Boiler, Funnel & Nordenfelt

No, it's not a team of legal eagles. Just an update on the Aerial Flyer...

The boiler is in place. I intend to put a guard rail or some kind of surround encompassing the cylinder. From a realistic point of view you don't want someone to fall on a red-hot boiler if the Flyer makes a sharp maneuver! The funnel is stepped. This is made from a section of plastic tube cut with one end at an angle to rake it aft. The deck house roof is now glued on and the whole undercoated. The colour scheme follows that of Queen Victoria's navy. I've yet to paint the window surrounds brass, but the rivets are in place. I also shortened the mast by about an inch and a half as it was too long. I'm debating whether to paint the rivets around the deck house shell brass or leave them be.

A side-trip to the project was the construction of a pair of 3-barrel Nordenfelt guns. These are simplified versions slotted in position on either sponson as an option to the aerial torpedo tubes. I noticed the tall jar in the Hirst Arts inn accessories mold bore a strong resemblance to the solid brass pintel mounts used aboard Victorian warships - so I cast a trio in resin and that's what these became.

I drilled holes in the top of each jar to accept a short length of brass tube which I glued into place with epoxy adhesive. Once set, the jars are turned upside down. The guns are lengths of plastic [ section trough and rod. I figure since the vessel will be working in three dimensions some means of elevating/depressing the barrels would be necessary, so I mounted the whole on a spherical bead to represent a kind of ball mounting. A cut pin glued into the hole acts as control for the training mechanism.The photo below shows something of this, along with the signal flag locker in the deck house.

The bow gun is something of a problem. The two Riveresco guns I was thinking of using have large gun shields as part of the model, and they're way too large for the bow position. The helmsman wouldn't be able to see past it! I decided instead to scratch-build something like a Hotchkiss 57mm rotary cannon.

I think this is a sufficiently big enough sod-off type weapon for an Aerial Flyer...

Next up will be the tail plane, the last piece of major construction, followed by the propeller, propeller shaft and gearbox, and the boiler surround in whatever shape I decide. After that, it's down to painting in earnest.