Next up.I think that I shall build the engine mount/undercarriage leg assembly.

Now that this is the only site that I post to on a regular basis,I can now get a lot more building done.

The day the wings were fitted for the first time.:

ghhg

Click on thumbnail !

Sorry I just couldn't resist.

John,
Thanks; I'm glad you didn't resist. This is just incredible stuff, the quality of the work to say nothing of the quantity is impressive to say the very least. I've got a little over 10 years to catch Mr. Warren; can't say I'll make it for sure but it's going to be a "slice" trying!

Cheers,
Lance

Even at this scale carving out all of the ribs lightening holes is something that I chose not to do as it really wouldn't add much to the storyline. Anyway that's my story and I am sticking to it.

As you can see for yourself the model plans and the real aircraft wing are very different.Any resemblance of one to the another is only coincidental.Leaving out the lightening holes is only one of many areas of artistic license taken by the designers of this kit but for storytelling purposes it works out to be just fine with me.I am not looking for historical accuracy here but what I am really looking for is a general shape of the Bleriot type aircraft that can be used as a prop for my own artistic purposes.How many cardboard Spitfires have we seen over the years being blown up by a movies director ? Well this is somewhat the same in nature.

I think that I have finally figured it out why there is such a difference in the model manufactures plans for the wings and tail feathers, where on the other hand the fuselage seems to be much more accurate. Why ? easy,they were meant to be covered with fabric all along.Out of sight ,out of mind .

The floorboards,cockpit seat and wing root support boards are now temporarily installed.

John,
Outstanding project to date and very informative as well.
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette

Thanks Gregory ! glad your enjoying it.

I prefer bend wood at the wingtip and not solid wood as it makes the wing look heavy and it takes away from the flowing lines of the wings.

Somebody asked me recently Why the dark colored airplane,well
this is a art piece and not meant to look like the real airplane.I wanted the airplane dark but not a cold black so I used burnt umber instead.The falcon will be painted white (and it is not white in real life),the ring will be brass.I want the emphasis on the storyline and I don't want to distract the viewers attention with color.Call it "artistic license.

Bleriot flotation device.

Here is another great example of not believing everything you see or read without doing some personal research on it yourself.
I followed the model instructions booklet and assumed that because the book said to make this piece with wood strips using a very long and convoluted method that took a forever and tested my patience ,I thought that I was ok to assume that it was made of wood. Wrong ! further research by me found out it is made of rubber and has a smooth surface all around.
Luckily I hadn't followed the other strange reason of making it in two pieces .Why bother when the wood strips are long enough to make it in one piece ? Or why not just make it in dowel (solid wood) ? less work getting the shape ,sanding etc.. and a dowel would have the added advantage of being able to carve some imperfections into the surface like ripples or bumps without worrying about breaking through the flotation bags thin wood strips skin.
If the excuse for this is they couldn't find a dowel of the right size (too small) it could be turned down just like the two end cone pieces were.
This kit has not only terrible instructions but terrible methodology as well.
The wood itself however is of a very high quality.

In view of the above I have decided to turn this negative experience into a positive one by doing a tutorial on sanding and finishing wood, so it doesn't look like wood but as in this case rubber.
I have absolutely no references on the type of rubber used way back then on the Bleriot but I would imagine that it would look something like an old fisherman's rubber coat like they used on the whalers at the turn of the century.It was blown up with air under pressure(I believe) so therefore it would have to be leak proof with quite a shiny surface like a semi-gloss paint.
I have taken lots of pics of the process of building and finishing this flotation bag,so not a lot of text should be required.

Sanding Wood Tutorial

The above two pics illustrate their method of building the rubber flotation bag.

This is the wood as it came out of the box.I built a small jig to keep the thin wood strips straight and properly aligned with the interior framing.

Here you can see that I have coated the interior with carpenters glue which is waterproof when cured.This not only strengthens the thin wood strips but also prevents any warping when using water based products (gesso ,acrylic etc..) .It also helps to seal the space between the individual boards.