Bugatti 100P
Comentários
David SmithI just hope I can do it justice. Other builders report that although the parts are all finely moulded there are some fit issues that will likely tax my skill and patience.
Michael JonkerGood luck with it. Lovely subject and I can't wait to see the main colour going on.
David SmithHi Michael, I'm impatient too! Currently in primer/fill/sand cycle...not my strength.
Michael JonkerThe blue looks brilliant! The plane looks like something from the future.
David SmithThe blue changes with the light source and looks best in daylight. I stumbled across a YouTube video of this two or three weeks ago and was struck by the unique design, technical details and 'hidden from the Nazis' history. I could barely believe it when I found it was available in 1:72nd and so cheap! For a cheap kit with free paint I think it turned out OK. It really is a little jewel😀
David SmithThanks everyone for the positive feedback. Building this tiny Bugatti plane has been a genuine pleasure.
Album info
Beautiful-looking tiny plane conceived by Ettore Bugatti to take the world airspeed record from Howard Hughes, and subsequently the Messerschmidt 109. A very unconventional low drag, lightweight design. Constructed largely of balsa wood covered in tulip wood and doped fabric it featured slightly forward-swept wings and a butterfly tail. Power came from two straight eight Bugatti engines mounted one after another behind the pilot and offset so that he sat between two propshafts. These shafts met in a special gearbox in front of the pilot's feet and had concentric output shafts driving contra-rotating twin blade propellers. The supercharged engines had magnesium blocks and cooling was by internal radiators fed from ducts in the front edge of the tailplane. Flap and landing gear deployment were automatic, depending on airspeed and engine revs. The 100P never flew - it was not quite complete when WWII broke out and spent the duration hidden away in a barn on Bugatti's country estate. After the war it was taken to the US and eventually completed as a museum exhibit. The engines remained in France and were fitted to two Bugatti automobiles which survive to this day. As a sad footnote, a modern replica using a wood fibre composite material and two Hyabusa motorcycle engines was built and flown in 2015, but crashed killing its pilot/builder on its 3rd test flight early in 2016.
