Hanriot HD-1

[Jim]

Willy Coppens's "Diable Bleu" Hanriot HD-1. Approx. 1:50. Fuselage carved from some cedar I had left over from making fishing lures. The rest is pretty standard, with a couple new twists: Basswood wings and tail surfaces, painter's tape ribbing, O-ring tires, bamboo struts, fishing line and banjo strings for rigging. Home made decals. Birch dowel for Vickers gun barrel casing. Note bigger diameter aluminum tube used to simulate Coppens's big bore 11-mm "balloon gun". Dowel also used for carved pilot figure and for engine cylinders. Prop is laminated walnut and mahogany. Goggles from toothpick slices. Also for spreader bar. Thin birch plywood used to make cabane and one-piece undercarriage struts. I'm finding this makes for sturdier construction. Wheels turned on a Dremel. Cowling turned on a mini lathe, then hollowed out with a fine burr on a moto-tool.

[Jim]

And the rest...

[lastvautour]

You continue to amaze and inspire me.

Lou

[Boomerang]

I echo Lou's sentiments. Looks great . Brilliant work.

Cheers

Gordon

What's next ?

[Boomerang]

How did you do the white thistle?

Gordon

[Jim]

Thank you, gentlemen. You're very kind, in addition to being superb craftsmen.

About the thistle, I have to admit that it was a job o' work...

First, I scrubbed around the internet until I found the image. Somebody had created a vector file of it for his own use and shared it with others on a website for large-scale flying model enthusiasts. Of course, it was on a blue background of a very different tint from the turquoise my research told me Coppens used on two of his Hanriots (apparently, he had 4 or 5 at different times).

As you undoubtedly know, you can't print white decals on clear decal paper. You can rework the image to print on white decal paper, but to separate the image from the white background, you have to create a black border around the image. Then you have to laboriously razor-cut the image from the border. That's fine if the image is all in one big block — like a wing roundel, for example. But with a delicate shape like the thistle that'd be no good, because the image us so narrow in spots. The minute you try to separate the decal image from the carrier paper, it just collapses into a jumbled mess. Especially when you work this small.

What I had to do was, first, using a Photoshop-type freeware program called Gimp, manipulate the background color to match as closely as possible the color of the paint I was using on the model. This involved considerable trial and error, much eye-balling, many test printings and repeated adjustments. Finally, when convinced I had matched the color as closely as I was likely to get, I sized the image and printed it on white decal paper. This I trimmed to a block as close to the edge of the image as I could without weakening the decal, and attached it to the model. The color turned out to be a fair match, but the edge of the decal still shows up just a bit. So it's not perfect, but what is?

[lastvautour]

Thank you for the tip.

Lou

[Gearup]

A very nice model. Nicely detailed with the laminated prop, engine and pilot.  Well done!
Fraser