DeHavilland CC-115 Buffalo

build-log
                                   [ page 1]                          (page 2)
 
 

 

 
go to.....

     HOME
     PAST PROJECTS
     NEW PROJECTS
     TECHNICAL TIPS
     CONTACT ME
     FOR SALE ITEMS
    

       
       

     		 

Nov. 16 2009;
Received some very nice CAD drawings from Hal Norrish in Vancouver and had them printed full size today. I think these are the only scale drawings of the Buffalo in existence and I am indeed lucky to have them. This will be a 1/12 scale model with a wingspan of 96"and will be very lightly built. I plan to use two brushless electric motors in it since the Mars was so successful.
 

After the first week the fuse and wings are beginning to take shape.....quite standard construction, nothing revolutionary here.
 

               
            Here the nose is framed up ready for covering             And here it is strip planked with 3/32" X 3/8" strips.
 

 

 
That beautiful big DeHavilland T-Tail is starting to take shape. The controls are all completely hidden.

    


The covering and paint has been added to the tailfeathers. The covering is Sig Coverall applied in the usual manner. The 1/16 balsa sheeting is first prepped with one coat of nitrate dope to seal the wood from moisture of the in the next coats.....otherwise it will warp. Two coats of clear water based urethane is then applied with a brush  to fill the weave and permanently stick the cloth to the wood. Three coats of  latex color is then airbrushed on. The final coat is a latex based clearcoat, either flat or semi-gloss depending on the look desired. The decals are made with the ink-jet printer onto waterslide decal paper. Now that I know the system works well I can begin covering the rest of the airplane. it will be the lightest way to cover with fabric that I have seen. I don't like film coverings on a scale model. All of the components are also inexpensive, non-toxic and can be fuel-proofed if necessary.
 



Here the center wing panel and the forward battery hatch have been built and fitted to the fuse. The fuse is now  ready for covering as described above.
 

January 2010;

     

In this shot the fuse has been covered and painted.....the waterslide decals are being laid out and applied. It's starting to look like a C115. The paper racing stripe on the side of the fuse is just for a trial fit.....getting these graphics to correct scale is not easy and the decal paper is expensive so I like to do it on paper first to get the right size and finally print out the graphics on the decal paper as per the sheet standing against the fuse. Some very good photos were available on Airliners.net and I was able to trace the graphics off the photos and reproduce them directly onto the decal paper using the Photoshop program. What a cool airplane.....I love DeHavilland.
 

 
               
I did'nt like the way the cockpit windows were turning out so I cut off the entire wood framed canopy area and made up a balsa pattern for vacum forming a new one.....After vacum forming the new cowl I masked out the window areas with mylar paint-mask, sprayed on a coat of primer, the yellow coats and finally a coat of clear. The canopy is screwed in place and is removable.


     
 

    
      Go to page 2>
 

home