de Havilland DH 88 Comet (S.B.S Model)

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November 24, 2020
Next project is another resin kit, the beautiful DH 88 from S.B.S Model.
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November 24, 2020
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November 24, 2020
Some resin "flash" to clean up, but nothing difficult.
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November 24, 2020
Cast metal landing gear are included, as well as a small photoetch fret.
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November 24, 2020
Surprisingly - a problem! One side of the fuselage was shorter than the other resulting in a banana shape. A quick email to S.B.S and I had replacement parts in one week. Great customer service!!
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November 24, 2020
Cockpit coming along nicely.
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November 24, 2020
The photoetch throttle levers were, shall we say, a bit fiddly.
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November 24, 2020
The styrene shim at the bottom of the forward fuselage is necessary because I sanded a bit too much when removing the casting block!
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November 24, 2020
It won't be easily seen, but the aft end of the fuel tank is detailed at the front of the cockpit.
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November 24, 2020
The kit includes shoulder harnesses, but I believe they were not present for the 1934 England to Australia race.
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November 24, 2020
Tolerances are tight, so paint must be removed from mating surfaces.
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November 24, 2020
The instrument panel faces were the typical photoetch over film sandwich. The compass faces are decals from the spares box. Note the alignment pegs - unusual for a resin kit.
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December 21, 2020
Fuselage together and a nice coat of British Racing Green.
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December 21, 2020
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December 21, 2020
Up on her legs and the proper stickers applied.
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December 21, 2020
I dropped the headlight and it took me an hour to find it!
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December 21, 2020
Beautiful aircraft. Geoffrey de Havilland was a genius.
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December 21, 2020
I used semi-gloss as the top coat to give her a "scale gloss" egg shell sheen.
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December 25, 2020
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December 25, 2020
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December 25, 2020
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December 25, 2020
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December 25, 2020
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December 25, 2020
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December 25, 2020

12 24 November 2020, 14:15

Bill Gilman
Hi mates! This will be my third build of 2020, assuming I get it finished by the end of the year. All three have been resin kits. And why not? 2020 has been a rather unique year in so many ways I might just as well ignore injection moulded styrene. Next year maybe!

24 November 2020, 14:33

Alec K
Looking great Bill. Strange year indeed...

25 November 2020, 01:46

Łukasz Gliński
Following of course

25 November 2020, 12:49

Matthew A
My favourite bird. I have a bit of the original fabric from when it was restored in the 80s at Farnborough

25 November 2020, 16:39

Christoph Kunz
Oh WOW, another build of the most beautifull aircraft ever. I'm in.

25 November 2020, 17:44

Bernhard Schrock
First row please!🙂

25 November 2020, 18:08

Cuajete
Well done so far... Following!
Unfortunately, I still couldn't move forward with my Comet...
I hope to take note of your great progress.

25 November 2020, 20:18

Bill Gilman
Thanks for joining in on the fun. Being a contrarian at heart, I've decided to do G-ACSR (the green one). It seems everyone models either the red or black paint schemes. Besides, the green gal has a Union Jack on the tail and is a nice shade of British Racing Green. Maybe I can get a figure of Jim Clark to pose on the wing... 🙂

It looks like the balances on the tail are not part of the kit. I think there is one on the fin and one each on the tailplanes, all on the leading edges. They seem quite prominent in photos, so I'll need to add them. Working on closing up the fuselage today - the tolerances are very tight, and the paint needs to be removed from the mating surfaces. Light years ahead of the old Airfix kit!

26 November 2020, 16:03

Hanno Kleinecke
Oh yes, I was hoping for the green one ! That was my choice as well when I did my SBS Comet some years ago. The best resin kit I've ever encountered. This build will doubtlessly be a feast for everyone involved, builder and spectators 🙂

26 November 2020, 19:43

Bill Gilman
Hi mates, time for an update. The fuselage was closed up, primed and painted with Gunze H6 Dark Green. I then assembled the white metal landing gear and got her up on her legs. I sprayed a coat of Mr. Color GX UV Cut gloss (super shiny!) and applied the decals. The final top coat was Floquil Flat, which is actually a semi-gloss, and it gives a nice egg shell sheen. I don't like super shiny gloss top coats in this scale because I think it makes the model look like a toy. I don't know if there is such a thing as "scale gloss" but that is what I tried to achieve. Anyway, I like how she looks and now it's time to finish up the props, canopy, and a few fiddly bits (the balances on the rudder and elevators). Enjoy the new photos!

21 December 2020, 15:37

Christoph Kunz
Very good work.

21 December 2020, 19:14

Cuajete
Very nice green...
Please, can you take a pic for the landing gear color in wheels bays?
I have never known exactly what color it was painted and I have it pending for my Comet. Thanks!

21 December 2020, 20:09

Bill Gilman
@Cuajete - based on the built up models I've seen, I painted the landing gear struts and the wheel bays black. I could find no references or photos of the actual aircraft that said what they were. But for some reason, most people paint them black so that's what I did. Is it correct? Beats me...

21 December 2020, 23:34

Cuajete
Thanks, Bill 👍
I don't have references either. That's why I asked.

22 December 2020, 19:09

Bill Gilman
Happy Christmas everyone! I hope that you are all safe and healthy, had a great holiday, and are looking forward to the new year and putting 2020 behind us. I know I can't wait for 2021.

I've put the finishing touches on the Comet and uploaded photos of the finished model. I had to scrounge through the spares box to find something to use for the rudder/elevator balances, but I found some 1:32 scale Spitfire bomb rack sway braces that did the trick. I simply cut out the bits I needed and there it is - Bob's your uncle as they say. Enjoy!

25 December 2020, 18:47

Cuajete
Very nice building and painting job, Bill. Conngrats!
Merry Christmas and better 2021!!

25 December 2020, 19:09