History

Characteristics Engine : Gnome 80 hp Wing span : 13.8 m Length : 8 m Weight empty : 410 Kg Weight loaded : 650 Kg Speed : 90 km/h at the sea level Service ceiling : 2500 m Range : 220 km

References Very interesting site, which speaks not only of the Farman : http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/farman2.html The CD-ROM of Michael Fletcher, including loads of drawings and his site. Russian site describes, among other, the Farman HF16 : http://www.ctrl-c.liu.se/misc/ram/index.html

The kit

I will use the resin kit from Omega Models in 1/72 scale. At first, it looks well engineered, however, the engine fixation needs a complete reworking to be more accurate. I will probably not use the interplane struts in resin, they are too fragile and subjected to bend.

First of all, lets have a look at the kit :

Box art

The parts

Kit assembly

The engine

The engine is provided in 10 parts, the crankcase and the 9 cylinders. This configuration is not, in my opinion, the more practical way to do. The one that I prefer is the one part moulding, crankcase and cylinders (if it is a very good moulding, for example, the Sopwith Strutter from Flashback 1/72 scale). To come back to the assembly, after a good clean-up of the parts, I glue the cylinders 1 by 1 (with CA gel glue), to take care of them to be at the same height and well lined up. After that, I add the valve rods, made from 0.2mm brass rod. Then a coat of "White aluminium" Alclad. And then I add some deep to the hollows with some "exhaust (Metalizer)" Model Master.

The engine support

In the kit, the support is included at the fuselage, which is not so realistic. So I decided to rebuild it. First of all, I cut the rear of the fuselage to remove the original support.

Then, I prepare the 2 supports in plastic card Evergreen 0.5mm thick and the reinforcement in 0.13mm.         I paint them in Humbrol HU87 Matt Steel Grey.   I glue the engine on the whole assembly.

07/03/04 The inside

After removing the part which represent the tank support, I scratchbuild the internal structure with Evergreen strips 0.5 x 0.25mm and rod 0.5mm diameter. I add the fixation straps on the tank.

14/03/04 Big operation !!!

I glue the fuselage onto the lower wing. At the moment, everything goes well. With the 0.8mm steel rod provided, I build the lower longeron. I file the rod 3mm wide, to the middle of its diameter, at the place where I have to bend it. The folding is not easy, the material is very stiff. I make some grooves in the wings to attach the longeron. I adjust their length to have the right dimension and alignment. Then the gluing : you need to have the right angle between the horizontal plane of the longeron and the horizontal plane of the fuselage. The drawing is very useful for the positioning. When the elements are in place, a drop of thin CA glue on each joint and I let it dry 5 minutes. This drying time allows to check the good alignment and to adjust if necessary. Trust me, it works !!!

21/06/04 It doesn't go so fast

Painting of the interior. The structure is in HU87, the canvas at the rear of the cockpit is Misterkit French CDL, the front receive a very thin coat of white from Prince August to avoid a too bright white. The wood of the floor is made of a coat of Humbrol 63 "matt sand", following by a coat of Citadel "chestnut ink". I think I will paint the outside of the fuselage with a canvas tone for the rear, wood for the front and aluminium for the top front. If you have a better idea, don't hesitate to let me know.

17/07/04 The outside

Following some advice obtained through the discussion list (Thanks Diego), I chose the French CDL colour from Misterkit (MKFR04) for the wings and the rear of the fuselage, and the "Light yellow" from the same brand (MKFR03) for the front and some parts of the sides.

Then, the decals. They went well, they are very thin. After that I airbrush a coat of satin varnish from Prince August Air (Vallejo).

I apply some pastel chalk with a Q-tip between each wing rib, on the lower wing, the underside of the upper wing and the rudder I also add the landing gear.

27/07/04 Back to the interior

I scratchbuild the rudder bar because the one provided in the kit is made of only 2 pedals. I used some 0.3mm steel wire and 0.6mm plastic rod.

Then, I add the assembly above in the fuselage and I build the internal rigging with darkened brass wire.

I also add some details on the sides of the nacelle, on starboard, the fuel hose (copper wire) and on port, the engine controls (steel wire).

I glue all of the elements which have to go in the fuselage, that's it, it is full !!!

29/05/2005 Addition of the upper wing

At first, the struts. I cut some parts of bamboo with the right size. I sand them to obtain an aerodynamic shape. After that, I drill them and add steel wire of 0.3mm. The colour is obtained with a wood tint, then covered with 4 coats of  Klir (French version of Future). Then, I add the fabric strips on the struts (Americal Gryphon decals : alternate rib tapes). When in place, I cover them with another coat of Klir.

I glue each strut on the lower wing with care in order to have them with the right position.

The upper wing is added, and a drop of cyanoacrylat glue is added at the top of each strut at the joint with the upper wing.

26/07/2005 Rigging, progress of the rear

Beginning of the rigging process. First, it is quite simple if you take some time to think of the order of realisation. Some wire must be glued first, some other after painting and decaling of the upper side of the upper wing. Each wire is passed through a hole drilled in the upper wing to the corresponding one (not passing through) in the lower wing, then glued with thick cyanoacrylate glue.

Each wire is tightened and glued with thin cyanoacrylate glue. After drying, I usually wait for a day, the wires are cut.

Once the first part of the rigging is ended, I add the upper tail booms and the rudder.

The upper side of the top wing is painted, decaled, a satin clear coat sprayed and then the place between each wing ribs is highlighted with pastel chalk. I glue the interbooms struts. I also add the control horns of the ailerons and the little support for rigging of the tail made from plastic rod. The supports of the upper wing rigging are made of brass rod.

20/09/2005 Rigging, continuing

I scratchbuild the rear undercarriage to have something more realistic. I glue it in place and add the rigging which maintain the shock absorber.

I start the rigging of the tail, a long and delicate task. There are a lot of wires to attach and often 4 to pass in the same hole. The main goal is to tight all of them at the same time before gluing. It took to me several hours to complete this task, it is one of the more difficult part of this type of plane.

15/01/2006 End of the building

I paint the propeller with a coat of Humbrol 63 "matt sand", following by a coat of Citadel "chestnut ink". I add a propeller boss from the PE fret from PART.

At least, some views of the completed plane.