilliant lady, did the procedure you describe for two discs and decided to leave the third one untouched, not wanting to push luck too far. It went very well in two operations (from the front then the back) 3 weeks apart. The second op, cutting though the cervical muscles, which are some of the strongest - and most solicited - muscles of the body, left her in pain for a few weeks. Don’t miss on the rehab / physiology training. When you have a number of vertebrae welded together, there are movements you took for granted you cannot do anymore, and you have to learn other ways of achieving the same result, and re-train the brain for those. Anyway, good luck with this. What is important is that you have a (very) good neurosurgeon for the procedure, and that you trust him/her. Even if you have a long period to grind after that, you’ll be happy to recover a more mobile life for the following years. Hubert

My better half sewed me one such apron, and I wear it permanently when modelling. It has saved me crawling under the desk an invaluable number of times. Besides finding the stray part, the toughest issue is getting up after having crawled. Surprisingly, the older I get, the harder it is 🤣 (who is the wise philosopher who said that the problem of becoming an old man is that stiffness moves from where you want it to where you don’t want it 😇 ?) This is called a jewellers’ apron. Jewellers have one in leather, where they collect all dust particles of a day’s work, besides small parts. Gold dust is worth its weight in gold, literally. Hubert

Great work on those loops. I feel the pain of this micro-work. I often wonder why we inflict this to ourselves… Now producing these loops was the easy part. The tough one is going to be threading the elastic thread, which seems to have a life of its own more exciting than a snake’s one, through those 0.3 mm tubes Hubert

Now, that’s a serious modelling project Is it finished yet ? So happy for you Ernie. Hubert

And another masterpiece « expedited » in one month Well done, Mike. Hubert

Well, guys, just to show how seriously I take this GB theme, I organised a study trip to Marrakech, to get a better feeling of the desert atmosphere and the local hump-backed fauna .. Please just don’t tell Mrs B. She believes it was for our wedding anniversary 😇… Joking apart, I will have some virtual (literally) progress to report when I come back on Tuesday. I have gone through some iterative improvements / redesigns of the conversion parts, and should soon be ready to attack the build in earnest … Oh, and, while roaming the souks, I think I found what could be an interesting 1/32 scale sand fac-simile, in terms of colour and granulometry. And, on top of it, it should smell good 🤣😂🤣 . If it does not work as I expect, I will still have the option to use my « sand » to flavour some couscous or tajine 😋 So, that’s a win-win ! Hubert

I am with Kevin : just one more light coat to blend in the starkness of the contrasts a little better … Hubert

Daco have just announced the availability of a first batch of 1/32 Fouga Magistr kits (in white boxes with a delivery of the decal sheet in a second stage) This accelerated shipping is to coincide with their 35th anniversary. Orders here : http://www.dacoproducts.com Hubert

On the penultimate picture, it really looks like they deposited a garbage container on the roof of the cabin 😂🤣 ! I hoe they removed the wheels, though … Hubert

X3 ! Hubert

You could have thinned the lips of the radiator intakes. That would make it more realistic anyway . As for the gear trunks, you could thin them from the top, to keep as much of the depth as possible. Nice progress anyway. Hubert

Nice work on the pit, Peter. To answer your question of why 3 parts for the fuselage, the answer is in the way they look, and as posted on your picture. The shape of the MLG well, with its « ears » at the front, and narrower at the wing root than at the centerline, would have implied a slide mold to mold only two fuselage halves, with a slide that would go up during the injection process, then down to be able to eject the two fuselage halves from the mold. The problem is a slide mold implies a special stainless steel alloy and super-precise milling. Which is incompatible with the short-run production approach of SH, with a different, softer, alloy, far more economical to produce (but the mold is far less durable). I’m with you on the cost of high quality sable brushes. I have a few of them, and boy they are not cheap. About 10 days ago, Kevin posted a tip about using « nail-art » brushes. True, they are not sable, but synthetic, but, if you look on sites like Amazon, you can get find offers for those for a few $. I bought four sets, so 20 brushes overall, for 38 Euro. Now, if people can paint the fine details they achieve on nails, I thought that these brushes could probably be useful for modelling. And, at a few dollars for a set of brushes, you don’t really care if they don’t last years like fine sable brushes. I have not tried mine yet, but Chris has. Keep it coming Hubert

I’d have been all over a 1/32 SMB-2 ! Unfortunately, it seems kit manufacturers in 1/32 have not realised France produced some aircrafts between the Spad XIII and the Mirage III (just slightly exaggerating there , as Special Hobby is the one exception ) As for Special Hobby, you see the difference between resin casting, and short-run injection molding of polystyrene … You can produce an accurate master, but converting it a mold is a mistakes-frought operation. Still, without SH, my 1/32 stash would be somewhat smaller … Hubert

I still have the « spares box » from 40/50 years ago. It’s an old metal biscuits’ box full of s#&%t. Problem is the spares are 1/72, and 1/48 as well. So, frankly, it is just a pile of useless plastic, and I probably have not opened the box since 20 years. Martin’s solution is the right one. By the way, it was also mine with finished kits until 10 years ago 😉 Hubert

That is actually what made the 109 the exceptional aircraft it was: design an airframe as small and light as possible around the biggest engine you have. The Japanese did the same with the Zero, but saved weight by very-thin gauge aluminium (the first versions had a 0.2 mm thick skin) and no protection for the pilot. ( The skin thickness increased by 70 % by the time they produced the -5 version). You’re in a roll, Chris Hubert

That seat is absolutely girgeous’ especially fir 1/48. As for Eduard’s IP, I think even my printer has a better resolution But you’re right, this won’t be as obvious to the naked eye. And the seat will eclipse all other details. Keep it coming. Hubert

Cool, and unique, subject 😍 ! Hubert

Great pic, PW, but it’s a -4, not a SMB-2 … But you’re forgiven. After all, the Javelin and the Vulcan looked the same (says the offended Frenchman with a revengeful sarcasm ) Hubert, the French Avenger 🥖🇫🇷 👨‍🎨

Ok. So I'm in this « Playing in the sandbox » GB. As I love « different » subjects, I could not resist the fun of aircrafts adorned with roundels and « fish-hooks » - the traditional nickname of the French Aeronavale roundels - landed somewhere in the Sahara , like this pic shows. Some background information on this subject, to begin with. France in Africa Since the mid- nineteenth Century, France expanded its empire with a strong focus on Africa. Algeria, then Tunisia were conquered and annexed, and, later, the Moroccan Kingdom became a protectorate. France also expanded in tropical and equatorial Africa, adding most countries of West Africa to its empire. Thus in the end of 1893, Ensign Aube, on an armed launch, with a handful of sailors, cruised up the Niger, to Kabara, which is the river port of the famous Tumbuctu. He negotiated with local powers the installation of an outpost, but was subsequently killed in an ambush On December 28th of that year. Tumbuctu was conquered militarily a few weeks later by a French Army column, thus annexing Niger. I mention this small part of history, because it is the root of the "Pink Cruise", as I will expose below. By the 30s, France had a strong presence in North, Central and Western Africa, and was working to develop its colonies and link them. Thus throughout the 20s and 30s, France developed a number of routes to criss-cross and mark up the mighty Sahara, which made up the essential chunk of southern Algeria. A route had been developed, where three roads, coming from Rabat in Morocco, Tunis in Tunisia and Alger and Oran in Algeria, merged in the Algerian town of Adrar, in the Sahara, and then went south to Gao, in what was then known as « French Sudan » and is now Mali, from which it forked again towards the capitals of the different African countries under French rule, like, Niamey, Bamako, Dakar, Ougadougou, Ft Lamy or Bangui. The road that crossed the Sahara in south Algeria – the so-called Tanezrouft desert- was established in the 20s, by expeditions of the French Army. About every 50 kilometers, they burried a water reserve, that was signalled by an empty barrel (« bidon » in -French). There were 16 Bidon station overall, but Bidon 5, mid-way between Ouallen and Tessalit, deep in the desert, became the most famous of all. By the 30s, there was a hotel in Bidon 5 (made of the bodies of two coaches) and a petrol station for both cars and aircrafts. But it was not rare to use other means of ensuring the fuel replenishment of aircrafts in the Sahara The Black Cruise In the early 30s, the Armée de L'Air (Air Force ) was officially created as a separate entity from the Army. The then Minister of the Air wanted a major public relations event to both celebrate the birth of the Armée de l'Air, and demonstrate its power. This is how the « Black Cruise » was conceived : a demonstration of force, and incidentally, an occasion to show the flag in the African colonies. General Vuillemin, a Great War veteran, and a specialist of Saharian aviation was tasked with organising it. The Black Cruise thus took 28 Potez 25 TOE, from Paris to North Africa, then French Black Africa, and back to Le Bourget, over a 27 000 kms trip, from November 1933 to January 1934. The aircrafts had been specially prepared for the event, with some ad-hoc mods. The Black Cruise was flown by seasoned aviators, from the Air Force predominantly, but also the Aéronavale – the aviation branch of the French Navy. It was a resounding success, and created a lot of enthusiasm and hype at that time. The « Pink » Cruise Enters Count Jean de Laborde, vice-admiral of the French Navy, and CiC of French Naval operations for the African area. Vice-admiral Laborde was a colourful character, excellent seaman, and enthusiast and proficient aviator. He was the first commander of the French aircraft carrier Béarn. For the record, he later became Admiral but saw Darlan, who had better political connections, be nominated as Minister of the Navy, after which he nourished a serious dislike of Admiral Darlan. He had also, and did not hide it, a strong enmity towards anything anglo-saxon, which later events, like the British attack on the French fleet in Mers-el-Kebir in 1940 did not help assuage, quite the contrary. In 1940, he remained loyal to the Vichy regime, and was the commander of the Southern region fleet, based in Toulon, in 1942, when « Operation Torch » took place, leading to the Nazi invasion of the « free zone » in Southern France. It was Laborde who ordered the scuttling of the Fleet in Toulon in 1942, primarily to avoid the fleet joining the Anglo-Saxon forces, as Darlan was prompting him, and secondarily to avoid the seizing of the Fleet by Nazi forces. He was judged and sentenced to death in 1947 for this « act of treason » and his death sentence was later commuted to a prison one, until he was finally officially pardoned by The French President in 1959. Anyway, back to 1934. France was no foreigner to inter-service rivalry, and Laborde did not like the publicity the Armée de l'Air received with the Black Cruise. He wanted the Aéronavale to even the score, and was looking for a reason to do so. In 1934, France decided to install a plaque to commemorate Ensign Aube, in Tumbuctu. Laborde saw the opportunity he wanted. He informed the Ministry that, as the senior-ranking Navy officer in Africa, he intended to attend personally, with his wife, the inauguration of the commemorative plaque. By « mistake », most certainly , the memo to the Ministry failed to imention that he intended to fly to Tumbuctu, in an African remake of the Black Cruise. In November 1934, he thus set up a group of 3 Potez 25 TOE, and took his small squadron from Sidi Ahmed, the Aéronavale airport near Bizerte, in Algeria, to Tumbuctu, with a number of stops, including at the famous Bidon 5. The 6500 km return flight was a success. Laborde was piloting the Potez 25 TOE coded « BZ 65 », and his wife was his passenger. This is because of her presence that Laborde's expedition became dubbed in the records as the « Pink Cruise ». BZ 65 will be my entry in the Sandbox GB. It was, btw, also a "Blue Goose" aircraft, as it was adorned with the 4-star vice-admiral penant on the fin. In the pic, below, the person in white is Mrs Countess de Laborde. And this why you can see pictures of French Navy aircrafts deep in the Sahara desert - actually at Bidon 5-, like the one above The Potez 25 The Potez deserves more recognition that he got from the aviation historians. It was conceived as an observation and bombing aircraft. It was an oustanding success in the 20s and 30s, with more than 3 500 built and used by 18 different countries, in Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia. With a sound biplane conception, a ingenious structure and engine frame, it could be – and was - motorised with about any engine of the 400-600 hp range, whether water-cooled or radial. The upper wing could be set-up in different longitudinal positions to accomodate different CG with different engines. It could even be flown as a monoplane. The Potez 25 had also a very famous civilian operator, namely the « Aeropostale », which used it on its South American mail lines, as it was one of the few whose celing could allow to cross the Andes. Antoine de St Exupery has made the exploits of Guillaumet, Daurat, Mermoz famous in his books. The main version of the Potez 25 was the A2, with a W12 Lorraine engine of 450 Hp. This is the version that was exported and built under licence in Poland. However, for its activities in the colonies, France developed the « TOE » version (TOE for "Théâtre d'Opérations Extérieures", aka Foreign Theater of Operations). The TOE was somewhat different from the A2, with a main fuel tank of increased capacity, to 450 liters, the adjunction of a 300 supplementary fuel tank, which can be called a Conformal Fuel Tank as it was attached against the flat belly of the A2. In the process, the TOE did like a lot of old men : it gained a fat belly 🤣 ! Another very visible difference of the TOE was an enlarged radiator for operations in hot countries, with two « ears » added to each side of the original radiator, merging in the fairings of the cylinder banks behind them and a revised cowling flaps setting. The Lukgraph Potez 25 kit. The policy of Lukgraph is to produce progressively the range of significant aircrafts used by Poland in the 30s, and this is for this reason that we have now have a 1/32 scale kit of this important , but neglected, aircraft. Thank you Lukasj ! But, because of this Polish bias, it represents a Potez 25 A2, not a 25 TOE ... The kit is in line with recent Lukgraph releases, with the major parts in finely casted resin, and the detailing and accessories parts 3D-printed. We also have a PE fret, and a decal sheet, one for a Polish A2, and the other one for a French Aeronavale A2. So at least, I have French roundels with « fish-hooks » available for my project ! The kit is generally nice and accurate, with one caveat : the belly is represented as a shallow V, when it was flat on the original A2. French Aéronavale Potez 25 TOE « BZ 65 » of Jean Laborde. When I set my goal on representing this aircraft, I confess my knowledge of the Potez 25 and its variants was not what it is today, three or four weeks later. And maybe I should have been smarter and choose another subject, now that I know, but I was commited by my order to Lukgraph ! So, the Lukgraph kit will need some conversion to be brought to the TOE standard : 1) a new radiator 2) an extended main tank 3) an additional fuel tank under the belly 4) a fairing under the belly from the end of the additional fuel tank to the tail skid. 5) a revised fairing over the two lateral cylinder banks, to blend-in with the new radiator. 6) I found 4 days ago that, as the belly grew fatter, the TOE cowling was revised and made deeper to fair better with the lower main tank located between the UC legs. But, wait, there is more, to get to the TOE as used by Laborde in the Pink Cruise, like : 7) an extension of the side fairings over the cylinder banks, to represent the additional water tanks that were added for the desert flights. 8 )The fairing over the passenger location is different from the original one, which had a ring to accomodate the machine guns. see the pic above with Mrs de Laborde on board. 9) « BZ 65 » had an additional headrest fairing for the passenger, no doubt to make it more comfortable for Mrs Laborde 10) BZ 65 was also equipped with an radio emitter and receiver, in the passenger area 11) the standard practice for Aéronavale Potez 25 flying over barren North African regions was to carry a spare wheel, on the left side of the fuselage 12) To make the trip more comfortable for the passenger, the rear strapontin was substituted with a full seat, identical to the pilot one 13) the TOEs for the Black and Pink Cruises had a totally different tail skid, to accomodate for the heavier weights and rough filed conditions 14) and last but least, poring over my documentation yesterday, it dawned on me that the landing gear was different from the Lukgraph kit, which represents the Potez LG as used on the Polish versions, whereas the « Cruises » TOEs had an oleo-pneumatic Messier landing gear ! I have been steadily working on designing the required conversion parts in 3D over the last week, but the work is still in progress, and I thought last night than rather than accomodate the v-shaped belly of the Lukgraph kit, on which I would graft the conversion parts, I'd be better off by removing it altogether and then gluing the conversions parts, once I have printed them. So some parts design will be tweaked accordingly. Here I am as of tonight : New radiator Extended fuel tank : Additional belly CFT : Fatter lower cowling : Revised cylinders bank fairings, with extra water tank : Second, passenger, seat : And finally spare wheel : I still have to design the rear belly fairing, the new tailskid, the new Messier undercarriage, the radio sets, the passenger position cover and aperture, and do a general overhaul of my design as I rethink through the conversion procedure. And of course, the plan is to display the finished kit with a few « markers » of the Sahara, like dromedaries (found in 1/32 on the website 3Drifter.com) or a few fuel barrels (which were actually identical to the 70 litres powder kegs of the era, to be in a weight range acceptable for the dromedaries) That's it for now. Ready, set for playing in the Sandbox ! Hubert PS: in case you wonder why I chose the Pink Cruise Potez over the Black Cruise one : a) the concept of a Navy aircraft in the middle of the Sahara was irresistible b) the Aeronavale aircrafts were dark blue-grey on top, and light blue-grey on the undersides, which I prefer a lot to the khaki green of the Armée de l’Air c) i tought it would be easier to cut masks for « BZ 65 » on the sides of the Potez - this last reason being probably a bit spurious

Yellow wing with willow green tail and red chevron on an aluminium fuselage. What a winning combo, and on an amphibian to boot. What’s not to love ? The only criticism I can find is that it’s 1/72 🤣😂🤣 ! It makes me want to start immediately all my yellow wings bipes and 1930 fighters. But then there is the Cutlass to finish, and the Sandbox GB, where I’d like, for once, to finish my entry 🙄 Hubert

Better safe than sorry, and a big and heavy part is probably not the best for experimenting (and possibly failing), but it looks like overkill Hubert

Wow ! That’s A LOT of supports. Were they automatically generated by your slicer software ? Hubert