DH.88 Comet Racer Project

In 1933 Sir MacPherson Robertson proposed an aerial competition from England to Australia, for which he offered a total of £15,000 in prizes with £10,000 to the winner. A year later the race was held and one of the 3 participating Comets won the race completing the trip in almost 71 flight hours. 

These are the terrible pieces of the old Airfix kit. 

These are the terrible pieces of the old Airfix kit. 

Those diver heads and the floor where they rest must be removed. 

Those diver heads and the floor where they rest must be removed. 

Removed. 

Starting to build the cockpit's interior. 

Starting to building the seats. 

Seats and new floor. 

Building the bulkheads with a shape copier. 

Copying the resulting shape. 

Shape transferred to a piece of plasticard. 

Internal ribbing, floor, bulkheads, seats and instrument panel. 

Checking fit. 

Instrument panel layout and other cockpit elements. 

Instrument panel layout and other cockpit elements. 

Front panel and part of rear panel. 

Checking... 

Part of a PE at 1/32 scale. 

Checking fit... 

Gas levers. 

Other cockpit and navigation instruments. 

Ready to assemble. 

Checking again... 

Landing light with a 3mm white LED (not functional. For optical effect only). 

Rip to make room. 

Both sides. 

LED also needs to be sanded to fit the interior space. 

 

LED fitted in place. It will need some putty to finish integrating into the fuselage. 

LED fitted in place. It will need some putty to finish integrating into the fuselage. 

Engines and undercarriage bays. 

Cleaning and rebuilding... 

PC screws cut with Dremel. 

PC screws cut with Dremel. 

Front view of the engine. Need to be improved. 

Drilling for the hole where the exhaust pipe will go. 

Sheet metal to cover joints without having to apply putty. 

Plastic strips and hypodermic needle for exhaust pipe. 

Strange mold shapes to be cleaned on propellers hub. 

Shaft to hold the propeller. 

Shaft to hold the propeller. 

Putty and sanding in the joints. 

Job finished... Comparison with the other engine pending completion. 

Difference between one improved and one without improvement. 

Difference between one improved and one without improvement. 

A few interior modifications like painting, seatbelts or changing the rear panel. Then close the fuselage and... putty... 

... putty... 

... and more putty. 

Sand... 

... sand... 

... and more sand. 

Injection marks. 

Huge cracks at the junction of the wings with the engines. 

Huge cracks at the junction of the wings with the engines. 

Huge cracks at the junction of the wings with the engines. 

Fill with plastic strip... 

... and more putty and sand. 

In place. 

Sanding the top. 

Sheet metal to cover the front of instrument panel and putty. 

Also puttying the nose light part. 

Now the canopy does not fit well, does not include uprights and distort because it is very thick. 

Now the canopy does not fit well, does not include uprights and distort because it is very thick. 

Now the canopy does not fit well, does not include uprights and distort because it is very thick. 

So I thought the best solution would be to make a new vacuum canopy. But I had to build a vacuum box. 

Make holes with a drill. After gluing all the sides of the box seal well at the joints to prevent air from escaping when vacuuming. I varnished the box, although it is only an option. 

On the other side make a hole for the connection of the vacuum cleaner. 

Connect the vacuum cleaner tube and then use blue-tack to cover the gaps where air can escape. 

Fill the original canopy with some type of putty to avoid possible breaks with the pressure of the vacuum. 

While the vacuum cleaner is running, use the hair dryer's heat concentrator to fine-tune the canopy shapes on the acetate sheet. 

Use the dull edge of a knife to make the shapes fit snugly around the edges of the canopy. 

Now there is no distortion in the canopy, but it still doesn't fit well. I will make more copies and trim until I get a good fit. 

Now there is no distortion in the canopy, but it still doesn't fit well. I will make more copies and trim until I get a good fit. 

Meanwhile, I am thinking how to make the canopy studs.
A possible solution could be to use Christmas tinsel strips, but they seem too thick. 

This is only a test. It won't be like this. 

This is only a test. It won't be like this. 

Wing joints with fuselage needs a lot of putty once again. 

Wing joints with fuselage needs a lot of putty once again. 

Some areas need to be rebuilt at trailing edges. 

A lot of putty, a lot of sanding and a good mask necessary to avoid ingesting all the large amount of dust from the putty when sanding. 

Checking for imperfections with metallic paint in some areas. 

Polishing with Micro-Mesh style sandpaper of superfine grain and also with Tamiya's Compound paste of the three grains (coarse, fine and finish). 

Polishing with Micro-Mesh style sandpaper of superfine grain and also with Tamiya's Compound paste of the three grains (coarse, fine and finish). 

Primer with Mr. Surfacer. There are still flaws that need to be sanded and polished again. 

Primer with Mr. Surfacer. There are still flaws that need to be sanded and polished again. 

I forgot to make a holes for the front of the motors. But in the attempt, the small drill broke, leaving the tip trapped inside. 

I had to break into that part in order to get the tip out of the drill. 

And rebuild with more putty. 

Rebuilt. 

Before re-priming I thought I'd try modeling the flight lights with more putty (once again). Not included in this model. 

Modeling the flight lights with Tamiya's putty. 

Sanding to shape it. 

Flight lights done. 

Checking the smallest crack to continue correcting before the final primer. 

At simple sight no small cracks hardly appreciated. 

Final primer after correcting the last few small cracks. 

... And polished again with Compound before painting. 

Counterweights made with small threads and a little white glue on the tips. 

Ready to paint. 

Humbrol Enamel H21 Black Gloss. 

Humbrol Enamel H21 Black Gloss. 

Humbrol Enamel H21 Black Gloss. 

Humbrol Enamel H21 Black Gloss.