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Post by harrysone on Oct 31, 2018 15:18:41 GMT 12
I'm going through the motions to reverse engineer a Heller DH Rapide kit into its predecessor, the DH.84 Dragon. I saw this done once here... www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234971246-de-havilland-dh-84-dragon-and-dh-90-dragonfly-scratch-conv-172/I have had the donor parts for years & have decided to be a masochist and give it a go  Donor kits include 2x airfix tigermoths (for engines & outer wings), 1x Amodel DH.60 Moth for outer wings and of course the Heller Rapide. the conversion isn't that difficult providing you have a set of scale drawings to work from. The Heller outer wings were removed and re-shaped to take the moth/tigermoth wings & new nacelles were constructed using lilliput and the tigermoth Gypsy Majors. The overall fuselage shape of the Dragon is close to the Rapide, however it is boxier in section, particularly noticeable in the nose section which is quite different in form... Here are some progress shots of the closed up fuse with wing assemblies temporarily attached. Still some re-shaping required, the landing gear will need to be scratch built, however many of the wing strut combinations from the Rapide kit and the Moths should be able to be re-utilised  IMG_2567 by Harry Follas, on Flickr  IMG_2568 by Harry Follas, on Flickr |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 31, 2018 16:07:13 GMT 12
This is fantastic! Looking forward to more shots as it progresses.
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Post by Bruce on Oct 31, 2018 16:25:29 GMT 12
I just got the 1/72 AiM DH Dragon kit.... (not cheap mind you...)
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Post by Deleted on Nov 1, 2018 15:52:32 GMT 12
Beautiful work Harry! I've always preferred the look of the Dragon over the Rapide so I'm excited to follow this build.
Bruce: I'm also excited to see your build!
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Post by harrysone on Nov 1, 2018 16:51:35 GMT 12
Yep, the illusive Rug Rat Resin Kit...long and hard have I looked for that! Just like leprechaun gold that model has been! However...update pic from my conversion, I have re-done the ribs on the wings with stretched sprue, these will be filled, fared and sanded. Unfortunately i subsequently have dropped and trodden on the vacform canopy which I had from the Tasman Models re-boxing of the Heller kit & have had to order another!  dragon by Harry Follas, on Flickr |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 1, 2018 19:24:31 GMT 12
Maybe you should mould this and produce a few Harry?
Have you decided on a scheme? East Coast Airways? RNZAF? Stan's one?
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Post by Bruce on Nov 1, 2018 21:15:35 GMT 12
If you need more Vac Form canopies, I have quite a number! Some years ago I acquired a box which contained no less than 7 Heller / Tasman Rapides in various states of construction! (I think the guy I bought them off was going to make a diorama of some sort!) I accidentally melted one kit, built up another and the remaining parts were scavenged for various scratchbuilds such as my Miles Aerovan and DH86 Express. If theres any other bits you need duplicates of, let me know as I may have some left.
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Post by harrysone on Nov 1, 2018 22:00:06 GMT 12
Thanks Bruce, however I already have ordered a couple from a vendor in Australia Never mind...definitely your DH 89 spares are food for future thought I'll probably do as Stan's example at this stage... |
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Post by harrysone on Nov 4, 2018 8:56:48 GMT 12
...getting there, wings attached and scratch built the landing gear, I'm going to have to broaden the tip of the nose some, however the canopy section of the Rapide is narrower than the Dragon so it'll be a bit of a compromise... the crease line in the squashed canopy can be seen   Img_8927 by Harry Follas, on Flickr  Img_8935 by Harry Follas, on Flickr  Img_8930 by Harry Follas, on Flickr  Img_8944 by Harry Follas, on Flickr |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2018 10:57:07 GMT 12
Looks pretty darned good to me Harry! Bravo!
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Post by harrysone on Nov 13, 2018 12:32:59 GMT 12
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 13, 2018 13:21:13 GMT 12
Brilliant Harry!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2018 16:32:20 GMT 12
Hear hear! She looks like a bought one. Inspirational stuff Harry, thanks for sharing!
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Post by steveh on Nov 14, 2018 6:19:45 GMT 12
Looking great Harry, a machine I'm keen to have a crack at sometime too. I believe it was Stan's one was operated by the Nelson Aeroclub & did ambulance work often with Arthur Bradshaw at the controls. He flew my Dad to Dunedin in it in about 1963, there is a photo in Richard Waugh's book on Nelson Aviation, a book on my Christmas list. I'll be book marking this thread for sure.
Steve.
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Post by harrysone on Nov 14, 2018 6:50:28 GMT 12
Thanks guys, I've been looking at doing the Dragon for s long time...AXI has sentimental significance for my wife and I as I chartered her for proposal purposes 😍. I looked at the RugRat option but the model has been either unobtanium or I required a small gold mine of cash to purchase. I have even recently thought about buying one of the new Oxford DH.84 diecast models & repainting.
The heller dh.89 conversion is not quite ideal, but comes up pretty good. There are still shape differences particularly around nose section...it's possibly worth someone doing a moulding based on either the nose (or all) of the oxford model and producing either in vac or resin
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Post by markrogers on Nov 15, 2018 20:00:17 GMT 12
Brilliant work!
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Post by harrysone on Nov 18, 2018 16:02:17 GMT 12
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Post by Deleted on Nov 19, 2018 10:11:32 GMT 12
Gorgeous work, Harry.
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Post by harrysone on Dec 5, 2018 14:09:14 GMT 12
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Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 5, 2018 15:48:34 GMT 12
That is very, very cool. I love the real aircraft, and had the absolute privilege to fly in it.
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Donor kits include 2x airfix tigermoths (for engines & outer wings), 1x Amodel DH.60 Moth for outer wings and of course the Heller Rapide.
