Tim that looks great. Well worth the fiddling about. I think this is the first shot where I’ve really been able to acknowledge how realistic that wood grain is!
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Tim an absolute beauty, you make it look so easy and those turn buckles are a nice catch making the rigging look very realistic.
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Absolutely beautiful. Gluing the pe over the lines is a brilliant idea- it looks quite convincing!
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That really is a gorgeous model!
Paint work, rigging and the spoked wheels bring it to life.
I was hoping that they would take the weight and looks like they do.
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Thank you guys!
This has actually been a fairly straightforward project - fitting the spokes was a new experience for me, but the wood effects, rigging, turnbuckles, etc. are things I’ve done before on ships. Aircraft (at least at the modest level I do them) are so much faster builds than ships!
I had painted the engine and fuel cells with Testors silver and copper enamels, but even though this was to be a “clean” aircraft, they still came out a bit too bright. A thin sloshing of Windsor & Newton Burnt Umber oil wash was an easy way to very slightly dirty them up and tone down the effect.
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Very impressive Tim - overall look is really nice.
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It looks great.
The old engines need a bit of oil and grease to bring them to life!
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Thanks guys!
With assembly finished, I thought it would be fun to add a final accent to the plane.
The Dutch company Reality in Scale makes a set of resin birds for dioramas which would be perfect.
Since the Martin-Handasyde was a British aircraft and flew only in Britain, I wanted the bird to represent a species common there. I also wanted one with attractive coloring; Parus Major, better known as the Great tit, fit the bill.
Now sporting my best rendition of Great tit markings, the little bird was attached to one of the Martin-Handasyde’s kingposts.
Perched on this strange mechanical oddity, the professional aviator checks out the amateur.
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OK! THAT is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen! Awesome, wonderful and an amazing build. Interesting turnbuckles too. Truly a stunning presentation.
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Tim that finishing touch of the great tit is the icing on the cake to this fantastic build, bravo. 
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It is an amazing build! Congrats, loved every word and pics uploaded.
Tamás
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Thanks guys, much appreciated!
And done!
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You may be surprised ( or maybe not ! ) at what comes up if you google great tit …
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I should just box up my un-built kits and send them to you. Your work always brings me a breath of fresh air. Well done. Did the original aircraft have some sort of seat belt or was it like flying in a lawn chair? Safety, I guess, was not invented until sometime later.
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I normally major in AFVs (when I actually get going) but this has been a joy to follow; informative, the historical, tips and techniques, all resulting in a little gem of a model.
And the Great Tit viz “the professional aviator checks out the amateur”. Priceless!
Simply superb.
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TopSmith
I should just box up my un-built kits and send them to you. Your work always brings me a breath of fresh air. Well done. Did the original aircraft have some sort of seat belt or was it like flying in a lawn chair? Safety, I guess, was not invented until sometime later.
BootsDMS
I normally major in AFVs (when I actually get going) but this has been a joy to follow; informative, the historical, tips and techniques, all resulting in a little gem of a model.And the Great Tit viz “the professional aviator checks out the amateur”. Priceless!
Simply superb.
Thank you gentlemen!
Yes, the aircraft did have lap belts, although - amazingly - many early aircraft didn’t! I made no representations of them here as I thought the dress and demeanor of the pilot figure suggested that he was just hanging out in the cockpit (maybe after driving to the field in his motor-car… hence the gloves and goggles) but not actually preparing to fly.
Anyway, this was a fun project - and thank you all again for your kind comments!
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Stunning Tim! I really hope you’ve got somewhere to show this thing off.
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Yeah, I’ll echo that!
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