Contrail 1/72 Vac-form Handley Page HP-42

Primered  the underside of the wing and the tail unit.This baby has serious wingspan!Good thing I bought the large bottle of neutral gray!    

Laid down some more yellow today!    

Laid down some flat Earth!Next up the green cammo!   

I painted the cammo pattern free-hand with my Thayer & Chandler double-action Vega airbrush.One of my favorites pars of modeling!        

Keep the updates coming, Philo, I'm looking forward to more!

m@

Will do!

Cammoed the fuselage  today! Lookin' good!       

Took off the masking tape today,Sure looks like the waterline of a ship,does it not?     

Philo she's coming along nicely!!! Looking better all the time!!!

Added decals to the top wing.Luckily they are still good!       

Added a couple more decals.Decided to call it Heracles!  

Today I started the process of attaching the top wing.I used 2-part epoxy to attach the outer wing struts as well as the engine to lower wing struts.I will have to obtain more strut material to custom fit the engine to fuselage struts as well as fabricate some extensions to allow the shorter struts to reach the top wing. Here is a pic  

This thing has 20 stuts! THe wing feels as solid as a rock!  

My God in heaven. This thing actually ... flew???

It flew great!Look on youtube and type in Handley Page HP-42.They have take-off footage that shows it leaping into the air!That huge top wing really made it stable!

Ok after a long delay I've re-started this project.I painted and black washed the engines and painted the props to represent mahogany. Here is a pic.  

I was also able to make all of the struts touch the top wing!    

Ok after a long delay I've re-started this project.I painted and black washed the engines and painted the props to represent mahogany. Here is a pic.  

Looking good philo, on th ehome stretch now!!!

Gettin'there! Next up i have to install the landing gear after i make the exhaust pipes.

i decided to use heavy gauge,solid core wiring for the exhaust pipes.The wire is the right diameter and when I stripped off the insulation on the end it plugged right into the hole that I drilled in the engine block.      

landing gear lunacy! I had to make,prime and paint 2 more braces for the landing gear out of brass tubing.I swear Handley-Page built this thing like a tank!     

I still have to make the fender mounts but I stuck the wheels on and propped the back with a Lego brick.Lookin' good! 

Had to make the fender braces out of thin brass strip!Came out pretty well.  

I finally was able to resume work on this beast.I mounted up the wheels.Next up:Prepare the tail assembly for installation     

I attached the tail unit today using 5-minute epoxy.The extended set time allowed me to adjust the fit.  

Now its starting to come together!    

Painted and installed the tail wheel today.Man this is one heavy model!    

I mounted up the lower engines today and placed the props for the photos. I won't up the upper engines until all of the other work is done.