1/10th scale Blackburn Beverley.

[Barrie King]

Hi Malcolm,
I visited Doncaster Air Museum last Wednesday and saw a large scale model of a Beverley hanging in one of the huts. It looked about 16 to 18 feet wingspan with sprung undercarrige.
Some display models such as the Fairy Rotodyne had a good write up but not the Beverley.
Anyone know this model?

[DAVE JOHNSON]

Hi Barry---that's the same model that used to be Gordons---it has been stored at Elvington since the museum at Beverley closed----

[Nigel Cox]

I've just been watching the Discovery History channel and they are running a "Classic British Aircraft" series at the moment and the Beverly was one of the featured aircraft, with some nice interior shots for some scale details?

[Alan Cantwell 1131]

Nice to know Gordons bev is still around, last time i saw it, it was being hosed down with a fire tender, spraying foam on it at woodvale! It had a bit of a mishap, been around a bit,hasn't it?

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

Thanks to all for the comments about the other Beverley, very interesting stuff!

Today I dismantled the fuselage to carry out various jobs. I made the lower undercarriage stretchers and cut the joint slots in the appropriate frames for these. As you can see from the picture, I also made the Ventral Spine. The first job was to cut off the bottom rear end and glue this onto the top to accommodate the fuselage diminishing at that end. ("Ventral" and "spine" don't really belong together but I'm sure you know what I mean?) This spine will need the curved portion at the front end. I will need to make a pattern first. This part of the spine will be interrupted in its central position to accommodate the nose wheel. The second picture shows the finished job along with the new stretchers.

The last picture shows the frames reassembled complete with the new stretchers, ventral spine and unfinished B3 frame in place. You may also have noticed a 'new' frame No. B3. I decided that I could modify the earlier scrapped B4 frame for this position. It will need a little attention to make it usable, but will be OK! Some of the other frames in front of this will have to be fabricated rather than come from a single piece, the materials are too small. It is already more solid thanks to the new bits. There is still plenty of fitting and fettling to do to get this all properly squared up. The new stretchers will eventually have a set of holes drilled across the fuselage to accept a 1/2 inch sleeve and aluminium tube and some locating dowels, once I have worked out the exact positions for these.

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

I was busy finishing off a house job this morning, then spent the afternoon working on the other longerons. I finished off the ventral spine by doing a similar job to the front end that I did at the back yesterday. This terminates at frame No. A4 immediately behind the nose wheel position. There will be a short piece of ventral spine between A3 and A1 and a block of thick ply between A3 and A4 to mount the nose wheel spindle. I have also completed the rear portions of the datum longerons, I still have the curved front ends to make as you can see from the photo. I have also managed to mark out the remaining longerons. The fiddly jobs are important of course, lots more to do!

Peed right off! The workshop heater has run out of gas. A 15 kg bottle is supposed to last about 40 hours, this one seems to have run out in about ten to 15 hours. Bet it wasn't full?

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

Didn't get much time on the model today, much other stuff to do!

However, I did get to cut the remaining joint slots on the longerons and have fitted these as per the two pictures. There will be a fair bit of fine fitting to do to ensure all is well, but this will have to wait till all the fuselage bits are made, and then do the fitting in a single day????? This will include the cockpit section which will be removable for access to switches & batteries etc. I realise that today's pictures are very similar to previous ones, but there are new bits attached to the frames.

I found some more 1/8" ply that are big enough to make the remaining B section frames in one piece. I will probably make these prior to finishing off the longitudinal frames, they will provide a bit of rigidity when measuring for, and fitting the curved portions.

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

I had a very full day today. Having removed several bits from the fuselage set up, I have now finished the B4 frame and added a stiffener which gives rigidity at the point where the cockpit section mates with it, and finished modifying the old (scrapped) B4 to become B3, it is done and ready to rock and roll. This required a tweak to the C1 frame. The rest of the time was spent making some patterns for the front end frames. These are mainly required to achieve the correct curves, but I also need to provide mounting points for the nose wheel and a radio bay at the top front area. I will work these out as I make them. The longeron joint positions are not absolutely accurate on these patterns, but do provide the approximate positions, this again I will properly determine as I make the actual frames. I have yet to make the other set of patterns for the longitudinal parts that diminish toward the front end. I will make these to coordinate with the frame patterns. The joints on these are easier to determine as their measurements are purely lineal. I suspect that I will need to make allowances for any width adjustments in fitting?

I only have about another 20,000 things to do? LOL.

Some new bedtime reading dropped onto the door mat today!

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

Doesn't look like a days work does it? I made these front end patterns for the longitudinal members, and as you can see, the parts were also made from the patterns. Two of the patterns have measurement cock ups that were easy to rectify on the real thing. To me, this proves the value of patterns? There is a bit of scope for adjustment when I fit these. In any case they will need to be fettled to the shape of the fuselage when assembled. The frames and the longerons are straight sided at this point and will be worked into the compound curves using the power of the eyes. In the construction industry we had a saying, "if it looks right, it is right"! Spirit levels were made to check that your eyes are working properly!

Front end frames are next on the list!

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

I had an absolutely mega day today! Thanks to the patterns I made the other day, I made all the remaining front end frames. As you can see from the picture, I had to have a play, and this playing is a good exercise as it has shown up all the small errors. There are lots of small errors to sort out! So I have to fiddle, fettle, adjust and mess about to get it all to fit properly. There are a couple of very small cock ups to eradicate, but nothing to shed a tear over. It also show quite clearly that some of the frames are a little out of shape. Once I have all the joints fitting properly, I will need to set about fettling the shapes to conform the the diminishing compound curves, actually very easy to determine now that the frames can be assembled. I hope that I do not have to re-make any frames, but if I do, then I shall do this in the knowledge that it will be correct in the end! This front half part of the model measures 4' 9". The balsa nose cone will make it very close to 5 feet!

It is amazing the difference between what I produced yesterday and the work I did today. The time is taken up in measuring and marking out, and that was absorbed into the pattern making. Whilst I eradicated some possible cock ups in the patterns, there are still a few that got through the net. These cock ups can be got rid of either by remaking the part or a bit of artistic adjustment? It will be all right on the night, as they say? That "night" may well be after Christmas?

I have lots of stuff to do, starting tomorrow, so if I do not post again this side of the festivities, may I take this opportunity to wish all my fellow modellers a very happy Christmas. You should all remain perfectly sober, and do not eat cake!

[DAVE JOHNSON]

Malcolm---looking great--keep up the good work --look forward to some more posts after you have a good Xmas break----DAVE

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

Thank you Dave for your kind comments.

I found some time to do some adjustments today, and I made an extra frame at the front end which I have had to number A0. This will reduce the amount of block balsa needed to form the front end. It will also be useful in forming the shapes when I make the removable cockpit section later on.

There is still a fair bit of adjusting to do, but as you can see I needed to have another dry run to establish what now needs to be done. Dry runs are aided by the use of elastic bands, garden ties and masking tape as well as a couple of small clamps. It is difficult to get everything to line up properly when nothing is glued, so when the assembly phase comes along, I will start at the 'C' section and work forward. Most of the frames will be supported in their correct horizontal position by the stand wotsit, and when the first lot of glue has set, then the fuselage will be self supporting to a greater degree, and allow correct alignment of the front end bits and pieces! This part of the model is largely self jigging?????

A few of the joint slots need to be eased in their depth as there is a bit of springing from some longerons. I need to mess about to establish the exact positions that need attention. I am looking forward to the shaping process of the frames once assembled. I reckon I will use some straight pieces of wood and glue some sandpaper to it, the method being to shut one eye, tilt the head slightly and look along the frames to see the shapes of each frame against the neighbouring frames, and scrape away until it all looks good!

We do have some fun, don't we?

[Chris Lane]

Malcolm,

On sanding sticks;

I have had success in using stock pine strip (B&Q) of 6 x 25mm and 15mm round etc.; double sided adhesive tape; and silicon abrasive paper bought off the roll. A 100mm length is left beyond the adhesive and shaped as a handle. On the flat strips I only put adhesive on the broad surfaces and leave the edges uncovered. When the paper is too worn the abrasive just peels off and is replaced! These can be made from any convenient size and section and in any length. Different grades of abrasive could be used each side of the sticks but I personally find these so quick to make that I have made up coarse, medium, and fine sets!

have a great Christmas everyone. . . . .

Chris

[paul needham]

Really looking good Malcolm, hope you will have the Beverly on show at Gaydon this year.

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

Thank you Chris for your info on sanding.

Nice idea Paul. If I am invited to show the Beverley at Gaydon, I will be pleased to do so.

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

Happy Christmas fellow Large Modellers!

There are times when there can be a little tension between us in our caves and the "other half", but I have to say that 'er indoors has excelled herself this Christmas Day. The picture shows the prezzies she bought for me this year. Oh this is extra to the bottle of Bombay Sapphire and a packet of Crystallised Ginger. My collection of clamps range from four foot sash, 12 inch G's down to two inch, but the old adage, "you can never have enough clamps", is so very true! My collection of 'Record' Planes range from No. 8 down to No.2, so these small Rolson wotsits will be very useful I'm sure, blades just need honing!

We already had a power cut this morning, very useful as the turkey is almost ready for the oven. Power was restored after about ten minutes!

Have a very good day you lot, see you again soon!

[paul needham]

well done Santa, much better than more socks or an orange and a wallnut or even a lump of coal.

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

I managed a few minutes doing stuff over Christmas, note the nose section is all glued up and ready for fitting to the main part of the fuselage when that is completed. I will carry out the "gluing up" over the next couple of days, and have started the preparations for this. The gluing will be done in two stages, the first by fixing the 6mm longerons that run through the "C" section frames, and adding some corner gussets to aid the squaring aspect. In order to ensure the squareness holds, I will wait 24 hours before preparing the remainder of the joints. Once the second stage has set OK, I will then add the nose section and any other gussets that I deem necessary. The gussets will keep the frames square to enable the next build operations to proceed unhindered. These being the cockpit section and the rear half of the fuselage, both parts need to be exactly matched and mated to the front section, something that would be more difficult to do if it was not glued up.

There is one other aspect of this part of the build that relies on the fuselage being glued and squared, and that is the wing root aerofoils will need lining up as accurately as possible, I believe the Port side to be reasonably OK as things are, but the Starboard side is in need of some adjustment. I might do this by using a spirit level to level the frames and then check each side from this level? Any advice on this issue will be most welcome!

[paul needham]

Try an incidence meter for setting the wings, I have one of the hangar 9 jobbies and it works well. You can also get a longer bar for it to cope with wider wings etc.
http://www.hangar-9.com/Products/Defaul ... dID=HAN192
Its available from most model shops in the UK.

[MalcolmDouglasPorter]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for that info. I rather imagine that one of these gadgets will be useful when building and setting up the wings and control surfaces etc. For this part of the build, I just need to level the wing root aerofoils. The dimension across the wing root is 20.1/4 inches, and there are only six aerofoils in total, so this simple method should do the trick. As you can see from the picture, I am obtaining the general level from the wing mounting box, and then checking the alignment of each pair of aerofoils with a second level. There is a slight taper as usual on the wing, for which I have an adjustable bevel set up, directly from the drawing. I have established that the starboard side needs to be lowered by a very small amount, as I had suspected in an earlier post.

I am doing this post now because there is a load of glue drying, or is it setting? This is the next best thing to watching the grass grow!