AW Whitley Mk V, a journey

[Wingco57]

Thanks Chaps,

 

I won't admit that yesterday I ripped the rudders apart again. Ooops,I said it

The top of the rudders slope inward to a relatively sharp end.

 

Mine were too square. So out came the knife and sandpaper again. So the rudders need again covering with alutape. I don't

mind as they will be improved. But where will it end.

A shake and bake kit would be nice sometimes.
Cees

[Matt_]

Cees... great stuff.

 

Each iteration looks better than the last. 

 

"But where will it end." - maybe the journey is as much or more fun than the destination....?

 

Matt

[Wingco57]

Matt,

That's exactly what it is about, the journey itself. What do you do once it's finished?

You start another project.

Figures

Cees

[Dave J]

Cees.. I agree with Kobe!

 

[benjaminsummerfield]

Well worth the effort, third times the charm.

[Grant]

Whoa Cees, that's amazing work and well rescued! Now, fuselage, main wings, undercarriage to go .... easy!

[Wingco57]

Small update (no pics this time yet)

Got very essential information from Alex Kontivis yesterday. His 1/48 build inspired me to do it in our scale.

Very nice guy and a master modeller, thanks Alex. He sent copies of the Air Publication on Whitleys.

Now I have sufficient information on the trimtabs, rudder mass balance and fin root fairings.

Pics soon.

Cees

[James H]

I've had a sneaky peek at the tail surfaces via a discreet iPhone pic from Jeroen, and they look superb. I'm loving this build.

[Grant]

I've had a sneaky peek at the tail surfaces via a discreet iPhone pic from Jeroen, and they look superb. I'm loving this build.

Teaser !!

[Wingco57]

HI all,

 

Time flies, almost a month since the last update. Well phase one of this journey has been completed.

I have just finished the tailplane of the Whitley. They say the devil is in the detail but that is oh so true.

It took me a lot of time studying photographs to see how the fin to tailplane fairings looked like, same

for the trimtab actuators and finally the rudders themselves. Didn't realise that the Whitley used simple

cable operated rudders. What I at first thought to be balance arms are in fact sturdy outriggers where the

steel cables are fitted onto. Through a slot in the fin leading edge they go over a pulley down. Using aluminium

tape is sometime difficult to see things clearly because of the reflection and made me sometimes crosseyed.

 

Thanks to Alex Kontiveis and Elliott Smock from the Whitley Project who provided me with important information.

The Whitley is probably one of the least documented types of RAF Bomber Command.

 

Here are the pics. All I need to do is some cleaning up and a coat of primer. Then what...ah the fuselage.

Well, masters for the fuselage. That's another journey to start. But it's fun.

 

Cheers
Cees

 

 

 

 

 

 

[pfuf]

Fantastic work Cees

[JeroenPeters]

Amazing stuff!! Really impressive scratching.

I guess that when you have an itch... Scratch!!

[Wingco57]

I'm scratching.

Cees

[Grant]

Superb job, Itchy. Really nice and clean.

Cable operated rudders etc? They must have had legs muscles like Samson to operate them.

[Wingco57]

No power assisted controls at the time. I believe the P38J was the first to introduce them.

Cees

[Jamme]

Really great scratch work, Cees.

I love it.

Cheers,

Jamme

[Wingco57]

Thanks chaps,

 

It itched so badly I had to scratch

 

This evening I sprayed the parts with a first coat of dark grey paint. It really blends in the various materials. I am very

very pleased how the rib tapes turned out. They are very subtle, as they should be. The coat of paint also revealed

that some more polishing need to be done as scratches and sanding marks are evident, but nothing major. That's

the purpose of that paintcoat after all.

 

Here are the pics, the parts are sitting on the next phase of this journey, the balsa beams from which i hopefully

can whittle some fuselage masters. But that another story.

 

Cheers

Cees

 

 

 

 

[harvey boyer]

Looks really good! Can't wait to see more.....Harv

[Jamme]

Great, Cees.

Chhers,

Jamme

[James H]

What's the overall size of this when complete? That tail looks awesome.

[Wingco57]

Span of the tailplane is 26 cm (without the fuselage width) height 10 cm. Total fuselage lenght

Is about 75 cm, it will be huge. i try not to think about where to put it.

Cees

[GAJouette]

  Cees,

Can't think of anything to say other than AWESOME. Beautiful scratch building my friend.

Highest Regards,

Gregory Jouette

[Dave J]

Looking Great Cees! I wish I had that talent to build what ever I wanted!

[Wingco57]

Dave,

You do, just start and take it from there.

If I can do it. That's why I chose the title:a journey

Just to see what's possible.

Cees

[Wingco57]

With all that wood going on here I wood like to chip in with some Balsa.

 

The rough shape has been cut out, time to chop some wood, wood I?

 

Cheers

Cees