Airfix 1/72 Handley Page 0/400

[SeanT28]

For my first group build in ISM I have chosen one of the first mass produced of the first world war. The Handley Page 0/400.
As of now I am waiting its arrival from post and will post sprue shots/box when it arrives.

in the mean time I will give you some info on the aircraft.
The Handley Page 0/400 was an upgrade of the 0/100 with better speed, payload and range. At its time it was one of the heaviest bombers of its time being able to carry up to 2700 Kg at a speed of roughly 100 MPH and struck fear into the rear of the German lines. It was able to carry 8, 93 Kg bombs or 16, 42 Kg bombs plus a single 616 Kg bomb. For defence there was a dual .303 Lewis gun mounted in the very nose of the aircraft and two single .303 Lewis guns mounted on either side of the rear fuselage or just one that could be repositioned to either side of the aircraft so weight could be saved. The crew consisted of a pilot, observer and two or three gunners(The amount of gunners depends on the amount of lewis guns in rear fuselage. No point having two people arguing who wants the one gun ).Formations of up to 40 0/400s could be deployed in one raid with some of the targets being ports and railways. These aircraft served from April 1918 until the end of the war with 663 being produced during the war.

Some images of the aircraft:

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[T3hGuppy]

Very cool.

Nice to see the WW1 making a showing.

[patrickroos]

Agreed, very cool subject!
The "grandfather" of all Heavy bombers and fortresses.
Im guessing its the Airfix kit? Have seen it in other forums and its a beautyful model.

[Joesdad]

Rigging hell buddy great choice, I wish you well...

Tim

[pedrofernandes]

These WWI bombers look amazing!!
Great choice of model!!

[SeanT28]

Rigging hell buddy great choice, I wish you well...

Tim

Im really jumping into the deep end, this is my first biplane

[Joesdad]

Rigging hell buddy great choice, I wish you well...

Tim

Im really jumping into the deep end, this is my first biplane

You're a brave man indeed Sean, I've recently done the new Airfix Gladiator and I did the easy bit ok but struggled on the wings (must finish it). I reacon it's one of them that when you get the technique right, your away. My problem is didn't have a monkeys....

[SeanT28]

It finally came in the post so here are some inbox picture

Iv'e always liked airfixs boxarts

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Onto instructions with the historical info page

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Building steps with plenty of rigging

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[SeanT28]

More instructions

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[SeanT28]

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Painting schemes and decals and squadron markings. They are both from the same squadron but one is from 1918 and the other post-1918

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[SeanT28]

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The decals. From what ive seen quite limited for a plane

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Onto spure shots and these are borderline terrible. There are so many lose parts but thankfully as of now none are broken

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[SeanT28]

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[SeanT28]

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All the parts that have fallen off

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[SeanT28]

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[SeanT28]

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Well that all the pics. Sorry if they are a bit blurry they are taken on a cheap camera.
As for the model I should be able to start on the weekend and I may even attempt a diorama with this but the figures of this era are limited so we'll see.

[T3hGuppy]

Looking forward to seeing this one coming together.

A fair bit of work ahead of you

[DBMiller]

What a strange coincidence yesterday; I bought a magazine that I have never seen before, just because it looked interesting. It is "A History of Conflict: Britain At War", issue 81. On page 8 is a small article about Handley Page 0/400 wing sections recovered from the roof of a garage! Talk about re-purposing parts!
I expect your plane will fair a bit better.

[wappynutter]

I don't usually follow aircraft builds but will this because I very nearly got one myself to join in the GB.....

After spotting the huge amount of rigging I backed out and left it well alone...
Hopefully you will inspire me and make the build and all the rigging look a doodle....
Fingers and toes crossed for you buddy!!!
Good luck...

[SeanT28]

Well I should be able to start tomorrow and if I don't post iv'e probably lost my mind with the rigging

[Nige201980]

looks like a nice kit mate and its nice to see a WWI bomber hope it all goes well mate

[SeanT28]

Well just a quick update. I have started the build and I wanted to explain how I tackled the rigging

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For the rigging I stretched a spure into a thread. I then just weaved through the holes in the order that the instructions said so there was almost no stress whatsoever. The only problem was the glue melting the thin plastic so I had to completely redo one wing. Overall the rigging is not very difficult at all if you are looking at buying this kit.

[wally]

Nice build nice rigging also. This classic bomber should become really beauty after you will finished. Keep up good work.
Cheers

[SeanT28]

Another update and this time I have completed the build and painted the cockpit. Over all the build did go relatively smooth but with this being an old kit there was a few problems with fitting being the main one with some parts having massive gaps. Also there are two bits of bad news, First and most importantly my rigging technique has failed due to the glue melting the plastic as it was too thin. As of now I have removed it completely and I will try to fix it. The other bit of less drastic news is that due to being too "in the zone" I have forgot to take pics of the painted interior and none of it is really visible from the outside because all of windows are distorted. Despite these problems I still like the outcome.

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[SeanT28]

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That's all for now and the next update will be on painting.
also I do plan to create a diorama of an airfield on the western front with this bomber preparing to take off. I have thought out the basic components but I am wondering how to create grass in 1/72 scale so if any of you guys have any suggestion I will appreciate it.

[SeanT28]

Here is pic that I will be roughly basing my diorama on

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[Jamesday1998]

looks great so far! must be a bit of a filler queen and withe the detail being raised it must be annoying to sand away! you've done a great rigging by the way!

[T3hGuppy]

Very cool looking dude.

So when you starting the second one to match the pic? lol

[SeanT28]

Very cool looking dude.

So when you starting the second one to match the pic? lol

now that will be a big diorama

[SeanT28]

Just a short update on the diorama. Since there are a lack of WWI figures I have rummaged for some Airfix front-line infantry.

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I painted these figures a long time ago so they definitely need cleaned up, repainted and to cut off guns and such as there will be no need for these. I also have painted the three aircrew that came with the model. I plan to have a few people preparing the plane for take off with some sitting, watching them and enjoying the French sun but their NCO is quick to put it to and end and comes over in a rage telling them to do something productive. I am wondering on the exact layout but this will be the basics.

[conradschmid99]

cool airplane
I'm thinking of doing this kit for the ww1 gb

[SeanT28]

cool airplane
I'm thinking of doing this kit for the ww1 gb

I would definitely recommend it just be prepared to do a fair bit of filling and cleaning as it is an old kit.
It would be great to see other peoples take on it

[SeanT28]

So iv'e finished painting the plane with only a few minor problems.
Firstly however I will go through my painting process. Overall the base coat was a mix of Revell Bronze Green and Dark Earth to give a more browny green that would have been used for them in real life. I then added shading by mixing Bronze Green with Sand yellow but I think I done it too subtle so it may not show clearly in the pictures.

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I painted the propellers with a mix of Revell White and a touch of Dark Earth to give them a cream colour with Dark Earth in the centre

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I didn't like the small decal for the rudders so I painted them like this. Overall i went for the late war decals that have the modern RAF symbol rather than the red and blue one. I didn't soak some of the decals long enough so some did rip and then some tore the paint off so that's why there are some missing that I do plan to fix at a later date.

[SeanT28]

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On the engines i used Revell Reddish Brown to represent rust on the exhausts and metallic to create scratches.

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Fro the wheels and the bomb I used Revell Anthracite

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Also the best shot I could get of the interior. Also I tried to add a streaking effect on the wings by adding thinned paint to the front of the wing and used my airbrush to blow it back. It was a partial success but it turned out ok.
The next update will either be on the Dio or the last few parts of the plane but I am still wondering how to create grass in 1/72 scale.

[DBMiller]

Beautiful! Biplanes scare me to death! I don't think I could ever do justice to one, however good the kit.

[m0gb0y74]

I've been toying with the idea of buying this kit for ages. It's nice to see one being built. I will have to get around to buying one at some point.

[T3hGuppy]

Great job on this beautiful bird dude.

[SeanT28]

So iv'e completed the base of the diorama that consists of a simple muddy field in which the plane is being prepared for take-off. I used a double layer of cardboard and plaster I had lying around and I then mixed dirt with glue and water to create, you guessed it, mud for base. For grass I cut a large old paint brush bristles to create strands of grass and for some variation I used cheap dried herbs(This also gave the diorama a pleasant smell).

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I'm happy with the way the grass turned out as it is my first proper grass diorama and only my second proper attempt at a diorama.

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[SeanT28]

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As usual I ran into the problem of running out of dirt half way through and had to fetch some dirt from outside and as it was wet I couldn't remove all the tiny stones like I usually would. As I had to scatter the improvised grass mix on top of the mud I hurry before it dried. The consequences of this are some cracks that can be seen in the pic above. still to come is the figures that I am still trying to get time to clean and paint to put on the diorama and the new rigging for the plane although I have studying for upcoming exams so it may be a couple weeks before i can continue.

[T3hGuppy]

Really like the effect you achieved on the base dude.

Nothing better for realism than the real thing.

[PhilsModelMaking]

It finally came in the post so here are some inbox picture

Iv'e always liked airfixs boxarts

hello sean, its funny you should say you like the airfix box artworks because in your first post, the second picture down is the original artwork for this kit, minus all the writing that would be there.
in fact if you look closely the figures in the kit should match what the figures in the painting are doing.
its nice to see this back in the shops, I built one in the late 90's and was never really happy with how it turned out, but this was a while before I really started to learn how to effectively rig aircraft.
I do like what you've done with yours and I'm sure at some point in the future i'll buy another and re-visit what must be one of the most unique kits in airfix's catalogue!

[eoinfinnegan]

Your doing a very nice job on this, well done