Take a good look at the May 2024 release by Armory of their all-new 1:48 scale De Havilland Dragon Rapide. See hundreds more reviews, full builds, HD video demos and so much more at www.scalemodellingnow.com See you soon! Geoff C.
Mine just arrived, first impressions the kit looks great. Plenty of detail. Toss up between Yorkshire star or Lancashire. I am so glad this period in civil aviation is being covered. More 30s to 60s civil aviation please kit maker's.
I received my Rapide yesterday, and I must say it looks really good. The wing rib and wheel track spacing are correct (phew!). Only two outline inaccuracies are apparent; these concern the inboard flaps (too long), and the adjacent trailing edge, which should curve aft of the flap to meet the lower longeron; Armory have made the straight trailing edge of the flap that of the wing! Easily corrected with a bit of putty or plasticard and careful sanding. 🙂 Fortunately for those who wish to use the beautiful RAS transfers, DH 89A (ex-Dominie) G-ALXT is preserved by the Science Museum in the markings of Star of Scotia (glorious romantic name), so you just have to make up a ''T' from the existing spare letters, and there is no need for a DH 89 tailplane or change to the lighting rig. Not 1930s authentic, but a fine looking Rapide. Dynamos could be mounted on the port or starboard upper wing; Armory have chosen to put theirs on the starboard side, which was in fact the less common. For the real rivet-counter, there are actually two types of generator, one with a wooden airscrew and the other, slightly longer, with a metal constant-speed one. The latter was used by Railway Air Services, but the kit has a "wooden" one. Ho-hum... No great problem.
@@geoffcoughlin7310 One more thing: the *inboard faces* of the wheel hubs should have a plain, slightly convex rubber cover rather than the spokes in the kit. This was to protect the brakes.
I'm sure it'll be a special build for you, especially after having flown in one. I'm looking forward to the build. I've just about had my fill of WW2 planes lately, and my eye has been drawn to earlier biplanes recently.
I definitely will look into this kit, but I would be after either a New Zealand or Australian Markings or Boxing, Civil or Military as both NZ and Australia used the DH 89a pre-, during and Post-war. (Miliatery and Civil.) extensively. There is still a flying Dh 89a here in Auckland, NZ and, I think, a couple in Australia. Looks to be a nice (if Limited run) kit.
For lots of Rapide manual drawings and photos, Google: RC Groups: Build Log In development - DH Dragon Rapide (1/24th ish). Can't post a direct link from RU-vid.
Now all we need is a modern 1/72 scale version. One of my all-time favourite aircraft \I've always reckoned De Havilland produced some of the most photogenic aircraft ever produced , giving credence to 'if it looks right it probably is right', the pinnacle arguably being the Mosquito. Looks like a brillant kit.
Too right about the need for a decent 1/72 kit. The old Heller/Airfix job is, quite frankly, a travesty, albeit with the best nacelles of any model, bar none!
well certainly looks an interesting kit, a bit of clean up to work through but otherwise looks straightforward. I do like the unusual so may well buy into this. Hope you share the build.
The kit is of a DH 89A, which had a different tailplane, rudder and lighting set-up from the DH 89 as used by Railway Air Services. Basically, there were no lights on the wings or rudder (so rudder ribbing was simpler), no landing light at first, no flaps, and the DH 84 Dragon tailplane was retained, being of shorter span with very differently shaped elevators overhanging at the tips. Plenty of published photos show these detail differences. I'm a bit worried about the engine separation, which should scale out to 11 ft 6 in rather than the 12 ft as in George Cox's horrendously inaccurate drawing from the 1950s, used as a basis by most if not all model manufacturers so far. The wing rib spacing looks a bit suspect too, there being no hint of the serrated plywood leading edges or the hourglass-shaped ply reinforcement around the outer interplane struts. No change there... Some lovely detailed small parts and gorgeous transfers make this kit well worth buying, but scratch-built - or at least re-surfaced - wings and tail surfaces would definitely be needed for a truly accurate early Rapide. The Rapide maintenance manuals, with accurate drawings, are easily obtainable online, and G-ADAH, a DH 89 preserved and easily accessible at the Ellesmere Port Air Museum, retains her original fuselage-mounted lighting rig and rudder, but has retrofitted 89A flaps and tailplane.
Thanks for all this info so plenty to think about in any build. It’s mostly about how far, or not, you the modeller wants to go with your own build. Good luck! For me I will largely go with what’s provided and see how it all turns out. Thanks again for your intel. Geoff C.
Superb Bruce - what a fantastic experience. I too was lucky enough to take a flight in a Rapide at Duxford, England a few years ago. Unforgettable. 👍 GC
Not so encouraging - the kit has massive anhedral on the bottom wing stub planes, a fault it shares with every other Rapide kit. It's a Rapide, guys, not a Stuka or a Corsair! For an accurate model, the inner and outer wing panels need to be separated and the inners brought up to level. The actual figure in the rigging manual is 0 degrees, 25 minutes (just under half a degree) anhedral, which is accounted for by the taper of the spar top. Successive draughtsmen and model manufacturers appear to have taken a 1950s misreading of the rigging manual angle literally. :-( Adjustments to inner strut lengths may be needed once the angle is corrected, and perhaps a smidgin taken off the stub plane span. More research needed... Good news for anyone using the gorgeous transfers: RAS interiors were blue leather floor to ceiling, with apparently light grey piping around the seats. The carpet was a lighter shade, probably also blue.
