HubertB

So, this is my entry in the Sandbox Group Build. This is quite a first, as it is the first time EVER that I complete a kit within the time frame. This is also my first completed build of the year, a sign that I could focus on modelling lately, after a beginning of the year under major clouds on the family health side. I can say that I had a blast throughout this build, which seems apt for a "sand" theme . I have explained in the background history in the build thread, the genesis of the so-called "pink cruise", a nickname that was invented when Admiral de Laborde took his wife with him, to lead a three-aircrafts flight from Bizerte in Tunisia to Tumbuctu, "replying" to the "Black Cruise" that took place one year before to celebrate the birth of the French Air Force as an independant Corps, also using the workhorse of the time, the Potez 25. I started from the Lukgraph 1/32 resin kit, but it represents, with some mistakes by-the-way, the "A2" version. The "TOE" (for Théâtre d'Opérations Extérieures ) was quite different, and I embarked on a significant conversion work, using parts I designed and printed in the process. The detailed build thread is here : The concept of having Navy aircrafts, with their "fish-hook" on the roundels, and somewhere in the Sahara was already irressitible. But I found pictures of the local fuel replenishments in the Sahara, where the "bowsers" had four legs and a hump. So I had to show this, as I had to show Countess de Laborde with her husband. As a final comment, Admiral Laborde's "BZ 65" carried his admiral 4-star penant on the fin, so that made "BZ 65" a true Blue Goose aircraft as well. Now, on to the pics. They were taken outside this afternoon. The shadows are strong, but somewhat low. And you may have a glimpse of a cork-tree, which is totally irrelevant for a desert setting (sorry about that) One final note. The French organised a network of roads and airfields at regular intervals in the Sahara in the 20s and 30s. Some were significant, with shelters, fuel pumps for cars AND aircrafts, etc. Some were more spartan, but a characteristic of the French airfields in the Sahara was the windsock visible on many pictures of the time. So, I had to have a windsock ! I designed one and printed it in transparent resin. it was then painted with light coats of red and and white, before receiving a general mist of sand ... I feel pretty happy about the effect achieved on the windsock : I hope you like it Thanks again for your interest and support throughout the build. Hubert

Thank you all for following along my trans-saharian trip into madness. I thought I'd add some shots of the last details before closing the build ... The windmill generator and mudguard have been added on each side ... The pushrods fro the ailerons were added from 0.2 mm nickel-silver rod. The "park-bench" aileron compensators were a PITA to install, but submitted to persistant swearing and gluing 🤣 @DocRob, yes the French Navy Potez overflying the Sahara were taking a spare wheel. I thought the feature pretty irresistible. But installing the spare wheel as per original, using EZ Line was even more a PITA than the "park-bench" aileron compensators. This bloody thing has a way of snaking around that can be pretty irritating, especially when you are trying to tie it in the middle of the rigging ... By the way, I had repainted the wheel-centers from dark blue grey to silver, as the pics seemed to indicate this was the color, rather than the DBG shown on some profiles. I also added the fuel line, connecting the main tank, the supplementary tank and going into the fuselage to the engine. That's about it ... So is it finished yet ? The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind ... See you in RFI Hubert

I mopped (but did not wipe) the excess paint from the spill with a paper handkerchief. Wiping the paint woudl have resulted in the base color being removed as well. Then, when dry, I rubbed the areas of the spill with a fiberglass pen, before respraying the damaged araes with aluminium. There are some areas which have kept a very slight grain effect under the aluminium paint, but it adds texture and interest to the aluminium IMHO. Hubert

You stole my words, Martin ! Hubert

What I did was to lightly mop up (but not wipe) the excess paint with a paper handkerchief. Wiping it would have resulted in a greater disaster as the base paint was stripped in the same time. When all was dry, I then buffed the spill areas with a fiberglass pen, before respraying the whole in aluminium. There is still a slightly grainy feel under some of the repainted areas of the cowling, but it does add an interesting texture to the aluminium, IMHO. Hubert

Whilst in practical terms, ordering a kit or buying a gift card is the same, it is not the same in symbolic terms IMHO. Hence my preference for exchanging with the winner about what he wants, and placing the order for him/her. Hubert

And the Potez is finished (well, 99.8 % ) ! Another milestone crossed tonight ! The assembly of the Potez is finished. I just need to do one or two touch-ups of dark blue grey and semi-matt, and I will call it done. Now to organise everything on the base, to put the Potez in the "pink cruise" perspective ... Some shots for tonight. More beauty shots when I have daylight, and most likely when everything is set up. I hope you like it. Hubert

I will participate. As I find the gift card very impersonal, i will add a tweak, jumping on Ernie’s idea: If the winner lives within the EU, I will ship a kit from my stash, from a short list I will supply to the winner. If the winner is outside the EU, I will order the kit or supplies the winner chooses (within the price limits set by Ernie in his roolz), from a local supplier. Why go the complication ? If you bear with me, it will, IMHO: 1) allow to have a real exchange with the winner, rather than the sometimes impersonal - or absent - mssages about « give me your address ». 2) avoid the « stash queen » feeling, or the faux-pas of sending the receiver something he will never build (like me with Nazi planes for instance) 3) make sure the winner gets something he/she really desires … For potential EU winners. my stash is full of desirable (in my view) kits, but be aware it’s mostly resin and off-beat subjects. But I have one Tamiya Spitfire 😂, and some other IM rarities ! Hubert

Got myself a DSPIAE linear sander. As usual with them, a nice and well built item, well packed, and well thought out. It is a cordless item, with a battery autonomy of about 100 minutes, rechargeable through a USB cable. You get a number of different heads to adapt to different shapes and areas, and a number os self-adhesive pads in different sandpaper grits. I bought it on Ali Express, and it was both cheap and fast. Hubert

Return to El Golea ... If the "Black Cruise" was a major logistics undertaking, Admiral Laborde's "Pink Cruise" one year later was a lot simpler. Yet it was a surprisingly glitch-free trip, considering the technological advances of the time and the countries and areas it took place in. It experienced only one small setback : after taking off from El Golea, in the Sahara, one aircraft developed some engine troubles, and the flight of three aircrafts had to return to El Golea to proceed with repairs on the faulty engine. Admiral Laborde was not a very patient man. In 1926, when CO of the brand new aircraft carrier Béarn, he got upset as the tugs supposed to haul the Béarn out of the port of La Seyne - where Béarn had been built - for its maiden cruise were late. He decided to order the manoeuvers to get the Béarn leaving the port on its own, without the assistance of the tugs. The manoeuver was successfull, if risky, and earned him a strong reputatioon of excellent seamanship. So, needless to say, he was a bit pissed off by the two-days setback to the trip the returnto El Golea meant. There is a photograph where he is ostensibly showing his back to the photographer, to express his displeasure. Well, I experienced my own "return to El Golea" on this build. When doing the fitting trials for the interwing struts, I found out my jig was completely out-of whack with the struts I had designed, placing the upper wing too high, and the angle of the struts was all wrong as well ... Trying to understand the issue, I found that I had done a double mistake . First, in spite of writing down the distance between the struts and the lower sesquiplane wing root, I had managed to report it one centimeter too far to the outside of the sesquiplane ! And then, I had also added 15 mm too much in the design of the struts, making them definitely too long ! Kevin was right : that day, the bad half brain was in command ! Anyhow, this meant I had to redrill new position holes for the struts more inboard, and pull out the eyelets to replace everyting in the right position. Some eyelets just did not give way, and had to be snipped at their root on the wing ... This meant I had to putty and resand the old holes Well anyway, I had to rework the wing root area. The fit there was less than stellar, and that meant more puttying to close the visible chasms, and subsequent sanding ... New struts were designed and printed. The pic below shows the difference in length between the old struts (lower) and the new ones (upper) ... and then Mr Clumsy struck ! So, this morning, I was ready for a repaint of the areas where the paint had been sanded away. I took the opportunity to also repaint the leading edges of both wings. Since the beginning, I was not too sure about the demarcation between the light blue grey of the underwings and the dark blue grey of the upper wing. When poring over the photos again, I finally realised that the dark blue grey was overlapping slightly the underwing. So some more masking to repaint everything ... MRP paints are fantastic in that no thinning is necessary. But this also means that they contain a high percentage of lacquer thinner, which is not an issue in itself when you spray the paint, as the thinner evaporates quickly. However, be careful not to spill any on a painted area, as the drop will immediately eat up the paint underneath. And of course, this is exactly what I did when repainting some areas on the wings and fuselage this morning. I forgot to put the cover of the paint cup on the airbrush, and a a clumsy movement resulted in most of the content of the cup spilling on the poor Potez . The NMF nose got an unvoluntary new paint job ... OK. That can be repaired. The ridges of the paint have been sanded with a fiberglass pen, and I should be able to respray some aluminium tomorrow. But, it means new masking, and everytime I remask the Potez, I run the risk of lifting some of the Archer rivets I have applied on the nose and wing ribs (ask me how I know ). Which means some more touching-up and repainting ... And, as both the light blue grey and the dark blue grey are special mixes, I am now running short of them. I have about 3 or 4 ml left of each. 1 ml of MRP will go a long way, but I cannot afford anymore mishaps without redoing some ad-hoc mixes, which I'd rather avoid ... Needless to say, Admiral Laborde is pissed with me tonight, and he shows it Better Hubert

I was going to ask : is this the result of a « shake and bake » kit 😳 ? Hubert

Well, the title says it all. I know that the skyrocketing postage costs make the generosity of the raffle less and less affordable, but it is still a nice initiative to keep the bond of the forum going … What fo you say ? Hubert

Dang, you're right about PET bottles ! I looked at the shape and color of the bottels and thought "PVC" (which would become hazy from the sand blast. Hubert

Exactly ! It's pending projects. Hubert

Isn't it what ALL insurance companies do ? "Give me an example of the use of the word "insurance" ... - Once you have subscribed the contract and paid it, you have the insurance of being screwed in every possible way ! Yes, A++ for your understanding of vocabulary" HUbert

Nice Rob 👍 ! Personally, I’d add more grass, not just around the threaded rod, to justify that the drone is hovering in the middle a kind of edge, not just THE piece of grass in the neighborhood … Just my Hubert PS: and the plastic bottles should be « sand-blasted » as well, at least the ones exposed to the stream …

Sorry for the misleading moniker (memory and age don’t go together harmoniously ). It’s a machinist’s angle block. Here is the link : https://micromark.com/collections/mini-hand-tools/products/1-x-1-x-1-inch-angle-plate Hubert

Hi. Sorry I cannot really help you on the Hataka lacquers, but I’d try in a separate container before filling the airbrush cup. What I can tell you is that I I used some Hataka acrylics to airbrush the highlights of my Potez 25 - in the case I goofed the paint job, I could wipe it off on the MRP / Tamiya X-22 lacquer base - and thinned them with Tamiya X20 acrylic thinner. I could finish the paint job, but I found it left a gooey mess in my airbrush, which it almost clogged completely and which I spent an hour cleaning this morning. But then acrylics can react funnily with chemicals when water works just fine … I’d also try Tamiya Lacquer Thinner in case Mr Levelling Thinner dose not work. Hubert

Looking good Gus. It was a good-looking airframe, with neat, simple lines, just like the Hawker Seahawk. It’s a pity Supermarine missed the idea of a tricycle undercarriage… Hubert

Thank you Kevin. I retired on July 1st 2022, but still owned the company, although I nominated my right-hand as General Manager since October 22. He is now a full owner, and me a full retiree. As for the Potez, I am now on the home stretch. I should start the rigging on Tuesday, and hopefully finish it by next week-end. Hubert

MicroMark still sell these "engineering blocks" ... Hubert

Nice try, Scott, but I am not putting my finger into this pot of jam, no, no, no ... Hubert

A small hop for modelling, but a big leap for Potez ... she's grown wings Limited progress this week. I had to have a quick trip to France, which put modelling on the back burner. But I am now officially retired, including as a company owner . I signed the sale of the company, and to boot, I sold it to the man who seconded me throughout all the years, which makes me even happier to see the sale come to fruition, because he truly deserved it. Ok, back to the Potez. I did do the small touchups of the right fishhook / anchor on the top wing after the near disaster of laying the decal, then sealed all the decals with a coat of Tamiya X-22. When this was done, I proceeded to do some more highlighting / weathering / sand-dusting of the Potez, before sealing the whole again, this time under a coat of MRP semi-matte. I'm not 100 % sure about this one, as I feel the effects I had built up seemed to have vanished a bit under the last coat of varnish. To do the weathering / highlighting, I sprayed a slightly lighter shade of grey - that makes only 3, or 4 if you count the wheels, in total, not 50 - on the ribs of the top surfaces, as on the top fuselage. I then used blue-grey and light brown pastel chalks to further enhance the highlighting, rubbing the grey chalk on the upper surfaces (the ribs and the top fuselage), and the sand chalk on the lower surfaces, and then blending it in the surface with a stiff flat brush. I also added some sand chalk on the lower part of the rudder, who most likely was receiving the dust generated by the landings and take-offs on the sand "runways". Anyway, on to the pics : The fuselage, with the rudder and elevators : You may note the lower part of the "BZ65" number is slightly yellowed by the desert sand as well ... ... as is the belly and underside, where the effect is heavier, logically : The lower sesquiplane wing and undersurfaces of the elevators, before the application of the semi-mette varnish : The upper wing with the highlighted ribs : This one below is slightly out of focus nearer to the camera, but it also shows the starkness of the roundels and fishhooks has been toned down and blended into the general dusting effect (ditto for the lower wings, btw) And then came the time to glue the lower sesquiplane. The tube spars I had added worked as planned And I knew there was a reason I kept these Humbrol tins for 35 years 🤣 The top wing is just posed on the upper cabane struts jig : ... But it proves the landing gear is strong enough to withstand the weight of the Potez kit. The loaded weight of the Potez 25 TOE was about 2 500 Kg, which should result in a 1/32 scale weight of about 76 grams ... The kit is about 4.5 times heavier than that ... ... and the one above shows the modulation and highlighting I did much better. I have also worked on the windmilling generators. Lukgraph proposes some "propeller blades" on the PE sheet for those, but I am struggling to understand the fitting of these asymetric shapes, one blade being "fat" when the other is definitely "slim". So I put to a better use the PE "turnbuckles" supplied by Lukgraph converting them to emulate the windmilling wings. A bit of filing and twisting, et voilà ! I will now let the 5-minute epoxy of the lower sequiplane cure overnight before moving on to the upper wing. But before that, before the upper wing makes handling the Potez a perilous exercise, I will have to find the way of affixing the spare wheel on the left side of the aircraft ... TTFN Hubert

Another one to follow … FYI, « Le Train » is the title of a French film telling the story of the mass arrest of Jews in the « Rafle du Vel D’Hiv » in France in 1942, and their subsequent deportation to Auschwitz / Birkenau … Your thread title just jumped at me for that reason … Hubert

Great progress John ! You're not trying to replicate the Karman fairing at the rear of the wing root ? Hubert