Empire Flying Boat by Michael Papadakis

Short S.23 Empire Flying Boat: Scratchbuilt 1/48 scale

Michael won the prestigious “Best Aircraft in Show” at this year’s Telford Scale Model World 2023. A truly monumentous build, all from scratch and as ever Michael was relentless in his research efforts.

He has again put our metals to great use as can be seen in the images in this post.

Beaching Gear

The main beaching gear legs and wheels were designed in Fusion 360 and 3D printed in resin. For structural reasons, the bracing struts were made of Albion Alloys brass tubes and through rods which served as attachment fittings. The wheel axles for both main legs and tail trolley  were made of 2mm aluminium tubes with telescopic brass rods for extra strength. 2mm brass rods may have been used instead. The main leg bracing struts (outriggers) on the real aircraft were equipped with pneumatic balls which were made of magic sculpt and strips of lead foil. The two large cylinders on each of the legs were floatation corks. Both legs were painted with AK extreme metal aluminium paint.

Cabin fixtures and fittings

Nickel Silver 1mm rod was used to represent several fittings inside the cabin including the hand rail on the port sidewall of the promenade deck, curtain rails, ladders and hat rack frames to name a few. All the above were left unpainted for higher realism and to convey the luxurious aura of the cabin interior.