Airco DH4A

Notes: Model Prompted by a photograph in 'Janes Fighting Aircraft of WW1' - the full size machines were conversions of the De Haviland D.H.4 for No.2 Communications Squadron. They were used to carry passengers 'between Kenley and Buc during peace negotiations.' - Could they be said to be the Aircraft that ended the war?

Bruce Robertson's book 'British Military Aircraft Serials' lists the following DH4A conversions: F5764; F2663; F2664; F2665; F2694; F2681; F2699; F2702 and F2704.

I'm always looking for the more 'unusual' examples to model, and this one had the added advantage of being a relatively easy conversion from a readily available (read cheap) kit. Len kindly leant me some rudimentary three-view drawings, which I scaled out to 1:72. The kit fuselage fitted the profile well enough, so I started the surgery by cutting off the top fuselage aft of the pilot's position.
	Plastic sheet was then used to make flat sides to the passenger area - these were glazed with clear plastic from inside and a couple of simple seats were fashioned just to make the space inside look 'used.'
The rear fuselage was made up from laminated plastic and roughly carved to shape. The mismatch between the flat sides and the contours of the cockpit was dealt with by copious filling with Milliput. The 4 engine louvres on top of the fuselage were removed and replaced with 7 small strips of styrene sanded to shape.
	I also made some minor adjustments to the engine area, guided (or possibly misguided as it later turned out) by a photograph of the real aircraft. The whole thing was then sanded down with wet 'n' dry paper until smooth.

...cleaned up and sprayed white...	...and decaled as F2665.

Elevator control horns were added from sheet styrene and a little dry-brushing of the engine area helped lift the detail I'd added.
The serial numbers were cut from TOKO's Sopwith Salamander sheet, with '5's from an unknown spare sheet I found in the file.

The whole model was given a coat of Klear polish and rigged with lycra thread. It took less than a week to finish during my Easter Holiday.

- Will win no prizes for accuracy or finish, but it's an interesting addition to the collection.