Up | Chez Dave Hooper | Gallery | Home
Kit: C.A.Atkins (1:72)
Not quite WW1 but close enough to be of interest. This unusual white metal kit was quite a challenge to build. No decals were supplied with the kit and so homemade decals were designed and printed on to microscale trimfilm. The spoked wheels were scratchbuilt from various grades of wire.
Kit: n/a (1:48)
Many years ago I got fed up with spending my work lunchtimes mooching about and decided I could find something useful to do in my lunch hour. The next day I took a pile of plasticard, plastic rods and other standard modeling equipment in to the office and began work on this BE2c. I had little in the way of references other than Ian Stairs plans to work from and the little I could scratch from the internet so I'm sure anybody in the know could pick it full of holes. It took about about a year to build, and still sits on the window sill in my office. Of course it's now got some company (a Bleriot, Spad, Albatros & Avro to name but a few) but it is still the model that gets commented on most frequently.
Kit: ? (1:72)
This model of BE2e no.7086, 52 Sqn RFC, Spring 1917, was my first attempt at a Resin kit some years ago.I do not know who the original manufacturer of the kit is as I bought a pair of BE2e kits packed in an unmarked and instructionless box for a bargain price. The upper wing and tail were scratchbuilt from plasticard as the original parts were badly warped and I was not aware that this could be fixed with hot water at the time. The decals came from my spares box. In hindsight I think there should be a white diamond or zigzag on the fuselage stringers. The second kit of the pair is yet to be built. I always planned to convert it to a BE2c or d.
Kit: Eduard (1:72)
This is an old model of the venerable Eduard 1/72 Sopwith Baby, serial no.8165. This was one of my earliest attempts at creating a wood grain which failed dismally. The lewis gun was a spare from one of the old Toko kits and the propeller was hand carved from wood. The kits headrest was removed as a photo of 8165 suggested that no headrest was present on the original machine. Maybe one day I'll repaint the floats with a better simulated woodgrain effect.
Kit: Roden (1:72)
This was my first attempt at the Roden Camel. Built out of the box, with the exception of replacments for the undersized interplane struts, in the Colours of presentation aircraft no.7149 of Turnhouse Naval School.
Kit: Kayara (1:72)
Kayara 1/72 scale Fairey Campania, N2363, once again built out of the box.
This is the standard non-profipack version of Eduard 'little' DH2. It was built alsmost completely out of the box with the exception of the scratch built wicker chair. This DH2 represents no.7851 of no.32 Squadron.
Kit: CMR (1:72)
This is the very nice upgraded Dolphin kit from CMR, built as C4131, 79 sqn. The kit was built out of the box using the kit decals.
Kit: Chorozy Modelbud (1:72)
Chorozy Modelbud 1/72 scale F5L. Ok not strictly WW1 but close enough to be of interest. A full build article of this model can be found in Vol12 / Iss 5 (May06) of SAMI and also Vol 35 no.415 (Oct05) of SMI.
Kit: Phoenix (1:72)
This is the Phoenix vacform, which is a nice little kit and fun to build. I made a few alterations to the fuselage, added underwing rib detail, added an Aeroclub Lewis gun and replaced the engine with an item from my spares box. The decals are from the kit, except for the 'N1' fuselage markings which were homemade as the kit examples are provided on a white background and are oversized. The beaching dolly is scratchbuilt from plasticard and spares bits and pieces.
This is the Roden 1/72 SE5a kit built in the post war colours of no.320 (ex RAF F7783)which was part of an imperial gift to the South African Air force. I originally began building this model in standard PC10 wartime colours but had all sorts of nasty problems with the kit decals. After a long period of the unfinished model being abandoned and avoided the PC10 was eventually stripped way and refinished in silver dope. Decals came from my spares box.
Kit: Aeroclub (1:72)
Aeroclub 1/72 scale Short 184, no. 842 which I'm sure needs no introduction. Built by Short bros. First aircraft to torpedo an enemy vessel..blah...blah...blah. 'Built out of the box', with the usual scratchbuilt enhancements
Kit: Airfix (1:72)
This little Spad was built for one of our informal club competitions, the goal was to build and attempt to improve a kit that was over 40 years old without resorting to aftermarket upgrades (with the exception of decals). As a result the original basic kit (originally tooled in 1967) was given a bit of a makeover. The obvious place to start was the wings, which were sanded down and skinned with scored 5 thou plasticard. The tail was scratchbuilt. The 'cylinder humps' on the fuselage were modified to improve the shape and shutters were added to the radiator while a new cockpit was scratchbuilt. I used a prop, MG and wheels from my spares box. The decals were from a Kajaro sheet that came with a Spad VII book and the Pegasus french roundel sheet. All in all I was fairly satified with the end result, especially as it was one of the first times I'd used an airbrush. The model came third in the club comp behind an Aurora DH10 and an Airfix Mirage.
This is my model of the Roden Camel trench fighter kit. The figures (Dick and Dom) came from a box of polythene WW1 pilots and aircrew, I'm not sure of the manufacturer. The muddy grass effect was made with milliput and acrylic paints.