Breguet 14A2 Hellenic Army Air service c. 1922
The kit cockpit is rather poor, and no good war time photos of the cockpit exist as far as I know. The Breguet 14 was a multi role aircraft, it saw extensive post war civilian service so cockpit configuration and equipment varied greatly. I tried to add a few parts and make the cockpit more detailed. Wires added to the frame, wood longerons to the fuselage, a pulley for the radiator shutters, power lever, magneto switches, and engine control pushrods. The back seat engine control quadrant to be removed as the aircraft I am going to built was not dual control equiped.
Eduard prepainted WW1 French instruments and seat belts used, the rear control column and rudder bar were removed.
Reinforcements used under the floor panel and behind the instrument panels to make things sturdier, rudder bar straps added.
Rear cockpit gunner seat test fitted (will be glued later with seat belts installed), and floor installed. The small bulkhed between cockpits and a box for ammo storage were scratch buit
Wood longerons added to the belly (010''x020'' evergreen strips)
The (resin) engine included in the kit is quite good and can be an impressive item if superdetailed, allthough a lot of extra work is required in this case.
Fitting the engine inside the fuselage requires some careful thinning of the fuselage sides and caution aligning parts.
Before gluing the fuselage sides also requires trimming and carefull aligning.
Brass rod used to strengthen the lower wing to fuselage fitting.
Wings, vertical and horizontal stabilizers attached. Reinforcing brass rod used everywere
Top wing assembled (comes in two parts) with the required dihedral. Brass rod also used for strengthening.
Elevators, Rudder and ailerons installed.
Cabane struts made from brass bars. Remain to be trimmed and painted. They actually take all the weight of the upper wing.
Caution! Kit instructions do not even mention it. The upper wing had a 160mm stagger in 1/1, that is 3.3mm in 1/48. This must be checked before gluing the cabane struts.
A very useful P.E detail sets made some time ago by eduard "WWI stitching and lacing" (now discontinued) added to the fuselage sides.
A jig was made to align the landing gear. Bungee cords made from copper wire.
A tailskid copy made from brass. To be detailed and painted.
Camo painting almost complete.
Colourcoats french WWI camo paints set used. Very good quality, but as it happens with all enamels they require a few days and they smell badly until they are completely dry, I should wait before rigging.
Most of real Breguet 14 wires were double wires with a wooden spacer across their entire length wrapped with fabric. This is very difficult to be represented in 1/48 with my usual way, by using fishing line. So , I tried a new material: resistance wire with a 0.2x0.5mm cross section. Each wire length has to be measured accurately, cut about 2mm longer and trim both ends so they can fit in a 0.3mm hole. Not an easy task, with such a complex rigging but the end result is convincing,
Komentarzy
51 25 August 2023, 19:32
Elias KorompilisThis is a short run kit Frank, fit is as good as is your planning, checking and parts preparation 😉
2 September 2023, 12:58
bughunterThanks and one remark:
I know, the manual call wood for it, but if I look at an existing picture of the engine area the firewall between engine and cockpit looks like metal. Technically it would make sense and was also implemented on other types at this time. As the outer panels are also metal the would be able to build it that way.
3 September 2023, 12:28
Elias Korompilis@bughunter: You are right, there is a photo (p.13 windsock datafile special) which clearly shows the sheet metal firewall. And a firewall cannot be made from wood! I don't know why they suggest wood color in the instructions maybe evidence exists for a wooden bulkhead aft of the firewall? Any way, too late for me now, fortunately it is not visible in the finished model 🙂
3 September 2023, 13:23
Michael KohlOh, if Elias is showing stuff here, only something good can come out of it. I grab a seat.
3 September 2023, 13:31
Elias PapadimitriouΠολύ ωραία δουλειά Ηλία, όπως πάντα.
Δύο ερωτήσεις:
-Θα φτιάξεις το ΣΟ 18 ? Γιατί είχες αμφιβολία για τον κινητήρα.
- Πως θα κάνεις το rigging?
Με έτοιμα turnbuckles?Βλέπω δεν έχεις ανοίξει τρύπες στα φτερά.
9 September 2023, 13:00
Elias Korompilis-Δεν έχω αποφασίσει ακόμη ποιο θα φτιάξω. Δουλεύω 9 προφίλ, μάλλον όμως καταλήγω στο "Πελοπόννησος" (6442).
-Για το rigging θα ανοιξω τρυπες (η επάνω πτερυγα δεν είναι ακόμη κολλημένη στην άτρακτο) και θα δοκιμάσω ένα καινούργιο υλικό για τα συρματόσχοινα, δεν θα χρησιμοποιήσω ετοιμα turnbucles. Ακομα δεν ξέρω πως ακριβώς θα το χειριστώ.
9 September 2023, 13:13
Michael KohlAnother very special and beautiful build. The only issue I have is the exhaust stack. This looks too uniform in my opinion. Maybe just a dark wash will break that appearance.
20 October 2023, 18:28
Album info
Breguet 14A2 s/n 6442 "Peloponese" Hellenic Army Air Service, Asia Minor, August 1922, pilot: Second lieutenant Morfonios Fragiskos, observer: lieutenant Zografos Nikolaos
The new FLY kit of the Breguet 14 covered a long awaited gap in 1/48 scale for this very important French wwi aircraft, offering many options to built almost any airframe and engine variant of the Breguet 14A2/B2.
The fit is good, so is accuracy compared to the windsock datafile plans and info. This is actually a short run kit so careful planing and test fitting is required to have a trouble free assembly
I suggest to replace all struts with metal ones. The kit parts have a real scale thickness but plastic can not support very well the weight of the model. Guns are from the eduard sopwith camel kit. (much better detail), as well as the p.e propeller boss.
Decals are my design, custom printed by LM fecals.
