Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Airfix Handley Page 0400

Been on and off this for about a year. I estimate I have spent over a hundred hours on completing this kit. These had a crew of 3-5 and a top speed of about 100mph fully loaded. Operational by late 1916, they served throughout WW1, and was later used by several countries, including China



Several parts were quite rough, bent, twisted, or in the case of the wing-strut-thingy below, missing



Here it is minus its crew and payload







Most of the rigging went slack when I applied the spray under-coat, the paint sort of melted the wire. I have tightened it where I could but there are still a few strands that are a bit loose 


The crew. Only the forward gunner is original, 


The pilot is from an old Monogram kit


Mid-upper gunner is from Airfix



Undercarriage and payload





Decals are from what I had lying around, the originals all broke into pieces when I put them in water; I hate decals :)




Invented paint scheme. This model will certainly see tabletop action at some stage. This was an extremely difficult kit to build owing to vague instructions, missing parts and my unfamiliarity with rigging such a large model. Still, I am happy with the overall outcome and very pleased to have it in my collection. 

16 comments:

  1. I can easily appreciate the amount of hard graft this kit has taken .. lovely job, well done!!
    R

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  2. really good job, many compliments!
    bye

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  3. Awesome example of lumbering English Death from on High!
    I agree with you on the decals. Once they get old and dry out they have had it. No problems with the current generation of decals though.
    Cheers
    Col

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  4. I love this kit. Great work on it. Mine never made it to the painted stage.

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  5. Mate! Well done Al. Well done indeed.

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  6. Stunning, a big biplane bomber has a certain presence.

    Cheers,

    Pete.

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  7. 100 hours of work put into this! Well thats the best value for money kit I have ever thrown your way mate.

    Are you still cursing me?

    Nice job mate. Well worth the misery mate.

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  8. Fantastic final result Al! I think I would have biffed the thing way before 100 hours!

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  9. What a fantastic finish! Well done Al - not a kit I ever want to tackle.

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  11. Great work, great looking model.
    These old style machines it is something ...
    Merry Christmas, I wish, at this same time

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  12. I hope you have somewhere VERY safe to keep it. I admire your dedication.

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  13. You've done a great job there - very impressive.

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  14. Surely they'd have flown in flights of three? Only joking!
    Fantastic job...

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  15. Thanks for the comments gang. A hundred hours may be a bit of an exaggeration, but the rigging alone took the first two seasons of Game of Thrones :)

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