DHC-2 Mk. III, C-FDJH

[dhanners]

Just to demonstrate, again, I can build something that’s not an X-15, here’s a Dehavilland Canada DHC-2 Mk. III Turbo Beaver, C-FDJH. It is a Design Group Alpha model, designed by Jim Gausman. This version is by Gary MacPherson and is in 1/48th scale.

I built the model pretty much stock except I got rid of the tabs throughout and made my own so pieces could be joined with butt joints. Also, I dropped the flaps and the elevator. Of course doing that requires building up the flaps and elevators, and then building up the structures inside the wings and the horizontal stabilizer.

Instead of building the model on amphibious floats, I chose to model it on its tricycle landing gear. If I had it to do over again, I’d probably cook up some way to strengthen the landing gear struts with wire. I scratchbuilt the structure for the tail wheel.

One thing I came to realize when researching C-FDJH online was that over th3 years, the appearance of individual Turbo Beavers can change, and I don’t just mean markings. I found photos of the aircraft with a large ventral fin, photos of it with a small ventral fin and photos with no ventral fin at all. I found photos of it with finlets on the horizontal stabilizer and photos of the plane without. Much like the X-15, you basically have to pick a photo and model the photo.

[MacSongLi]

Great build Dave. The added details and the control surfaces sure add a lot to the model. Very nicely done.

Gary

[Don Boose]

Flawless model of a very striking aircraft!

The coming together of the talents of two great designers and one grat model builder.

Don

[Siwi]

Excellent work. How did you get the spinner so realistically smooth? Exhausts and steps very good as well.


Something to ask people who actually fly is why taildraggers sometimes park with the elevators in 'nose down' position. Would this not create a risk that an unfortunate strong wind could lift the tail and cause the nose to hit the ground?

[dhanners]

Originally Posted by Siwi

Excellent work. How did you get the spinner so realistically smooth? Exhausts and steps very good as well.


Something to ask people who actually fly is why taildraggers sometimes park with the elevators in 'nose down' position. Would this not create a risk that an unfortunate strong wind could lift the tail and cause the nose to hit the ground?

Thanks for the kind words, all.

Re: the spinner. Jim includes an angled strip that is glued to a round popsicle stick (in this instance) and then rolled around. As is, it gives you a fairly rudimentary conical shape. Once the glue is dry, I apply a fairly liberal coat of wood glue (an aliphatic resin) around the spinner to even things out. I use the wood glue because it is easier to sand later.

In a perfect world, I would have a Dremel tool and I’d chuck it in that and sand. But the world’s not perfect, so I wrap some duct tape around the popsicle stick and fit it in a cheapo cordless screwdriver I have, then sand with various grits of sandpaper. Eventually, you sand it into something that looks like a spinner.

I did buy one of those fancy-schmancy chrome silver markers I’ve seen advertised and boy howdy that stuff is shiny. That’s what I used to color the spinner.

As for the dropped flaps and elevators when parked, no idea….

[Texman]

Another exemplary work Dave. In the coming year, I am hoping to rejuvenate my desire to build. Had some time and health issues lately that left me less than motivated to build.

Now, about this "fancy-schmancy" chrome silver marker. Can we get a little more information on that? Looks promising, as I tend to make my own spinners as well.

[dhanners]

Originally Posted by Texman

Another exemplary work Dave. In the coming year, I am hoping to rejuvenate my desire to build. Had some time and health issues lately that left me less than motivated to build.

Now, about this "fancy-schmancy" chrome silver marker. Can we get a little more information on that? Looks promising, as I tend to make my own spinners as well.

I know what it is like to lose motivation. I’ve lost it for periods of time over the years, and there were stretches when no model looked interesting to me. I hope your health returns and, with it, your motivation.

The pen was something I got off Amazon.co.uk. It’s a three-pen set by some outfit called Flysea and they come with tips that are 3mm, 1mm and .7mm wide.

I just got mine today and the spinner was my first use of it. I’ll say I was duly impressed. It’s darn shiny.

Here’s my URL for it, and I don’t know if Amazon in the U.S. sells it:
Amazon.co.uk

They also come in gold and copper.

[dhanners]

Thinking my landing gear looked kind of bland, I decided I couldn’t leave well-enough alone and added skis to the model. Jim provides the parts, but I’ll admit I couldn’t figure the linkages out and so I just scratchbuilt what I could see in photos online. I used 5 amp fuse wire to replicate the wiring that holds them in place while the plane is airborne.

Prior to doing this, I cooked up a fix for the wonky landing gear legs. I was able to insert an angled piece of wire into the landing gear legs and glue it to the bottom of the fuselage. I then covered the wire on the fuselage with a small patch of brown cardstock from a spare printout of the model. It isn’t noticeable, and the legs stay at the proper angle.

[yukonjohn]

Great additions to the gear. The real thing is on youtube with Rick of Great Northern Air Adventures at:
Landing At Divide near Mount Logan, Yukon with deHavilland Turbo Beaver - YouTube


Regards,
John

[RyanShort1]

Originally Posted by Siwi

Something to ask people who actually fly is why taildraggers sometimes park with the elevators in 'nose down' position. Would this not create a risk that an unfortunate strong wind could lift the tail and cause the nose to hit the ground?

There are a ton of different kinds of taildraggers, so there won't be a one size fits all answer. If you were forced to park downwind, you might want the elevator down, or the pilot might've just been lazy in light winds and not done anything, and if the elevator is heavy, it might sag downwards.