1/39 Monogram 'Classic' Wright Flyer |
Gallery Article by Grant Matthews
on Dec 17 2003
|
100th
Anniversary of controlled powered flight Dec 17 1903
|
|
|
Each new country I
go to, I try and pick up a model with some local or national relevance. In
November 1999 I found myself in Phoenix, Arizona where I spotted this kit. It
seemed to fit all the criteria and was a real must have. Unfortunately, when I
got back to the hotel room and opened the box I was a little disappointed. Every
part had deep, clear and crisply molded release pin marks. On just the upper
surface of the lower wing alone there were 23! So it languished in my
stash until I came across ARC and the tool'n'tips section with advice to
fix all those marks. As it was 2003 the model just had to be built.
Click on
images below to see larger images
|
|
Despite the 'chunky'
appearance of the wooden members and the unrealistic seating points for the
struts, I felt that fixing that lot was a little beyond me and that I would be
very happy with just getting rid of all this release pin marks. I quite enjoy
rigging bi-planes and in my youth had always used black thread. This time I
thought I would try fishing line as a more realistic alternative and I think it
has turned out fine. It was certainly a lot easier to work with than I was
expecting. Luckily I had just finished an extra large Toblerone when it was time
to start rigging and the triangular box proved an ideal jig for holding the
wings.
I would really liked to have
built a dune base for the model, including all the footprints around the
aircraft at the start of the take-off ramp, but the space required was just so
big I had no where to put it. So instead of a colour photo of 'the' photo here
are some shots of the finished article in my newly acquired display case.
Here's to the next Century
of Flight, and a Merry Christmas to all at ARC.
Grant Matthews
Click on
images below to see larger images
|
|
|