Finished: Mark W's Valom Hanroit HD.1

[Mark_W]

Having just finished the Tu-160 which is largest model I've ever completed, it's time for something truly tiny - the Valom HD.1:

Looks nice in the box, with some interesting marking options.

2 resin pieces - the engine and the cowling. Removing the moulding plug and cleaning up the cowling required some delicate work:

The wings as moulded have the same width - looking at drawings, it looks like the lower wing is a bit narrower. Also, the rib detail consists of recessed "panel lines" which looked exaggerated to me. I sanded all flying surfaces down to more "scale" thickness:

After doing this, it looked to me as if the wing to fuselage join was going to be tricky - I ended up separating the wings, filling the hole in the fuselage with plastic card, making a "spar" out of card to attach the wings. Looks a lot better I think:

Struts are provided as photo etch. I've never had much luck getting photo etch to "stick" so ended up replacing these with plastic card. Also an opportunity to make the parts more "aerofoil" in cross section - I may well rue this choice!

These are the undercarriage parts - I thought I'd add a US penny for scale as everything is truly tiny!

Then onto priming - also drilled holes for the struts to attach into:

Painting next - picked an Italian and a Belgian option - very colourful!

Mark

[smeg1959]

Reckon you would just about get a Hanriot in each of the Tupolev's wheel wells!

[ajmm]

Haha. Worst mothership-parasite aircraft combination ever?!

[Mark_W]

How about a Tu-160/HD.1 Mistel?

Anyway, some more progress:

Masked undersurfaces:

And upper surfaces. The Belgian one requires 5 colours, not including the silver undersurfaces:

Upper surfaces done. White undercoat for the main decals to avoid any see-through effect:

Decals done:

Next for the struts and attaching the wings - a little bit scared by the prospect!

Mark

[ajmm]

Those look great. Very perky colour schemes - love it.

[F_IV]

Great job, I especially like the paintwork. Those decals look quite nice too!

[smeg1959]

Next for the struts and attaching the wings - a little bit scared by the prospect!

I know what you mean. Will the wings align? Will the struts break? What happens if the things are the wrong length? A lot of sleepless nights before I bit the bullet on the Falco.

[Mark_W]

Hi,

Attaching wings, undercarriage etc was really tough - I think this is close to my limit when it comes to tiny, fiddly construction...

Anyway - now done!

Mark

[smeg1959]

The pain was worth it. What a gorgeous little pair!

[ajmm]

Beautiful!