Greg Davis

Starboard planking smoothed!

Completed the starboard planking this evening. Everything worked out well - same number of planks on each side! Hopefully there will be some nice weather coming this week so that I can sit outside and sand the planking smooth. I prefer to do the major sanding out of the house and with the wind at my back! I don't think it will take very long as I was able to lay the 1mm x 4mm x 80mm planks quite tight to the hull. I would have preferred for the material to be a little more uniform in color; however, the variation is much less noticeable to my eye than it is in the photographs.

I appreciate your evaluation and I hope that my final result does not pale too much in comparison to your 'Eagle of Algier'. I've looked through your log quite a few times for inspiration!

I totally agree - they just look fast!

Made some good progress - there has been a spring snow storm here, so more modeling time than usual!

Earlier today I was able to hang my latest finished model - the Santos-Dumont 14 Bis airplane in my office / workroom. So I got some space back to do other tasks, and started the second planking of the starboard for the Sciabecco model.

One last picture - I've hung the Santos-Dumont 14Bis in the corner of my office / workroom. As it attempts to fly out the corner of the room, the model should be safe here and easy to view.

Thank you very much for the compliments and all the posts that you made thru the building, they really helped me think about how the project would unfold. For a machine with such a short 'life', it sure had quite a few configurations. I think that what came out of the build was the middle of the variants - the shortened propeller mount, but not the ailerons. It's certainly not a perfect piece of work and I hope others will see my modeling shortcomings and perhaps get closer to the 'perfect' miniature. Actually, it might make a really good scratch build project, short of the engine most of the build could be accomplished without a great deal of trouble just having the plans. On the other hand, I saw Model Expo selling the model for $99 recently which is not bad for anyone to give it a try!

Ron - Thanks, and I hope you consider creating a build log as well. Greg

The model is now completed! Overhead view: Three-quarter view: Another shot of the engine / cockpit region: I want to thank everyone that has been following the progress on this model for all of your support. All the best, Greg

Today's main task was getting the tail support in place. I got the bamboo supports glued and tied in place. Took a little thinking on how I might clamp the lower ends together in preparation for the skid. Finally placed a washer over the two pieces to hold them in place. They were spot glued with CA. After it was dry, I cut a half round into the joint for the skid to sit in. The kit supplies brass wire for the skid. I think the brass wire is not stiff enough to hold the plane up nicely over time. So I have substituted piano wire for the piece. It is spot glued as of this picture. Next it will be wrapped, along with the lower portion of the bamboo, with thread. Once that is done, A small amount of rigging will be added to support the entire assembly.

George - While plywood doesn't have as much grain problems as if they made them from basswood, they are still more fragile than I like. If the mounts break again, consider remaking them from some styrene. One of the problems I faced installing the mounts at first was that I failed to angle them in enough. But after playing with the brass straps, I think that getting the straps on first is the way to go. Did you notice that the kit supplied mounts have notches for the brass straps - but they seem to have been made on the top of the mounts instead of the bottom (where I think they should have been)? I've got the display down to two possible locations in my workroom - either on the wall behind my computer desk or hanging in one of the corners of the room. My wife says there is a corner of the family room that it could go in if I want! As soon as the wings were attached, the model got BIG. I am also having some issues with the final assembly because of that. If I happen to get done before you, feel free to continue to post questions. I'll be checking periodically. Otherwise, you can just message me via MSW. Greg

I've just added the fuel tank and fuel line to the engine. Getting the tank in place was harder than expected. At first I attached the mounts to the plane and then attempted to add the tank - this was a fail. I took the mounts off, wrapped the tank and mounts with the brass straps and then put the whole structure in place - this eventually worked out for me. The fuel line was then added to finish this portion of the build. I think it would have been just as easy (and more realistic) to have formed the tank supports from wire and/or had them supplied as castings. I've also added the radiators, the propeller, and the upper wing middle rib. I believe that all that is left now is the landing gear - the wheels, the tail skid, and the wing skids.

Yesterday I added numerous pieces of photo-etched brass to the wings. These pieces form anchor points for the bracing lines. Unfortunately, these pieces are not noted in the instruction booklet (they should have been noted on p32 within the 'Metal Parts List') nor are they drawn in the master plan. If you look carefully at the photos on Model Expo you will be able to find a few of them! There are 12 on each wing. They get bent over the wing panels as close to the inside of spars that can be achieved. At first I had some issue with bending them so the two holes would align. I solved the problem by making a starting bend of the piece, putting them over the appropriate rib, pushing a short piece of music wire through the holes to align them, and then pulling the ends together with pliers. Today I spent time getting a good start on the wing bracing. I was able to do all the bracing on the left wing. If I keep focused on this project, it should be done soon. The remaining to-do list is just a handful of (hopefully straightforward tasks): Right wing bracing Wing landing skids and bracing Tail support skid and bracing Attach wheels Fuel tank and fuel line Radiators Propeller I've made a final decision to not include ailerons on my model.

I've finished the 2nd planking of the port side. I was hoping not to need any stealers, but it turned out that one was required. If the kit had come with wider material for the garboard (or I had matching wood available), then I could have done the planking stealer free. Either way it's looking good to me.

The first belt on the port side is done. It should look nice once it is smoothed and a finish is applied. Time to mark out the lower belt and continue on.

Thank you for providing this link. I am grateful for your interest in the craft and willingness to share. However, I am not sure of the information presented in the document - I really wish that there had been references included. My comments below are not meant to discredit, but to critically question the translation (I don't read French either!) in light of other information that I have gathered. I have not run across other information noting any collaboration with Voison, I believe that they were actually competitors. As translations can sometimes go astray, I wonder if some comparison was being made to Voison's 1905 glider that was (like the No 18 during testing) pulled by a racing motor boat on the Seine. I am still looking for additional sources that would validate 'three floats built by Lachambre'. My impression, from the sources that I have read, imply that work on his crafts were done by a group of builders / mechanics that were long-term hires by Santos-Dumont. There are not many contemporary written in English about the No18, but here are a couple printed in Scientific American from October 1907. In neither case is the No 18 portrayed as a plane; it is clearly portrayed as a boat. The 'driver' is described as helmsman - a term typically used for the person controlling a ship or boat. The hydrofoils are referred to as wings - perhaps that is what wings in the translation refer to. I certainly will not forget what you have shared and should I find evidence in support of the translation I will immediately pass it on. Thanks again, Greg

Do you think that this is true to the prototype or a more modern control solution? Before watching this video, I had conjectured that the original ailerons were connected to two cables opposed to one cable and a spring.

George - The tank supports and the radiators are laser cut on the same sheet of wood that the canard support attachments to the fuselage were - since you have the supports Sup1 and Sup 2 on your model, I'm sure you have the other parts. For me, the laser cutting of the radiators is a highpoint of the kit - I'm just hoping I can release them from the sheet without damage.

I have not seen a picture and / or diagram depicting the aileron control system. Like you, all that I have found is the verbal description of lines being connected to his coat and body movement would then translate into aileron movement. If I do locate additional information I will share!

Maybe a scratch build project!

I used single strips of wood for the first three strakes below the sheer. This area of the ship will be pierced by a large number of holes - gun ports and oar ports. There will also be two half round moldings added to this section. Because of all the additions (and subtractions) I thought the planking would hold up better with a minimal number of butt joints in the region. Also, with the 'business' of this region, the joints will likely not be missed from a visual perspective. Now moving down the hull, I've marked out two planking belts. Each will accommodate 9 strakes. These are being set in with 8cm long planks. Typical strakes will have 5 planks each of the 4mm wide planking material provided in the kit. The supplied wood is quite nice, a great feature of the kit.

By 1910 (in his mid-thirties) SD's health was starting to fail, symptoms and then diagnosis of multiple sclerosis - Its also suspected that SD suffered from bipolar disorder. The last 20 years of his life don't seem to have been particularly good ones. Its clear he had a level of regret that planes were so quickly weaponized. If times and his health had been better, I expect he would have continued his exception line of applied research. Very sad as to how he went from such great highs in the early 1900's to committing suicide in 1932.

I don't know, his next plane the No.15 had a similar bi-plane large dihedral wing system and now the box canard was in the rear and the propulsion changer from pusher to tractor. He also lowered his center of gravity by sitting just on top of the bottom wing. This plane wasn't successful, perhaps due to an extremely narrow wing chord - reportedly about 2ft - that couldn't have produced a great deal of lift at the low speed possible by the craft. Perhaps this was why it didn't successfully fly. His next airplane the No.17 is reported to have been similar to the No.15 and is not well documented. It is claimed that this plane went untested. His final sequence of planes - the Demoiselle sequence - were all small monoplanes where the pilot sat over the landing gear under the wing. This was clearly his most successful design - I feel it has a number of 'modern' aspects to it. I have no idea if the design is all his and/or it was a natural assimilation of current designs. It is also impressive that he let plans for the Demoiselle be published (in Popular Mechanics) so anyone interested could build one. I understand that the Demoiselle plans are the only SD plans that exist, the rest having been destroyed after the French had accused him of operating as a German spy. This picture shows Santos-Dumont with one of the later Demoiselles (with a pretty nice prop!).

Today I decided to permanently attach the wing panels This is completely out of order from the instructions - I hope its not a bad idea, but I just 'felt' it was time! The instructions suggest that the landing skids are first attached to the wings and the fuselage as well as the wheels. Then, to set the dihedral 1.5cm shims are to be put under the wing skids. This minimally assumes that the skids are both the same length and don't flex to much when being used as supports. Here I have set the dihedral using a pair of 1-2-3 blocks while the fuselage / canard assembly sits solidly on the work space. The downside is that the whole structure now becomes more unwieldy as the time comes to adding the skids and other objects. I'll also be adding bamboo diagonal reinforcements to installed wings at a time I can't move the structures as freely. The way I interpret the instructions, wing rigging was to be done before wing installation. I don't think that it will be that problematic to add it with wings in place - certainly not as challenging as rigging a ship. As George alluded to, once the wings are added the model does take up a good deal of space. So now I'm back to the question: where does this thing go when its done? My wife thinks it would look good hanging from the ceiling and I'm thinking a flat mount onto a wall could be interesting.