Steve's Models

[Buddahaid]

Well I've liked all the plywood I've seen so far. Maybe you're overthinking it?

I really like how you get the feel right like an impressionist artist. The detail may not be photo realistic but the whole effect is marvelous.

[Jimbuna]

I started of the day wondering what to do about the 'plywood' fuselage. I tried just dipping the brush in thinner and painting over what I had done. I was actually pretty happy with the result. The two colors ran together in a much more natural fashion. Next I painted the crew. Then the dual gun-ring, which I had to bend out of brass wire. The supports are steel wire. Then I put the crew in. Next came the gravity-feed fuel tank hanging from the cabane. That was sanded to shape from a piece of sprue (the 'trees' the parts are attached to in a regular kit). Then a little more paint applied and I'm done for the night. Looking at the pictures I'm still not happy with that 'plywood' siding. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

[/URL]

[URL="http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-132CrewTankGunRing_zps574e16ac.jpg.html"] (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-131CrewTankGunRing_zps962b2e66.jpg.html)

I think your being a tad harsh on yourself...it looks really effective from where I'm standing :cool:

[Sailor Steve]

My problem wasn't with the colors so much as the textrure. If scaled up to full size the wood grain would have been 1/2-inch deep, which is as thick as the plywood paneling itself. After my post last night it was bothering me so much that I sanded it down and repainted the fuselage. While I was doing that I reshaped the nose to match a photograph I have of an early one with the 160-hp Benz engine. Over the four years of the war and after the Hansa-Brandenburg was modified with successively larger engines, both more powerful and physically larger. Late models have an entirely different shape to the nose.

Today I got the top wing mounted. I had some plastic strut stock I bought a long time ago, but I've used up everything I had that was the right size, and you just can't find it anymore. I took some of the thicker pieces and sanded them down until I was satisfied they were close. As with the Fokker B.II, the Hansa's struts slope not only forward but inward as well.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-141TopWing_zpseb7d638c.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-141TopWing_zpseb7d638c.jpg.html)

Next is the radiator, then the markings, gun and rigging. :sunny:

[Sailor Steve]

Wing struts and landing gear painted. A little touch-up on the wheels. Radiator and hoses mounted and painted. They put the radiator on top of the wing for this one. Of course that varied a lot, as did the location of the gravity fuel tank.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-142Radiator_zpsb62bc405.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-142Radiator_zpsb62bc405.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

A couple weeks ago I ordered a copy of Windsock's Datafile on the H-B C.I. It came literally in the nick of time, as I was putting the decals on today. It cleared up all questions I had about serial numbers and who built what. Part of the problem was that Hansa-Brandenburg themselves only built 80 C.Is, while Phönix built 446 and UFAG built 732 (sources vary, but those are the numbers in the Datafile, and I trust their research). Other sources show Austrian serial numbers for the Phönix and UFAG variants, but none for H-B. I had assumed that this was because the Hansa-built C.Is all went to Germany, but I was wrong. The first UFAG production run was serial 61.1, and nothing else was said about it. The Datafile points out that there were only 24 aircraft in that series, and 61.51-61.72 were assigned to Hansa-built aircraft. Other Hansa planes were assigned numbers in-between other UFAG series: 63.51+ and 64.51+. Though H-B's numbers are higher, they were the first ones built.

It also seems that only the first 10 aircraft - 61.51-61.60 - had the smaller unbalanced rudder, so I had to choose between them. I chose 61.58, mainly because it was just "one of the crowd", and had no particular distinguishing events happen to it. I prefer to model relatively unknown planes, just because they fill in as generic models and get loaned out a lot.

Pictures once it's rigged.

[Sailor Steve]

Well, it's finished. The model represents one of the first 10 built, serial 61.58. It's one of the few that didn't have a balanced rudder, which would be recognizable by it's overhang in front of the rudder post, and it's early enough that it doesn't have a forward-firing gun.

Front quarter view, as usual.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/Finished1_zps0fe0571a.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/Finished1_zps0fe0571a.jpg.html)

Rear quarter view.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/Finished2_zps5b840c3e.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/Finished2_zps5b840c3e.jpg.html)

Rear close-up, showing serial number and the interesting aft control rigging. The top line goes to the lower elevator horn, the middle line goes to the rudder horn and the bottom line goes to the upper elevator horn, passing through a cutout in the stabilizer along the way.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/Finished3close-up_zps10a66c71.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/Finished3close-up_zps10a66c71.jpg.html)

Starboard rear quarter view.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/Finished4_zps9b553ecc.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/Finished4_zps9b553ecc.jpg.html)

Front close-up, showing radiator and gravity fuel tank mountings.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/Finished5close-up_zps90b0582d.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/Finished5close-up_zps90b0582d.jpg.html)

Next I'll be finishing the other Hansa C.I, the one with the machine-gun tower. Unless the Albatros I have on order shows up first, then everything changes.

[Sailor Steve]

One of the things I forgot to mention: The fuselage crosses, with the white outline? I noticed from photographs that the white part tapers to fit the taper of the flat fuselage sides. I didn't cut them to match. The decals came from an Eduard Fokker E.III kit, and it was a little scary to find that they were a perfect fit right off the sheet. :yep:

[Sailor Steve]

As shown before, I had originally started building two at the same time, but got bogged down with the task of sanding eight wing sections instead of four, which would have totalled sixteen for the two kits. Now for one of the 'Tower' versions. The problem here is that while it is claimed that several were built for experimental purposes, no one knows exactly how many. I have so far been unable to find a single photograph of one, but there are a couple of references I do consider reliable. The next problem is that those references only state that one or two existed, but not what they looked like. I don't know where the existing information comes from and haven't been able to verify anything at all. It is accepted that none of them was likely to have seen combat.

So why bother to build one at all? Rocky had a model of one and wanted them in the game, so they do appear in the rules. I also picked up the kit at one point or another, so I figured I might as well build it. It was a nice idea for having a forward-firing gun, whether it worked or not, and it only appears in the very first period of the game, so it doesn't really hurt anything.

Rocky built his model a long time ago. It represents the UFAG (Ungarische Flugzeugfabrik Alles Gesellshaft) version that comes with the kit. I could have built the same thing, and in fact I think it's better looking than the Phönix version, but I like to have some variety and looks aren't everything. This means I need to convert this
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Example1Ufag_zpsbe9faa8e.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Example1Ufag_zpsbe9faa8e.jpg.html)

into this.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Example2Phonix_zps62effdce.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Example2Phonix_zps62effdce.jpg.html)

Or better, this
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Example3RockysUFAG_zpsaccf2dc2.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Example3RockysUFAG_zpsaccf2dc2.jpg.html)

into something along the lines of this.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Gaming/CIPhonix2_zps0fe01e69.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Gaming/CIPhonix2_zps0fe01e69.jpg.html)

Of course I'll be starting where I left off...
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-171UFAGFuselage_zps1f7f9758.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-171UFAGFuselage_zps1f7f9758.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Tower rebuilt, windows added.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-181TowerReshapedWindowsCut_zpsb939c20b.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-181TowerReshapedWindowsCut_zpsb939c20b.jpg.html)

[Jimbuna]

Yet no response....I'm surprised.

Keep it up and I'm over on Skype when you wake up :03:

[Buddahaid]

Victorian Batboat........

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/5e/2f/e9/5e2fe96e90e831f7fd6c83dbd338cd0f.jpg

[Sailor Steve]

Lower wings cut out, sanded and mounted.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-191LowerWingsMounted_zps12d131b9.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-191LowerWingsMounted_zps12d131b9.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-192LowerWingsMounted_zpse7e34ee0.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-192LowerWingsMounted_zpse7e34ee0.jpg.html)

I think I mentioned some time earlier that these wings take between two and four hours each. In most vac kits you only have the top half of the wings. If you're working on a first-class display model you need to fill in the bottom ribs, but the cutting and sanding doesn't take a lot of time. You only have to get a razor-like trailing edge and round out the leading edge. With a model just for gaming I don't usually worry about the bottom parts, as nobody notices anyway. These double-sided ones are new to me. They're easier to get a full shape in the long run, but the sanding takes a lot longer, since the halves have to be precise, and they have to be thin. I counted this time. Fifteen hundred strokes with a coarse 100-grain sandpaper just for the trailing edge of one wing, and about a thousand each for the leading edge. Once they're down to what they should be the middle of each half is in the way, so I had to scrape them down with the X-Acto knife. Every hundred strokes I would stop and check the fit. All told it took about the same - about two hours for each top and each bottom, so eight hours total. I did one wing yesterday and one today, and still have the top wing to do.

I checked the locations and glued them on. The H-B had a very slight dihedral. The tweezers are holding the wings in the correct place while they dry.

I'll probably do landing gear tomorrow, if shaping the fuselage doesn't take too much time.

It sounds tedious, and it is, but once the sanding is all done it gets fun again. :sunny:

[Jimbuna]

You managed then :cool:

[Sailor Steve]

I still have the top wings to go. Hopefully today...

[Sailor Steve]

Landing gear and cabanes mounted. Primer coat applied.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-201LandingGearCabanes_zpsb4b90121.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-201LandingGearCabanes_zpsb4b90121.jpg.html)

[Jimbuna]

Shouldn't be long now :03:

[Oberon]

Looks a bit like it might be a license built Brandenburg C1.

Just found this...
http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=163011

Looks like only three of the UFAG turret Brandenburgs were made, presumably they went over to interrupter gear after that.

[Sailor Steve]

Looks a bit like it might be a license built Brandenburg C1.
I think I've already mentioned that.
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=2121452&postcount=251

Looks like only three of the UFAG turret Brandenburgs were made, presumably they went over to interrupter gear after that.
I think he may be wrong, in either direction. I have read numbers ranging from one to ten, and there are eight serial numbers supposedly associated with the ones built by Phönix, one of which is the one I'm building. My problem is still that it all seems to be speculation and no one seems to know anything for certain.

As for the interrupter gear, the inconstant rate of fire on the Schwarzlose made that difficult to do for another year or more. The Austrians had to mount the pilot's gun on top of the upper wing to fire over the propellor, at least until the gear problem could be sorted out.

My friend said he'd look in the Austro-Hungarian book for me (the cheapest copy I've found online is over $400, so that option is out), and I'm waiting to hear back from him. Until then I know exactly nothing for sure.

[Sailor Steve]

Upper wing is finished. I'll be painting and doing final assembly today. It should be done by tomorrow night.

[Oberon]

I think I've already mentioned that.
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=2121452&postcount=251


I think he may be wrong, in either direction. I have read numbers ranging from one to ten, and there are eight serial numbers supposedly associated with the ones built by Phönix, one of which is the one I'm building. My problem is still that it all seems to be speculation and no one seems to know anything for certain.

As for the interrupter gear, the inconstant rate of fire on the Schwarzlose made that difficult to do for another year or more. The Austrians had to mount the pilot's gun on top of the upper wing to fire over the propellor, at least until the gear problem could be sorted out.

My friend said he'd look in the Austro-Hungarian book for me (the cheapest copy I've found online is over $400, so that option is out), and I'm waiting to hear back from him. Until then I know exactly nothing for sure.


D'oh! I didn't scroll back that far. :oops: I've probably asked this already, but have you done any Sopwith Pups? My favourite WWI fighter. :up:

To be honest, it's been a brief learning experience early in the morning for me, I didn't even know that the Austria-Hungarians had much in the way of an airforce, it's not something that comes up much in the usual WWI air war books that focus on the western front.

[Sailor Steve]

I've probably asked this already, but have you done any Sopwith Pups? My favourite WWI fighter. :up:
I have one I built a long long time ago, but I've never rigged it, and I have a couple more I might build when the time comes.

To be honest, it's been a brief learning experience early in the morning for me, I didn't even know that the Austria-Hungarians had much in the way of an airforce, it's not something that comes up much in the usual WWI air war books that focus on the western front.
That's one of the problem we have with our game. The Austro-Hungarians mostly fought the Italians. The Germans also fought the Russians, and the British fought the Germans in Africa and the Middle East. There are no reliable numbers for the planes on any of those fronts, so we just include them as optional choices for the regular Western Front game.

[Sailor Steve]

First coat of paint on. I need to mark the ribs before I do a second. I was running out of the 'Radome Tan' I used for doped linen, so I added some sand and then some white to mix my own batch. The color is quite a bit different, but then the real ones were too, depending on whether the fabric was bleached or not, how pure the dope was, whether they pigmented it or not. I placed the last one alongside for comparison.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-221FirstCoat_zpsa03b21d1.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-221FirstCoat_zpsa03b21d1.jpg.html)

Looking at it in the picture I think I might add a little yellow.

[Jimbuna]

Don't compare, simply soldier on :)

[Sailor Steve]

Second coat. Maybe a little too yellow.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-222SecondCoat_zpsaa3468d0.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-222SecondCoat_zpsaa3468d0.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Much happier now. It's not exactly the same shade as the last batch, but similar.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-223ThirdCoat_zpse042ae00.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-223ThirdCoat_zpse042ae00.jpg.html)

[edit] Oh! I almost forgot! My next project came in the mail today! I'm trying to build them in the order they appear in our game generators. The unarmed two-seaters on both sides are the planes that roll up on a 2 in our first period, which covers from July 1915 to June 1916. A roll of 3 gets the first of the armed two-seaters, the Morane L and Be.2c on the Allied side and the Albatros C.I and Hansa C.I on the Central side. I wanted to do the Albatros first, since within a section they are listed in alphabetical order, and I would have switched if the Albatros had come before I started all that sanding. The hard part is done now, and all that remains is the finish work. I should start the Albatros on Friday.

[Jimbuna]

[edit] Oh! I almost forgot! My next project came in the mail today! .

hardly...you told Jeff and I on Skype last night :O:

[Sailor Steve]

Good news! I'm old, blind and stupid!

Well, that's not good news, but the good news is I figured it out. There is a page in the Hansa C.I booklet that does indeed have pictures of the elevated gun ring experiments. I just figured out a way to miss it the first dozen times I looked.

So here are the different trials.

Steel tube tower.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Tower1_zps6a263331.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Tower1_zps6a263331.jpg.html)

Tower design apparently used by both UFAG and Phönix.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Tower2_zps1111c2ef.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Tower2_zps1111c2ef.jpg.html)

Tower with faired fabric extension. It turns out the idea was to create better airflow over the rudder. It was actually tried at the front and the book says the results were "unsatisfactory".
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Tower3_zpsf1b0e84f.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Tower3_zpsf1b0e84f.jpg.html)

[Jimbuna]

Sometimes you can't see the trees for the woods :03:

http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/2159/animatedblindmanhgclrzo1.gif

[Sailor Steve]

They didn't usually bleach the linen they used, so it had a slight tannish tint to it. Afer it was doped the fabric would yellow in the sun. How yellow it got depended on the original color of the linen, how pure the dope was and whether they tinted the dope. New airplanes with bleached lined could appear be a slightly brownish white, while unbleached linen could be almost yellow, almost brown and anywhere in between. Once this batch gets a little low I plan to start adding one color or another so they aren't all the same. I have some older ones that are quite a bit different from these.

I'm also slowly getting to the point where they started adding color to the dope, and then using colored fabrics. :sunny:

[Sailor Steve]

My friend got sick and couldn't come gaming last night, so I still haven't looked at the Austrian Army Aircraft book. I suspect I'll find that historically my model is totally bogus. The modified tower was likely only on 26.17, and for all I know 27.23 only had the steel tube tower. On the other hand if I'd known about that one I might have done it instead. Whatever the truth is, it's done. Other than the tower it's identical to the last one.

Posing for the camera.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-251Done_zps2f28e1ae.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-251Done_zps2f28e1ae.jpg.html)

Left quarter.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-252Quarter_zpsb32fd3b7.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-252Quarter_zpsb32fd3b7.jpg.html)

Right close-up - warts, blemishes and all.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-253Close-up_zps41716036.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-253Close-up_zps41716036.jpg.html)

Front close-up showing the crew to effect. There used to be a company called Micro-Scale, who did an outstanding series of decals for planes of all eras, as well as many products to help with detailing. Today they only still make the products: Micro-Set and Micro-Sol setting solutions, Decal Film for saving dried-out old decals and for making your own, and Krystal-Klear, a product for filling in "glass" windows on models. The windows on this model are made of Krystal-Klear.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-254Crew_zpsc686f7ca.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-254Crew_zpsc686f7ca.jpg.html)

I had a major boo-boo with this one. I mounted the top wing, put in the struts, did all the rigging and realized I hadn't put the pilot in! I couldn't get the seat and supports in through all the rigging, so I cut them loose and used tweezers to maneuver the pilot into place. There is no real floorboard so I couldn't glue him in by his feet. I finally ended up placing him a scale two feet further back than he should be and gluing his head and shoulders to the tower front behind him. D'OH!

[Jimbuna]

Putting aside whether she existed or not she is certainly different Steve and I should imagine she'll turn a few heads in the games room :cool:

[Sailor Steve]

Next project: An Albatros C.I. It was based on, and similar to, the B.II, but with the crew positions reversed so the observer's gun had a clear field of fire to the rear. There is some controversy, but the Albatros may have been the very first of the armed German C-types.

This is another of those lovely resin kits from Chorozsy Modelbud. I'm planning on building it "out of the box", i.e. with little or no modification.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-261Kit_zpse12c90ba.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-261Kit_zpse12c90ba.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

This one is going like gangbusters! There's an old modelers' saying that some kits are so easy you just pour glue in the box and shake it, and it falls out already assembled. That's how this one is feeling. Despite having to use superglue and misaligning some parts, despite cutting the engine opening too big and still not having it fit because what I needed to do was sand a little off the bottom, and despite gluing myself to several parts, it's coming along quite quickly. Fuselage, lower wings, landing gear, tail section, all assembled and primered. I could have gotten more done today, but I figured why hurry?

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-262MostlyDone_zpsc35dfcd3.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-262MostlyDone_zpsc35dfcd3.jpg.html)

[Buddahaid]

Those came out great Steve. Looks like the Albatros just flew out of the bag.

[Sailor Steve]

Thanks, Scott.

And now I run into a spot of trouble. The Albatros C.I was the subject of some of the first German camoflage experiments. They started of with a directive from Idflieg ordering a "sky" camoflage. The first tests were either very light grey or white. Later they settled on a very pale blue, sometimes with a grey upper deck and wing tops. This blue became the underside color for all the later camoflaged planes.

The problem is that the plane that caught my eye is of an unknown darker color overall. The authors of the Datafile on the C.I speculate that it might be "Field Grey". This may be similar to the WW2 German Feldgrau uniform color, but a lineup of uniforms from the era shows that there were a thousand hues of the "same" color. I can probably paint it any grey I want and call it good, or use the blue/grey scheme and no one would be the wiser. But this has me intrigued.

My first color test is of Humbrol 'Khaki'. It is almost a match for Vallejo's 'Feldgrau'. This is how it came out.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-271FirstPaintTest_zpsdd559f4f.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-271FirstPaintTest_zpsdd559f4f.jpg.html)

One of the rules of scale modelling is that colors look darker on a smaller subject, so I'm thinking of lightening it a couple of shades.

But first, the photo, as photos always do, shows some seams that still need filling.

[Jimbuna]

A variation of colour schemes:

http://www.wwi-models.org/1/Images/Thompson_P/CP/Albatros/index.html

http://wp.scn.ru/en/ww1/o/18/59/

[Sailor Steve]

Thanks. I've already looked at those and a great many others. The top picture on the second link is the one from the box top of the kit I'm using. It's supposed to represent that plane, but it's just that particular artist's interpretation. The picture from the Datafile is different still. The photographs of the actual plane seem to be dark, but sometimes the film used can make things seem to be what they aren't. I'll get it the way I want it soon enough. :sunny:

[Sailor Steve]

Second color test: 1 part Khaki, 3 parts Lichtgrau (RLM 63).

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-272SecondPaintTest_zps5788b072.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-272SecondPaintTest_zps5788b072.jpg.html)

[Jimbuna]

Much better looking mix :yep:

[Sailor Steve]

Third test is a 50/50 mix.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-273ThirdPaintTest_zps7f802901.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-273ThirdPaintTest_zps7f802901.jpg.html)

With Flash:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-274ThirdTestwithFlash_zpse0655661.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-274ThirdTestwithFlash_zpse0655661.jpg.html)

I'm thinking I'll go with this one.

[Sailor Steve]

One of the reasons I'm doing this particular aircraft is because of its quirks, which I'll explain later, and the fact that the kit came with those particular markings. One of the things that puzzles me is that while they went out of their way to do the decals for a single plane, they got some of them wrong. They have all the crosses, but the ones for the wings don't have the white background, which is readily apparent in the photographs. This left me having to mask and spray them before applying the decals. It also leaves me sitting for several hours, because gloss white paint dries slower than anything else imaginable.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-281WhiteOutlines_zps226ea467.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-281WhiteOutlines_zps226ea467.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

I started off Saturday reporting that this was going smoothly and quickly. Then I had to decide on a paint color. Done.

Monday I applied the decals prior to assembly, because there are markings on the insides of the wings and the holes for the struts have to be drilled after decals are on. Done. Then I put the wings on. The angle of incidence for the top wing was wrong. This is the angle at which the wing sits. The top and bottom wings have to look the same. The top wing was sitting tail-high compared to the bottom. I attempted a fix by cutting the rear struts a little shorter and using superglue to hold them. Superglue holds anything, right? I was also a little annoyed that the left wing was just a little higher on the cabane than the right. I had decided I could live with it.

I spent most of Tuesday (still today for me) sick. Early in the evening I was feeling better, so I started putting the little pieces on the engine. I drilled out holes and ran a thin brass wire from the gravity tank to the engine. While I was manhandling the plane one of the left wing struts popped loose. Since the tension was pulling all the time I figured it might happen. I was hoping that rigging it would add more glue and thus more support. Then while I was drilling and mounting the upper radiator line (thick brass wire) two more struts popped loose. While I was regluing them one of them popped off the other end and fell on the floor. Swearing at how life hates me (it's not my fault I sit back from the table so everything I drop ends up on the floor) I went over and turned on the ceiling light and found the strut. Then I went over and turned the ceiling light back off. Then I glued the exhaust stack on. While I was fiddling with it another strut escaped and jumped down to the floor. Cursing whatever fates made me this way (it's not my fault I'm stupid) I turned on the light and found that strut.

After the fiddly little engine bits were glued on I decided to paint the engine. Copper for the fuel line. Steel for the exhaust and the radiator tube. Then a thin black wash over the cylinders and the aluminum radiators. The struts all behaved this time. Then I painted the propeller and mounted it. Then I put on the propeller logo decals. Then I decided I had done enough and got back online, where I was helping a fellow modeler in Columbus, Ohio when I found a decal company that makes decal logos for every propeller manufacturer in WW1 Germany. Four sheets, plus a fifth for Austro-Hungarian prop makers. Now I have to wait until I get my pension so I can spend more money I don't have. Hey, the government gets away with it. Of course the government doesn't go hungry when they do it.

I finally went to bed around 23:30 and started reading. About midnight I turned out the light. I didn't have insomnia. I didn't even try to sleep. I lay there thinking about those wings. I finally decided that it had to be fixed, and I wasn't going to be able to wait until morning. I got up at about 00:40 and went to work. I tore off the upper wings and sanded the glue and paint off the cabanes and wing roots. Then I used the slow-drying gap-filling superglue and kept fiddling with the starboard wing until it was lined up with the lower wing. A shot of accelerator and it was dry. Then the port wing. Now they both lined up with the lower wings, and they matched each other on the cabane. Then I started cutting new struts from brass rod, carefully trimming each one until the dihedral matched and the pressure was slightly inward, so the wings are pushing on the struts rather than pulling on them. All is now reassembled and tomorrow (later today) the rigging can start.

Saturday I thought it would be finished Monday at the latest. Now I'll be happy if it's done Wednesday. Now maybe I can sleep.

[Sailor Steve]

On Saturday I thought it would be done Monday, maybe even Sunday. On Sunday I was sure it would be done Monday, or Tuesday at the latest. On Monday I thought it might be done Tuesday. On Tuesday I was so sick I didn't bother to think at all. On Wednesday I was recovering, and did nothing until evening, when I got busy. Yesterday I was so close. I went to bed at 22:00 and woke up again at midnight, and decided I'd rather build than sleep. At 03:30 it was finally finished.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-311Done_zpsdcc3da14.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-311Done_zpsdcc3da14.jpg.html)

I said before I chose this version partly because the markings came with the kit, but mainly for it's singularity. The first interesting point is the crosses on the top and bottom of both wings.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-312Done_zps456b236e.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-312Done_zps456b236e.jpg.html)

Second is the crosses on the fuselage. They are different from the others, in having straight inside edges instead of curving. Also you can barely make out the tiny serial number - C.117/15 - above the cross on the tail. Idflieg absolutely required that all aircraft be delivered with appropriate numbering, but somehow Albatros managed to get away with often having no numbers at all!
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-314Done_zpsf96994a5.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-314Done_zpsf96994a5.jpg.html)

Third is the white fields on the wing crosses. On both sides of the lower wing and the bottom of the upper wing the fields are full-chord, running from leading to trailing edge. On top of the upper wing they stop short of the trailing edge. There is no explanation for why this was so, nor is there likely to ever be, but the two photographs of the plane are quite clear about it.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-315Done_zps71813a20.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-315Done_zps71813a20.jpg.html)

Finally a close-up of the nose, showing the copper fuel line from the gravity tank and the radiator line atop the engine, as well as the side-mounted radiators. I tried a thin black wash on the cylinders and I'm very happy with the result.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-313Done_zps57e05ea7.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-313Done_zps57e05ea7.jpg.html)

[edit] Oh, I almost forgot: The kit came with two different and very finely modeled engines. This one is the 150-horsepower Benz Bz.III. The other option is a 160-hp Mercedes D.III. That one has the exhaust on the opposite side. Also optional is a wing leading-edge radiator.

[Cybermat47]

Your best one yet! :woot:

[Sailor Steve]

Thank you! Of course as usual I see all the flaws and imperfections. One of these days we'll do the right scenario and I'll have pictures of one or more of them in action. :sunny:

[edit] If you look at the close up picture of the cross you can see a couple of places where I touched up a couple of scrapes and the colors don't match. The more I look at it the happier I am, because I realized that on painted aircraft that sort of thing actually happens. I might go back and weather it a bit.

[Jimbuna]

Now that is really cool looking Steve :cool:

Now back to bed with you :03:

[Sailor Steve]

Haven't made it to bed yet. Sometime today, I'm sure.

My next kit is all set up and ready to go. It's the single-seat version of the Morane 'L' parasol, the world's first successful fighter.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/11-11Kit_zps4312698c.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/11-11Kit_zps4312698c.jpg.html)

The 'L' was designed in August 1913 and first shown in Paris on December 5 of that year. The French Army didn't seem interested, but the Morane company recieved an order from Turkey for 50 machines. When war began to look more and more likely the French government took over the Turkish order and formed two Escadrilles. Observers carried a carbine, and later a few parasols were fitted with a Lewis gun. One of those was the subject of my earlier two-seat 'L'.

In 1913 Franz Schneider, a Swiss engineer working for L.V.G. in Germany, patented the first interrupter gear, designed to let a machine gun fire through the spinning propeller. With the start of the Great War Raymond Saulnier attempted to make a working synchronizer for his aeroplanes, but was frustrated by the Hotchkiss gun's erratic rate of fire. He attempted to rig metal plates to deflect bullets that would otherwise shatter the propeller, but the government then took their gun back. Pre-war flying star Roland Garros, who in 1913 was the first man to fly across the Mediterranean Sea, managed to get hold of a machine gun and work with Saulnier and his mechanic Jules Hue created a set of deflectors that worked as hoped.

Armed with a gun firing forward through the propeller, aimed by pointing the nose of the plane at the target, Roland Garros became the world's first fighter pilot on April 1, 1915. He shot down a second German plane on April 15 and a third on the 18th, but landed behind German lines later that same day. Garros was captured and his plane shown to representatives from various manufacturers, but that is a story for another day and another model. A handful of 'L's were fitted with deflector plates and other pilots were successful, though by and large the Morane parasol was operated as a two-seat reconnaissance aircraft.

The kit has decals for the plane flown by Sub-Lieutenant Reginald Alexander John Warneford when he successfully bombed German Zeppelin LZ37, the machine of Roland Garros and two others. I dislike doing famous aircraft because others might also use the same markings. I considered changing that for this aircraft and doing Warneford's plane anyway. The first batch of planes delivered to the Royal Naval Air Service came with French cockades on the wings. They couldn't scrape the paint off, so to remove the markings the entire wing would have to be recovered. The RNAS's solution was to leave them as they were and just put British roundels on the fuselage.

I'm going to do one of the others in any case, because I like the fancy script numbers someone painted on the sides. But that's later. Right now I need some sleep!

Oh, yeah. The green-yellow-black roundels are Brazilian.

[Sailor Steve]

The Morane is started...sort of. Last night I painted the inside of the fuselage halves and the seat and floorboard. I left out the instrument panel because there is no way to see it with the pilot in there. Today I spent a long time talking to Jim on skype, then had a bunch of erands to run, so I did nothing until about an hour ago. Tonight I glued the fuselage halves together and assembled the engine. It's funny. On most of the resin kits I just glue the propellor in and don't worry about it. Sometimes, however, they make me do it. This plastic kit has a dimple that the propeller back glues into. That annoyed me. I drilled out the back of the propeller and drilled a hole in the firewall. The propeller recieved a short length of brass wire. A piece of the correct-size tube went over that. Another very short piece of tube was super-glued to the end of the wire, behind the longer piece. The front end of the longe piece of tube was superglued to the hole in the firewall. When ready the firewall will be glued to the front of the fuselage, through a small hole drilled for that purpose. When the propeller is mounted the whole assembly should spin.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/11-2Engine_zps322856bf.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/11-2Engine_zps322856bf.jpg.html)

In the background is the fuselage, clamped together with tweezers until it's dry.

[Jimbuna]

Today I spent a long time talking to Jim on skype

Did I ever tell you the wise words offered to me by an old sage when I was a lot younger?

"A poor modeller always blames somebody else for his inability to make progress"




http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/8231/pinocchioij91.gif



:O:

[Sailor Steve]

Oh, I know it's my own fault I like to talk to people. :dead:

[Sailor Steve]

Yesterday I applied a coat of paint. This is one of those that has to be painted before assembly. Usually I put on the bottom wing and paint the fuselage/wing as a unit. On the other hand this one doesn't have a bottom wing, so I guess that makes sense. Last night I put the wire wheels together. Today I drew the frame and rib lines with a brown Sharpie, did some sanding and put on the second coat of paint. A couple of hours to make sure it was totally dry before masking and painting the "metal" parts black. Actual assembly should go fairly quickly.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/11-41Paint_zpsc7a796ac.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/11-41Paint_zpsc7a796ac.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Well, that rotary engine won't be spinning after all. All that work and it was working perfectly. I installed it to the fuselage and when I tried to put the cowling on it wouldn't fit. The engine was sticking out too far. The firewall was already solidly glued to the front of the body, and there's no way to take it off again. My only option was to take the wire-cutters and just cut it off, then remove the remains from the back of the engine and just glue the engine directly to the firewall. Now it fits fine, and the cowling is on. It's no big loss, but it would have been cool. Oh well...

[Sailor Steve]

I ended up doing a lot of touch-up work yesterday. After applying decals and letting them dry I added a gloss coat that made the ink run. I had used a Sharpie to apply the black edging to the wing edges and fuselage corners, and they had to be redone. Then I realized I had forgotten to put the cute little 'M-S' logo on the nose. I took it into the kitchen and just ran some water on the tiny decal. Some decals soak for 30 seconds and then have to be soaked again because they just won't come off. This one came of just fine. After 5 seconds under running water. Came off by itself and fell into the sink. And down the drain. I looked through all my spare decal sheets for another one, with no luck. I looked online, but nobody seems to make them except the ones that come with the kits. I finally downloaded a good photo of the nameplate and used a good publishing program to reduce it to 1/16th inch across, then cut it out and glued it on. It's not as good as the decal, but it will do.

I was about to paint the wood panels on the sides of the nose when I decided to try the wood-grain decal sheet one of the suppliers had sent me for free. I don't know how it would look covering the whole side of a big two-seater, but in this case it looks very good.

Single-seat Morane-Saulnier 'L' - The world's first fighter aircraft.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/11-61Done_zps153050e4.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/11-61Done_zps153050e4.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/11-62Done_zps9e5f8f63.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/11-62Done_zps9e5f8f63.jpg.html)

Close-up of tail, showing manufacturer's mark.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/11-63Done_zps440af788.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/11-63Done_zps440af788.jpg.html)

Close-up of nose, showing wood panelling and Hotchkiss gun.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/11-64Done_zps8b725ba8.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/11-64Done_zps8b725ba8.jpg.html)

[Cybermat47]

Great job Steve!

[Jimbuna]

She's a real beauty :sunny:

[Buddahaid]

I never asked but what was your revelation regarding painting the laminated props. I couldn't see the obvious.

[Sailor Steve]

I never asked but what was your revelation regarding painting the laminated props. I couldn't see the obvious.
Sorry. It must have gotten removed in all the jumble of deleted posts.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/PropDoneRight_zps125cb41b.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/PropDoneRight_zps125cb41b.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

I've put off saying anything about this one because I thought it would be done two days ago. Yet another very old model that needed rigging. I looked at it Thursday and realized the plastic tail boom have been broken and repaired more than once, so I decided to replace the entire thing with brass wire. I took the tailpiece off and started replacing booms and struts one by one. Then I had to break off because it was game night. Friday I got a drop of glue plus accelerator on my right ring finger. It was hot! I peeled the glue off and it took a layer of skin with it, right at the nerve level. OUCH! *#^@)#(!!! I started the rigging Friday night and it was more complicated than I anticipated. Then I realized I really wanted to add a fuel line from the gravity tank to the engine. Then they needed painting. Anyway, it's done.

The FE.2b was an outgrowth of Britain's need for a front-line fighter, and not having a synchronizer gear the only solution they could come up with was a two-seat pusher with the gunner in front. Even before the war Vickers had already developed their FB.5 'Gunbus', but it was fast becoming obsolete and was slow compared to the eindekkers. The FE.2 did good service for more than a year, and it was a 'Fee', as the pilots called it, that gave Richtofen his famous head wound.

So this is a very old model with a new boom section and rigging.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/RAFFe2b1_zpsc54a0c9c.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/RAFFe2b1_zpsc54a0c9c.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/RAFFe2b2_zps13c6b305.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/RAFFe2b2_zps13c6b305.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/RAFFe2b3_zps8de71bf5.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/RAFFe2b3_zps8de71bf5.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/RAFFe2b4_zps677bb6af.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/RAFFe2b4_zps677bb6af.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/RAFFe2b5_zps83b82977.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/RAFFe2b5_zps83b82977.jpg.html)

[Cybermat47]

Good job! I recently bombed three Eindeckers from Jasta 1 with the F.E.2b in Rise of Flight, it's a great plane.

[Sailor Steve]

It is a great plane. Outclassed later, but in 1915 it was the main stopgap against the Fokker Scourge. I bought two of the kits way back when, intending to build a second one to represent how the plane looked later. I still have it, and I'll be getting to it fairly soon. :sunny:

[Sailor Steve]

Next up: The Sikorsky S.XVI. Igor Sikorsky was famous in WW1 for his 'Ilya Mourometz', the first large multi-engine strategic bomber, and he would be legendary for his later work with helicopters. He designed this two seat scout plane, which saw more use as a single-seat fighter. It was the first Russian fighter as well as the first Allied plane with a synchronizer for the gun. Unfortunately it was almost 20 mph slower than the Fokker E.III.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu0-iY2zN7A

The kit is from Eastern Express, out of Russia.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/11-111Kit_zps44a5e3fd.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/11-111Kit_zps44a5e3fd.jpg.html)

[Jimbuna]

I've put off saying anything about this one because I thought it would be done two days ago. Yet another very old model that needed rigging. I looked at it Thursday and realized the plastic tail boom have been broken and repaired more than once, so I decided to replace the entire thing with brass wire. I took the tailpiece off and started replacing booms and struts one by one. Then I had to break off because it was game night. Friday I got a drop of glue plus accelerator on my right ring finger. It was hot! I peeled the glue off and it took a layer of skin with it, right at the nerve level. OUCH! *#^@)#(!!! I started the rigging Friday night and it was more complicated than I anticipated. Then I realized I really wanted to add a fuel line from the gravity tank to the engine. Then they needed painting. Anyway, it's done.

The FE.2b was an outgrowth of Britain's need for a front-line fighter, and not having a synchronizer gear the only solution they could come up with was a two-seat pusher with the gunner in front. Even before the war Vickers had already developed their FB.5 'Gunbus', but it was fast becoming obsolete and was slow compared to the eindekkers. The FE.2 did good service for more than a year, and it was a 'Fee', as the pilots called it, that gave Richtofen his famous head wound.

So this is a very old model with a new boom section and rigging.


She's a real beauty :rock:

Apologies I'm not on Skype tonight but the internet connection is a bit iffy.

[Sailor Steve]

What looks like a simple straightforward kit is anything but. I don't know about other Eastern Express kits, but this one doesn't even begin to fit together well. Lots of putty and lots of sanding. Two coats of paint, and looking at the picture I see there is more work to go. On the other hand this is all there is that will need that treatment. Everything else is struts going in holes, so if it's not straight I'll have to drill new holes, but that's about it.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/11-121PuttyampPaint_zpsb357ed2a.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/11-121PuttyampPaint_zpsb357ed2a.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

More sanding, another coat of paint, landing gear, engine, gun and pilot installed.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/11-131PilotEngineampLandingGear_zps76e90650.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/11-131PilotEngineampLandingGear_zps76e90650.jpg.html)

[Jimbuna]

Coming along nicely :cool:

[Sailor Steve]

More fun 'n' games: I spent yesterday making the wire wheels, and when it was time to put them on the axles were too short! Since I had not only glued but tied them to the struts, there was no way to take them off again without breaking the curved plastic struts. I ended up completely removing the landing gear and making a new set out of brass wire. Once that was aligned, a process which took a couple hours, I got the wheels on and the whole thing painted.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/11-151Wheels_zps9b993ffd.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/11-151Wheels_zps9b993ffd.jpg.html)

Next, the upper wing goes on.

[Sailor Steve]

Top wing mounted. All that's left now are the details.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/11-152TopWing_zpsc35ddf39.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/11-152TopWing_zpsc35ddf39.jpg.html)

[Jimbuna]

Improvise, adapt and overcome...didn't realise she had a double bogey undercarriage.

[Cybermat47]

Top wing mounted. All that's left now are the details.


And the propeller. Planes can't fly without those! :)

[Sailor Steve]

Improvise, adapt and overcome...didn't realise she had a double bogey undercarriage.
That's one of the things that sets it apart from most of the other single-seat fighters. One of the reasons I had to have one.

And the propeller. Planes can't fly without those! :)
Just another detail! :O:

or

Details! Details! I can't be bothered to think of everything!

or

Fly? Why does an airplane need to fly? What's that you say? Only purpose? Who knew??? :D

[Aktungbby]

...didn't realise she had a double bogey undercarriage.
For those treacherous tundra/tricky taiga touchdowns:salute:

[kranz]

For those treacherous tundra/tricky taiga touchdowns:salute:
that's one explanation.
on the other hand, he might have forgotten doing it and added the second pair of wheels.
Now, go figure which is the correct one - bear in mind - he's the oldest here.

[Sailor Steve]

he might have forgotten doing it and added the second pair of wheels.
What? Four wheels???
:damn:

Now, go figure which is the correct one - bear in mind - he's the oldest here.
Wait...does that mean you have to listen to me because I'm the oldest, or I'm just forgetful because I'm the oldest?

Wait...I'm not sure I want to know.

Wait...what was the question again?

[Aktungbby]

Now, go figure which is the correct one - bear in mind - he's the oldest here.
A little mercy there KranzBBY (and an eye-opener Hamm's chaser with my morning mimosa!) but I'm only a wee tad behind in the age dept here myself; Less than a year and it takes a sec every A.M. to realize that ain't daddy in the mirror! "Father! the Sleeper has awakened"...'and wants to go back to bed'...the horror:nope:

[Sailor Steve]

Sikorsky S.XVI.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/11-181Done_zps8d69af3f.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/11-181Done_zps8d69af3f.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/11-182Done_zpsb0fb3c39.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/11-182Done_zpsb0fb3c39.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/11-183Done_zpsbe1f20e4.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/11-183Done_zpsbe1f20e4.jpg.html)

[Jimbuna]

Another fine addition to the collection my friend :cool:

[Sailor Steve]

Next project: The Vickers FB.5. It has been claimed that the FB.5 was the first real fighter. This is based on the fact that it was indeed designed specifically to attack other planes. The fact that it was a two-seater is due to the idea that there had to be a second man to fire the gun. Similar in appearance to the FE.2, the "Fighting Biplane No. 5" was brought into being in mid-1914, several months before the war started. It didn't get to France and into service until the spring of 1915, after Roland Garros made himself the first fighter pilot in his Morane parasol. Nicknamed the "Gunbus", the FB.5 was the frontline British fighter for several months, until it proved incapable of dealing with the German Eindekkers.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/11-201Kit_zps9c000495.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/11-201Kit_zps9c000495.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Primary assembly - fuselage and lower wings - is finished. The lower wings were separate from the fuselage by an inch or so in real life - a little more than 1/8" (about 3mm) on the model. They give tabs on the wings and holes in the body that work perfectly, but this will get some rough handling, so I drilled out the holes in the body and cut of the tabs and drilled holes in the wings. A single piece of brass wire runs from one wing to the other, all the way through the body. That way there is still a tiny gap between body and wing, but the bracing is quite strong. Next will come top wings and then the tail booms, with landing gear coming last. Also, this engine will spin.

A note about this particular kit: Pegasus did low-pressure injection molding, which gives fine detail but leaves a lot of flash, and once the part is separated from the sprue a bit of cutting and sanding is required. Basically, it's rough, and needs to be smoothed a lot. On the other hand, this one has some very fine metal parts, including engine, propeller, wheels and skids. On the other other hand the cockpit was quite cramped, which was uncomfortable for the crew. My crew doesn't flex, so they had to lose their legs to even fit.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/11-202PrimaryAssembly_zpsfa3f716a.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/11-202PrimaryAssembly_zpsfa3f716a.jpg.html)

[Aktungbby]

:yeah:

[Sailor Steve]

Pre-assembly painting done - cockpit, fuel tanks, fuselage and wings. I tried a different color for the British CDL, in this case pre-WW2 Sand (ANA 616).

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/11-231Painted_zpsacfa237f.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/11-231Painted_zpsacfa237f.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Flying surfaces installed.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/11-241FlyingSurfaces_zps176ca72b.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/11-241FlyingSurfaces_zps176ca72b.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Mostly done. All that's left is to install the crew and gun, do the rigging and final paint.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/11-251MostlyDone_zpsa9ae73eb.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/11-251MostlyDone_zpsa9ae73eb.jpg.html)

[Jimbuna]

Nice job :cool:

[Sailor Steve]

There's more rigging to this one than I thought. After about three hours' work the wings and tail boom are mostly rigged. There is still a lot of additional bracing to go, plus the control wires. Maybe tomorrow.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/11-26MainRiggingHalfDone_zpseca1b897.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/11-26MainRiggingHalfDone_zpseca1b897.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Well, I wrote "Maybe tomorrow" and then didn't even look at it for two days. Sometimes I get that way. The time hasn't been entirely wasted; I've been practicing the songs I'm going to perform next Friday night, and I've been doing a lot of research on my next project.

Yesterday I got to work again, and after a couple more hours the main rigging still wasn't complete. Another two hours tonight and it's all done except the landing gear. Then I still have to do the control wires, which since this is a pusher run in some odd directions before finally getting where they need to go. Then the steel and wood booms and struts need to be painted, and decals applied. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe next year sometime. *sigh*

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/11-301MainRiggingDone_zps2caaa4a7.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/11-301MainRiggingDone_zps2caaa4a7.jpg.html)

[Jimbuna]

Nothing wrong with previous builds but this one is starting to look that little bit extra special IMO :cool:

[Sailor Steve]

Nothing wrong with previous builds but this one is starting to look that little bit extra special IMO :cool:
That's what I've been thinking. I'm not particularly fond of the Gunbus, but that's a game thing - there are better planes available for the same die roll, and I just never had the desire to fly one in the game. I only started it because I wanted one of everything I could get my hands on. When I started it I had to complain about low-pressure injection molding. The sprues actually overflow into the wings, so the cutting and sanding has to be extra careful. Once I got past that stage, though, something started to change. The more work I put into it the more it just felt...right. Right now I'm liking it at least as much as anything I've built.

I think I will have it done by tonight.

[Buddahaid]

I agree. That one is looking great.

[Sailor Steve]

So I was talking about how right everything felt. I should have known that would be an invitation to disaster.

Two or three days ago, the last time I was working on it, I dropped it. The landing gear came completely off. It wasn't a worry because all four struts broke off cleanly and I was able to put the whole thing right back on again. This afternoon I started rigging the landing gear and noticed that the axle was crooked. Then I realized the whole thing was crooked. I had to cut away the wires I had just superglued on and remove the whole thing again. Then I had to cut away the old glue and drill new holes. Then I had to put it all back together, being careful this time to make sure it was actually straight.

That took more than an hour, so I took a long break. Then I started the rigging again. I almost gave up after my fat fingers kept pushing against the already-finished wires on the wings and stretching them so they now looked loose. Two more hours of fiddling with it and the landing gear is finally rigged. With any luck it will be done tomorrow, but luck doesn't seem to be my strong point.

The good news is that after three months since moving back in after the reconstruction I finally started unpacking some of the boxes cluttering up my bedroom. At least that felt good.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-11LandingGearRigged_zps798c11fe.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-11LandingGearRigged_zps798c11fe.jpg.html)

[Jimbuna]

Small steps...one at a time :cool:

[Aktungbby]

Is it my imagination, but how does the front gunner sit in the nacelle legwise? It looks uncomfortable especially with boots and leather gear. Will there be an FE 2b next, the killer of Immelmann and wounder of Red Baron von Richthofen ...a real (2) gunbus? I imagine if you thought you were attacking a an FB 5 and it turned out to be a 'Fee' with the 2nd rearward shooting gun, that would be nasty! Much like the Jap mistaking a Hellcat for an old Wildcat...oops!

[Sailor Steve]

Is it my imagination, but how does the front gunner sit in the nacelle legwise? It looks uncomfortable especially with boots and leather gear.
Very carefully. Here is a picture of an actual flying replica

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/FB5Replica1_zpsc0e77ff4.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/FB5Replica1_zpsc0e77ff4.jpg.html)

and a very large flying model, which gives some idea of his position.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/FlyingModel_zps69503979.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/FlyingModel_zps69503979.jpg.html)

My pilots might also be a bit oversized for the kit. These days nobody makes kits with pilots in them, and they have to be purchased from aftermarket sources.


Will there be an FE 2b next, the killer of Immelmann and wounder of Red Baron von Richthofen ...a real (2) gunbus?
I built an early FE.2b many years ago, which I recently rigged and photographed. Though I didn't show it on the model, even the early version, as well as the later FB.5s, had a pintel between observer and pilot, so the observer could lift off the gun, remount it, and shoot rearward. I do have a second FE.2 kit which will have the full twin-gun arrangement, but that's some way down the road.

I imagine if you thought you were attacking a an FB 5 and it turned out to be a 'Fee' with the 2nd rearward shooting gun, that would be nasty! Much like the Jap mistaking a Hellcat for an old Wildcat...oops!
I'm sure midwar Allied pilots got a similar surprise when attacking the later Albatros two-seaters, which looked very much like a D.Va.

[Sailor Steve]

I finally got everything to stay in place long enough to declare it done, so here is the Vickers FB.5 'Gunbus'.

The usual left front view.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-21Done_zps30691820.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-21Done_zps30691820.jpg.html)

A close-up of the same. You can see the elevator control horns and the rudder control post right in front of it. The large wooden platform directly above the rudder post on this side is the boarding step.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-22Done_zps40e6cb0f.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-22Done_zps40e6cb0f.jpg.html)

Left rear quarter.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-23Done_zps37217ded.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-23Done_zps37217ded.jpg.html)

Right rear close-up.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-24Done_zps400c1a62.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-24Done_zps400c1a62.jpg.html)

Bottom view, showing Union flags.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-25Done_zpsfcc52145.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-25Done_zpsfcc52145.jpg.html)

The kit came with decals for roundels placed outboard of the Union flags. I found to my embarrassment that I should have put them on before the wingtip skids and the aileron control lines. An alternative I considered was to do a scheme I have several photos of, in which they painted over the Union flags in white and then applied the roundels, the result being a white rectangular field with the roundel in the middle, not unlike the German crosses from the same era.

Close-up showing the aileron control line. The rudder control line ran backwards from a pivoting pole that stuck out of either side of the fuselage, then through a pulley out the lower wing to the boom, then back to the rudder control horns. The elevator lines ran back to a pulley, then outward and upward to the upper boom, then back to the elevator. The aileron lines ran from the wheel backward inside the fuselage, through a pulley to exit the top of the fuselage, straight up through the upper wing, then out the leading edge of the wing, running through a brace along the way, then around a pulley on top of the wing and back to the aileron control horn. From there it split into two lines which ran through the aileron, straight down to the lower aileron, rejoined at the lower control horn and from there through a pulley and brace along the bottom of the lower wing and into the fuselage.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-26Done_zps1f1ceac5.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-26Done_zps1f1ceac5.jpg.html)

[Jimbuna]

Nice one...will speak later :cool:

[Sailor Steve]

Next project is the Albatros C.III. This was a big improvement over the C.I - smaller and lighter, it made about ten miles per hour more on the same horsepower. It would be the most-built of the Albatros C-types.

The kit is another Pegasus low-pressure injection-molding. I can't wait for Thursday night's game so I can tell my friends that we are no longer allowed to build these kits. There is a note right on the side of the box which reads "Not a toy or recreational game piece." Given that these kits came out in the mid-'80s and M&M was the only game system using models at that time, I can't help but feel that the message really was aimed straight at us.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-31Kit_zps2f10c838.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-31Kit_zps2f10c838.jpg.html)

[Aktungbby]

Überflieger: Any chance of a group shot of your whole WWI air fleet...revisit my album for inspiration!:up: what camera are u using and is it a macro lens- it's great on details?

[Sailor Steve]

Überflieger: Any chance of a group shot of your whole WWI air fleet...revisit my album for inspiration!:up: what camera are u using and is it a macro lens- it's great on details?
That would be difficult, as there are too many to fit into one shot. I did take the pictures of the four layers in my big suitcase earlier. It's quite stripped now, since I've been slowly making new ones, one each for Allied and Central, and probably more as time goes on.

The camera? It's a Fuji AX-330, a simple digital pocket-cam with 5x zoom and a 'tulip' button for close-ups, which I bought off Amazon for $65, if I'm recalling correctly. It does good enough long shots and close-ups for my needs.

[Sailor Steve]

Engine and interior painted and installed last night, lower wings assembled and drying.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-41EngineFuselageampLowerWings_zps93853655.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-41EngineFuselageampLowerWings_zps93853655.jpg.html )

I spent most of the day out running errands and practicing for the show in just two days. :eek:

While the Albatros C.III bears a resemblance to the C.I at first glance (actually most of the early German two-seaters look a lot alike), the C.III was based on the earlier B.III and there were quite a few differences between the different 'C' types. I originally bid on one kit on eBay, then found another for an even better 'Buy It Now' price. I bought the second one and refused to bid any more on the first. Unfortunately no one else bid on it at all so I ended up with two. The bright side is that I can build this one specifically for the earlier period when they hadn't yet installed the synchronized gun for the pilot, and do the second one later.

A frightening side-note to that is that while I already have two Hansa-Brandenburg C.Is, I now have an opportunity for three more. For the next period I'll need the one with the forward-firing gun in the "baby coffin", but I've just discovered that one of the Polish resin-kit manufacturers makes the late-war versions with the 200hp and then 230hp Hiero engines...and they do look very different from the early ones.

[Jimbuna]

Treat yersel for Xmas :sunny:

[Sailor Steve]

I installed the tail fins on Thursday before I went gaming, but never took a picture. After three days off I got the landing gear installed and a bunch of tail skid and stabilizer braces that don't show up very well.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-81WheelsandTail_zps05eb431d.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-81WheelsandTail_zps05eb431d.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

I've tried different methods for scribing rib lines on the flying surfaces - paint, sharpie (marker pen) and finally a brown colored pencil. My hand isn't steady enough for the first two, but I seem to be doing okay with the pencil. Unfortunately the pencil doesn't adhere well to bare plastic, so I have to put a primer coat on first and then draw the lines on that. It's a little hard to see with darker colors, so I used my CDL mix for the primer coat. We'll see how it looks when I spray a thin coat on top of them.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-91FirstCoat_zpsa2945aaa.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-91FirstCoat_zpsa2945aaa.jpg.html)

I also did a little puttying and sanding. A primer coat really brings out the blemishes.

[Jimbuna]

Should be fine depending on the colour of the final coat...a dark marker pen was always my preferred choice for panel lines.

[Sailor Steve]

Painted and aircrew installed. This is the early 'sky' camoflage as required by Idflieg. It was backwards, which I'll explain later. I try to get the crew into interesting poses so they don't all look the same.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-101PaintampPilots_zps8ecafb9f.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-101PaintampPilots_zps8ecafb9f.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

It only took me five hours of work to mount the top wing. The kit comes with some nice white metal parts, including cabanes with the mountings for the radiator built in. I glued on one, then the other. They mated alright, but were low and the back end bumped the pilot's head. I didn't mind that, but the halves wouldn't quite go together that way. I used a tiny pair of pliers to try to force them. The glue joins at the bottom broke. I finally got it to fit. The upper wing wouldn't fit properly. I sawed and cut a slot in the underside of the gravity tank. It still didn't fit. I tried to force it, and the cabanes unglued themselves again. I gave up and went and did something else for awhile.

I came back and started all over again. Same problem. I finally made a whole new cabane out of brass rod, then cut the little radiator supports off and glued them onto my new cabane. Glued on the top wing, and everything lined up perfectly. Then I cut the struts out of the airfoil-shaped rods they gave me. They went in just fine but were flimsy and tended to bend under the slightest pressure - okay for a static model but hardly desirable in something that's going to be handled a lot. More brass rod did the trick. It's not quite the proper shape, but it's strong.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-111TopWing_zps27f8a0b2.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-111TopWing_zps27f8a0b2.jpg.html)

Tomorrow should be rigging and final paint.

[Buddahaid]

God bless K & B! I learned to silver solder a couple of years ago and became a great fan of brass.

[Sailor Steve]

I've read a lot of build logs by modellers who solder their brass. I never learned. I just superglue it. :88)

[Jimbuna]

Improvise and overcome...well done that man :cool:

I always found soldering a lot tidier than using glue but it is an operation you must master before you reap any benefits.

[Buddahaid]

I didn't find it all that hard to learn. My biggest problem usually boils down to holding all the parts and the bit of solder in place. It's an odd process as the solder will wick itself toward the heat.

[Sailor Steve]

Today I got the struts painted and the radiator installed. Albatros used a sort of grayish-green for their exposed steel parts, rather than just paint them the same color as the rest. Of course I have to remind myself that "the rest" isn't paint at all, but a pigment applied to the dope. Except the fuselage is the same color, so it must be painted. Unless they covered the plywood with doped fabric. Exept in this case the metal panels are also the same color. But the steel struts are not...

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-121StrutsPaintedandRadiatorInstalled_zps75654906.j pg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-121StrutsPaintedandRadiatorInstalled_zps75654906.j pg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Spent the whole day not doing much of anything, then went to bed and couldn't sleep. I got back up and started rigging. Now it's past midnight and the rigging is mostly done, and I'm finally ready for bed.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-131RiggingStarted_zps27216aed.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-131RiggingStarted_zps27216aed.jpg.html)

[Buddahaid]

Nice one. Are you going to leave the prop blades off as if it's running?

[Sailor Steve]

No. That's one concession I tend to make toward unreality. Some players have experimented in the past with clear plastic discs with lines drawn on them to look like the prop is spinning, and someone sometime actually made a decal for just that purpose, with just a few faint lines. I like the props too much, so I always put them on. Of course some get broken off, and then I tend to break off the other side. This is especially true of WW2. On the other hand I'm proud of my Seafire Mk47 with a working contraprop. :sunny:

[Gerald]

Steve, what costing models to build with all materials included?

[Buddahaid]

I see someone that will have some time on their hands. Once down that path you'll be hooked like the dark side after a Jedi.

Making is fun and rewarding. See the video of Adam Savage near the bottom of this site.
http://www.tricorderproject.org/blog/

[Jimbuna]

Stick to diecast...far easier.

[Buddahaid]

To each our own. I find the building more rewarding than the having.

[Sailor Steve]

Steve, what costing models to build with all materials included?
I've paid as little as $4 for a plastic kit online, and as much as $40. I don't usually count the extras, but superglue is around $6 for a bottle, and that lasts me a year or more. Paint is around $3 a bottle these days, and that will last a very long time. Overall it's not expensive at all, though I have been looking online at some models that cost $200 or more.

To each our own. I find the building more rewarding than the having.
:yep:

I have a favorite quote that Vendor will understand well. I put it on the 'Quotes' page, but left off the background. Long ago I read a short piece in Readers' Digest that went something like:

I took a sailing class not long ago. As we all sat down in the classroom the instructor told us to read the message he had written on the board. If we understood it, great. If not, he said just tell him and he would cheerfully refund all the fee for the class, no questions asked, no harm, no foul. When we looked at the board, all he had written was:

"I can teach a man how to sail. I can't teach him why."

[Gerald]

^Very good, thank you!

[Sailor Steve]

It's done: The Albatros C.III. The serial represents one of the second batch - 200 aircraft, and the last group ordered in 1915. I did an early one because, as I mentioned earlier, I ended up with two kits. That leaves this one representing one of the early camoflage attempts and not yet having the synchonized forward gun for the pilot.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-141Done_zps42fdbde8.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-141Done_zps42fdbde8.jpg.html)

One thing no book I've yet looked at mentions is the changes to the rigging over time. I don't see how the experts could have missed it, so I have to assume they didn't consider it important enough to mention. The first examples don't appear to have had the forward bracing wire running from the nose to the wing spar. In the early planes that do have it, it runs from the bottom metal nose panel to the bottom of the inboard forward strut. Later versions have it run from the nose panel to the top of the inboard rear strut, the same as appears on the earlier Albatros B.II.

Second is the upper inboard bracing wires. On the prototype they run from the top of the cabane to the bottom of the inboard struts. On production models they run not to the top of the cabane, but to the bottom - that is, they start where the cabane joins the fuselage.

Third is the lower inboard bracing wires, which run from the landing gear struts to the upper inboard struts. On some early models those wires cross each other - front to rear and rear to front. That is represented on this model. Later they all seem to run straight - front to front and rear to rear.

I have no idea why this was done. I only know that I've looked at a great many photographs and can attest that it is so.

Left Quarter View.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-142Done_zpse325af6e.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-142Done_zpse325af6e.jpg.html)

Right Side Close-Up
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-143Done_zpsd76b6fed.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-143Done_zpsd76b6fed.jpg.html)

I have one photograph that shows a serial number with the tiny "III" inside the large "C", and thought it was too cool to pass up. The number itself represents one of that batch of 200 planes, numbered 4000/15 to 4199/15.

I promised that I would explain the "backward" camoflage. Idflieg (Inspektion der Fliegertruppen, or Inspectorate of Flying Corps) said in 1915 that they desired some sort of "sky" camoflage. White was tried, as was overall light grey. A very light blue was also tried. At first the blue was painted on all upper and side surfaces of the aircraft. This meant that an enemy fighter looking down from above would see a blue airplane framed against the green and brown earth. Anyone looking up from below would see the blue sky with a brown and yellow airplane. Like I said - backward. Later they painted all the side and lower surfaces blue and the top deck and upper wings grey. Later still, when true camoflage came into use, the pale blue was kept for all undersides.

Top View
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-144Done_zps34dac69c.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-144Done_zps34dac69c.jpg.html)

When I built the Albatros C.I I noted the weird things they did with the crosses - top wing white patch not reaching the trailing edge and fuselage cross having a different shape than the others. It's not mentioned in the books, but photos clearly show that this was not a one-off experiment but several C.IIIs have the same application of markings.

Bottom View
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-145Done_zps689135b6.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-145Done_zps689135b6.jpg.html)

[Gerald]

Nice plan here,:yep:

[Jimbuna]

Another great addition to your air wing :cool:

Speak later.

[Sailor Steve]

Next project: Aviatik C.I. To my surprise no one makes a kit of this aircraft. I found listings for an 'Aviatik C.I' from three different manufacturers online, but when I checked the individual sites I found that they were all the Aviatik (Berg) C.I, which was an Austro-Hungarian two-seater which came out more than a year later and looks very little like the 1915 German version.

I lucked out when I took a look through my recently-purchased copy of Harleyford's Reconnaissance and Bomber Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War. The technical drawings showed that the two shared an identical fuselage. The Austrian B.II had longer wings, so it's easy to cut them down rather than have to build them up. The rudder and elevators are a different shape, but that's easy to modify.

I lucked out again when I found another of the Joystick B.II kits for a good price. The finished product will be quite a bit different, but the bagged kit is identical to the one I did back in August.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-151Kit_zps70caf3f2.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-151Kit_zps70caf3f2.jpg.html)

[u crank]

Next project: Aviatik C.I.

I notice on the cover below the name it says 'For experienced modellers'.

I guess dats you. :haha:

The last one was a beauty. Enjoy this thread very much.:up:

[Sailor Steve]

First step was to cut out the fuselage halves and sand them to fit. Then came the floorboard and internal panels and then the seats. One of the requirements for the C-class two-seaters was that they have a minimum of 150 horsepower. The Albatros C.I I built awhile ago came with both the 150hp Benz and 160hp Mercedes engines. The particular plane I built had the Benz engine so I just happened to have a nice little model of a 160hp Mercedes D.III engine in my spares box. It is noticably larger than the 120hp engine that comes with the 'B' models. It took a little digging and scraping to make it fit, but it was worth it.

The interior is done and ready for assembly.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-152Interior_zps22743087.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-152Interior_zps22743087.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Took yesterday off to assemble the bookcase I bought three months ago, and empty out the last of my boxes of books. Only four boxes to go, and they are all "stuff" - random items that need to be sorted.

Fuselage assembled and lower wings mounted. This was easy because those parts are identical between the German and Austrian versions. The only time-consuming part was the sanding that always goes along with a vac kit.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-171FuselageandLowerWings_zps2041b54a.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-171FuselageandLowerWings_zps2041b54a.jpg.html)




[edit] I had hoped that I could just cut down the stabilizer/elevator and give it the proper shape, but it turns out the German stabilizer was larger than the Austrian. Lucky for me I keep a supply of plastic sheet on hand for things like this, not to mention three-view drawings of both. A little measuring, drawing, cutting and sanding and I have a whole new tail assembly.

Austrian (top) and German tails.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-172AustrianampGermanTailPieces_zpse9aaf3b0.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-172AustrianampGermanTailPieces_zpse9aaf3b0.jpg.htm l)

[Sailor Steve]

Stabilizers went on easily. I had to make a new tail again - twice.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-173TailAssembly_zps892d8a9f.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-173TailAssembly_zps892d8a9f.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Landing gear installed and first primer coat.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-174MainAssemblyampPrimer_zps95d63e45.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-174MainAssemblyampPrimer_zps95d63e45.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Reshaping the upper wings. The Austrian B.II had much longer upper wings, with tapering ailerons (top). The German version had shorter wings and straight ailerons (bottom).

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-181AustrianampGermanUpperWings_zpsb6826541.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-181AustrianampGermanUpperWings_zpsb6826541.jpg.htm l)

[Sailor Steve]

Another setback, but a good one. I was dreaming that I might get this one finished quickly and ready for tomorrow night's game. I did some puttying and sanding and had tentatively sprayed the nose with the proper color. There were still seams showing and irregularities in the putty. Then I realized that in the photos the rear deck is raised slightly and rounded at the edges, sloping downward to the stabilizer, whereas the deck on the model is flat from the rear cockpit to the tail. I thought about ignoring it, and no one would ever know...except of course me. And the old modeler's saying is always there: "If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?" And it's true - I would always know it was there and hate it that way. And the other part is that when I get in too much of a hurry and want it done now, I have to remind myself that the building itself is fun, and it will be done when it's done and not a moment sooner.

I glued in a couple of layers of thick plastic sheet. I believe regular plastic cement is better for this than superglue, so I now have to wait all night for it to dry before I can start sanding it to shape. So, the night ends with plastic sheet glued to the model's spine, looking very out-of-place until I can get it sanded to the proper shape.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-182RearDeck1_zps4e270b6d.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-182RearDeck1_zps4e270b6d.jpg.html)

[edit] Oh, I forgot; I had another setback this morning. I tested the tube that mounts the plane to the game stand, and it had a glue clog in it. I tried to drill it out, but the drill wouldn't fit straight into the tube without grinding against the bottom of the fuselage. I finally had to cut it loose, and since the plastic on a vac kit is very soft the plastic all around the tube came off with the glue, leaving a nice big hole in the bottom. I thought I might be able to drill the tube out that way and glue it straight back in, but no matter how clean the tube looked the steel pin still wouldn't go in. I had to cut a new length of tube, then glue in a replacement piece of scrap plastic, the file a trough in it, then glue in the new tube, making sure this time that no glue got inside. That wasted some valuable time.

[Jimbuna]

You should feel good...you adapted and overcame :cool:

[Sailor Steve]

Upper deck step 2: cut, grind and sand the sides of the new layers until they match the fuselage sides.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-191RearDeck2_zpsc608c782.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-191RearDeck2_zpsc608c782.jpg.html)

[Gerald]

Nice! Do you work with them while you are on subsim :hmmm:, this requires good simultaneous, not because I doubt that you have it,:)

[Sailor Steve]

Nice! Do you work with them while you are on subsim :hmmm:, this requires good simultaneous, not because I doubt that you have it,:)
No, I have a separate table just for building. I'm hoping to someday get a pair of wireless headphones so I can listen to music while I build.

[Sailor Steve]

Upper deck step 3: Tapering the top of the deck to slope from the aft cockpit to the tailplane. This was the hardest part because while I can always take off more, if I take too much I'll have to resort to putty. The little modeler's sanding block is too soft. Even the sanding stick is too soft. I resorted to winding some sandpaper around the flat handle of a pair of tweezers. Voila! Instant steel-hard sanding stick!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-192RearDeck3Tapered_zpsb767a593.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-192RearDeck3Tapered_zpsb767a593.jpg.html)


Upper deck step 4: Rounded into the proper shape. A coat of primer shows that I still have a way to go, plus there is a lot of dirt on the sides that needs to be sanded smooth before painting.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-193RearDeck4RoundedampPrimered_zps119c1ba4.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-193RearDeck4RoundedampPrimered_zps119c1ba4.jpg.htm l)

[Sailor Steve]

Yesterday I realized the stabilizer was crooked, so I had to pry it off and reset it. Then I spent most of the day puttying, sanding and priming until I was halfway satisfied. I did some more of that today, finally applying a tentative topcoat. Tomorrow will tell if I'm ready to proceed or do it all some more.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-211Painted_zps6036f1b6.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-211Painted_zps6036f1b6.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Because of the location of some of the markings I needed to apply some decals before putting bracing struts on. I started that business this morning when I realized that some of the paint was too thin in some areas and there were some lumps in some others. I ended up sanding and painting some more. The paint I mixed was too thin, and it ran. More sanding and more masking, then a complete repaint of the main areas. It now contrasts much better with the very pale grey of the panels and decking, so now it is much more obvious that this one is going to be white. :sunny:

Still no markings though. :dead:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-221Repainted_zps054785c0.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-221Repainted_zps054785c0.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Yesterday I put the decals on but didn't take any pictures. Today was spent working on the interior.

The Aviatik C.I was the only "armed" C-type to retain the observer in the front cockpit. Sources differ on the reason for this. Harleyford's Reconaissance and Bomber Aircraft says the later C.Ia reversed the positions. German Combat Planes by Wagner and Nowarra doesn't talk about the C.Ia but says later C.Is had the observer in the rear. The Windsock Datafile on the subject says the C.Ia had a different nose and a spinner on the prop, and served as prototype for the C.III. Early C.IIIs also had the observer in front, but not for long. The Datafile is by Peter M Grosz, who I consider the leading expert in the field of German WWI aircraft. What Grosz says is that front-line C.Is always had the observer in front. The plane remained in production after it was removed from combat status. All the ones built after that did indeed have the observer in the rear, but they were trainers and had to prepare new aircrews for the new planes, so none of those ever saw combat.

With all that in mind I needed to put the observer in front. As I mentioned back when I built the Fokker B.II there was a rail on each side of the cockpit, with sliding mounts which could take the gun. The gun could be moved from side to side, but sometimes they carried two guns at the expense of some performance. I recently picked up a stock of various WWI machine guns, so I figured I could afford to mount two Parabellum guns, just to make it interesting. So now the tail bracing struts are on, the cabane is on, the pilot and observer are in and the observer is shooting one of his guns forward. There were bracing wires to keep the gun from pointing at the propeller, but I don't want to put those in before mounting the radiator, and I don't want to do that until the upper wings are on. I'm hoping to have all that done tomorrow and have it rigged in time for Thursday's game.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-241InteriorDone_zps8921a574.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-241InteriorDone_zps8921a574.jpg.html)

[Jimbuna]

Coming along real nice :cool:

[Sailor Steve]

All done except the rigging (and exhaust stack [and propeller]). I might not get it done before tomorrow's game, because everybody is off and we might be starting when the shop opens at 11:00 and going all day long. :D

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-251AllExceptTheRigging_zps355b8b60.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-251AllExceptTheRigging_zps355b8b60.jpg.html)

[Jimbuna]

I bet its been a while since you went 'at it' all day long :O:

Looking good though :cool:

[Sailor Steve]

A week late and more money short than I can count, it's finally done.

The Aviatik C.I. It's dressed in one of the early 'sky' camoflage schemes, in this case all white except for the engine panels and upper deck.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/1-21Done_zps5010d7ee.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/1-21Done_zps5010d7ee.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/1-22Done_zps5bc076bc.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/1-22Done_zps5bc076bc.jpg.html)

Hidden Serial Number.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/1-23Done_zpsad976832.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/1-23Done_zpsad976832.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/1-24Done_zps3e7de1a8.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/1-24Done_zps3e7de1a8.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/1-25Done_zpsdbbd610e.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/1-25Done_zpsdbbd610e.jpg.html)

This was the last German two-seater to have the observer in the front cockpit. Normally he had one gun which he could switch from side to side. Sometimes they carried two, at a cost in performance. I gave him two guns to illustrate this. He's firing the port gun forward. There is a wire brace to keep him from shooting the propeller. The starboard gun is facing aft and swinging free.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/1-26Done_zpsd5716670.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/1-26Done_zpsd5716670.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/1-27Done_zps5fef733e.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/1-27Done_zps5fef733e.jpg.html)

I had originally hoped to have this one done by Christmas and another one done before the year was out. This time I have no real excuse other than that I got lazy.

[Jimbuna]

Looks graet, hope she wins tonight's dogfight :cool:

[Sailor Steve]

Looks graet, hope she wins tonight's dogfight :cool:
That's one of the unfortunate things about this building spree I've been on: The odds of any one of them flying on any given night are very low.

[gi_dan2987]

I love the fine detail! Excellent job Steve-O! :up:

[Sailor Steve]

Game Session!

I decided to take my camera to tonight's game. The first scenario we rolled up was an Allied balloon bust, which means the Allies were trying to shoot down a German observation balloon. It was Game Period 3, which covers January to June 1917. There were three Allied attackers, a SPAD 7, a Sopwith Pup and an FE.8. The Germans were three Albatros D.IIIs. The Allies came in separately. My SPAD was several hundred meters above the target, the Pup was about 150 meters below it, and the poor FE.8 was very far down and struggling just to get up to the fight.

1. The Balloon
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Gaming/1TheBalloon_zps99064d5f.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Gaming/1TheBalloon_zps99064d5f.jpg.html)

2. The Defenders
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Gaming/2Defenders_zpsfe7602bb.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Gaming/2Defenders_zpsfe7602bb.jpg.html)

3. The Pup
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Gaming/3Pup_zps72817d3d.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Gaming/3Pup_zps72817d3d.jpg.html)

4. One Albatros was orbiting high above
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Gaming/4HighCap_zpsbab1bd37.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Gaming/4HighCap_zpsbab1bd37.jpg.html)

5. The SPAD and the FE.8.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Gaming/5SPAD7FE8_zpsd24bd59a.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Gaming/5SPAD7FE8_zpsd24bd59a.jpg.html)

6. The SPAD dives down on the helpless balloon
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Gaming/6SPADDivingDown_zps68372b08.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Gaming/6SPADDivingDown_zps68372b08.jpg.html)

7. The Pup is already in trouble
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Gaming/7AlbatrosonPup_zps0c813935.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Gaming/7AlbatrosonPup_zps0c813935.jpg.html)

8. The SPAD takes his first shot. The balloon took some hits, but didn't blow up
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Gaming/8TheSPADTakesHisShot_zps7388c0a4.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Gaming/8TheSPADTakesHisShot_zps7388c0a4.jpg.html)

9. I was so fixated on the balloon that I let one of the bad guys get behind me. I guess since I was trying to knock down their balloon, technically I was the bad guy.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Gaming/9SPADInTrouble_zps47dfd114.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Gaming/9SPADInTrouble_zps47dfd114.jpg.html)
I just noticed my reflection in the window, taking the picture.

10. At this point I managed to elude the Albatros and get another shot. Unfortunately the balloon still remained aloft. It was useless, though, as the balloonists had already bailed out.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Gaming/10SPADEludesDefenderTakesAnotherShot_zpscea992d2.j pg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Gaming/10SPADEludesDefenderTakesAnotherShot_zpscea992d2.j pg.html)

11. At this point I decided the best idea was to dive and run for home. The SPAD was fast and a very good diver.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Gaming/11SPADInTroubleAgain_zpsdd10f455.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Gaming/11SPADInTroubleAgain_zpsdd10f455.jpg.html)

12. One of the Huns managed to get a good position and put some hits on me. Though I outdove him, I couldn't keep it up as we were too close to the ground. In the end one of his shots put me out of control. There was no room to attempt to recover, so the plane spun in at high speed, killing the pilot.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Gaming/12SPADRunningAlbatrosOnHigh_zpsf81c7e86.jpg?t=1388 731577


Oh well. It's only a game. :cry:

[Sailor Steve]

We did have time for a second session. This one was another balloon bust, but in Period 4 (July 1917-February 1918). This time the shoe was on the other foot, with Germans attacking an Allied balloon. There were three defenders - a Nieuport N.17, a SPAD 13 and an early SE.5. Attacking were two Albatros D.Vas. I was German this time. We managed to slip in past the Nieuport, who then turned to attack us. We turned to face him and then our momentum took us apart. We turned back on the balloon and this time I managed to destroy it. I turned and climbed, narrowly avoiding getting singed by the burning wreckage. We then engaged in a running dogfight. I put a lot of damage on the Nieuport, but he was saved by the SPAD, which forced me to maneuver wildly away. The crippled Nieuport escaped with a wounded pilot. The fight continued until darkness set in (closing time for the store).

It was a fun fight. Sorry I didn't take any pictures of that one.

[Gerald]

Nice pictures here :)

[Jimbuna]

It was a fun fight. Sorry I didn't take any pictures of that one.

Pictures or it didn't happen :smug:

Speak later.

[Buddahaid]

Looks fun. Steve have you ever read "They Fought for the Sky" by Quentin Reynolds? It's an easy read and fun enough, but the best part is the bibliography which references many old publications on the subject.

One such reference.
http://www.amazon.com/Victor-Chapmans-Letters-From-France/dp/1437430902

[Sailor Steve]

No, but then there are a lot of things I haven't read. One of the things I hated most about being homeless was going to the library. I got a lot of reading done at that time, but the first thing I noticed upon entering every day was the millions of books I will never get to read.

My own reading on subjects like that tend to lean less to personal accounts (though they are fun) and more toward the technical side of things.

[Aktungbby]

Looks fun. Steve have you ever read "They Fought for the Sky" by Quentin Reynolds? It's an easy read and fun enough, but the best part is the bibliography which references many old publications on the subject. You twisted devil! not only do you play Dogfight but you reference the BIBLE I keep under my pillow after 50 years...still the best of all!

[Sailor Steve]

First project of the new year: a Fokker E.I. Nobody makes one, so this will be converted from the Eduard E.III kit, which in this case is a reprint from Smer.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/1-31Kit_zps1642e499.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/1-31Kit_zps1642e499.jpg.html)

The E.I is problematic because there is controversy over exactly what it was. Nobody argues about it, but sources do say different things. What is agreed upon is that Anthony Fokker had four models of his own design, all called 'Spinne' ('Spider') due to the shape of the plane and the amount of rigging. These were later numbered, M1 through M4. At one point he purchased a Morane-Saulnier model 'H' and proceeded to change the fuselage into a structure of welded steel tubing rather than wood. He also redesigned the landing gear to be stronger, and ended up with a much better plane than the Morane, which he called M5. He made two variants, M5K ('Kurz', or short wing) and M5L ('Lange', or long wing). These served as fast unarmed scouts over the front in the days when nobody had a machine gun.

Roland Garros became the first fighter pilot in his Morane 'L' parasol with the Hotchkiss gun firing through deflector plates protecting the propeller. Garros shot down three German two-seaters in two weeks. Then, on April 18, 1915, Garros went down behind German lines, either shot down by German troops as he strafed them, or from engine failure. He and his plane were captured and delivered to Idflieg. According to Anthony Fokker himself the plane was shown to him, he took a machine gun home with him and sketched out and built the world's first working synchonizer gear in just 48 hours. It seems more likely that every major manufacturer was allowed to look at Garros' plane, and the plans for the interrupter gear designed by Franz Schneider the year before were made available. On the other hand what is not in dispute is that the Fokker design team did indeed come up with the world's first working synchronizer.

Here is where the controversy comes in. There is no question that the Fokker team fitted machine guns to the M5K, calling it M5K/MG, and had them ready for combat in short order. The problem is that some sources say that all E.Is were M5K/MGs, with the short wing. The one who says differently is Peter M Grosz, who most consider to be the leading expert on all the stuff. Grosz says that only the first five planes were M5K/MG, and the remaining 43 were the long-wing version, built from the factory with the gun installed and designated M14. Which story is the truth? Who knows.

Many years ago I "converted" a Revell E.III kit into an E.I, the only real change being to cut down the wing to the correct span. No seven-cylinder 80hp engine. I didn't realize until later that the one change I did make might be wrong, most of the having the longer wing and the early engine being the only difference. I was planning to replace the engine on that model when I found out another intriguing difference: The early M5 models, both short and long wing, had the wings set up near the top of the fuselage, only being lowered later to improve the pilot's downward vision. I couldn't raise the wing on the Revell kit since it slots into a cutout in the side cowling extensions. The Eduard kit, however, is the opposite: The cowling extension is whole, and the wing has a cutout in the forward leading edge to fit around it. This would make it easy to raise the wing since I would need to shorten it anyway.

This leaves me with a minor dilemma:

1. Replace the engine on the Revell kit and just say it's from later when the wings were lowered. This would leave me with two of the Eduard kits to play with.

2. Build and convert the Eduard kit, giving me the early "raised wing" version. I would have the Revell version on hand, but it couldn't represent a later E.I because it still has the short wings. Someone suggested that I build the Eduard kit and then give the Revell one to a fellow player who doesn't have one. This is probably the best course, because no one but me cares about how many cylinders the engine has or how long the wings are. It would just be a case of "Here, now you have a Fokker E.I."

I'm thinking I'll follow the latter course.

[Sailor Steve]

The interior that no one will ever see. Thank goodness for small favors.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/1-41Interior_zps3b11963c.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/1-41Interior_zps3b11963c.jpg.html)

If it was a display kit with the interior exposed I would be redoing the entire thing just to get the lines straight. To the naked eye they look fine, but in extreme close-up they look ragged and sloppy. I have to convince myself not to go back and fix them because in the end nobody will ever know.

[Sailor Steve]

Fuselage and landing gear done, plus horizontal tailplane. The old holes for the wing pins are puttied over.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/1-51Fuselage_zps05881b06.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/1-51Fuselage_zps05881b06.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Primered and ready for finishing.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/1-61Primer_zps48fc9eca.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/1-61Primer_zps48fc9eca.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

I spent most of the day out running errands, one of which was to buy some new sharpies for wing ribs. I did manage to get the ribs marked and the first coat of paint on.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/1-71FirstCoat_zps9d56eb88.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/1-71FirstCoat_zps9d56eb88.jpg.html)




I did find something really cool last night. There is a company called Wingnut Wings, who specialize in very highly detailed 1/32 scale World War 1 planes. Twice 1/72 is 1/36, so 1/32 is even larger. I've known about them for awhile and have not had any interest in building something that size, but now there is a company making laminated wood propellers for those kits. I'm still not planning to ever build one, but just the thought that someone wants to do something like that tickles me pink.

Wingnuts kits. Click on 'Customer Models' to see how detailed some of these big kits are.
http://www.wingnutwings.com/ww/

And propellers from The Prop Shop. This review gives nice comparisons between the stock plastic kit props, which are very nice themselves, and the superlative wood props. Scroll down to see the author's fantastically detailed engine with the propeller test-fitted. It almost wants to make me build something that size just to see it.
http://scaleplasticandrail.com/kaboom/index.php/all-things-aviation/132-135-scale/132-aftermarket-items/1786-1-32-wooden-ww1-airscrews-propellers-from-the-prop-shop

How about 1/32 scale super-detailed rotary enginges?
http://www.taurusmodels.pl/

Oh! Did you know they now make a 1/32 scale B-17? Only three hundred dollars! Of course that's before you start buying all the detail sets.
http://www.scalespot.com/onthebench/b17g/build.htm

This is the reason I haven't purchased a Revell U-boat. I know I would have to buy all the photo-etch sets, all the torpedo-loading and posed crew sets, all the enterior sets and everything else to build the model I would want. Then it might take me the rest of my life to finish it.

I don't know if I want to do that or not.

[Jimbuna]

This is the reason I haven't purchased a Revell U-boat. I know I would have to buy all the photo-etch sets, all the torpedo-loading and posed crew sets, all the enterior sets and everything else to build the model I would want. Then it might take me the rest of my life to finish it.

I don't know if I want to do that or not.

Yes you do actually...then you can bequeath it to me :sunny:

:O:

[Sailor Steve]

Everything's done but the details.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/1-81AlmostThere_zpse897f30c.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/1-81AlmostThere_zpse897f30c.jpg.html)

[Jimbuna]

Should look excellent when fully finished :cool:

[Sailor Steve]

99.9% done.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/1-91999_zps84cbe533.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/1-91999_zps84cbe533.jpg.html)


I came across a guy who makes decals for German WW1 propeller logos - all of them. Four sheets' worth, plus one of Austro-Hungarian logos as well. I ordered the A-H sheet and one of the Germans. As soon as it comes I'll stick the correct logos on the prop and then it will be done. I'll have the usual "done" photos then, but since they may come tomorrow or not until next week I'll be starting a new project tomorrow.

[Jimbuna]

Now that is definitely a keeper :rock:

[Sailor Steve]

New project: Lloyd C.II, another early Austro-Hungarian two-seater. What's different about this one is the wing shape, which is meant to make the plane look somewhat bird-like.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/1-101Kit_zps0ce2d517.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/1-101Kit_zps0ce2d517.jpg.html)

As can be seen, this is another vac kit, so the pieces need to be cut out and sanded to fit.

[Gerald]

^How long does it take to build a plane, then the average time?.:)

[Sailor Steve]

If I worked hard all day, two days. As I do work, one week. Since I do other things and some days don't work at all, in reality about two weeks. On the other hand a look at the dates of my posts would tell that.

[Sailor Steve]

Basic body parts cut out, not yet sanded. There are no plan drawings, so I'll have to go by feel when locating the interior.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/1-102BodyParts_zpse06012fc.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/1-102BodyParts_zpse06012fc.jpg.html)

There is some discrepancy in the descriptions of this particular plane. Some sources say the wings were covered with a plywood skin, others say that practice started with the C.V. There doesn't seem to be a Datafile for the C.II, and I can't find any more information. If I can't find anything by the time I paint the wings, I'll go with the traditional 'fabric' look.

[Aktungbby]

In gazing at a LLoyd CII photo(1 only) which has 'linen covered' flatface plywood on the fuselage but normal ribbing viewable from under the top left wing. Clearly fabric. A later rendition of a side view of the similar Lloyd CIV shows again the plywood fuselage and fabric wings but is not a photo but a detailed color rendering. The CV was a true departure,"with airfoil shaped ribs" surrounded by spanwise longerons covered in plywood sheeting-strong light and IMPOSSIBLE to fix in the field as moisture collected in the wing and warped the plywood. A full color rendition of the V strutted CV shows no ribbing to the wings, with scalloped upper ailerons and tailfin, as with the photo of the 1915 CII. I can't wait to see a Lloyd FJ 40.05 or the surreal 40.08 3 engine LuftkreuzerII!:salute:Fabric...as you surmised.

[Sailor Steve]

Clearly fabric.
I've looked at several photos and the ribbing on the earlier versions seems to lead to that conclusion, as does a clear picture of the C.V which shows no ribs at all, but join lines with very wide spacing. That said, I never consider anything to be "clear" when dealing with this subject. I've recently come across a site by a guy who insists that photos show that no Fokker eindekkers left the factory in "natural" clear doped linen finish, but that all of them were painted some darker color. Yet as part of his "proof" he talks about Allied descriptions, including "green", "brown", "wheat" and "beige". The latter two sound like CDL to me, so different people reach different conclusions.

A later rendition of a side view of the similar Lloyd CIV shows again the plywood fuselage and fabric wings but is not a photo but a detailed color rendering.
Which makes it useless. I've looked at many painted side-views, and many of them differ in their interpretations of individual machines, let alone whole types.

The CV was a true departure,"with airfoil shaped ribs" surrounded by spanwise longerons covered in plywood sheeting-strong light and IMPOSSIBLE to fix in the field as moisture collected in the wing and warped the plywood.
Source?

A full color rendition
Again not something I can use.

Fabric...as you surmised.
I surmise nothing. I need actual proof. I've contacted my friend with the Austrian Army Aircraft book. It should have better information that I've seen so far.

[Sailor Steve]

I just recieved an email from the guy I bought the propeller logos from. He just shipped them today and said I should expect delivery on Wednesday at the soonest, possibly as late as a week after that. Frustrating, but not much I can do about it.

[Aktungbby]

Sorry: on google and the model madness site below it. The Hiero engine Lloyd CII site has a large unclear photo and a small thumbnail photo which can be enlarged and is quite clear; showing the left upper underside of the normal ribbed wing. The CII site mentions the plywood fuselage but says nothing about wings. If the CII wings were plywood also the site should mention that as well, as it does for the CV. Apparently the CV plywood wing had a tendancy to peel in the slipstream if damaged as well as the moisture problem. Also viewed Knights of the Air:Made in Austria and Special Hobby1/48 Model Madness of a Lloyd CV. The CIII and CIV renditions show the wing poorly, as you say, but in that 'yellow' dope color you discussed in a previous post, again indicating a fabric rather than plywood wing.http://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.asp?aircraft_id=739

[Sailor Steve]

Bad news. The link keeps sending me to an ad redirect site. Probably something in my system, but I can't seem to get to it.

Also, while I don't distrust Wiki the way some people do (in fact I find it quite useful) I have come across some discrepancies in their aviation sections that lead me to look for further documentation. As I said, I'll find out what I can from the Austrian Army book. It was written by the leading expert on the subject, so I'll trust his research over anybody's. I expect I'll find the same answer, but I won't be satisfied until I know something for sure.

[Aktungbby]

Its not your system: I can't get it either now and I copied the site verbatim. I'm interested in that Austrian Army book too, as it was one of three references in the Lloyd sites on google. I doubt my local library will have it but I'll check there as well... they actually have a good military section. But under 'Lloyd CII Aircraft', the enlarged thumbnail is worth the thousand words with a crewman in the shot holding up the tail; His head width...and the span gap between the wing ribs is about 6"-8"s.

[Sailor Steve]

As I've said, a friend of mine owns a copy. I'm just waiting to hear back from him.

[Buddahaid]

Sorry: http: (http://en.wikipidia.org/wiki/LloydCV-48k-similarpages)[URL=XXX site below it. The Hiero engine Lloyd CII site has a large unclear photo and a small thumbnail photo which can be enlarged and is quite clear; showing the left upper underside of the normal ribbed wing. The CII site mentions the plywood fuselage but says nothing about wings. If the CII wings were plywood also the site should mention that as well, as it does for the CV. Apparently the CV plywood wing had a tendancy to peel in the slipstream if damaged as well as the moisture problem. Also viewed Knights of the Air:Made in Austria and Special Hobby1/48 Model Madness of a Lloyd CV. The CIII and CIV renditions show the wing poorly, as you say, but in that 'yellow' dope color you discussed in a previous post, again indicating a fabric rather than plywood wing.


That Wiki link redirects to some advert site that wants you to update your media player. I'd kill it now.

[Jimbuna]

That Wiki link redirects to some advert site that wants you to update your media player. I'd kill it now.

The current redirection is:

Congratulations!
You’ve been selected from the Hebburn region to take part in our annual visitor survey.
This will only take 30 seconds of your time and will enhance user experience. Upon completion you will have the opportunity to get a MacBook Air®, an iPhone 4S®, or an iPad 3®.

AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE!!

[Sailor Steve]

The propeller logo decals came to day, and they are stunning! Well worth the $13.50 I paid for each of them. Unfortunately I bought the first of four sheets of German decals, and the ones I really wanted are on sheet four, as most of the Eindekker photos show Integral Propeller logos, with one from Germania. Oh well, I'll make do.

German Propeller Logos #1 consists of four different versions of the markings for Franz Reschke GmbH.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/01GermanLogos1_zps704c09d1.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/01GermanLogos1_zps704c09d1.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/02GermanLogos1_zps4f3d0950.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/02GermanLogos1_zps4f3d0950.jpg.html)

It's the Austro-Hungarian sheet that has me excited.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/Austro-Hungarian1-1_zps96571ab7.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/Austro-Hungarian1-1_zps96571ab7.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/Austro-Hungarian1-2_zps417c85b9.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/Austro-Hungarian1-2_zps417c85b9.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/Austro-Hungarian1-3_zps8c4a2dc4.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/Austro-Hungarian1-3_zps8c4a2dc4.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/Austro-Hungarian1-4_zpsc0e3e117.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/Austro-Hungarian1-4_zpsc0e3e117.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/Austro-Hungarian1-5_zps5ab660fa.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/Austro-Hungarian1-5_zps5ab660fa.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

I got the propeller decals on the Eindekker and it's done.

Fokker M5K/MG
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/1-131Done_zps9fdd312c.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/1-131Done_zps9fdd312c.jpg.html)

The wings have been relocated to represent the early "shoulder" position.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/1-132Done_zps25379551.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/1-132Done_zps25379551.jpg.html)

Early serial number. This indicates the fourth one converted. The first one went to Lt. Otto Parschau, numbers two and three going to his students Max Immelmann and Oswald Boelke. Number four was apparently retained at the factory for testing and development, which is why I chose it. Number five was flown by Lt. Kurt Wintgens, who scored the first Fokker victory on July 1, 1915. This was not credited, but his third victory on July 15 was the first to be so. It seems that all E.Is up through #16 were labelled "E" with the number following, after which they became "Fok. E.I xxx/15".
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/1-133Done_zpscf82c794.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/1-133Done_zpscf82c794.jpg.html)

Close-up showing the early mounting of the Parabellum gun. This proved to have an unstable rate of fire, which made it hard to synchronize. Later all forward-firing guns were converted to the Spandau 08, the Parabellum guns being reserved for use by observers.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/1-134Done_zpsa03d0e6c.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/1-134Done_zpsa03d0e6c.jpg.html)

Front view showing the Oberusel U.0 seven-cylinder 80-horsepower engine and the propeller logos.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/1-135Done_zps3bb597cf.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/1-135Done_zps3bb597cf.jpg.html)

Close-up showing the Werke (factory) number (194) and the oil stains on the fabric. All engines of the period, and especially the rotaries, tended to throw oil at an alarming rate. This led to certain problems for the pilots, which was relieved by keeping stocks of elderberry wine on hand. The oil also soaked into the fabric and was impossible to remove, so fabric coverings became increasingly splotched in appearance, especially the undersides.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/1-136Done_zps3753cee7.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/1-136Done_zps3753cee7.jpg.html)

While doing research I came upon a discussion from 2007 continuing the argument over Fokker E-type designations, particularly E.I and E.II. The contributor there claimed access to the original documents and said that he couldn't understand why the leading expert would make such a mistake, but insisted that Peter Grosz was wrong. My only conclusion is the one I seem to come to a lot: I don't know.

[Jimbuna]

Decals look even better than your description :sunny:

[Buddahaid]

I love that one Steve. Breathing castor oil fumes and such was an often unrelated part of the romantic notion of being a pilot. :o

[Sailor Steve]

Six days after photographing the Eindekker and nine days after doing any real work, I finally got started again on the Lloyd.

Fuselage is together and lower wings mounted.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/1-191FuselageandLowerWings_zps236fefc8.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/1-191FuselageandLowerWings_zps236fefc8.jpg.html)

[BossMark]

Just bought Tamiya 1\350 scale model of the Tirpitz battleship with all the correct paint colours I will post screen shots in this thread if Steve dont mind (seems better than starting a new thread)

[Jimbuna]

Nice kit :cool:

http://modelingmadness.com/review/misc/ships/kruegertirpitz.htm

Step by step:

http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=109357

[Sailor Steve]

Just bought Tamiya 1\350 scale model of the Tirpitz battleship with all the correct paint colours I will post screen shots in this thread if Steve dont mind (seems better than starting a new thread)
Not at all. There are pictures here by others. Tamiya makes great kits. :yep: :sunny:

How far do you want to go with it? As Jim's links show, there are companies that make superfine photo-etched detail parts. You can buy sets of accurate KM doors and hatches, railings, AA guns and more. There is even a real wood deck set available.
http://www.hlj.com/product/kalmd35011/Nav

[Sailor Steve]

After a three day delay I finally put the landing gear together, but didn't take a picture. Two days later I put the tail fins on and started puttying up the seams. I'm going real slow on this one, and I'm not sure why.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/1-241LandingGearandTailPlanes_zpsd5044a03.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/1-241LandingGearandTailPlanes_zpsd5044a03.jpg.html)

[Buddahaid]

Looking good. I've had trouble getting back into the building groove all month. Part of my trouble is the current build is a run of eight units and they all need lot's of work on the resin parts as well as being large and complicated. Eight is too many and I'll not do that again.

[Sailor Steve]

Yeah, eight is a lot. The last time I tried two I had to separate them and finish them one at a time. I'll have some more "twofers" in the future, but they should be simpler and easier.

I don't know if I'm just burnt out, suffering from lack of sleep or suffering from depression again. Possibly a combination of all three and more. Whatever the cause, I'm just not feeling like doing much of anything lately.

[BossMark]

Nice kit :cool:

http://modelingmadness.com/review/misc/ships/kruegertirpitz.htm

Step by step:

http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=109357

Not at all. There are pictures here by others. Tamiya makes great kits. :yep: :sunny:

How far do you want to go with it? As Jim's links show, there are companies that make superfine photo-etched detail parts. You can buy sets of accurate KM doors and hatches, railings, AA guns and more. There is even a real wood deck set available.
http://www.hlj.com/product/kalmd35011/Nav
Thanks for the links lads, I was hoping to find somewhere where I can get mast wires from

[Sailor Steve]

Thanks for the links lads, I was hoping to find somewhere where I can get mast wires from
I haven't answered this for three days because I thought you meant you did find a source. For 1/700 models I use hair. It's fine, it's strong and once in place it can easily be painted black or silver. For 1/350 you might try a fine thread.

[Sailor Steve]

Another four days off and I finally got the cabanes mounted and the first coat of paint on.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/1-281CabanesampPaint_zpsf02e6710.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/1-281CabanesampPaint_zpsf02e6710.jpg.html)

[BossMark]

I haven't answered this for three days because I thought you meant you did find a source. For 1/700 models I use hair. It's fine, it's strong and once in place it can easily be painted black or silver. For 1/350 you might try a fine thread.
OK Steve thanks I do have some fine thread in my house somewhere.

[Sailor Steve]

Radiator and tail struts mounted, wood body, aluminum panels and steel struts painted.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/1-291WoodandParts_zps674b69ba.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/1-291WoodandParts_zps674b69ba.jpg.html)

[Aktungbby]

Looking real good!

[BossMark]

Work in progress
http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee374/rothwellwhite1/20140201_145422_zps7d97b5cd.jpg

[Sailor Steve]

At your local hobby shop you can usually find striping tape or striping decals for cheap. It's not only straighter than hand painting, but easier as well. :sunny:

[BossMark]

At your local hobby shop you can usually find striping tape or striping decals for cheap. It's not only straighter than hand painting, but easier as well. :sunny:
Got some tape on the way, hopefully it will look a lot better and straighter.

[Sailor Steve]

And another week of delays, mostly me being busy/lazy/depressed. I got the top wing on and everything ready a week ago today. Thursday I took it to the game to show what I had done, knowing it should have been finished at least a week earlier. Friday I was recovering from crawling around on my hands and knees - our game isn't for wimps.

Saturday I was ready to start the rigging when I noticed I hadn't put the exhaust pipes on. No collector stack, just six individual pipes. I had to carefully drill out holes in the side of the cylinders, then cut and mount the brass wire, then paint them.

Sunday I was ready to start the rigging again when I noticed something wrong If you look at the last picture there are three cabanes rather than the usual two. I had thought from the plan views that the front one was just to hold the radiator. What I noticed wrong was that rather than lead to the top or the bottom of the front cabane, the rigging line started in between the cabane and the inboard strut. That was just wrong - rigging wires are attached to the bottom or top of a strut, not to an unbraced rib. I looked through all the photographs until I finally found a good, clear front quarter view. Much to my surprise the second cabane was actually splayed outward to that midpoint, and the wire was attached to its upper end. There was also a matching one behind that doesn't show up on any of the plan-view drawings. I gave up for the night.

Monday I very carefully ripped out the second forward cabanes and measured and cut the new outward cabanes and glued them in. Yesterday I didn't touch it.

Today I finally stared on the rigging, almost a month after I started. The funny part is that it occured to me that if the Germans had the same sense of humor as the British they might have called it the "Two-and-a-half Strutter".

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/2-51WingsDoneRiggingStarted_zpsf0ba6f90.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/2-51WingsDoneRiggingStarted_zpsf0ba6f90.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

It could have taken one, it should have taken two, but after four weeks of fits and starts the Lloyd C.II is finally done.

Front
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/2-71Done_zps05405c89.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/2-71Done_zps05405c89.jpg.html)

Side, showing Schwarzlose gun
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/2-72Done_zps5775777c.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/2-72Done_zps5775777c.jpg.html)

This end up
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/2-73Done_zpsfb4b0895.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/2-73Done_zpsfb4b0895.jpg.html)

Bird wings
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/2-74Done_zpscddcc4cb.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/2-74Done_zpscddcc4cb.jpg.html)
Propeller by Propulsor
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/2-75Done_zpsa9386fc2.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/2-75Done_zpsa9386fc2.jpg.html)

[Buddahaid]

This one came out very beautifully Steve. It really captures a sense of reality. :yeah:

Is there a hat's off smiley here? (insert hat's off smiley)

And now..... What the heck were they thinking splitting the leading edge, heck, all the spars on the top wing? I suppose there were some connections but that would seem to be a very weak aspect of the design, but it would also aid it transport-ability.

[Aktungbby]

http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/hello/waving-hat-smiley-emoticon.gif What da Buddahaid want, da Buddahaid gits...

[Jimbuna]

Finally :)

Very cool :cool:

[Sailor Steve]

And now..... What the heck were they thinking splitting the leading edge, heck, all the spars on the top wing? I suppose there were some connections but that would seem to be a very weak aspect of the design, but it would also aid it transport-ability.
I'm not sure what you mean, unless it's the top wing being in two pieces. If that's the case, I'm not sure either, but it's common to almost all the two-seaters of the period. I think I mentioned the trouble assembling the wings early on with kits like that. There are other planes on which the bottom wing doesn't touch the fuselage (Vickers Gunbus, Bristol F-2A). In those cases the spars still go straight through, so it's really a case of the wing being complete, just a small part isn't covered by fabric. I think it's the same here.

[BossMark]

Well that is A turret and an anchors built
http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee374/rothwellwhite1/259_zpsb1ba613d.jpg


http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee374/rothwellwhite1/260_zpsf062625a.jpg

[Sailor Steve]

This is another oldie I built many years ago, and another Austro-Hungarian: The Lohner C.I. Both tail support struts were long gone, so I had to replace those, and knowing much more about the subject now than I did them I removed the Parabellum gun and replaced it with an early jacketed Schwarzlose. I touched up a couple of minor paint scratches and set about rigging it.

In the winter the engine was completely covered.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/LohnerCI1_zpsf8dcd2ba.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/LohnerCI1_zpsf8dcd2ba.jpg.html)

Not many two-seaters looked this graceful. A very nice design.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/LohnerCI2_zps460817eb.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/LohnerCI2_zps460817eb.jpg.html)

As with the Lloyd, pilot and observer are very close for easy communication, and again the pilot is just behind the wings rather than under them.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/LohnerCI3_zpsc20a70ad.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/LohnerCI3_zpsc20a70ad.jpg.html)

Lohner made their own propellers.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/LohnerCI4_zps09fc9922.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/LohnerCI4_zps09fc9922.jpg.html)

Swept wings.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/LohnerCI5_zpsd2515485.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/LohnerCI5_zpsd2515485.jpg.html)

[Jimbuna]

I always think of jets when I see a WWI or II swept wing aircraft :)

[Sailor Steve]

Next up: The LVG C.II. It was yet another of the many German two-seaters at the Western Front, but in 1915 there were more of them than any other type except the Albatros C.I. Its other big distincton was to be the first heavier-than-air machine to bomb London. The intended target was the Admiralty building, but the six 10-kilogram bombs almost landed on Victoria Station.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/2-121Kit_zps0206cdad.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/2-121Kit_zps0206cdad.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

This is another resin kit, which means normal model cements won't work. Cyanoacrylate glues are required, and the particular brand I use is called Zap, in this case a thicker gap-filling variety called Zap-A-Gap. This requires an accelerator to make it dry faster once the parts are in place.

Parts people will never see:

Interior Left, including instrument panel.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/2-122InteriorLeft_zps203caa15.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/2-122InteriorLeft_zps203caa15.jpg.html)

Interior Right, including Mercedes D.III engine and main fuel tank (the pilot sits directly on top of it).
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/2-123InteriorRight_zpsa29ed421.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/2-123InteriorRight_zpsa29ed421.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Fuselage, wings and tailplanes assembled.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/2-131PrimaryAssembly_zpsd9cb6657.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/2-131PrimaryAssembly_zpsd9cb6657.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Landing gear, cabanes and tail struts mounted, primer coat applied.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/2-141PrimerCoat_zps2c26288b.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/2-141PrimerCoat_zps2c26288b.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Several hours of masking and spraying and the painting is done. This one was unusual in that the wings were still clear doped linen but the fuselage was painted. I could have done one that was all grey, or all blue, or all bare which would be cool because the front half of the fuselage was wood while the back half was fabric. I chose this one because it was different.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/2-151Painted_zpse6196c63.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/2-151Painted_zpse6196c63.jpg.html)

Next we put the upper wing on.

[Sailor Steve]

Upper wing mounted. Radiator and gravity tank installed, but without connections and not yet painted.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/2-161TopWingRadiatorTank_zps3980471e.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/2-161TopWingRadiatorTank_zps3980471e.jpg.html)

[Jimbuna]

Looking good Steve :cool:

[Sailor Steve]

Exhaust stack and radiator line installed and painted, wing struts painted.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/2-171Details_zps9bf846fa.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/2-171Details_zps9bf846fa.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

The LVG C.II. In some ways "just another German two-seater", but as with all of of them unique if you look closely. The LVG was a bit wider than most of its fellows, giving it a slightly squat look.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-201Done_zpsc4aba0f6.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-201Done_zpsc4aba0f6.jpg.html)

One of the truly distinctive parts of this plane were the ailerons. Many of them had washout at the tips, that is the tips swept upward, but the LVG had the outer half of the ailerons bend sharply upward then flatten out again, giving it an odd angular look.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-202Done_zpse90db95b.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-202Done_zpse90db95b.jpg.html)

Closeup of the cockpit and crew. Again the LVG was popular for the pilot and observer being able to talk to each other easily.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-203Done_zpse7b68f92.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-203Done_zpse7b68f92.jpg.html)

Closeup showing the special cooling holes in the lower cowling. Also this was another one which had the inboard bracing wires cross each other.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-204Done_zps5eaa0b07.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-204Done_zps5eaa0b07.jpg.html)

LVG, like Lohner, also made their own propellers.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-205Done_zps612a6403.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-205Done_zps612a6403.jpg.html)

Nothing special about the wings...except for those ailerons!
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/12-206Done_zps0b15f56d.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/12-206Done_zps0b15f56d.jpg.html)

[Jimbuna]

Another very cool addition to the collection :cool:

[BossMark]

Now she is looking more a like a battleship
http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee374/rothwellwhite1/082_zpsd894ed45.jpg

http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee374/rothwellwhite1/083_zpsdaeb4ec3.jpg

[Sailor Steve]

Now she is looking more a like a battleship
Yes it is. Funny how that works. :sunny:

[Sailor Steve]

Next project: A Martinsyde S.I Scout.

With the coming of the eindekkers the Allies started getting desperate. Still not having a synchronizer and deciding that the deflector plates were not the best idea, the British started mounting the lightweight Lewis gun on the top wings of various sport biplanes. The Martinsyde was one of the first, and one of the worst. Built by the firm of Martin & Handasyde, the Scout was as fast as a Fokker but not particularly nimble. At this stage of the war it didn't matter too much because aerial combat still consisted of a lone fighter finding a lone observation machine and trying to shoot it down. Dogfights were still a few months in the future.

One of the problems with the early wing-mounted guns was changing the drum on the Lewis. The pilot had to reach above his head to unlock the drum, remove and replace it. This led to some interesting episodes, the most bizarre being the experience of Lieutenant Louis Strange. Rather than try to describe it, as most sources do, I'll let him tell the story himself.
But on May 10th, 1915, I reached 8,500 ft when going after an Aviatik belonging to von Leutzers Squadron from Lille Aerodrome. We were somewhere over Menin, and the Hun was still gaining height, though we were both near the tops of our respective ceilings. Not all the enemy aircraft were equipped with machine guns in those early days, but the German observer potted at me from the rear cockpit with a parabellum pistol, and as some of his bullets came unpleasantly close, I thought it high time to retaliate, and gave him a drum from my Lewis gun without much effect. But when I wanted to take off the empty drum and replace it with a full one, it seemed to jam, and I was unable to remove it with one hand, I wedged the stick between my knees and tugged at the obstinate thing with both hands. After one or two fruitless efforts, I raised myself up out of my seat in order to get a better grip, and I suppose that my safety belt must have slipped down at a critical moment. Anyhow, my knees loosened their grip on the stick just as the Martinsyde, which was already climbing at it's maximum angle, stalled and flicked over into a spin.

As I was more than half out of the cockpit at the time, the spin threw me clear of the machine, but I still kept both of my hands on the drum of the Lewis gun. Only a few seconds previously I had been cursing because I could not get that drum off, but now I prayed fervently that it would stay on forever. I knew it may come off at any moment, however and as its edge was cutting my fingers badly, I had to get a firmer hold of something more reliable. The first thing I thought of was the top of the center strut, which at the time was behind and below the Lewis gun, but as the machine was now flying upside down, I had sufficient wits left to realize that it was behind and above me, though where it was exactly I could not tell.

Dare I let go of the drum with one hand and make a grab for it? Well there was nothing else for it but to take the risk; I let go and found the strut all right, and then I released my other hand and gripped the strut on the other side. I was then in a more comfortable position, and at least I felt rather more part of my machine than I had done in my original attitude. My chin was rammed against the top plane, beside the gun, while my legs were waving about in empty air. The Martinsyde was upside down in a flat spin, and from my precarious position the only thing I could see was the propeller ( which seemed unpleasantly close to my face), the town of Menin, and the adjacent countryside. Menin and its environs were revolving at an impossible angle - apparently above me - and getting larger with every turn. I began to wonder what sort of spot I was going to crash on.

Then I got angry and cursed myself for a fool for wasting time on such idle speculations, while at the same time it dawned on me that my only chance of righting the machine lay in getting my feet into the cockpit. If I could manage it, I knew that I was bound to fall automatically into the cockpit when the machine came over. I kept on kicking upwards behind me until at last I got first one foot and then the other hooked inside the cockpit. Somehow I got the stick between my legs again and jammed on full aileron and elevator; I do not know exactly what happened then, but somehow the trick was done. The machine came over the right way up, and I fell off the top plane into my seat with a bump.

I grabbed at the stick with both hands and thanked my lucky stars when I got hold of it. Then to my surprise I found myself unable to move it. I suddenly realized I was sitting much lower than usual inside the cockpit; in fact, I was so low down I could not see over the edge at all. On investigation I found that the bump of my fall had sent me right through the seat, with the result I was sitting on the floor of the machine as well as on the controls, which I was jamming. The cushion had fallen out when the machine turned upside down, along with everything else that was loose or had been kicked loose when I was trying to find the stick with my feet. Something had to be done quickly, as although the engine had stopped through lack of petrol when the machine was upside down, it was now roaring away merrily and taking me down in a dive which looked likely to end in the wood to the north of Menin. So I throttled back and braced my shoulders against the top of the fuselage, and my feet against the rudder bar; then I pulled out the broken bits of seat and freed the controls. Luckily I found them all working all right, so that I was able to put up the machines nose and open the throttle again. I rose and cleared the trees on the Menin Road with very little to spare.

I did not trouble to climb anymore, but just flew back along the Menin Road. In my efforts to find the control stick with my feet, I had smashed all the instruments on the dashboard, and as I gazed at the damage, I wondered if I could ever make anyone realize how it had been done. I had only a very hazy idea myself as to what had really happened, but I felt happy to be alive, and thought it simply marvelous that I was still able to control the machine.

I hurried back to Abele, without worrying about the increasing strain on the small of my back or the futile shots that the Germans on the ground were sending after me. I went to bed early that night and slept for a good solid twelve hours; but; Lord, how stiff I was the next day! It took a long time before I was able to move about with any comfort.

During the recent trip to Germany which enabled me to make the acquaintance of von Leutzer, my opposite number, I told him the story of this incident. In reply he stated that one of their observers had returned that day with a report of a victory over a British machine, which went down in a spin into the wood on the north side of Menin. This observer was positive that he had seen the pilot thrown out of the machine, although did not fall clear of it, and on the strength of his evidence the Germans spent half a day vainly searching the wood for the wreckage of the machine. Von Leutzer added that the observer, who was known to be reliable and accurate in his statements, got very much ragged about the business for some time afterwards.
-Louis Arbon Strange, Recollections Of An Airman, 1933
Strange went on to have many more interesting adventures, and the Martinsyde was replaced by better machines.

The kit is a bare-bones vacuform kit from Classic Planes, made sometime in the late 1980s. Supposedly HR Models made a resin kit, but though I have found reviews and photos of the box, HR doesn't list it on their website and no one seems to have a copy anywhere for sale. If I find one I'll gladly pay the price, but for now this will have to do. There are no metal parts and things like the engine are useless. I do have several rotary engines to choose from, and the body and wings match the drawings pretty well, but it's mostly going to be made of brass wire and plastic strut stock. It should prove interesting, to say the least.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/2-211Kit_zps82336a4f.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/2-211Kit_zps82336a4f.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Fabricating The Front End.

Vacuform kits can vary. At the top end you have a lovely model with lots of details, metal parts and good instructions. At the bottom you have an outline that looks something like the airplane in question, with no details and nothing to help you build it. You have to dig up spare parts or make your own, and you don't have any real picture of what the details should look like. This one is somewhere in between. It doesn't have any detail parts or any real instructions, but the lines are properly molded into the fuselage and wings, so once it's built you don't have to cut a lot of panel lines. As for instructions, Harleyford's Fighter Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War has a very good 3-view drawing, and I've managed to find lots of good photographs.

The Martinsyde had an unusual engine setup. Very early on they weren't sure if they could build a bearing strong enough to support the whirling rotary engine from the rear only, so they made a front support, as seen on the Bleriot I built last June. The Martinsyde's engine was almost completely enclosed in the cowling and had a cutout at the front with the support built in. The kit has none of this. It would be easy enough to just cut out the rectangular cutout and glue everything in, but I want the engine and propeller to turn or, failing that, for it at least to look right. Luckily I recently purchased a pair of Nieuport 10 kits, and only the early version has the front support, and each kit comes with all the parts to build all the versions. I scavenged the support and sanded it down to fit, and I grabbed the Gnôme Monosoupape (single-valve) engine and propeller as well. I cut and sanded a rear support from the excess plastic sheet and sanded it to shape. With luck I'll have the fuselage together tomorrow. I've also just purchased another model of the Scout from a different manufacturer. It may be better or it may be the same kit repackaged. Either way it comes with metal parts and maybe better instructions. It will probably be here too late to combine the two, unless I put this one on hold for a week. More likely I'll end up with two of them, or maybe give one to a friend to build.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/2-231FabricatingtheFrontEnd_zps48e89fb9.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/2-231FabricatingtheFrontEnd_zps48e89fb9.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Absolute barebones interior. The cockpit opening is so small that no one will be able to see past the pilot anyway. I did manage to make the engine and propeller turn, even though the engine is on the inside.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/2-251BarebonesInterior_zpsfd6408b4.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/2-251BarebonesInterior_zpsfd6408b4.jpg.html)

[em2nought]

You might want to try one of these at your scale 1/72? someday http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/showthread.php?6821-Drachen-Build Seems pretty simple compared to the paper models, cheap too.

[Jimbuna]

^ I enjoyed that link and I think Steve will to :sunny:

[Sailor Steve]

Not really. I've known about those guys for a very long time now. Their game is a combination card game/boardgame/miniatures game, and the models are representations only - they might as well be counters. They use pre-made 1/144-scale metal diecasts, and I take absolutely no joy in playing with toys I didn't build myself. Their balloons are cute, but wouldn't work with our system.

We did get a backhanded complement from them on one of their websites (or maybe it's in the rules - I don't remember): "This is a game, not a complex flight simulator", which could only refer to M&M/Triplane. It looks like fun, if you like simple boardgames. I don't - not for airplanes anyway.

[em2nought]

Not really. I've known about those guys for a very long time now. Their game is a combination card game/boardgame/miniatures game, and the models are representations only - they might as well be counters. They use pre-made 1/144-scale metal diecasts, and I take absolutely no joy in playing with toys I didn't build myself. Their balloons are cute, but wouldn't work with our system.

We did get a backhanded complement from them on one of their websites (or maybe it's in the rules - I don't remember): "This is a game, not a complex flight simulator", which could only refer to M&M/Triplane. It looks like fun, if you like simple boardgames. I don't - not for airplanes anyway.

It was just the balloons I was mentioning, after seeing that yours was a cardboard cutout, although nicely drawn.

[Sailor Steve]

It was just the balloons I was mentioning, after seeing that yours was a cardboard cutout, although nicely drawn.
They say that their stuff is 1/144th scale, but the balloon would have to be about three feet long, and they don't look that big. The real problem is that they have to be mounted from the bottom, with the stick going into the body of the balloon. Ours have to be able to move up and down the stand, just as the planes do, so a clip is required. Unfortunately that requires a flat surface. A full balloon would stand far enough to the side that the stand would fall over all the time.

[Buddahaid]

If you use actual ballons and paper mache over the exterior, you can pop the ballons and get lightweight shells. Of course they look like the balloon but something could be figured out.

[em2nought]

They say that their stuff is 1/144th scale, but the balloon would have to be about three feet long, and they don't look that big. The real problem is that they have to be mounted from the bottom, with the stick going into the body of the balloon. Ours have to be able to move up and down the stand, just as the planes do, so a clip is required. Unfortunately that requires a flat surface. A full balloon would stand far enough to the side that the stand would fall over all the time.

You could run an oversize hole up and down thru the balloon and then put a clip under the balloon around the elevation dowel to hold balloon at correct altitude. These balloons at 12" -16" or so wouldn't look too bad with 1/72nd models. I just thought they looked like they would really go with your "old school" modeling style.

[Sailor Steve]

I don't think so. For me it's too much work for too little return. Of course that's what the others say about the effort I put into my models, so what do I know?

[Sailor Steve]

Fuselage together, lower wing mounted.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/2-261FuselageLowerWing_zpsb61ed543.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/2-261FuselageLowerWing_zpsb61ed543.jpg.html)

[Buddahaid]

What an odd looking duck that one is.

[Sailor Steve]

Pre-war racer, fitted with a gun. But wait, it gets even odder. :D

[Sailor Steve]

It's been five days since I posted anything, and once again everything has changed. When I saw how bare the kit was I became a little frustrated. Then, out of the blue, someone had a different kit of the same plane for a very good price. I quickly ordered it, and then started asking myself why I had done that. I have the parts to make a good model, and the second one wasn't necessary. Maybe it was the metal parts they advertised. More recently I realized that the plane did change over the year it was in use, and this was an opportunity to do both. So now this was going to be another two-for-one, or twofer as we call them.

Last night I got the tailplanes mounted and today the new one came. It's very different in the way it goes together. I'll be catching it up to the same point, and then finishing them side by side.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/3-31KitNumberTwo_zpsb9bcfff7.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/3-31KitNumberTwo_zpsb9bcfff7.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Second kit is finally caught up with the first one. The second one has taught me something I didn't know before, mainly that early Martinsydes had rounded stabilizers. I already knew about the landing gear, which will show up shortly, but this one was new to me. It's funny that I should end up with two, because they only built sixty of them.

Also the second kit is a bit wider than the first. According to the drawings I have this seems to be closer to the reality, but there's nothing I can do about it now. Not that I would anyway, since they fill a gap and there are others I'm much more interested in.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/3-81SecondKitCaughtUp_zpsd1188c8f.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/3-81SecondKitCaughtUp_zpsd1188c8f.jpg.html)

[Buddahaid]

A bit wider but it also looks like the scale is a bit larger.

[Sailor Steve]

That could be, but the length and the wingspan match up alright, and both of those dimensions match the drawings.

Optical contusion? :dead:

[Sailor Steve]

Early and late landing gear.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/3-111LandingGear_zps68880d73.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/3-111LandingGear_zps68880d73.jpg.html)

[Buddahaid]

They still look like completely different airframes and fat boy still looks bigger. I like the old gear with the training wheels. :)

[Sailor Steve]

They still look like completely different airframes and fat boy still looks bigger.
I have to agree. The funny part is that the fatter one is closer to the drawings in size but the other one is closer in outline. As I said early on, there was a resin kit that was described as being perfect, but it's not available anywhere, for any price. it's like the kit was reviewed but never released. It's a good thing it's not that important an aircraft to me. I'll live with it.

I like the old gear with the training wheels. :)
So do I. And they really were training wheels. Just like the skids on so many others, the idea was that in a rough landing the plane couldn't nose over. They finally realized that putting the main wheels far enough forward would serve the same purpose.

[Sailor Steve]

Main paint applied. The earlier version will represent one of four aircraft sent to Mesopotamia.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/3-131Painted_zpsf3caf27e.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/3-131Painted_zpsf3caf27e.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

After a week of busying myself elsewhere I finally have the upper wings mounted.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/3-201TopWingsMounted_zpsd3ba5053.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/3-201TopWingsMounted_zpsd3ba5053.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

One month to the day since I started, and I finally have the decals on and the final overcoat. I still need to mount the guns and propellers, paint the wheels and struts, and get them rigged.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/3-211Decals_zps5db86809.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/3-211Decals_zps5db86809.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

The first one is finally done. The second should be tomorrow.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/3-241Done_zpsfead3b25.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/3-241Done_zpsfead3b25.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/3-242Done_zpsd59d4fd6.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/3-242Done_zpsd59d4fd6.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/3-243Done_zpsaec89665.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/3-243Done_zpsaec89665.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/3-244Done_zpsf576735a.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/3-244Done_zpsf576735a.jpg.html)

[Gunsilnger]

Very nice!!

[Jimbuna]

The grass on that runway needs cutting :)

[Sailor Steve]

Another day lost. After playing music all night Monday I was in no condition yesterday for anything but sitting. This morning I got half the main rigging done. This afternoon I started on the other half and ran into trouble. Things wouldn't glue down, and when they did they were out of place. Cut that part away and do it again, then discover that some piece I'd already done had come loose. It took three tries to get it all where it belonged. Finally, though...

This represents a fairly standard Western Front aircraft.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/3-261Done_zpseb652a94.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/3-261Done_zpseb652a94.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/3-262Done_zpsd29417d1.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/3-262Done_zpsd29417d1.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/3-263Done_zps79c028c9.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/3-263Done_zps79c028c9.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/3-264Done_zpsdde9c43f.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/3-264Done_zpsdde9c43f.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Next project: Morane-Saulnier 'BB', a rather obscure reconaissance biplane built in France, but the only buyer was the British Royal Flying Corps. There were less than 100 built, and some controversy over how many of them had the planned 110-horsepower Le Rhône 9J engine and how many only had the 80-hp 9C.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/3-281Plans_zps784bf1f4.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/3-281Plans_zps784bf1f4.jpg.html)

I'm using the fuselage from the Revell Morane 'N' kit as a basis, but this will be mostly scratchbuilt. The first problem to be overcome is that the Revell kit is wrong right from the start. It tapers to a point at the rear, where the real aeroplane tapered to a horizontal knife-edge, just like the square-bodied model 'H' before it, and like the Fokker and Pfalz eindekkers, the latter of which was an exact license-built copy of the 'H'.

[Sailor Steve]

First step was to cut a pair of shims out of scrap plastic, then sand and shape them so the tail was the proper width and the fuselage taper matched the drawings.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/3-282FuselageShim_zpsa9733b6f.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/3-282FuselageShim_zpsa9733b6f.jpg.html)

I recently picked up a rare off-brand model of the Morane 'N' which the maker claimed was much more accurate. It's also a lot smaller, which is causing some concern. Harleyford's Fighter Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War says the 'N' was 22' long, and their Reconaissance Aircraft book says the 'BB' was 23' 2", which is less than a foot difference in length. The off-brand model 'N' is much smaller than Harleyford's drawing. On the other hand a couple of other sources say the 'N' was 19' 1" long, which is exactly what the off-brand model is. If that's the case then the Revell 'N' model is oversize by quite a bit, but it's perfect for the 'BB' conversion.

In any case I think it's going to be a fairly easy conversion.

[Sailor Steve]

Seams puttied, rear cockpit cut out, fuselage extension added.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/3-291SeamsPuttiedExtensionAdded_zps7ee2dbae.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/3-291SeamsPuttiedExtensionAdded_zps7ee2dbae.jpg.html )

Actually the "extension" is part of the kit with the monoplane wings attached as one piece. I removed the wings as they are the wrong size, and then glued the fuselage piece in place.

[Sailor Steve]

Engine mounted, upper cowling in place.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/3-292EngineMountedUpperCowl_zps4ab400ee.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/3-292EngineMountedUpperCowl_zps4ab400ee.jpg.html)

This is about all that's left that I can use from the kit. The wings will have to be salvaged from another kit or made using some wing-shape stock I picked up years ago. The kit landing gear are the right shape but the wrong size, and since the kit is a monoplane there are no cabanes or wing struts, so that will all be from brass wire.

[Sjizzle]

here we go my U96 u-boat 150 cm long :)

http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/a297/14cg8cib3cgcjpdfg.jpg

http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/aa7a/w07g3ou3a68x7t4fg.jpg

http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/758a/7p245ftxqc0hk08fg.jpg

[Sailor Steve]

Interesting. It might be a better idea if you started your own thread, just to help everybody keep track of it. :sunny:

[Sailor Steve]

Sunday I scrounged through my parts box and found a set of tailplanes that were the right size. Actually they were a little too big, which allowed me to sand them to the proper shape and size. I then spent the better part of two days filling, puttying and sanding the cockpit area.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/3-301TailplaneandBody_zps7fa2603a.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/3-301TailplaneandBody_zps7fa2603a.jpg.html)

Today I decided I would have to build the wings from special stock. A long time ago a company called Rosemont Hobbies produced vac kits under the name Roseplanes, and among their Roseparts line they made vacufored wing sets in different chords, so they could be used to fabricate wings for a variety of planes. This meant that they couldn't add rib markings, so I'll have to do them myself. I purchased two sets of two sheets each, and have hardly touched them.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/4-21WingStock_zps0c39e057.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/4-21WingStock_zps0c39e057.jpg.html)