Bleriot Control Line Pulleys

This is the underside of the floor boards. The stick operated by the pilot on the other side will have control lines passing down through holes at the pilot's feet and through these four pulleys to the control surfaces.

I'm still trying to get the finish right, worn oak, it's a work in progress. This is the first pass.

And the second... Close to right?

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Slow Progress...

 

Making pulleys for the control lines on the 1:10 scale Bleriot XI...

Not much was given in the instruction on how to make these, as is typical of ship models (Amati typically makes wooden ship models). They basically provide some raw materials and say "make these". For the pulley axles it called for using some brass nails that come in the kit. I couldn't see a good way to do this so I made some axles out of a metal paperclip.

Too soon to tell, but it looks like I will be able to make all the controls work on this model.

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Amati 1/10th Scale Bleriot XI, Part 8

The aircraft's three spoked wheel took weeks of on and off work to complete. They were very difficult to get straight and true, and fact mine basically are not. Oddly the very first one I made turned out the best of the three.

This is one half of one wheel, one of the two larger front wheels. The task for each wheel was to make two of these halves and cement them together on a brass arbor.

Two halves test fitted look like this...

This is a completed front wheel with black primer and glass black, a gloss clear coat, and the rubber tire. Looks pretty good when you can't tell how crooked the axle is.

The smaller rear wheel really got messed up. I guess I somehow misused the jig? The thickness of the wheel, when the two halves went together, was way too narrow. I managed to recover though and complete the wheel without complete disaster.

These wheels are the last significantly difficult sub-assembly. Pretty soon it will be a matter of the whole thing coming together.

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Amati 1/10th Scale Bleriot XI, Part 7

Paint, and some details... I used a metallic color paper for the "bronze" section of the cylinders. This is all working from photos of real planes. I think the instructions call for painting it all silver or something.

More details, light washes of black and brown and the engine in complete. 

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Amati 1/10th Scale Bleriot XI, Part 6

To build up the engine, the first step was to create jig. You're on your own for this. I used a wood scrap from the kit and a couple pieces of brass rod.

The parts are thick brass photo etch that get assembled in layers. It takes careful reading of the text of the translated instructions to get this right.

There's white metal cast pieces to finish off these assemblies.

It turned out to be a nice item to work on outdoors on a spring day. There's no good lighting like plain sunlight.

The engine block is two halves of plastic and more brass. I filled in the seams. 

Little brass nuts are used with a brass tack through the center. The head of the little tack forms a very convincing bolt.

I made a mistake here.

I was suppose to leave a couple bolts off as I realized later that they are supposed to pass through the front of the support bar that holds the engine. This was not all all called out in the instructions so it's easy to miss. I haven't yet worked out what I'll do about this.

More thick PE, three plastic tubes in PVC plastic and a cast part...

Primered and ready for more assembly... 

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Amati 1/10th Scale Bleriot XI, Part 5

This frame goes on the front and supports the engine and the landing gear. it's basically the "nose".

I did once read that this aircraft has been called a flying refrigerator. 

At any rate, the wood effect was time consuming but came out well.

Here's the completed tail.

I put in I don't know how many of these eyes for the planes rigging. There are many, many of them. It took days.

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Amati 1/10th Scale Bleriot XI, Part 4

The horizontal surface of the tail has outer sections that pivot, rather than flaps. These are two wooden parts on a brass rod.

Nothing like using paint to made wood look like... wood. 

The laser cut parts are not only somewhat scorched at the edges but are made of a plywood that is darker in the middle. I painted the whole thing with a spray tan color, then brushed over a liquid water color for a grain effect. It turned out pretty well.

This thing.

I really had to dig to find out what it is. I could not find a single photo that showed one of this plane with this large tank like thing in the fuselage. 

Someplace I finally found a similar plane from the same period, for flying over water, that also had one. It's just a large float, in case of a water crash.

This assembly, all wood, has two halve and two connical end pieces.

It got filled, sanded, filled, sanded, primered, sanded, filled, primered... I can't even tell how many layers of paint and filler went on before the final color. 

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Amati 1/10th Scale Bleriot XI, Part 3

Next up, building each wing... Construction is straight forward, although it was a little tricky holding everything in place.

I am using wood glue and CA. I prefer the wood glue. I think the bond is better. But sometimes I need a quick hold. CA sticks to wood like it sticks to skin.

This is going to be pretty big.

I did make an error or two that did not become clear until it was nearly complete. It'll be OK. I'll do both side the same way and do some sanding that covers it up.

The instructions are a little vague (just like a wooden ship model), and in Italian. There is a translation provided for the text part of the instructions, but it's still not great in places. You are sort of on your own.

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Amati 1/10th Scale Bleriot XI, Part 2

This kit consists of wood, brass, cast metal, "rope", paper, photo etch material and a few plastic parts. Some of the wood is just in sticks and dowels, and some is laser-cut sheets.

I thought it would be a simple but impressive build that I could get done in a couple weeks. I guess it COULD be done that way... But it become obvious quickly that doing a really good job of it would be a longer effort, and I can't resist that.

This turned into another one of my slow projects.

Amati is primarily a producer of model ship kits, and it shows. A vintage aircraft lends itself well to the style of wooden model ships. There's a log of wood to cut, sand and shape. And a lot of details to hand create. 

Fuselage and tail complete. No, Harlan was not helpful.

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Amati 1/10th Scale Bleriot XI, Part 1

This box is huge!

Instructions in Italian! This should be fun...

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