HISTORICAL MINIATURES BY GEORGE GRASSE
SWISS AIR FORCE 1930s 1:48 SCALE

 

AIRCO de HAVILLAND DH-9 of the SWISS AIR FORCE 1920

by George Grasse

RODEN 1:48 SCALE PLASTIC KIT RO0423 OF THE AIRCO de HAVILLAND DH-9

 
AIRCO de HAVILLAND DH-9 Nr. 711 PHOTO
This photo is taken from "Die Flugzeuge der schweizerischen Fliegertruppe seit 1914" and shows DH-9 Nr. 711 undergoing maintenance.  The aircraft is finished overall in aluminum pigmented dope.  See the Blue Rider color profile below.
 
 
 
AIRCO de HAVILLAND DH-9 Nr. 711 COLOR PROFILE
This color profile is taken from the Blue Rider CD-ROM Fliegertruppe - Aircraft of the Swiss Air Force 1914-1936, Image 18, Sheet 12".
 
 
 
AIRCO de HAVILLAND DH-9 3-VIEW DRAWING
This three-view drawing was taken from the Harleyford book Reconnaissance & Bomber Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War.   The DH-9 was pushed forward as a replacement for the DH-4 bomber and incorporated several important design advances but the aircraft was plagued by under-powered engines and eventually upgraded to the DH-9A.
 
 
 
UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #1
28 February 2015
JUST GETTING STARTED: This model is being built in conjunction with a Swiss DH-4 and, except for the cockpit arrangement, the interiors are similar.  Skipping ahead of the preparation of the interiors you see here the assembled fuselage which includes the built-up engine.  The aircraft has a preliminary coat of Aluminum which was the standard overall finish for Swiss aircraft of the period.
 
 
 
UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #2
28 February 2015
COCKPIT INTERIOR: The front cockpit has been enhanced with a number of additional gauges and dials made from beveled gauge covers and either PE or decal gauge faces.  
 
 
 
UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #3
8 March 2015
PAINTING OVERALL ALUMINUM FINISH: The model is sprayed overall with Tamiya TM 85083 Metallic Silver.  This was done several times by carefully spraying relatively light coats of paint after the previous coat dried.  The top wing was painted in the same manner.  The wingtip skid bars were made from brass rod in place of the kit parts.
 
 
 
UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #4
28 April 2015
RIGGING THE TAIL UNIT CONTROL WIRES:  I used Windsock Datafile 72 for DH-9 drawings showing the rigging of the tail unit.  Several photos in that issue clarified connections.  Rigging material used is .005 charcoal gray monofilament thread.
 
 
 
UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #5
28 April 2015
FUSELAGE STRUTS AND DETAILS:  The first step to installing the top wing is to install the fuselage cabane struts.  These were painted in Vallejo's VC0824 German Camouflage Orange Ochre.  The central vertical radiator tank had its plastic connecting pipe cut off and a hole was drilled in its place to take the radiator water line made from brass rod.  These were glued in place as shown above.  Between the two front cabane struts are two wind-driven generators glued in place.  The pilot's cockpit coaming was painted in Andrea ANXC47 Red Brown.     
 
 
 
UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #6
8 May 2015
FUSELAGE STRUTS AND DETAILS:  I used the kit's cabane struts but made my own wing struts using brass tubing (Albion MBT20) and brass rod.  I pre-drilled the rigging holes through the bottom wing.  All rigging wires (.005 charcoal monofilament thread) were glued into holes on the underside of the top wing.  The wheels in the kit were replaced with real spoke wheels made by Scale Spokes ( www.scalespokes.com) sold through Unique Master Models or UMM (http://umm-usa.com).  The selection is quite limited and none were available to fit the DH.4 (shown are Fokker D.VII spoke wheels, the largest available).   
 
 
COMPLETED PHOTO #7
20 May 2015
ASSEMBLY COMPLETE:  This DH-9 is being built for a collector who has elected to apply his own decals. 
 
 
COMPLETED PHOTO #8
20 May 2015
RIGHT SIDE VIEW
 
 
 
COMPLETED PHOTO #9
20 May 2015
LEFT FRONT VIEW
 
 
 
COMPLETED PHOTO #10
20 May 2015
RIGHT FRONT VIEW
 
 
 
COMPLETED PHOTO #11
20 May 2015
LEFT REAR VIEW
 
 
 
COMPLETED PHOTO #12
20 May 2015
RIGHT REAR VIEW
 
 
 
------------------------------------------   FINIS  --------------------------------------------
 
 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Blue Rider.  Fliegertruppe - Aircraft of the Swiss Air Force 1914-1936 (CD-ROM).  London: Blue Rider Publishing, 2002.

Bruce, J. M.  Airco DH9 Windsock Datafile No. 72.  Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, UK: Albatros Productions, 1998.

Lamberton, W. M., compiler and E. F. Cheesman, editor.  Reconnaissance & Bomber Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War.  Los Angeles: Aero Publishers, Inc., 1962.

Urech, Jakob (editor) and Emil Hunziker (drawings).  Die Flugzeuge der schweizerischen Fliegertruppe seit 1914 (Swiss Air Force Aircraft since 1914).  Stäfa:  Verlag Th. Gut & Co., 1975.

 

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