De Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth by ccoyle - FINISHED - Kartonowa Kolekcja - 1/33 - CARD - British two-seat trainer of 1931

[ccoyle]

Hello, gang!

 

Well, it didn't take me very long to decide on my next project. No, it's not a ship, though I feel a ship will be in the queue in the near future. I still feel some plane-liness left in my bones, and I'm a firm believer in building whatever strikes your fancy the most at the moment. I've always had a soft spot for biplanes and interwar types, so this plane ticks both of those boxes, and -- bonus! -- it doesn't have a radial engine.

 

The project is a De Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth, a British two-seat trainer that first flew in 1931. From 1931-44, De Havilland built 8,868 examples, of which an estimated 250 are still flying today. Although fully aerobatic, the Tiger Moth had a whopping top speed of 109 mph -- roughly 200 mph slower than my last project, the Ki-43. The kit is a 2013 offering from Kartonowa Kolekcja (which translates as Cardboard Collection), designed by Pawel Mistewicz, and includes KK's usual level of crisp artwork and detailed construction drawings. This will be my third KK project, and so far I've never had to abandon a KK build.

 

As usual, the KK kit has a beautiful glossy cover with some nice artwork; the back cover features photos of the prototype model.

 

I absolutely love the striking coloring on this particular aircraft. Several surviving examples can be found online wearing similar livery. The kit has many optional parts, allowing the builder to choose the level of detailing.

 

Lots of nice diagrams.

 

Also a great three-view included.

 

As I like to do whenever possible, I purchased the laser-cut frames set for the kit, which in this case consists of a single sheet. No molded canopy, though, because most Tiger Moths, like this one, had only wind screens.

 

Construction will commence with the necessary prep work: stiffening the laser-cut frames and mixing up the proper edge colors. Look for construction photos soon!

[Danstream]

Great choice of a very graceful biplane. I will be following also this one.

Dan.

[Egilman]

I'm here brother...

[Old Collingwood]

Seen a few of these at airshows  - very graceful planes.

 

OC.

[Canute]

Beautiful biplane. I'm in, too.

[ccoyle]

Construction begins with cockpit framing. One lesson I've learned over the years (and have had regularly, sometimes painfully, reinforced) is that laser-cut frames are not a cure-all -- one can't simply throw them together and expect everything to turn out right. In this instance (as often happens), it proved necessary to trim away most of the plain card structural parts, leaving only the colored portions to laminate onto the laser-cut bits, in order to maintain the correct thickness of the finished parts. Even then, some of the tabs needed to be thinned by having a layer of paper fibers cut away, so that the tabs would fit easily into their slots.

 

Before gluing in the bulkheads, I opted to add the optional doubling parts to create more 3D-looking control levers -- an extra 11 parts.

 

[Rail and Tie]

Very interesting build project. I love what you are doing with it.

 

Slot and tab construction. While I love it and use it quite often in our own kits, I have come to learn that moisture levels, "nominal milled thickness" and precision fit, can all work against each other.  For example we use a lot of 1/32 and 1/16 basswood sheet which varies in thickness from the mill by as much as 1/64 or more. While that does not seem like a lot for wood, it is a lot when it comes to a precise laser cut slot!

 

Looks like you are overcoming these minor roadblocks though.  

 

Happy Modeling and very much enjoying this thread so far.

 

BTW, the Tiger Moth is one of my top 3 favorite aircraft of all time! My uncle was an instructor in the RCAF and spent a lot if time around them. I have most of an instrument set, compass, and propeller that I covet!

Edited November 11, 2021 by Rail and Tie

[ccoyle]

8 hours ago, Rail and Tie said:

While that does not seem like a lot for wood, it is a lot when it comes to a precise laser cut slot!

 

Yep, and I'm sure that the process produces the same issues with tolerance when card is the medium. Happily, as I have written about elsewhere, the nature of card stock, i.e. multiple layers of paper fiber, makes it relatively easy to remove material when necessary.

 

9 hours ago, Rail and Tie said:

BTW, the Tiger Moth is one of my top 3 favorite aircraft of all time!

 

I love interwar biplanes and sport planes. A designer could spend a lifetime solely designing kits of all the aircraft that used the Gipsy series of engines. I have a Stampe-Vertongen SV.4 in my stash and briefly toyed with the idea of doing another 2-for-1 build featuring it and the DH.82.

 

Cheers!

[ccoyle]

Some more progress. First, a shot of the cockpit interior, which will never be this visible again after this.

 

 

Next, the completed fuselage framing.

 

 

And finally, the first exterior skin is applied. See if you can spot the doubled parts.

 

 

Next up will be the upper fuselage skins, which will be quite a bit trickier.

 

Cheers!

[mtaylor]

Doubled parts?  Looks like on the bottom.  No sure what they are but a nice detail.  Looks like it's becoming another one of your card masterpieces.

[lmagna]

Your work in this medium is impressive Chris. If I was to try, I would end up with something that would look like I made it in Kindergarten and my mother would have to accept and put on the refrigerator. At least until my next creation needed the space.  

[Danstream]

Hi Chris, are the laser cut frames made of plywood? Have you already colored the edges? Cockpit looks great.

Cheers,

Dan.

[ccoyle]

4 hours ago, lmagna said:

If I was to try, I would end up with something that would look like I made it in Kindergarten and my mother would have to accept and put on the refrigerator.

 

We all gotta start somewhere!

 

4 hours ago, Danstream said:

 are the laser cut frames made of plywood? Have you already colored the edges?

 

Not plywood -- some kind of cardboard. I'm not sure what we would call it on this side of the pond. It's made out of layers of fiber, like card stock, but not as dense. And yes, all necessary edge coloring has been done to this point.

[mtaylor]

6 hours ago, ccoyle said:

Not plywood -- some kind of cardboard. I'm not sure what we would call it on this side of the pond. It's made out of layers of fiber, like card stock, but not as dense. And yes, all necessary edge coloring has been done to this point.

Sounds like some sort of fiberboard.....

[ccoyle]

7 minutes ago, mtaylor said:

Sounds like some sort of fiberboard.....

 

Not what's known as fiberboard in the U.S., which is made out of wood fiber instead of wood pulp.

[CDW]

The vibrant colors of the model look amazing. Very well done.

[ccoyle]

@0Seahorse might know the answer. Tomek, what do you guys call the material that is used for laser-cut frames in card model kits? The closest thing I can come up with in English is mat board, but I don't that is actually what it is.

[lmagna]

I think that in some circles it is referred to as Card Stock and normally refers to paper used for structural use rather than writing or printing.

[Canute]

Some kits have something they call laser board. It's pretty thin; parts cut by laser are pretty delicate until properly assembled into its final configuration. It's pretty thin. I've used it as support structures for storage bins.

I just bought a kit from Interactions Hobbies https://www.interactionhobbies.com/,  the Pork Store, and he calls it resin impregnated board in his instructions. By the way, it's Satriale's Pork Store from the Sopranos series.

 

And the owner is building a small boat of his own development in the Present Day Ships in kits forum. He utilizes basswood and polybak in the kit.

Edited November 16, 2021 by Canute

[Keith Black]

 Sorry, I got to this party a bit late. A thumbs up to all post back to the beginning. 

Edited November 16, 2021 by Keith Black

[0Seahorse]

16 hours ago, ccoyle said:

@0Seahorse might know the answer. Tomek, what do you guys call the material that is used for laser-cut frames in card model kits? The closest thing I can come up with in English is mat board, but I don't that is actually what it is.

The popular name in Poland is "birmata" (beermat), because it is used to make colorful coasters for beer mugs. There are certainly many manufacturers and the available thicknesses are from 0.75 to even 3 mm. Here is an example of the Finnish producer Pankakoski Mill Oy, and this type of cardboard is "PankaDisc". There is even a specification in PDF.

 

https://www.pankaboard.com/categories/specialities/

 

Greetings
Tomek

 

PS. By the way, great job! The Cardboard Collection (and its owner / designer Paweł Mistewicz) are currently considered the best designed and "glueable" cardboard airplane models in Poland.

Edited November 17, 2021 by 0Seahorse

[CDW]

Beermat. A catchy name that I will be sure to remember. 

[ccoyle]

5 hours ago, 0Seahorse said:

The popular name in Poland is "birmata" (beermat), because it is used to make colorful coasters for beer mugs.

 

That makes sense, now that I think back on the coasters I have known. EDIT: After checking out the specs sheet for PankaDisc, it reinforces what I wrote elsewhere about double-checking the thickness of card parts laminated onto frames -- the thickness tolerance on the manufactured board is +/- 5%.

[ccoyle]

13 hours ago, 0Seahorse said:

PS. By the way, great job! The Cardboard Collection (and its owner / designer Paweł Mistewicz) are currently considered the best designed and "glueable" cardboard airplane models in Poland.

 

I agree. Long ago, when I wrote a review of KK's first Po-2 kit, I mentioned that KK appeared to be a real player in the card model industry. Their production values are first-rate, with excellent printing and plenty of diagrams. Their kits are a step down from Halinski in terms of detail, but that just makes them a touch easier to complete for the average builder, while still being plenty challenging. The only knock I have against them (a minor one) is that they do not offer kit-specific molded canopies for their designs. I like them enough to have recently snapped up three more of their kits!

 

P.S. I haven't posted an update over the past few days because of the ongoing work with the upper fuselage skin. Unlike most fuselages, which are built as a series of conic sections, the upper skin in this kit is a single piece, and there are a number of cockpit elements that must be built and attached to it before it is glued to the frames.

[mtaylor]

7 hours ago, ccoyle said:

...the upper sin in this kit is a single piece.....

Either that's a typo or statement about the difficulty.   LOL

[ccoyle]

4 minutes ago, mtaylor said:

Either that's a typo or statement about the difficulty.

 And of course spell check didn't catch that. Fixed now.

[ccoyle]

Fuselage Skinned

 

This next step was a bit scary because of the large surface area that needed to be glued. More on that in a bit. First, here's the fuselage skeleton and the single-piece upper skin prior to cutting out.

 

 

First task after cutting was to do some pre-shaping. This wasn't too difficult, since the sides are flat -- only the curved dorsal surface needed some shaping.

 

This aircraft is tiny, and the cockpits will be tight spaces once everything is glued up, so some work needed doing before gluing on the skin. This consisted of some inner skins, a bulkhead that separates the front and rear cockpits, and two instrument panels. The panels are "glazed" with cellophane tape, covered by an optional second panel layer. Each panel will later have a compass (at least I think it's a compass -- I haven't looked closely), but they can go on after skinning, otherwise those items will be too easy to knock loose during the skinning process.

 

 

Now we're ready for the big operation! 😮 

 

 

First, I glued the port side with contact cement. It makes a quick, strong bond, but of course positioning is critical and must be done precisely. Once that side was done, the pre-shaped skin didn't allow much room for slopping on contact cement, so I switched over to Aleen's Clear applied with a brush, which allows for some working time. Overall, I'm very happy with the result. There are only a couple of small glue smudges to clean up, along with a minimal amount of touch-up. I had to sand one bulkhead a bit to get the skin on correctly, but for the most part the fit of this kit has been very, very good.

 

 

You might notice that the starboard cockpit sides look lower than the port sides. That's because I've chosen to show the starboard doors in their open positions. This required cutting away the door portions of the outer and inner skins and setting them aside till later. They will probably go on last, because otherwise they will be prime candidates for knocking loose once it's time to install all the various control cables.

 

Onward!

[mtaylor]

Nice work on a tricky piece, Chris.  I hope you can stop holding your breath now.  

[Old Collingwood]

That looks Amazing  Chris   - so much skill in doing that  - and must be  delicate hand  work not to dent/crush the side  - Superb work.

 

OC.

[ccoyle]

4 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

and must be  delicate hand  work not to dent/crush the side

 

There is one small wrinkle if you know where to look. 😮  It smoothed out well enough.

 

Interesting side note: I always assumed the Oscar was a small aircraft. 🤔