Steve's Models

[Sailor Steve]

As some know, I've been working on my own tabletop miniatures naval rules for a couple of decades now. To play we use 1/2400 scale models, though the game scale is much smaller - 1/9000, so 1 inch = 250 yards, or 8 inches is roughly one nautical mile. Unfortunately nobody makes all the models I want, and I can't always afford to buy the ones that are there, so I also print up counters to go with the game.

But as always, this isn't really about the game or the models to play it. I've always loved to build models, and have been doing so since the Revell "box-scale" kits of the 1950s (the models are in a lot of diferrent scales, so the boxes they come in were all the same size). I haven't been able to build anything for several years, what with being homeless and then moving around a bit, but now I'm settled in and am planning to get to work once I get a decent computer desk and stop using my card table for that purpose.

While researching the variety of 1/2400 ship models I became curious about 1/700 models. I've built some in the past, but thought them too big for gaming and too small for display, but began to think they might be perfect for my 'jones' (need) to build. So I was online and found a source for Russian-made models of First World War ships. I thought they would be resin but they're actually plastic, so I tried to order a Majestic class battleship, but they were out. Actually they were out of pretty much everything, but then I spotted the 1894 German Brandenberg class. So I dropped the money and waited. And waited.

It came today, and after opening the shipping box and getting rid of the packing stuff I found a tiny 7 x 4 x 1" (179 x 100 x 25mm) box with a photo of SMS Weissenburg on it, and proceeded to open it thinking "Well, let's see what I got for my fifty bucks".

Once it was opened my thoughts changed to "Wow! I got a bargain! They could probably charge more!" Don't tell them I said that. The model itself is 161mm (6.34") on the waterline and 27mm (1.06") on the beam, and is incredibly detailed! I mean it's gorgeous. Don't take my word for it.

Overview - kit and box
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/1Overview.jpg

Closer shot of the hull
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/2Hull.jpg

All the pieces, with the etched-brass parts in the foreground
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/3Allthepieces.jpg

The bow section of the beautiful hull
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/4Bowclose-up.jpg

The bridge pieces
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/5Bridgeparts.jpg

Captain's steam launch, the largest of the ship's boats
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6Steamlaunch.jpg

What the pictures don't show is that the model even properly represents the side-firing torpedo tubes, which on most large ship were aimed 90 degrees to the broadside, but on thise early German battleships were aimed 30 degrees fore and aft, respectively.

I won't be starting it for awhile. As I said I need to get a desk for my PC and free up my building table, plus get my tools out of storage and buy some new ones as well. I also have airplanes I want to build, and I want to get their Royal Soveriegn and Majestic battleships as well, and probably others in the future.

But it's a start.

[Randomizer]

Sweet. Looking forward to pics of the completed model!

[denny927]

wow....get back in time at my 15, 20 yo....I remember build my USS Missouri(tamiya) all night along until 5, 6 am:yawn:

good old times, sadly with work, wife two childs, a little department, no way to come back for this things...maybe when I grow old:O:

great model man, looking for the progress.....:up:

[denny927]

http://www.prestigehobbies.com/images/P/TAM78018.jpg


not my model but almost is the same, in aspect, dimension and colors

[Sailor Steve]

looking for the progress.....:up:
Unfortunately the model building table is still doubling as a computer desk. I can't afford to order a new one and I can't even think about buying a used one as I don't own a car to pick it up with.

In the meantime I've purchased two more, the British Royal Sovereign of 1893 and the Majestic of 1895. I'd post pictures but they're just more unbuilt models. The detail is just as good and the Majestic has always been a personal favorite of mine, but there's really nothing to see yet.

[mapuc]

http://www.prestigehobbies.com/images/P/TAM78018.jpg


not my model but almost is the same, in aspect, dimension and colors

I had all 4 off them
The Iowa class battleship

USS IOWA(BB61)
USS NEW JERSEY(BB62)
USS MISSOURI(BB63)
USS WISCONSIN(BB64)
Every one of them was build in scale 1:350)

Markus

[Sailor Steve]

You didn't build Illinois and Kentucky sitting on their slips half finished?

Lazy! :O:

[nikimcbee]

How you you trim the photo-etched parts w/o mangling them?

[ossoo2020]

wowww...great man :yeah:

[Sailor Steve]

How you you trim the photo-etched parts w/o mangling them?
X-Acto knife with a brand new blade. To keep the part from moving or twisting hold it gently to the table with a pencil eraser, still on the pencil so it acts as a holding stick. :sunny:

[edit] The two British ships came without photo-etched parts, but there are several good sources for WW1-era railings and masts, so I'll be getting those soon.

[Sailor Steve]

Sometime in the 1970s I began to develop a desire to build prototypes. I knew about the P-51D, but what about the P-51A? What about the P-1? I knew there had to be such a thing, so I started collecting books. I found what I wanted, and used the old Monogram P-6E kit as a basis for conversion. I built the XPW-8B, which was the prototype, and then the P-1 and P-1B. The first one is missing and I converted the other two for wargaming. After my friend Rocky died his oldest son donated all of his models to our gaming group. This included a bunch of my stuff which had been at his house. Today I took pictures of them for a friend to see what my hobbies were, and thought I'd post them here. The propellors are broken and they's seen thirty-six years of wear and tear, but they still survive. I didn't even wipe the dust off, but the original work is still holding up.

Curtiss P-1 (1928)
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/DSCF0060.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/DSCF0062.jpg

Curtiss P-1B (1929)
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/DSCF0061.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/DSCF0064.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/DSCF0065.jpg

Together
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/DSCF0066.jpg

The P-1B on its back, so you can see the intricate double-wire rigging
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/DSCF0067.jpg

[Gerald]

^what is the material in these models, :hmmm:

[Sailor Steve]

This one is very special to me. In 1935 Boeing entered a competition for a multi-engine bomber for the Army Air Service. They came up with a large four-engine design, the model 299, quite radical for the time. It flew nonstop from Seattle to Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio for testing. The control locks were a new design, and the test crew too off with them locked, causing the plane to crash, killing Boeing's pilot and the Army test pilot, Major Ployer P. Hill. The design was accepted in spite of this, and went on to become the legendary B-17 Flying Fortress. In 1940 the new Army Air Base in Utah was named in honor of Major Hill.

Cut to 1990. I always like prototypes, so I started looking for a way to build that original Boeing 299, so I gathered parts from other kits and started looking at photographs. At the same time Rocky and I were asked by one of the museum curators to go up to Hill Field and fix their sadly disorganized model collection. It took us the better part of a week to sort it all out, but we got the job done. I noticed that they had a special model collection called 'Planes Major Hill Flew". They had a model of a WW2 B-17F, which he never saw, and later replaced it with a pre-war B-17C, which he also never flew. When I pointed this out the curator said "There aren't any models available of that plane, and the professional who built these told us it can't be done." I said "Really? It just so happens..."

These pictures were taken on Rocky's dining-room table in June 1990. Twenty-two years later that model is still part of a special display right in the middle of the museum lobby. If I ever get there again I'll take new pictures.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/299-5.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/299-3.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/299-2.jpg

[Gerald]

Nice,:yep:

[Sailor Steve]

^what is the material in these models, :hmmm:
The wings, struts, wheels etc were from injection-molded kits by Monogram. The bodies were from a vacuum-formed plastic replacement kit by RarePlanes. I had to change each body to match the original. The radiator exhaust scoops under the nose were cut from paper. The rigging (wires) were a very fine monofilament thread I picked up at a fabric shop. It's like a very fine fishing line.

[Gerald]

The wings, struts, wheels etc were from injection-molded kits by Monogram. The bodies were from a vacuum-formed plastic replacement kit by RarePlanes. I had to change each body to match the original. The radiator exhaust scoops under the nose were cut from paper. The rigging (wires) were a very fine monofilament thread I picked up at a fabric shop. It's like a very fine fishing line. Really faithfully done, :yep:

[Jimbuna]

Sometime in the 1970s I began to develop a desire to build prototypes. I knew about the P-51D, but what about the P-51A? What about the P-1? I knew there had to be such a thing, so I started collecting books. I found what I wanted, and used the old Monogram P-6E kit as a basis for conversion. I built the XPW-8B, which was the prototype, and then the P-1 and P-1B. The first one is missing and I converted the other two for wargaming. After my friend Rocky died his oldest son donated all of his models to our gaming group. This included a bunch of my stuff which had been at his house. Today I took pictures of them for a friend to see what my hobbies were, and thought I'd post them here. The propellors are broken and they's seen thirty-six years of wear and tear, but they still survive. I didn't even wipe the dust off, but the original work is still holding up.



Looks like you put some serious work into the wiring :rock:

[Sailor Steve]

Looks like you put some serious work into the wiring :rock:
It's my opinion that biplanes, like ships, are incomplete without the rigging.

That's why I'm so proud of my scratchbuilt gaming models.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/CaudronG4.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/CaudronG42.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Frenchtrio.jpg

[Jimbuna]

I especially like that Caudron g4 :cool:


:03:

[Sailor Steve]

It's getting close, so I thought it was time to revive this thread.

I have three goals. First is to start making 1/2400 scale ship models for my game I've been working on forever. My friends say that they're ready to start playing whenever I am, so it's up to me. With that in mind I purchased a basic resin casting kit.
http://www.amazon.com/Alumilite-Corp-Mini-Casting-Kit/dp/B0054IS6KY/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1357530397&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=alumilite+mini+casting+kit

I had one of these starter kits several years ago. It provides the two-step putty which hardens to make the mold, and the two-step resin mix, plus stir sticks and mixing cups. Since I already made a couple of plastic mold boxes back then, I just have to tape them up and I'm ready to start making my own ships.

Second goal is to repair my models for the airplane game. During the years I spent unable to play because I was homeless I left my cases of models at the hobby shop so others could use them, and several got broken, some badly. A part of that will be to start building new planes again. First in line will be a Voisin La.3, from a vac kit. More on that later.

Third is to start building the awesome Combrig 1/700 scale Pre-Dreadnought and WW1 ships I started this thread with.

I'm going hobby shopping for paint and supplies tomorrow, since six years in storage kind of dried everything out. :sunny:

[Cybermat47]

Good luck!

[Sailor Steve]

Well, the lamp is assembled and I have all the tools I need, so I'm ready to go. First project is 1/72 wargaming plane repairs. I'll post pictures as I go. First, here is the table itself, with the models that need fixing.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/TableFinished.jpg

[Jimbuna]

You shold have collected diecast.....usually much tougher :03:

[Sailor Steve]

You shold have collected diecast.....usually much tougher :03:
Does anyone make a diecast Voisin LA.III? Oeffag-Albatros 253 series? If they did, would the models be light enough for our clothespin clips to hold them? :sunny:

[Sailor Steve]

First one finished. It's a Morane 'P' two-seat parasol fighter, converted from a couple of the old Revell Morane 'N' kits. It's at least ten years old. I did it first because all that was wrong was a couple of broken rigging wires. It turned out that replacing them was too hard, given that the original rigging was done as three pieces of monofiliment line, running through and around. It turned out the only way to do it was to cut away all the wire and start from scratch. It took about an hour.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/MoraneP1.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/MoraneP2.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/MoraneP3.jpg

It's a little rough around the edges, but it is a wargaming toy and sees a lot of use.

[edit] The joke's on me. It wasn't until I looked at the pictures that I realized the rudder is missing! I guess it's not done after all. I can't find it among the junk, so I'll have to make a new one.

[Jimbuna]

Does anyone make a diecast Voisin LA.III? Oeffag-Albatros 253 series? If they did, would the models be light enough for our clothespin clips to hold them? :sunny:
Doubtful at best :o

[Sailor Steve]

Doubtful at best :o
It doesn't matter. The real bottom line is that having models is great, but it's the building itself that gets me off. I can't even remember how many planes I've built, put on display in hobby shops and then sold. Back in those days I didn't have a real camera, so there are no pictures, no records. So I keep building.

[Sailor Steve]

This is weird. The rudder from the Morane was missing, so I was going to build a new one. I got a rudder from another Eindekker kit and was ready to start carving it to the correct shape when I dropped it on the floor. I got down under the table and found it...sitting right next to the original one! So the eindekker rudder went back into the spares box and the original went back on the plane.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/MoranePrudder.jpg



The next step was an easy one. My kitbashed Morane 'G' had lost a stabilizer, but I had it with the other missing pieces and it was a 30-second repair.

The 'G' was the 80-horsepower predecessor to the famous 'N', commonly known as the 'Bullet', because they thought that giving the fuselage a round shape would make it faster. Of course adding a 110-hp engine didn't hurt.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/MoraneG1.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/MoraneG2.jpg

When you build models for as long as I have you tend to buy, trade and collect a lot of stuff, including decal sheets. I have a couple of WW1 sheets with lots of logos, including a Mann-Edgerton builders label for the Sopwith 1-1/2 Strutter. I like this model because I also have a nose logo for this particular Morane-Saulier.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/MoraneGMSemblem.jpg

Of course looking at that picture showed me a couple of rigging wires on that one that were loose. They aren't actually broken so I'm putting off re-rigging it until later.

[Cybermat47]

Nice job Steve! When you've done all that, you might consider building a 1/32 Gotha G.IV :o

[nikimcbee]

That looks a lot like an Eindecker, other than the tail:hmm2:.

[Cybermat47]

That looks a lot like an Eindecker, other than the tail:hmm2:.

Yeah, I think that the Germans captured one and copied/improved it.

[Sailor Steve]

Yeah, I think that the Germans captured one and copied/improved it.
Pretty much. Pfalz built their own copies, but under license, and at the end of the war paid Morane-Saulnier all the royalties they owed. Fokker puchased a used Morane 'H' early in 1914 and then built his own version without ever paying Morane-Saulnier anything. His improvement was a big one. The Moranes and their Pfalz copies were all made from wood. Fokker built his out of steel tubing, a techique used on all Fokker aircraft thereafter.

[Sailor Steve]

Speaking of Eindeckers...

This is a stock Revell E.III that I had some fun with. One of the wheels had come off, and the propeller was broken. I refitted the wheel, and stole the prop from one of my spares kits.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/Eindekker1.jpg


The model is in Austrian markings.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/Eindekker2.jpg

One of the many things people have produced over the years is a variety of metal props, engines and guns for WW1 and WW2 aircraft. One of the packages I bought was a pair of Austrian Schwarzlose guns. That and a photograph I had in a book prompted me to build it this way. Here is a link to an article on the Schwarzlose http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwarzlose_MG_M.07/12 and here is a close-up of the gun on the model.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/SchwarzloseGun.jpg

[Cybermat47]

^

Nice job on the pilot!

[Sailor Steve]

This was a big job. Many years ago I kitbashed an AEG B.II, a German 2-seater so early that it wasn't even armed. During the couple of years I didn't game at all I left my stuff with Rocky for anyone to use. The whole tail section of this one was broken off and gone. I wasn't looking forward to building a new one from scratch, and as it turned out I didn't have to. When I got my case full of models home and took them all out, I found the tailpiece stuck in the foam rubber under another plane. It was still a big job. I had to mount some brass rod inside the fuselage to make sure it didn't happen again, then glue the whole thing back together. The tail as it was would't fit over the rod, so I had to cut away the bottom and sides and mount the top to the rods, then build new sides and bottom, new tail supports and a new tail skid.

In spite of the repairs the model is still pretty hammered from years of abuse. What can I say? It's a wargaming toy.

Here is a front view, showing the wire wheels and radiators. The wheels were purchased in a store at the time, and the radiators are brass wire wrapped around a piece of plastic and given a black wash.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/AEGBII1.jpg


From the rear quarter you can see the observer standing in the back, holding a carbine. Our game even has rules for shooting rifles. :sunny:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/AEGBII2.jpg

[Sailor Steve]

I've just had a question from Red October1984 in the 'What Are You Doing Now In Real Life' thread about the airplane game, and rather than go into a lengthy explanation with pictures there I figured I'd do it here.

Mustangs & Messerschmitts was created by my late friend Rocky Russo and current friend Doug Larsen. Rocky had played D&D with Gary Gygax himself, so the name was sort of a tribute. M&M is a World War two game, with WW1, '30s, Korea, Arab-Israeli, Vietnam and modern variants. It's a game system designed for people who like to build models. The models are mostly 1/72 scale, and are fitted with a tube in the bottom which mounts to a steel wire attached to a clothespin. The arrangement allows for the model to roll and pitch. The clothespin clamps to a six-foot dowel that slots into a trolley that rolls around the floor. The whole thing allows full freedom of movement in three dimensions. The control sheet has all the information for the plane the player is "flying", including how many rolls of the rear wheel it can make per turn, how many inches it can climb without losing speed, how many inches it can dive, how tight it can turn. Turning is controlled by a steel pin attached to the wheel castor, and is stopped by pins placed in holes equal to the turn radius for that plane.

Gameplay is slow, but relative performance is highly accurate. I've posted the pictures elsewhere, but I can't find them, so here they are again. Lately we've only been playing the WW1 variant, Triplane, so all the pictures are from that era.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/SteveStuff/Stands.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/SteveStuff/IsoDougChuckPeter.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/JastaAlbatros.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/AA-June8-004A-1.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Fok3-1.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Triplethreat-1.jpg

[nikimcbee]

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/Eindekker1.jpg

I have that kit!:salute: Nice job on it.

[Sailor Steve]

Thanks! I can remember when they were $0.98. These days they are supposedly going for $15-20, but I've seen them on Amazon and eBay for $5-6. I bought a bunch of old Revell kits to use as spares many years ago, and still have several each of the Eindekker, SPAD S.7, Morane-Saulnier 'N', Nieuport N.28 and Fokker Dr.1. Mostly they're pretty bad compared to what you can buy today, but they're great for spare parts and can serve as a basis for other things. I've kitbashed Morane-Saulnier 'G' and 'L' models and Pfalz E.I and E.II kits, as well as a Fokker E.IV, from the E.III kit; and a Morane 'P' parasol 2-seater from two of the 'N' kits. Making stuff nobody else has is always fun.

[Sailor Steve]

I've finally finished repairing all my broken planes. I had promised myself that I would rig each one as I repaired it, but I got sidetracked repairing all of Rocky's broken models, so I ended up only rigging the ones I've already shown. This final one, though, is unusual. The Airco DH.5 was a "staggerwing" configuration, which means that the top wing was behind the bottom wing. I built the model a long time ago, and in a hurry, so the markings are all hand-painted and are sloppy. I keep reminding myself that it's not a display model, but a gaming toy, but I still plan to go back and redo it someday, or maybe build another one. That said, this is one I did take the time to rig, because the rigging itself is cool.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/DH53_zps02c3c943.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/DH53_zps02c3c943.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/DH52_zpscff774fe.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/DH52_zpscff774fe.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/DH51_zpsce1c1a86.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/DH51_zpsce1c1a86.jpg.html)


Now I'm finally ready to start something new! :D

[Red October1984]

I'd like to see them before you repair them...

Before and After Shots would be kinda cool. :D

[Sailor Steve]

Nothing to see, really, just minor stuff - struts that came unglued or broken off, landing gear needing regluing. The only big one was the AEG, which had the whole tail end broken off. Nothing was smashed. If it had been I would have built a new one rather than attempt a really serious repair.

[Red October1984]

Nothing to see, really, just minor stuff - struts that came unglued or broken off, landing gear needing regluing. The only big one was the AEG, which had the whole tail end broken off. Nothing was smashed. If it had been I would have built a new one rather than attempt a really serious repair.

I see. Does your airplane game use strictly WW1 stuff? Do you build 109's and Spitfires and have a good ole time after the WW1 battle? :06:

[Sailor Steve]

M&M is a World War two game, with WW1, '30s, Korea, Arab-Israeli, Vietnam and modern variants.
We only play the WWI variant at the moment because one of the players insists on it, and the less players we have the less fun it is. Also, WW2 is best with more players because the Germans and Americans always travelled in groups of 4, whereas the Japanese and early-war British preferred vics of 3. Being able to represent that helps.

I have a very large collection of WW2 planes, including several variants of pretty much everything major. My German collection includes a Bf-109c from 1939 Poland, with sharkmouth, through a Bf-109k-4.

[Sailor Steve]

Well, I've decided on my first project. I have a lot of kits to choose from, but instead I think I'm going to scratchbuild a Bleriot XI Militaire.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/BleriotMilitaire_zpsa993212a.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/BleriotMilitaire_zpsa993212a.jpg.html)

This was an advancement of the plane Louis Bleriot flew across the Channel in 1909, updated with two seats for wartime spotting missions. It was quickly outclassed, being slow, unmaneuverable and unable to carry a machine gun, but it remained in service into 1916. It's pretty much useless in the game, and there are better planes available on the same die roll, but it just tickles me enough to make me want to do it.

[Sailor Steve]

All set to start. The first item with any scratchbuilding project is to have accurate plans.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/1Plans_zps14d46766.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/1Plans_zps14d46766.jpg.html)


The fuselage was open wood framing. I need it to be strong for gaming, so the frame will be square brass rod, 1/32" thick.

[Sailor Steve]

Yesterday I spent almost two hours cutting and glueing brass rod, finally to realize that I didn't have the proper tools for cutting it, and having things be just the tiniest bit over-or-undersized, and impossible to fix without a whole lot of work. I found that I had some plastic stock almost the same size (1/32" square) and decided to give up for the day. Early this morning I started over, and in less than an hour I had the fuselage side frames done. It shouldn't take much longer to do the cross-frames, but I'm also busy with other projects.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/2Frames_zpsb3727a33.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/2Frames_zpsb3727a33.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Another hour's work and the fuselage framing is done. The brown paint on the second cross-piece is to remind me which side is the top.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/3Fuselage_zpse9141fc8.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/3Fuselage_zpse9141fc8.jpg.html)

[Jimbuna]

Coming along nicely :cool:

[Sailor Steve]

After three days spent with an old aquaintance I finally got to work again. The fuselage framing is now rigged and painted.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/4-30Rigging_zps9385dc70.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/4-30Rigging_zps9385dc70.jpg.html)

The reflection from the flash gives it a lumpy discolored look. It's actually a uniform brown. It's only 4 inches long.

[Sailor Steve]

YIPPEE! My new compressor and airbrushes came today! As soon as the model is ready I can start painting. :D

I ordered them Friday, so with two-day free delivery I was expecting them this morning. I woke up to find an email saying they had only been shipped last night. I was disappointed since to get here today it would have to have been shipped Monday. Then the doorbell rang and there was the box! Amazon apparently realized they were running late, and paid the extra for Overnight Air shipping. That's what I call service! :rock:

[Sailor Steve]

Landing gear main bracing and engine mounted.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/5-1BracesandEngine_zps454b6d86.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/5-1BracesandEngine_zps454b6d86.jpg.html)

[Jimbuna]

Starting to take a bit shape on now :cool:

[Sailor Steve]

It's funny how fast things change. I had found a Bleriot kit which is reputed to be absolutely gorgeous. The downside was that it cost $35.00 or thereabouts on eBay, and none of the regular US companies even show them. I bought the Windsock Datafile on the the Bleriot XI for $25 and used the plans and tons of photographs to start scratchbuilding. It's coming along fine, but while I was sitting here online I started looking at other products by that company, Choroszy Modelbud, out of Poland. I stumbled on this site https://www.jadarhobby.pl/index.php, and found that they have all 366 1/72 scale Modelbud kits, and the small ones are all around $19-$20 each, and they have some rare gems - just about anything from WW1 you can imagine, and they are all gorgeous. Resin kits with pre-cut hardwood parts. They even have a Keystone bomber for $90.00!
I picked out a Bleriot XI with Italian decals for $19.30, and found out that airmail to the US is only $8.81. I added a Caudron G.III for $19.85 and they said it would only be one shipping charge, so I ordered both for $47.96! No complaints! And they say they'll be here in 2-5 business days.
As I said, the scratchbuild project is on hold for a bit.

[Jimbuna]

That's a pretty cool looking site :cool:

[Sailor Steve]

Oh yeah. I'm planning on spending a bit there in the future, kind of like I did on ships at Free Time Hobbies.

[Sailor Steve]

SIDE-TRIP! DETOUR AHEAD!

It's not that I don't mind scratchbuilding, but I also can't resist a really cool kit if one is available. I'm still waiting for the kits to come, so I'm kind of on hold right now.

I thought "I'm working on my ship game, but I don't want to play with counters. I've bought some 1/2400 scale ships from different sources, so why not start on those while I'm waiting?" I already knew that a lot of the oddball stuff I want isn't made by anybody in any scale, which is why I bought the resin kit. So I decided to scratchbuild a French Fusee class armored gunboat from 1885 and see if I could make one and then cast the other three in the class. I'd better, because I really don't want to play with flat counters! I had purchased some models of similar size, but they looked nothing like the Fusee class. They were so far off I couldn't even convert them.

So I put together some of the photos I have of the class and printed them out, then printed out the counter sheet. I printed a side view to the correct scale and glued some plastic sheet together to get the correct freeboard on the hull, then glued one of the printed counters to it so I could cut out the correct shape.

Plans:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/5-91Plans_zps21a040b6.jpg

Plastic:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/5-92Plastic_zpse642d8bd.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/5-92Plastic_zpse642d8bd.jpg.html)

Pattern:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/5-93Pattern_zps55530a33.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/5-93Pattern_zps55530a33.jpg.html)

The finished model will only be 7/8" (22.25mm) long.

[Sailor Steve]

Sanded to shape.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/5-94RoughSand_zps22d18d33.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/5-94RoughSand_zps22d18d33.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/5-95Close-up_zps761b5162.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/5-95Close-up_zps761b5162.jpg.html)

The first hurdle is to get the hull shape right. As can be seen from the side-view drawing, the hull had a rather severe tumble-home, meaning that like the sailing men-of-war, the hull slopes in as you near the deck level, instead of outward or flat as seen on modern ships.

[Sailor Steve]

Finished hull. The tumble-home sides are apparent. The bow and stern also sloped outward going down from the deck, sort of like the hull of a submarine.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/5-10HullShaped_zpsf4e47d23.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/5-10HullShaped_zpsf4e47d23.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Deck in place.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/5-102DeckInPlace_zps3a9ec488.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/5-102DeckInPlace_zps3a9ec488.jpg.html)

[Buddahaid]

I love the scale and genre. I spend my time on Star Trek props mainly. Lots of resin and metal.

One of my last, and I hope final, run of movie tricorders.
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd52/sirwinpb/Album%20Two/2013Run079.jpg (http://s225.photobucket.com/user/sirwinpb/media/Album%20Two/2013Run079.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Cool! Does it work?

[Sailor Steve]

I just discovered another really cool site for a maker of very rare models, all in 1/72 scale. Want to build George Cayley's 1853 "Coachman" glider? How about a Boeing 747 with a 3-foot (0.9m) wingspan?

They aren't cheap, though, and require a lot of work.
http://www.aim72.co.uk/

[Buddahaid]

Cool! Does it work?

Oh yes. Press a button and the top rises out and it lights up.
http://s225.photobucket.com/user/sirwinpb/media/Album%20Two/2013Run001-1.mp4.html?sort=3&o=24

[Buddahaid]

I just discovered another really cool site for a maker of very rare models, all in 1/72 scale. Want to build George Cayley's 1853 "Coachman" glider? How about a Boeing 747 with a 3-foot (0.9m) wingspan?

They aren't cheap, though, and require a lot of work.
http://www.aim72.co.uk/

Those are great! There's a new product called Glue Loopers that are great for gluing tiny parts wit CA.
http://militarymodels.co.nz/tag/the-glue-looper/

[Sailor Steve]

Those are nifty. I put a drop of glue in a plastic tray and then dip a thin piece of wire into it.

[Sailor Steve]

The next step was to mount the two upper anti-torpedo-boat gun decks, the round one at the front of the deckhouse and the sideways one across the rear roof of the deckhouse. Then I drilled a hole and mounted the funnel. After that was dry I put a coat of grey primer on and immediately noticed that the funnel was off-center. I drilled out the funnel, enlarged the hole and mounted a new funnel to the side of the hole, which put it on the centerline of the model. Then came another coat of paint.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/5-111FirstPaintTest_zpsfd1a9278.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/5-111FirstPaintTest_zpsfd1a9278.jpg.html)

I can see from the picture what I couldn't see even with the magnifier - that the whole thing is quite rough. I'll have to wait until tomorrow for the paint to completely dry, then start in with a very, very fine sandpaper. Then another coat of paint. Once it's smooth enough for my liking it will be time to make the casting mold.

Oh, and to give an idea of just how tiny it is, that's the 1/72 scale Bleriot behind it.

[Sailor Steve]

A bunch of sanding, a second paint test. Also behind is the mold box, ready to go when the model is.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/5-121SecondPaintTestandMoldBox_zps5365888c.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/5-121SecondPaintTestandMoldBox_zps5365888c.jpg.html)

Still a bit lumpy, but getting there. I keep having this argument with myself:

Me: "It's not ready! It needs more work!"

Self: "Do you have any idea how tiny that thing is? Nobody is going to notice those micro-size bumps."

Me: "But what if it comes out of the mold looking like that?"

Self: "Then you sand the resin models a little bit. Nobody is going to see them without a magnifier."

Me: "But if you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?"

Self: "What is "right" when the thing is less than an inch long? It looks like the real one, doesn't it?"

Me: "Yeah, but I want it to be perfect."

Self: "Then spend the $30,000 for a laser cutter and a 3-D printer!"

Me: "You know I don't have that kind of money!"

Self: "Then quit whining and get the job done. Once you add the bits and pieces the models will look great! You have other things to do!"

Me: "But...but..." <whimper>

And so it goes.

[Sailor Steve]

I did a third paint test, and I'm still not completely satisfied. I decided to go ahead and make a mold. If I don't like the way the models come out I can always work on it some more.

Model is glued to the bottom of the mold box, silicone is mixed and poured into the box. I may not have mixed it well enough, but I won't know until it's completely cured, which takes anywhere from eight to eighteen hours, depending on how it's mixed. I'll check it from time to time, but it may be tomorrow before I know.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/5-131MoldBase_zps1c31bada.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/5-131MoldBase_zps1c31bada.jpg.html)

[Buddahaid]

I never seen silicone mold rubber in that color. Is that a 1:10 mix? That stuff is usually blue, or pink, takes 24 hours to cure, and is pretty flexible when cured. And is about $100.00 a gallon these days!

[Sailor Steve]

The silicone itself is white. The color comes from the catylist. The catylist that came with this kit is tan. The second batch I did is more of an off-white. Still cured the same, and in about 12 hours. The short cure time is probably due to the fact that the box is only 1" x 1/2" x 1/2".

[Sailor Steve]

The finished molds, ready for casting. While I was waiting for the first one to cure I took a model I had purchased for the purpose and converted it to represent the British Isis class cruisers from 1879, the first all-steel warships and the oldest ships I'm planning on doing in 1/2400.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/5-141FinishedMolds_zpsb934ac85.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/5-141FinishedMolds_zpsb934ac85.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

I made a first casting of each, and the funnels didn't show up. I tried again, this time squashing the resin down into the holes with a stir stick, and it still didn't work.

The third time I shoved a piece of wire into the holes while it was setting, and here is the result:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/5-142FirstCastings_zps2eee082b.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/5-142FirstCastings_zps2eee082b.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/5-143FirstCastings_zps1c91ca23.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/5-143FirstCastings_zps1c91ca23.jpg.html)

As can be seen the forward funnel on the cruiser needs extra care, though I can always drill them out and make separate ones. Also the cruiser's gun turrets need the same wire-in-the-hole treatment. They set in less than ten minutes, so I can make as many as I need until they are all right.

[Buddahaid]

The silicone itself is white. The color comes from the catylist. The catylist that came with this kit is tan. The second batch I did is more of an off-white. Still cured the same, and in about 12 hours. The short cure time is probably due to the fact that the box is only 1" x 1/2" x 1/2".

I know that I've just never seen that color in twenty years. You might try a dry film mold release agent to help tease the bubbles out of the stacks, or make the stacks longer next time. People usually create vent passages to allow the air to escape at trouble spots, but those are mostly two part molds. It's also advisable to wet down the mold with silicone lubricant for storage. The rubber will last much longer.

Also Lego blocks make excellent reusable mold boxes.

Here's an interesting one piece mold vac assist method.
http://s228.photobucket.com/user/DStines_2007/media/tofu/100_03151.mp4.html

The part that was molded above.
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee98/DStines_2007/tofu/Tofu_1_001.jpg

[Sailor Steve]

You might try a dry film mold release agent to help tease the bubbles out of the stacks, or make the stacks longer next time.
Or I might just use the same plastic rod to make individual stacks. It's only one extra step since I'm already using brass wire for the masts.

Here's an interesting one piece mold vac assist method.
Cool.

On the other hand...

MAN THE GUNS! HERE BE MONSTERS!

[Jimbuna]

Your certainly getting there Steve :cool:

[Sailor Steve]

I decided to finish the two British cruisers first, since Iris was the very first steel warship, completed in 1879, and is the oldest ship I'm planning on doing for this version of the game, which was supposed to be World War I. These ship still used muzzle-loading rifles when built, but were soon upgraded to a battery of 5" breech-loaders. I posted a thread (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=200007) on the weirdness of the design of the 64-pounder muzzle loaders.

These ships are not nearly as detailed as they could have been, but any more and there would be ever more parts to break off when people use them to game with. Also the question comes up of balance between time spent for return gained.

I finished these two last night and took pictures this morning. The pictures revealed things I was unhappy with, so I broke out the paint brushes again and redid the parts I didn't like. Of course the pictures make the models so large that the tiniest blemish is several feet across in scale. Still, they can't be seen from even a few inches away, so I declare these two done.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/1_zps0ff8bd56.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/1_zps0ff8bd56.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/2_zps5601877f.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/2_zps5601877f.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/3_zpsea2fb581.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/3_zpsea2fb581.jpg.html)

And to give an idea of the scale...

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/4_zpsd92806e9.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/4_zpsd92806e9.jpg.html)

[Jimbuna]

I am impressed :o:yeah:

[Sailor Steve]

Frustration strikes hard. I had thought that those two kits I ordered would have come fairly quickly, so I put my scratchbuilding project on hold. Now it's almost two weeks, and I keep thinking I could have had it done by now. I just got an email apologizing for the delay and saying they haven't recieved them from the manufacturer yet! I would have thought they would have things like that in stock, or would have said so at the outset.

Anyway, now I have to decide if I'm going to take it up again or keep waiting.

[Sailor Steve]

And the gunboats are finished. The four ships of the French Fusée class of 1885: Fusée, Flamme, Grenade and Mitraille.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/5-161Finished_zps52059e8a.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/5-161Finished_zps52059e8a.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/5-162Finished_zps3846327f.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/5-162Finished_zps3846327f.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/5-163Finished_zps534eba49.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/5-163Finished_zps534eba49.jpg.html)

[Jimbuna]

Bloody amazing work when you consider the size of them compared to the coin :cool:

[Sailor Steve]

Hoody-hoo! Exactly three weeks after I ordered those kits I got an email today saying they were shipped Friday. I know Poland is a long way from where I'm at, but it has to come airmail anyway, so they should be here pretty soon! :D

[Jimbuna]

Good news :cool:

[Sailor Steve]

Well, the kits came yesterday. I was too busy with game-related stuff to start on one or even take pictures, but today we get underway again. These kits are wonders to behold - resin parts with some etched brass tinybits and real wood struts! I may have to replace those with brass wire, but they are to scale and show that my original work was way over scale.

The box.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/5-31Box_zps524a6c9d.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/5-31Box_zps524a6c9d.jpg.html)

The package.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/5-31Kit_zpsbcd4e0ab.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/5-31Kit_zpsbcd4e0ab.jpg.html)

The parts laid out.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/5-31Parts_zps903e558d.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/5-31Parts_zps903e558d.jpg.html)

[Jimbuna]

Looks like a great kit Steve but the brass etching is far too small for my eyesight these days.

[Sailor Steve]

I'm so nearsighted that I've found over the years that removing my glasses makes my eyes a natural magnifier for reading or close-in work. On the other hand I have a friend about ten years younger who let vanity get the better of him. Thousands of dollars for laser surgery and now he has to wear two pairs of reading glasses to paint figs. :dead:

[Sailor Steve]

A preliminary start. I've determined that the scale wood that comes with the kit is too fragile for gaming. The brass wire I ordered hasn't come yet, and the saw for cutting thicker brass rod won't be here until Wednesday. I wanted to redo the rear framing with finer stock first, but I'll have to work on the fuselage instead.

The fuselage is one piece, with fake wood framing inside. It's bowed in a little at the top, so the first job was to use the last of my 1/32" rod to make the upper framing, which forces the bent sides to where they should be. Then I put a first wash of paint. The sides are so thin that when I painted the frames brown they show through to the outside, which is as it should be when the covering is clear-doped linen. The forward part was made of metal, hence the silver on that part.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-1Fuselage_zps9a97747c.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-1Fuselage_zps9a97747c.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Well, the next step was to paint the exterior of the body prior to putting the engine assembly in. I was looking forward to finally setting up my compressor and getting some airbrushing done, but the pressure regulator wasn't allowing any air to get through. The adjustment valve seems to be stuck, and no amount of force will make it turn. Using serious tools will likely just break it, so I'm on hold once again until I can call them tomorrow. I'm sure they'll replace it, but it's another delay I could do without.

[Sailor Steve]

Just got off the phone with the people who sell the compressor kit. They're sending a new regulator right away. Hopefully this one will work properly. Meanwhile, back to working on stuff that doesn't require an airbrush.

[Sailor Steve]

Control assembly with plastic stick, resin rudder pedals and etched brass fuel and spark levers and steering wheel.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-3Controls_zpse4d1c99f.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-3Controls_zpse4d1c99f.jpg.html)

Pretty much complete interior with seats and fuel tanks installed, and control column installed and painted. Just the instruments to do and then put the lid on.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-3Interior_zps495d1318.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-3Interior_zps495d1318.jpg.html)

The kit comes with etched brass 'leather' straps for the tanks, but I figure they're barely going to be visible anyway, and it's a toy, right? Ah, the excuses we make when laziness sets in.

[Sailor Steve]

Well, after spending several hours fiddling with different sizes of brass and plastic rods and bars, I gave up in frustration and decided that I could spend several more days trying to make a decent frame and still not have one as good as the first one I made. It's oversized for the scale, and thin brass bars would have been better, but I don't think anybody who sees it in the game or uses it himself will complain, or even know the difference. I cut it down so it would glue onto the back of the kit fuselage and put in a couple of thin brass pieces to have a solid link from the frame to the inside of the rear cockpit. The result isn't perfect, but it's not too bad.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-4MatedOldFrame_zps94c5648e.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-4MatedOldFrame_zps94c5648e.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Slow going. I'm still waiting on the new regulator. Last night I installed the basic landing gear frame, but I can't do any more until I paint the forward fuselage. I also realized that I can't do that until the seams are smooth. I don't know how I could forget that, but I did. So, the first layer of putty is in place, drying as I type. Here is a close-up of that slop and the engine and landing gear frame.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-5BasicLandingGearandPutty_zpsfa7bf844.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-5BasicLandingGearandPutty_zpsfa7bf844.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

The regulator came today, and everything works perfectly now. It wasn't until after I was testing the airbrush that I realized a probably haven't touched one in a decade, if not longer. That tells you how old my previous models are, and how rusty I probably am. Still, the first step went as planned, so things are looking up.

Last night I sanded down the putty I had applied, but didn't take a picture. Just now I applied a primer coat of flat grey (actually RLM 76 Helgrau was the lightest grey I had). After drying for a few minutes it was time for an inspection.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-6FirstPrimerPort_zps0e9b64e8.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-6FirstPrimerPort_zps0e9b64e8.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-6FirstPrimerStarboard_zps945d9082.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-6FirstPrimerStarboard_zps945d9082.jpg.html)

Hmm. Needs some more sanding, and possibly a tiny bit more putty. We'll see when it's completely dry, maybe another hour or so.

[Sailor Steve]

Fuselage is done. French and British Bleriots either had bare metal or were painted grey. I wanted to do an Italian one, just because of the bright colors. Their bodies were painted white. The after section, like the wings were covered with linen, which then recieved a coat of clear dope. The dope would yellow in the sunshine.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/FuselagePainted1_zps8038d963.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/FuselagePainted1_zps8038d963.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/FuselagePainted2_zpsc9af9a86.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/FuselagePainted2_zpsc9af9a86.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Landing Gear Assembly, Part 1.

The Bleriot had a really intricate landing gear setup. This is the main bracing. The horizontal braces were of wood. This one has the upper supports painted white, to match the metal body panels, while the lower cross-brace is varnished. The vertical supports are thick steel tubing with an inner shock strut at the top. The hardest part were the two coil springs on the front and rear of each tube. Of course what you see on the model is all resin and plastic.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-9LandingGear1_zps6c31d9e8.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-9LandingGear1_zps6c31d9e8.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-9LandingGear2_zpsb4f16ce5.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-9LandingGear2_zpsb4f16ce5.jpg.html)



Next: The Wheels. This part is even more fun.

[Sailor Steve]

Now the wheels are finished. The tires are resin, the spokes are an etched brass set that bends to shape and glues in, and the struts are thin steel rod. No, the wheels don't spin. That would have taken several hours more work, might not have worked anyway, and I need it to be strong.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-9LandingGear3_zps9e625a02.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-9LandingGear3_zps9e625a02.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-9LandingGear4_zps91d3478c.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-9LandingGear4_zps91d3478c.jpg.html)

Since all this detail work meant a lot of handling, my shiny paint is now dirty and grungy, so my next step is to clean it, or maybe even touch up the paint. On the other hand rotary engines spewed oil like nobody's business, so I might leave it dirty. We'll see.

[Sailor Steve]

NEW TOOLS! :rock:

As stated earlier, one of the reasons I wanted to do the Italian version of the Bleriot is because of the bright colors. The tail and the underside of the wings were painted red, white and green. I found I had no red or green paint that wasn't dry from years in storage, so I had to make an unscheduled trip to the hobby shop on a Sunday, which is when I try not to go anywhere. While there I found something new.

One of the problems with fine detail work is fine sanding. I have several grades of very fine grit sandpaper for that purpose, but even then it's difficult maneuvering around tiny spaces between tiny pieces. While at the shop I noticed that Squadron, one of the best suppliers of hobby stuff, makes sanding sticks! They look like nail files, but are made for fine sanding on models.

They don't give actual grit numbers, which is bad, but the grades are:
Coarse: For basic sanding
Medium: For final sanding
Fine: For smoothing
Extra fine: For buffing
Super extra fine: For who knows what, because they didn't have any, and although it's listed on the packaging it doesn't say what the purpose is.

Anyway, I now have some extra cool tools to help out with the fine-point sanding.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/DSCF0309_zpsf6e1c618.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/DSCF0309_zpsf6e1c618.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

I was about to go to bed at 22:00 last night when I decided I wanted to apply the tail decals. Then I decided to apply the fuselage markings, since that's all there are. Then I decided to build the rigging supports. Then it looked like the stabilizer and its supports would be an easy job. Then I thought "why not put the prop on now?" Then the tail decals were dry, so I installed the tail, ending up with something more or less resembling an airplane. Finally got to bed around midnight.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-10WingsTailampBraces1_zps3977d304.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-10WingsTailampBraces1_zps3977d304.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-10WingsTailampBraces2_zpse9a2c20d.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-10WingsTailampBraces2_zpse9a2c20d.jpg.html)

So now it's almost done. The pilots and the rigging are all that's left, except for figuring out where to mount the gaming tube. Normally it either glues to the underside of the fuselage or inside the fuselage with only a bit of it showing. There is no real fuselage, and it needs to be solid so inserting and removing the attachment pin won't break it off. We'll see how it goes.

[Sailor Steve]

DONE! Done done done!

Yesterday I did the pilots and then the main bracing, which on a sailing ship would be called the "standing rigging". The metal braces for the control wires were themselves braced with wire.

Today came the control wires themselves - the "running rigging". After that a tiny bit of touch-up paint and it's ready for the game stand.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-13Done1_zpsb22836a2.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-13Done1_zpsb22836a2.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-13Done2_zpsf0b31994.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-13Done2_zpsf0b31994.jpg.html)

A closeup of the tail, showing the Italian national emblem. What is hard to see is the elevator and rudder control horns, which have wires running to them and through the top and bottom rear corners of the rudder.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-13Done5_zpsa72472f6.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-13Done5_zpsa72472f6.jpg.html)

Top view.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-13Done3_zps1cfda480.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-13Done3_zps1cfda480.jpg.html)

Bottom view, showing the red and green national colors. I checked several sources, but it seems the middle part of the wing was left clear-doped linen, rather than painted white like the fuselage.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-13Done4_zpsa92e5271.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-13Done4_zpsa92e5271.jpg.html)

Close-up views show that the model is nowhere near contest quality. That would have taken twice the time for a toy that is going to be handled a lot and spend most of its life in a suitcase packed in foam.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-13Done6_zps7dfe9dd2.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-13Done6_zps7dfe9dd2.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-13Done7_zps8eded85a.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-13Done7_zps8eded85a.jpg.html)

I also wish I could have drawn straight lines, since the resin wings are thin enough that you can see through them. I would love to have added the wing spars and ribs, but I just couldn't get it right. Still, I'm happy with it as it is. It will look good on the stand pretending to be a real airplane.

[u crank]

Super job Steve. You have great patience and attention to detail. Impressive. :up:

[Jimbuna]

Coming along nicely :cool:

[Sailor Steve]

Well, I've been messing around for more than a week, working hard at getting nothing done. I've been down with allergies most of the time, but I'm still trying to make myself do something. I wanted to paint some more ships for my game, but I just couldn't seem to get started. I wanted to start the next plane, but I kept telling myself I should do some ships first. But I didn't really want to do some ships. But I refused to start the next plane until I had some ships done. So I watched a lot of videos instead.

Finally two days ago I assembled another class of ships, meaning to paint them yesterday and start my next plane today. It didn't happen that way, so today I just opened the other model from Poland and got ready to start building.

Caudron G.III

Box
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-211Box_zps8d42ae02.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-211Box_zps8d42ae02.jpg.html)

Kit
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-212Kit_zps96fee598.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-212Kit_zps96fee598.jpg.html)

[Red October1984]

Finally two days ago I assembled another class of ships, meaning to paint them yesterday and start my next plane today. It didn't happen that way, so today I just opened the other model from Poland and got ready to start building.

If it looks as nice or better as the last one, I'll be seriously impressed. :yeah:

I still have yet to get a kit of something. :03:

[Sailor Steve]

I'm just hoping It will be better than the G.IV I built back in 1984. I've put up the pictures of it on the stand several times before, including earlier in this thread. The G.III had a single engine, whereas the G.IV was a twin. These pictures are new, but the model is now almost thirty years old. The wheels, pilots, engines and gun are from kits. The rest was all done from scratch, just like the A.E.G.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/CaudronGIV1_zps91a07f54.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/CaudronGIV1_zps91a07f54.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/CaudronGIV2_zpsea80c91f.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/CaudronGIV2_zpsea80c91f.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/CaudronGIV3_zps22acc6e9.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/CaudronGIV3_zps22acc6e9.jpg.html)

[Red October1984]

Well I think it's pretty cool no matter how bad you think it is. :yeah:

[Sailor Steve]

First step was to mount the lower wing to the fuselage. Being a resin kit there was some flash to be trimmed, and about fifteen minutes of careful sanding, but it went in just fine. Second step was to drill the hole for the engine mount. I had made an engine assemlby for the Bleriot, but it was the one from one of the Eindekker kits. The Oberusel was a copy of the French Le Rhone, but they were both 9 cylinder engines and the Bleriot Militaire had a 7-cylinder engine, so I used the one from the kit and saved the one I had already made. It needed a lot of trimming to get it to fit into the Caudron kit, so making the hole in the firewall and trimming the engine firewall to fit took about an hour. This seems silly because the engine is going in almost last, but I had to do this work first because I didn't want to be doing all that handling and drilling and scraping after the thing was painted.

Not much to show for an hour-and-a-half's work, but it's a start.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-214LowerWing_zpsbf149950.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-214LowerWing_zpsbf149950.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-213LowerWing_zpsd7d0a432.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-213LowerWing_zpsd7d0a432.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Finished the cockpit. All that remains there are the pilot and observer.

The rib lines on the wings are a lot crisper than the other kit, so I used a brown Sharpie to "paint" the ribs. Then I sprayed the whole assembly with Testors 'Radome Tan', which is a good substitute for clear-doped linen. Next I painted and mounted the interior parts, then painted the wood decking. This involves a technique known as "dry-brushing". The lighter undercoat is either sprayed or brushed on, and allowed to dry, then the darker topcoat is dry-brushed on. This involves dipping the brush in the paint, then painting it onto a piece of cardboard or paper until it's almost dry. What's left is painted over the lighter color, leaving streaks that hopefully look like wood grain.

Sorry there are no intermediate pictures, but once I get started I tend to forget stuff like that.

From the front: Engine mounted.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-221Engine_zpse4648061.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-221Engine_zpse4648061.jpg.html)

Right quarter view: An idea of what's inside.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-222Cockpit_zpsd5a13af4.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-222Cockpit_zpsd5a13af4.jpg.html)

Rear view: Here you can see the instruments (only two of them - altimeter and airspeed indicator).
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-223Cockpit_zpsec6ef794.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-223Cockpit_zpsec6ef794.jpg.html)

Close up quarter view: On the left side of the cockpit you can barely make out the spark-control lever. Rotary engines didn't have a throttle. The engine was either on or off.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-224Cockpit_zps2798fea0.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-224Cockpit_zps2798fea0.jpg.html)

[Buddahaid]

I don't know how you work in such small scale and especially the rigging. :up:

[Sailor Steve]

I don't either. It just happens.

[Red October1984]

I don't either. It just happens.

Well, keep it up. When I get back at the end of this week I expect to be amazed.

I'm sure you won't disappoint since what you have already is awesome. :up:

[Jimbuna]

Looking good Steve :cool:

[Sailor Steve]

I got the pilot and observer painted and installed this morning, then mounted the upper wing. That was a nightmare that lasted more than four hours. They provide nice little mounting holes for the struts. It isn't until you get them glued in that you discover that the nice little mounting holes are all in the wrong place! The inner struts are supposed to butt right up against the body, not stand a scale six inches away from it! I kept looking at photographs of the real machine, and looking at proper 3-view drawings - the ones that come with the kit aren't even right.

The resin struts seem kind of delicate, and I was preparing myself for another few hours ripping them out and starting over again with brass wire, but once the cross-pieces were in it's really quite rigid.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-231PilotsandWings_zps1eb43ff7.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-231PilotsandWings_zps1eb43ff7.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-232PilotsandWings_zpsb9d0f3b4.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-232PilotsandWings_zpsb9d0f3b4.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-233PilotsandWings_zps4e209e17.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-233PilotsandWings_zps4e209e17.jpg.html)

Tomorrow comes the rear open frame for the tail section, and maybe the wheels.

[Sailor Steve]

It only took about two hours of fiddling, fidgeting and fighting to get the tail boom straight. I made the booms out of square brass rod and the tailplane attachement pieces out of a thin brass strip. The forward struts are from some plastic aerofoil stock I puchased decades ago. The after struts are spare plastic cut to shape. Oddly, the lower boom mounts to the bottom of the big tailplane attachment, but the upper boom doesn't mount to the top. Instead it mounts to the tailplane itself, leaving the top of the attachment to be braced by a rigging wire. There are other small support struts that go from the bottom wing to the lower boom, but those will come tomorrow.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-244BoomandSkid_zpsbe1c9f10.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-244BoomandSkid_zpsbe1c9f10.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-245BoomandSkid_zpsb38f07a3.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-245BoomandSkid_zpsb38f07a3.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-246BoomandSkid_zpsf0ae09ab.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-246BoomandSkid_zpsf0ae09ab.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-243BoomandSkid_zps2c25aeaf.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-243BoomandSkid_zps2c25aeaf.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

The main assembly is done. All that remains are the wheels and rigging and some touch-up. It's hard to see, but one of the finest pieces of detail work I've ever done is on this model. They give you a pair of nice little resin pieces for the wheel supports, with replica coil springs and all. Once they were glued to the top of the lower skid I started to worry about how easily they could break off. I looked at a bunch of photographs and found that while the real ones were bolted to the skid, they were also supported by a thin rope running over and under the axles, three times each. That gave me the idea to do the same with the thin monofilament line I use for rigging. It wasn't really all that hard, and it adds strength to the axle support as well as to the appearance. There's no way they're gong to break off now, and they look cool. Tomorrow's first job will be to paint them white to match the rope in the photos. Also invisible are the many holes I drilled for the rigging wires. Very visible is the tube for mounting the model to the stand. I'll paint it to match the linen when I do the final touch-up.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-251FinalAssembly_zpse3a5a03d.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-251FinalAssembly_zpse3a5a03d.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-252FinalAssembly_zpsbf6b64f6.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-252FinalAssembly_zpsbf6b64f6.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-253FinalAssembly_zpse40e37d4.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-253FinalAssembly_zpse40e37d4.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-254FinalAssembly_zpsbf1f22ba.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-254FinalAssembly_zpsbf1f22ba.jpg.html)

[Buddahaid]

I love those old aeroplanes and what a nice comfy seat for the observer. What is that scale anyway 1/144th?

[Sailor Steve]

Twice that size - 1/72.

[Sailor Steve]

Well, it's done - The Caudron G.III - and I'm very happy with it. The final clear coat is still drying. The rigging looks complex, but in fact it's not random. Every wire actually goes somewhere. It's funny; when I do this I tend to collect dozens of pictures. On YouTube there is a guy flying his full-size replica, at least for short hops. He says he doesn't like the feel of the wing-warping, so he only made one real flight. Still, it's an awesome thing to see.

Anyway, this is my tiny version.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-271Done_zps5badc18e.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-271Done_zps5badc18e.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-272Done_zps91385deb.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-272Done_zps91385deb.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-273Done_zpsb655f524.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-273Done_zpsb655f524.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-274Done_zps9d4463dd.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-274Done_zps9d4463dd.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-275Done_zps9c1540c8.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-275Done_zps9c1540c8.jpg.html)

And, as advertized, the resin wing is thin enough that you can see the ribs and the markings from the underside.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-276Done_zps0fc43938.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-276Done_zps0fc43938.jpg.html)

Now to make a place for it in the carrying case and I'm off for a night of gaming! :D

[Jimbuna]

Awesome mate :rock:

[Red October1984]

I was right. I am impressed.

Good work Steve!

[Sailor Steve]

I finally finished the ships I was working on. The British Leander class light cruisers of 1885 were similar to the Iris class of 1879, the difference being an armament of ten modern (for the time) 6" breechloading guns and an armoured deck over the engine and boiler rooms.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/DSCF0384_zpsab20df5c.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/DSCF0384_zpsab20df5c.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/DSCF0386_zps6acee465.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/DSCF0386_zps6acee465.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/DSCF0389_zpsdb4427ab.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/DSCF0389_zpsdb4427ab.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/DSCF0390_zps651ce3e3.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/DSCF0390_zps651ce3e3.jpg.html)

[Red October1984]

Your modeling skills are amazing! :rock:

[joea]

Wow just found this thread! You got skillz Steve! Very cheerful thing to see on a Sunday evening before the Monday grind!

[Jimbuna]

You missed a portlight on the starboard quarter of the first Leander :03:

[Sailor Steve]

You missed a portlight on the starboard quarter of the first Leander :03:
That's one of my frustrations. I found a source for 1/2400 lifeboats and motor launches, so these have them, four each. They don't show up well in the pictures, but they do when you're holding one. The frustration comes with the fact that nobody seems to make ventilator funnels in that scale. The ventilator funnels are the ones with the big bell-like tops that help cool the engine and boiler rooms - the kind Indy hid in in Raiders Of The Lost Ark. On these ships they had six or eight of them and they were huge, dominating the ship's profile. To me they look naked without them. I could carve them out of plastic, but because of the shape there's no way I can cast them in resin. It's annoying, because they really would make a difference.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Amphion3_zpsa9e37b27.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Amphion3_zpsa9e37b27.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Your modeling skills are amazing! :rock:
Thanks, Red. Positive feedback is always nice, though I'm more aware of my failings. I'm happy with what I'm doing right now, but I keep my eye on what others are up to and I don't really begin to compare. If I really wanted to build something for a contest I'm sure I could do a lot better, but I don't feel like spending the extra time it would take. I've been not doing it for far too long, and I just want to get stuff done.

Wow just found this thread! You got skillz Steve! Very cheerful thing to see on a Sunday evening before the Monday grind!
Thanks, Joe. I'll never forget that it was you who turned me on to the Penguiners website all that time ago, even if I haven't visited there in ages. :sunny:

[Sailor Steve]

My next project: A Voisin LA III. It was a Voisin III that scored history's very first aerial victory when two Frenchmen, Sergeant Joseph Frantz and Corporal Louis Quénault, mounted a Hotchkiss machine gun on their plane and shot down a German Aviatik B.II (I'll be building one of those soon) on October 5, 1914. The two German pilots, Oberleutnant Fritz von Zangen and Sergeant Wilhelm Schlichting, returned fire with rifles, but both were killed. Surprisingly, Frantz and Quénault both survived the war, Frantz dying in 1979 at age 89.

This is a vac kit, short for vacuformed. A normal plastic kit is injection-molded, meaning liquid plastic is injected into a steel mold and allowed to cure. With vacuforming a sheet of plastic is heated on a flat plate. A mold is pressed onto it and the air is sucked out through tiny holes in the mold. The result is that all the parts are on a single sheet, and must be cut out and sanded smooth. This takes time, but can be well worth it. Still, they are nothing compared to modern resin and plastic kits. I just found out that there was a very nice resin Voisin kit back in 1999, but it was a limited-run kit and is very rare (i.e. very expensive) these days. So the old vac kit it is. I've had it floating around for many years now. Rocky and I bought them at the same time. My intent was to build a one-off special which had a sliding rail so the observer could shoot up and behind. He had a photograph of an Italian plane that had the normal machine gun for the observer plus a Rivelli machine pistol for the pilot. I think mine will now just be the standard version.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/6-301Kit_zps7c7c08a6.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/6-301Kit_zps7c7c08a6.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Fuselage halves cut out and sanded smooth. The plastic in a vac kit is softer than that in a normal injection-molded model. It's still pretty stiff, but it requires a little extra bracing. This involves cutting a couple of pieces of scrap from the sheet and gluing it inside the halves to give support.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-11BodyHalves_zps3d9d711b.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-11BodyHalves_zps3d9d711b.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Basic fuselage assembly, first primer coat. There are no major flaws, but the seams are visible. A little sanding should fix that.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-12FuselagePrimered_zpsc4b47970.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-12FuselagePrimered_zpsc4b47970.jpg.html)

[Jimbuna]

Had to look this one up...the pilot and observer canopy looks like a gondola.

[Red October1984]

Man...you're cranking these things out just like that

Where do you put all of this stuff? :hmmm: :o

[Sailor Steve]

In suitcases, packed in foam. I thought I mentioned it before. Anyway, a picture is worth at least ten words.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Gaming/Suitcase1_zpsd9517b2e.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Gaming/Suitcase1_zpsd9517b2e.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Gaming/Suitcase2_zpsa5b1e00e.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Gaming/Suitcase2_zpsa5b1e00e.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Gaming/Suitcase3_zps308416d2.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Gaming/Suitcase3_zps308416d2.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Gaming/Suitcase4_zpsd8d54fe7.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Gaming/Suitcase4_zpsd8d54fe7.jpg.html)

[Red October1984]

And these are just your planes!


You should do a battlefield model sometime. Like a large floor model with the planes and tanks and soldiers.


I bet it'd be awesome if you do it. :yeah:

[Sailor Steve]

And these are just your planes!
No, those are just my WW1 planes.

You should do a battlefield model sometime. Like a large floor model with the planes and tanks and soldiers.


I bet it'd be awesome if you do it. :yeah:
It would if it were possible. The first problem is scale. The aircraft models are all 1/72 scale. The WW1 game is 1/197 (1"=5m). The '30s game is 1/394 (1"=10m). The WW2 game is 1/787 (1"=20m). This is due to the limitation of the stands. We also experimented with a special 1"=15m version for Battle of Britain. My ship game is 1/9000 (1"=250 yards). There is a huge difference in movement scale between them. Also the airplane game in all its variants have a movement turn of 5 seconds, which can take 10-20 minutes of real time to play. The ship game has a movement turn of 1 minute, which can take anywhere from 15 seconds to 20 minutes to play. The airplane game has ships and vehicles as targets, but in airplane scale they hardly move at all, and the ship game has airplane rules, but the planes are barely this side of abstract, appearing on the table and moving completely across it in one game turn.

So there is no way the two could ever be compatible.

The second problem is logistics. Ship and tank games are designed to be played on tabletops. Some airplane games are too, but you can see from the pictures I posted earlier that our game is played on stands on the floor. We have our ships, vehicles and even bomber formations drawn on paper so the stands can roll over them, but you can see the difficulties with having tiny model ships or tanks scattered all over the floor we are walking and crawling on. Hands and knees punctured by ships' masts. Tiny models getting stepped on and squished. Tiny models getting kicked several feet from where they are supposed to be.

Just not doable.

[Red October1984]

No, those are just my WW1 planes.

:o You should build a showroom. :D


It would if it were possible. The first problem is scale. The aircraft models are all 1/72 scale. The WW1 game is 1/197 (1"=5m). The '30s game is 1/394 (1"=10m). The WW2 game is 1/787 (1"=20m). This is due to the limitation of the stands. We also experimented with a special 1"=15m version for Battle of Britain. My ship game is 1/9000 (1"=250 yards). There is a huge difference in movement scale between them. Also the airplane game in all its variants have a movement turn of 5 seconds, which can take 10-20 minutes of real time to play. The ship game has a movement turn of 1 minute, which can take anywhere from 15 seconds to 20 minutes to play. The airplane game has ships and vehicles as targets, but in airplane scale they hardly move at all, and the ship game has airplane rules, but the planes are barely this side of abstract, appearing on the table and moving completely across it in one game turn.

So there is no way the two could ever be compatible.

The second problem is logistics. Ship and tank games are designed to be played on tabletops. Some airplane games are too, but you can see from the pictures I posted earlier that our game is played on stands on the floor. We have our ships, vehicles and even bomber formations drawn on paper so the stands can roll over them, but you can see the difficulties with having tiny model ships or tanks scattered all over the floor we are walking and crawling on. Hands and knees punctured by ships' masts. Tiny models getting stepped on and squished. Tiny models getting kicked several feet from where they are supposed to be.

Just not doable.

You could do one that's not part of your game that you do. :hmmm:

Model like a section of a destroyed city with some troops and have the Battle of Stalingrad.


My Norwegian friend Marinenachrichtendienst does some modeling. I've always thought he does a good job on the landscapes.

Abandoned Part One (http://www.uboothahd.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=368)

Abandoned Part Two (http://www.uboothahd.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=369)

Road Block Part One (http://www.uboothahd.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=364)

Road Block Part Two (http://www.uboothahd.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=365)

Blue 18 Down Part One (http://www.uboothahd.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=366)

Blue 18 Down Part Two (http://www.uboothahd.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=367)


I'm just sitting here like "The perfect model would be if these two guys work together." You both do great work.

If he did the buildings and landscape and you did the vehicles it would be a work of art worth more than a 1000 words. :03: :salute:


EDIT: For some reason, the word road-block without the hyphen is censored. :hmmm: I added a space in the words above so it wouldn't turn into a bunch of asterisks.

[Sailor Steve]

:o You should build a showroom. :D
I once planned to build a model of every US aircraft type starting with the Glenn Martin Bomber of 1918 and the Curtiss PN-1 of 1921. I actually started with the Curtiss P-1 series of 1926, but I got sidetracked. The problem is that to accomplish such a feat one would need the equivalent of a scale model museum, and I've never had that kind of money. Then I found it was easier just to build the game pieces I needed. Not as much pressure and much easier to store. They only come out of their cases when they were needed.

You could do one that's not part of your game that you do. :hmmm:
True, but why would I want to. Modelling is like modding - you make what you want to, not what someone else thinks you should. If somebody offered me a contract to build something I didn't care about, I'd probably take it, but it would cost him a pretty penny.

Model like a section of a destroyed city with some troops and have the Battle of Stalingrad.
There are thousands of gamers who do exactly that. It's perfect for an infantry and armor game. I just happen to have exactly zero interest in that sort of game. I like airplanes and I like ships.

My Norwegian friend Marinenachrichtendienst does some modeling. I've always thought he does a good job on the landscapes.
Those are absolutely gorgeous dioramas. They are made to tell a story, and they do so fantastically well. I've been tempted to try a diorama at different times in the past, but it always got sidetracked. On the other hand they have absolutely nothing to do with gaming of any kind. They are display models, and very fine ones.

I'm just sitting here like "The perfect model would be if these two guys work together." You both do great work.
For their intended purpose those are already perfect models. What would he need me for? And vice-versa: I build what I want to, for my own purposes. I couldn't help him with what he does, and he can't help me with my own obsessions. All I can do is admire his work and give him the praise it deserves.

If he did the buildings and landscape and you did the vehicles it would be a work of art worth more than a 1000 words. :03: :salute:
Is there something wrong with his vehicles? The rust and peeling paint on the pickup alone are works of art. His dedication to detail is wonderful. I might be able to match something like that, but I'm not claiming I could, and I certainly couldn't top it. Just from this brief glimpse of his work I'd have to say he's one of the greats.

I'm not saying I wouldn't work with somebody else if the occasion arose, but unless it was some big project paid for by someone else we'd just get in each others' way.

And I'm happy building what I build. And I've already pointed out that my game pieces, nice though they may be, are not even close to contest quaility. His are. I could build contest models, but I'd be looking at several months for each one, rather than a few days.

[Red October1984]

Modelling is like modding - you make what you want to, not what someone else thinks you should. If somebody offered me a contract to build something I didn't care about, I'd probably take it, but it would cost him a pretty penny.

I understand. Carry on, Sailor. :yep:

Is there something wrong with his vehicles? The rust and peeling paint on the pickup alone are works of art. His dedication to detail is wonderful. I might be able to match something like that, but I'm not claiming I could, and I certainly couldn't top it. Just from this brief glimpse of his work I'd have to say he's one of the greats.

There's nothing wrong with them...but I was thinking that since you do some awesome work on the planes you make.... Maybe there's something you two could work together on.

And I'm happy building what I build. And I've already pointed out that my game pieces, nice though they may be, are not even close to contest quaility. His are. I could build contest models, but I'd be looking at several months for each one, rather than a few days.

I'm glad you're happy doing what you do. I don't want to change that.

This was simply me thinking out loud. :sunny:

Both you guys are great modellers. :yeah:

[em2nought]

Great thread, you might find this site interesting http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/ as an economical way to model, or source of "odd" ducks.

[Sailor Steve]

Thanks. Some of them look pretty cool, but I don't think they'd stand up to the rigors of gaming. :sunny:

[Red October1984]

Thanks. Some of them look pretty cool, but I don't think they'd stand up to the rigors of gaming. :sunny:

Can you video a game one of these days and post it on Youtube or something? I've said it before, that game you play sounds pretty awesome. :rock:

[Jimbuna]

In suitcases, packed in foam. I thought I mentioned it before. Anyway, a picture is worth at least ten words.



Reminding me of the man cave now :):cool:

[Sailor Steve]

Can you video a game one of these days and post it on Youtube or something? I've said it before, that game you play sounds pretty awesome. :rock:
Sorry, I don't have a video camera. Also what you'd see would be a group of people standing around talking. Occasionally one of them would get down on hands and knees and push the stand around a little, then wait for the next one to make his move. When someone was properly lined up he would roll some dice. If the shot was good people would make comments. If it was real good then the victim would roll some dice to see if the damage was critical. They they would do it all over again.

Like I said, ten to twenty minutes for a game turn representing five seconds of actual flying. Fun to do, not so exciting to watch. :dead:

[Red October1984]

Sorry, I don't have a video camera. Also what you'd see would be a group of people standing around talking. Occasionally one of them would get down on hands and knees and push the stand around a little, then wait for the next one to make his move. When someone was properly lined up he would roll some dice. If the shot was good people would make comments. If it was real good then the victim would roll some dice to see if the damage was critical. They they would do it all over again.

Like I said, ten to twenty minutes for a game turn representing five seconds of actual flying. Fun to do, not so exciting to watch. :dead:

Ah...well... :arrgh!:

I'm sure it would be really fun. If only I could play with my soon-to-be P-40B. :cool:

[Sailor Steve]

I'm sure it would be really fun. If only I could play with my soon-to-be P-40B. :cool:
Years ago we had a fairly large group. One of the regular questions was "What should I build first?" We always suggested that the new player just borrow whatever was needed, and build whatever struck his fancy. The way our system works makes it possible for players to have pilots with their own careers. Some have developed aces with 5, 10 or 20+ kills. I've done that, but I also have pilots with many missions and no kills. Like any personalized game it can develop in a number of ways. These days the biggest part is just socializing.

I would recommend asking at the local hobby shops if they know of any Mustangs & Messerschitts groups. If that doesn't work you might try Craigslist, though I doubt any groups would be using that method to look for new players. Still, it doesn't hurt to try.

[Sailor Steve]

After three coats of primer and a whole lot of sanding the fuselage was finally ready. Yesterday afternoon I cut out the lower wing. An hour last night and two more hours today were spent cutting out the lower wing and sanding it down (I said vac kits required a lot of that). It has to be done very carefully since once you take off too much there's no way to put it back. The wings on more modern planes are thicker and like most kits come in two halves. WW1 aircraft have thin wings and there is no real underside.

So after sanding a little bit here and a tiny bit more there it was finally ready. The kit was designed so the lower wing is one piece that slots into the fuselage for structural strength. I had to carefully cut in from the back of the fuselage and fit the wing. This took an hour or so of fiddling and adjusting until it was right. Once it was glued in and completely dry I added some superglue to the insides for more strength. Once that was dry another coat of primer went over the whole thing and I'm done for the night.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-31LowerWing_zps4f142fda.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-31LowerWing_zps4f142fda.jpg.html)

[Cybermat47]

Steve, are you going to paint it in the colours of the aircraft you described a page ago?

[Sailor Steve]

Steve, are you going to paint it in the colours of the aircraft you described a page ago?
Which description was that? I looked and I'm not sure which you mean.

The current answer is "I don't know." The few pictures I've looked at seem to describe either a white fuselage and linen wings, somewhat like the Bleriot, or all white. I ordered a book that will help a lot, but it hasn't come yet and with a national holiday tomorrow it won't come until Friday at the earliest, possibly Moday or even later. I have to either make a decision without the book or stop work until it comes, since with this type of biplane it needs to be painted before the top wing goes on. Part of me wants to wait for the book, and part of me wants to press on now, not wait five days before resuming work.

I hate decisions.

[Red October1984]

Years ago we had a fairly large group. One of the regular questions was "What should I build first?" We always suggested that the new player just borrow whatever was needed, and build whatever struck his fancy. The way our system works makes it possible for players to have pilots with their own careers. Some have developed aces with 5, 10 or 20+ kills. I've done that, but I also have pilots with many missions and no kills. Like any personalized game it can develop in a number of ways. These days the biggest part is just socializing.

I would recommend asking at the local hobby shops if they know of any Mustangs & Messerschitts groups. If that doesn't work you might try Craigslist, though I doubt any groups would be using that method to look for new players. Still, it doesn't hurt to try.

I'll look into that. We don't really have a Hobby Shop. We have a Hobby Lobby and that's it.

I wish we had a good Hobby Shop but the next best thing would probably be the Boy Scout Store. :hmmm:

I'll look around. :arrgh!:

Steve, are you going to paint it in the colours of the aircraft you described a page ago?

I don't remember the aircraft a page ago...but it was probably awesome.

I hate decisions.

My major decision today was "Landing gear up?....or down?"

I ended up leaving them down so I can set it up on my shelf. :rock:

I also had to decide between Drop Tank and Bomb but that was an easy decision. :sunny:

[Sailor Steve]

My major decision today was "Landing gear up?....or down?"

I ended up leaving them down so I can set it up on my shelf. :rock:
That's usually the first decision for anything with retracts, and that's usually the way it comes out, and for the same reason. All of mine are "wheels up" these days because of the whole game thing. They store more easily without wheels and they look silly "flying" with wheels down.

On the other hand since I'm doing mostly WW1 anymore it doesn't matter.

[Sailor Steve]

Now I have a dilemma. I ordered a booklet on the Voisin awhile ago, and it still hasn't come. If I wait for it I might not see it before Monday, maybe later. If I make a decision as to finish now then the $25 spent for the book is wasted. I can't start another project because the next few I want to do are kits on order.

Probably I'll see what still needs repairing and rigging. there are more than a few that need some attention. I didn't do them during my original fixing frenzy because what needs to be done was minor and the planes were still in good enough condition to play with.

[Jimbuna]

I've looked at colour schemes and can only find white or beige examples so I'm wondering if that is what you would be restricted to?

http://www.wwiaviation.com/french_2seaters1914.html

http://www.md-11.org/voisin.htm

http://www.jitterbuzz.com/MAN_1965_01.HTML

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/01/04/1176304/-The-Pearson-Air-Museum-Photo-Diary

[Sailor Steve]

I'm wondering if that is what you would be restricted to?
A specific scheme. Windsock Datafiles show dozens of photographs with detailed analysis, plus closeups of specific parts of the aircraft. sometimes they'll even uncover rare camoflaged versions. It's more question of paying good money for a source and then making a decision without ever even seeing it.

[Jimbuna]

A specific scheme. Windsock Datafiles show dozens of photographs with detailed analysis, plus closeups of specific parts of the aircraft. sometimes they'll even uncover rare camoflaged versions. It's more question of paying good money for a source and then making a decision without ever even seeing it.

I've just had a look...great specialist site...obviously quality and detail come at a price.

[Sailor Steve]

I've just had a look...great specialist site...obviously quality and detail come at a price.
They manage to have great pictures of the most minute details. That's the only reason I knew about the ropes holding the gear mountings on the Bleriot.

[Sailor Steve]

With nothing else to do I went ahead and prepped the upper wing. This one only took about two hours total. It won't be mounted until the fuselage is painted, but it's ready now.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-41UpperWing_zps16aa1fee.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-41UpperWing_zps16aa1fee.jpg.html)

[Red October1984]

Looks kinda big.

What scale is this? :hmmm:

[Jimbuna]

ROFLMAO....follow the thread or at least read before you post :o

:):03:

[Sailor Steve]

Leave 'im alone, Jim. He can't help himself.

I've just had a question from Red October1984 in the 'What Are You Doing Now In Real Life' thread about the airplane game, and rather than go into a lengthy explanation with pictures there I figured I'd do it here...

The models are mostly 1/72 scale...
What is that scale anyway 1/144th?
Twice that size - 1/72.
The aircraft models are all 1/72 scale.
What scale is this? :hmmm:


Umm...

[Jimbuna]

LOL :)

[Sailor Steve]

Well, the book didn't come Friday, and it didn't come Saturday, so today I decided to work on some more ships. This is the Scout class of 1885. Called 'Torpedo Cruisers', they were the first attempt to make a seagoing torpedo boat. Later they were reclassified as '3rd Class Cruisers'.

The ships were about the size of a WW2 destroyer. While this makes them small compared to a battleship, alongside a locomotive they were huge. It's hard to look at a tiny model and remember that these ships were 225 feet long and displaced 1,600 tons.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/Scout1_zps543d1a63.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/Scout1_zps543d1a63.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/Scout2_zps847a76e1.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/Scout2_zps847a76e1.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/Scout3_zps80374c55.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/Scout3_zps80374c55.jpg.html)

[Red October1984]

ROFLMAO....follow the thread or at least read before you post :o

:):03:

Ah...foot in mouth once again. :har:

Leave 'im alone, Jim. He can't help himself.

Umm...

I've been following the thread but I forget some of the details.

That must be a close up picture because 1:72 looks smaller than that. :hmmm:

[Sailor Steve]

Take another look at post #143. The Voisin had a body barely big enough to fit the two crewmen, but it had a 48' wingspan, ten feet more than a P-38 and almost half that of a B-17.

[Red October1984]

Take another look at post #143. The Voisin had a body barely big enough to fit the two crewmen, but it had a 48' wingspan, ten feet more than a P-38 and almost half that of a B-17.

I'm a bit out of proportion on my thinking then. :doh:

I know how scale works and a 1:72 B-29 is going to be a lot bigger than a 1:72 WW1 bomber (or fighter? I don't know. Not too familiar with WW1 aircraft). :hmmm:

This thing just looked huge when I saw the wing...but now that I see a little bit more of it I can understand it now.

[Sailor Steve]

It'll be more clear when the pilots are in.

On the other hand they had some huge bombers - the Zeppelin Staaken was nearly as big as a B-29.

[Red October1984]

It'll be more clear when the pilots are in.

On the other hand they had some huge bombers - the Zeppelin Staaken was nearly as big as a B-29.

:o That's a big bomber for a WW1 era... I didn't think they got that big.

I've just googled it and saw a picture.

I wonder what kind of bomb load these things carried. I wouldn't think a whole lot since WW1 aircraft were like wood and cloth mostly ( IIRC ).

:hmmm:

[Sailor Steve]

The R.VI carried 2000 kilos of bombs (about 4400 pounds). The problem wasn't the construction (the Junkers J.I attack plane was not only made of metal but was armored) so much as the available power. The R.VI's top speed was only 84 mph.

[Jimbuna]

I believe the wingspan was greater to compensate for the lack of thrust the early engines had...or how else could they fly? :)

[Sailor Steve]

AWRIGHT! The book just came! As I had hoped it not only has a wealth of detail including close-up pictures of survivors, but it has a good section on colors and markings. The French planes were mostly white, though there is a color photo of one that appears to be painted overall light tan. The Italians were either black or dark grey. They do have a B&W photo of one that apears to carry a mottle camoflage over a white finish. Their guess is some kind of green, and that's good enough for me. I know which one I'm doing now.

I believe the wingspan was greater to compensate for the lack of thrust the early engines had...or how else could they fly? :)
I don't know. They seem to have about the same power as others of the era. It was the first aircraft specifically designed to be a bomber, and the first version carried a 300-kilo bomb load, and 660 pounds of bombs is quite a bit. Whatever the reality was, they did indeed have a huge span.

[Red October1984]

The R.VI carried 2000 kilos of bombs (about 4400 pounds). The problem wasn't the construction (the Junkers J.I attack plane was not only made of metal but was armored) so much as the available power. The R.VI's top speed was only 84 mph.

Not bad!

I understand the Germans had some very good aircraft in WW1.

[Sailor Steve]

Everybody did. One side would come up with new technology and the other would capture one and apply it. Little by little they would outclass one another and hold control of the skies for a few months, then the other would come up with an even better machine. The war started with airplanes that were, as Rise Of Flight puts it, barely worthy of the name. By the end of the war metal monoplanes with steel framing were coming into use. Even the wooden ones were by that time dedicated fighting machines far beyond anything remotely imagined five years earlier.

In 1908 Wilbur Wright went to Reims with a machine that could fly at 40 miles per hour and stay aloft for almost an hour. In 1913 air races were being won in flying machines that could more than double that speed, and endurance records of several hours were set. In 1918 fighters were flying 140 mph and reconaissance aircraft were going so high that they took oxygen bottles with them just to breathe.

The old saying is true. Necessity truly is the mother of invention. Manned flight is only 110 years old, and look where we are now.

[edit] A side note: Wilbur Wright died of cancer in 1912. His brother Orville lived until 1948. The man who took to the air in a rickety machine that could barely get aloft lived to see the Second World War, the atomic bomb, and the coming of the Jet Age.

[edit 2] It took a little looking, but I found a copy of one of my favorite pictures: Orville Wright in the cockpit of a Lockheed Constellation in 1948, not long before his death.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/OrvilleConstellation_zpsc1f64dcf.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/OrvilleConstellation_zpsc1f64dcf.jpg.html)

[Red October1984]

The old saying is true. Necessity truly is the mother of invention. Manned flight is only 110 years old, and look where we are now.

A side note: Wilbur Wright died of cancer in 1912. His brother Orville lived until 1948. The man who took to the air in a rickety machine that could barely get aloft lived to see the Second World War, the atomic bomb, and the coming of the Jet Age.

I bet he died a happy man. To see something you built in a shed evolve into jets and huge planes that can fly thousands of miles and drop nuclear bombs....

That would be one of the best feelings to know you had that much of an impact. You just have to think, what would he think of today's aircraft?

[Sailor Steve]

Underway again. Two hours of work saw the basic landing gear assembly completed. The struts had coil springs. Sometimes they were faired over and sometimes not. I thought of wrapping the struts with the same monofilament line I use for the rigging, but the plane I wanted to do had the fairings. I have some plastic strut stock I could have used, but it's too thin to drill a hole through lengthwise. I could have just drilled holes in the ends and mounted the wire that way, but it needs to be strong enough to withstand the rigors of gaming. I ended up using brass tubing, which is not airfoil shaped but looks better than nothing. The main wire goes all the way through, and bends to go another inch into the fuselage, making it very strong.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-81BasicLandingGearAssembly_zps38908098-1.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-81BasicLandingGearAssembly_zps38908098-1.jpg.html)

[kranz]

I understand the Germans had some very good aircraft in WW1.
so why did they lose?

[Sailor Steve]

so why did they lose?
The loss had nothing to do with the air war, which had almost no influence on the war itself. It was really a sideshow.

[Red October1984]

The loss had nothing to do with the air war, which had almost no influence on the war itself. It was really a sideshow.

An interesting sideshow filled with interesting stories and equipment.

...that I know little about :oops: I'll do some reading eventually. It's on my list of things to read about.

This got me thinking, our school hired a new history teacher. I really hope he knows what he's doing.

[Sailor Steve]

Well, I decided I didn't like the way the tube over the wire looked. It either had to have the coil springs or it had to have the fairings. The tubes were glued on and removing them would have required ripping out the entire undercarriage assembly, which would probably cause irreparable damage to the body itself, so it had to be the fairings. I had already determined that the strut stock was too thin to drill out, and anyway I would also have to remove the tubes to try that route. I got to wondering what would happen if I sanded down the front part of the strut stock and glued the back part onto the tubes. I tried it and it worked okay until I put on a coat of primer. The joints between the tube and the fairing was very obvious. I tried using putty to fill the seams, but it didn't want to stick. I finally ended up using a paint brush and a fairly thick coat of gray paint. When it dried it had filled the seam nicely! I sanded it down and applied a second coat of paint on the seams, not so thick this time. These pictures were taken at that point. It looks like it's going to work quite well.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-91Fairings_zpsd7533753.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-91Fairings_zpsd7533753.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-92Fairings_zps0f0b7cae.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-92Fairings_zps0f0b7cae.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Mounting the upper wing was frustrating. Usually I'll paint the body and lower wing assembly, and then paint the upper wing before mounting. This is because the top of each wing might be one color and the bottom another, and the struts are bare wood. With the Voisin everything was painted the same color, so it was better to put it together first, then paint the whole thing.

I made the central cabane out of wire, since the real one was steel tube. I then cut some airfoil-shaped strut stock to the correct length and started checking alignment using some good 3-view drawings. I realized that the outer struts weren't looking right, so I looked at the pictures several times. Then I looked even closer and realized that the lower wing was shorter than the upper, but on the model they were the same length! Luckily the difference could be measured by the number of ribs on each wing. I only had to count in two ribs from each end, then cut the lower wing shorter and sand the front and rear to shape. The outer struts are angled, similar to the ones in the Caudron, but there is no vertical strut there as well. But the front view seems to show a vertical strut. But the photographs don't show it. Another half hour of study finally made me realize that the vertical "strut" that wasn't there was actually the connecting rod between the upper an lower ailerons. A little brass wire and that part was done as well. Another coat of primer and it's done for the night.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-93UpperWing_zpsa76a325a.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-93UpperWing_zpsa76a325a.jpg.html)

Tomorrow will come the tail assembly and then the paint.

[Sailor Steve]

Tail assembly complete except for the elevators. I don't have any 3-color stripes big enough, so I'll have to paint those on. Once it's painted they'll go with the rest.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-101TailAssembly_zpsa24cf908.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-101TailAssembly_zpsa24cf908.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Basic white.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-102White_zps55d89a03.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-102White_zps55d89a03.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Stipple Camoflage applied, plus markings. It's supposed to have a number on the tail, but I couldn't find any the right size in my stuff boxes.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-103Camoflage_zps5d5190a5.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-103Camoflage_zps5d5190a5.jpg.html)

Engine mounted.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-104Engine_zps9e8500fb.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-104Engine_zps9e8500fb.jpg.html)

I still have the radiators, hoses wheels and pilots, plus some rather intricate rigging. I had hoped to have it done for tomorrow's game, but I'm not counting on it at this point. If not it will be done Friday.

[Jimbuna]

Coming along nicely :cool:

[Red October1984]

I just found a little hobby store in town yesterday. I didn't know we had one.

Mainly, it's an RC Model Plane store. They also have a bunch of tools. Unless I start doing RC stuff like Nikimcbee I just see this as a tool place.

I know X-acto knives are good to get...is there anything else I should look for? :hmmm:

[Sailor Steve]

It all depends on what you want to accomplish. Model building can be as simple as gluing it together and throwing on some paint, and as complex as making large-scale models out of original materials. I once read a article on a gentleman who made a 1/8 scale Hurricane for a museum. The aluminum parts were aluminum, turned on a lathe. The tires were rubber, the seat belts were fabric and every rivet was duplicated in scale. Pretty amazing, and beyond anything I'd want to do.

Then there's this guy:
http://www.carrierbuilders.net/gallery/20070318_USS_Enterprise_1-72/20070318_USS_Enterprise_1-72.htm

Or this one:
http://www.kbismarck.com/models/graf-spee-terra.html

Most tools you won't even know exist until you need them.

My arsenal includes:

Airbrush and compressor. If you are a serious modeller these are vital tools. At your stage I would say they are expensive toys, something to worry about later.

Dremel Tool. This is a small drill designed specifically for modelling. It's made to work with plastic, and can make holes as small as .005". Again it's money you don't want to spend until you have to.

Pin Vise. This is a tiny drill that takes the same bits as the Dremel, but is powered by twirling your fingers. Cheap and effective, but slow.

Sandpaper, sanding blocks, sanding sticks. Handy for removing way-over-size rivets from older kits and for smoothing glue seams, which of course real planes don't have.

Pounce Wheel. Originally designed for tracing patterns from paper to fabric for sewing. The one day somebody figured out that if used on a plastic model it made perfect little indented rivets, barely noticable unless you look real hard. The holes will be completely filled by paint, so it's only worthwhile if you're also using an airbrush.


Rat-tailed file.

Super glue. For applying tiny parts, and parts made of different materials.

Gap-filling super glue. Handy for gluing parts end-on, such as metal struts.

Zip-Kicker. A spray accelerator that makes super glues dry almost instantly.

An assortment of paint brushes, from medium to ultra-tiny.

Proper paints. Olive Drab is nothing like British Dark Green, or French Green or Italian Green or Japanese Green. Getting the colors right can make a big difference. Olive drab in the 1940s is also nothing like the Olive Drab from the 1920s (commonly called Field Drab just to note the difference). Everybody has their own grey/gray, and they are easy to tell apart if you know what you're looking at.

So that's just the tip of the iceberg. The real tool, as always, is your brain. There are a lot more tips and tricks than there are tools, and the best way to learn is not to get too many tips at once, so I won't give you any. When you want to know how to do a particular thing, ask. There will always be somebody with an answer.

[Sailor Steve]

Well, it's mostly done. The biggest hangup now is my own lack of motivation. I realized there was no way I would have the rigging done before Thursday's game, so I didn't try. I took it to show it off anyway, and then Friday there was no longer any hurry so I didn't do anything. Yesterday I got started on the rigging but just couldn't get into it. Today I feel more like starting a new project, so this one is still unfinished.

I'm unhappy with the scuffs on the tail (though I did finally find some decal numbers the right size) and with the uneven look of the wheels. I'm going to try one more time, and if I'm still unhappy I'll apply the same camoflage as the rest of the plane. That should make it less noticable. Or maybe cut some masks and see if that works. Meanwhile...

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-141MostlyDone_zps2f7f7de4.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-141MostlyDone_zps2f7f7de4.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-142MostlyDone_zps07f65e3a.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-142MostlyDone_zps07f65e3a.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-143MostlyDone_zps9f0edcbf.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-143MostlyDone_zps9f0edcbf.jpg.html)

[Red October1984]

So that's just the tip of the iceberg. The real tool, as always, is your brain. There are a lot more tips and tricks than there are tools, and the best way to learn is not to get too many tips at once, so I won't give you any. When you want to know how to do a particular thing, ask. There will always be somebody with an answer.

Thanks for the tips!

The plane looks great! :rock:

[Sailor Steve]

I said yesterday that I felt like starting a new project. I got the box out and looked at the kit long and hard, and then decided I felt more like finishing the current one. The rigging is extensive and intricate, and will undoubtedly get broken with handling, especially the rudder and elevator control cables, which run outside the tail framing. I don't mind. It was made to be played with. I'll always have the pictures. There were also bracing wires running from the nose to the wings, and from the rear axles to the lower wing. I left those off because I had to have somewhere to pick it up by. Anyway, it's now in the suitcase and ready to go with the others.

One funny note: I was reading the building log of a modeler who built the Flashback resin kit. He was complaining that he couldn't get it to sit on the nose wheels, so he figured a way to secure it to the base he mounted it on. Mine was fine with the tail assembly and rudder, but I noticed the same thing when I mounted the elevators. When it was finished it sat nicely on the nose again. Then I figured it out. The pilots I used were lead figures, and added just the weight it needed. On the other hand it will always be mounted to the stand in a flying position, so who cares?

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-151Done_zps409b4531.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-151Done_zps409b4531.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-152Done_zps58075429.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-152Done_zps58075429.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-153Done_zps99cb562a.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-153Done_zps99cb562a.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-154Done_zpse9a612a5.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-154Done_zpse9a612a5.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-155Done_zps6367fc9e.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-155Done_zps6367fc9e.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-156Done_zps4a8560b6.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-156Done_zps4a8560b6.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-157Done_zps123b0305.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-157Done_zps123b0305.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-158Done_zpsfd55fcad.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-158Done_zpsfd55fcad.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Next project: Albatros B.IIa. German two-seaters at this time were a little more conventional than those of the Allies, having the standard layout of pilot and observer in a closed fuselage, engine forward, wings and tail in the configuration that we accept as "normal" today.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-161Box_zps5fda13ec.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-161Box_zps5fda13ec.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-162Kit_zps3273060e.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-162Kit_zps3273060e.jpg.html)

[Red October1984]

Good job! Love the finished product of the previous model. :yeah:

[Cybermat47]

Are you going to do the Albatros in Polish or Lufstreitkräfte markings?

Looks interesting anyway!

[c13Garrison]

Just interjecting, but very dedicated work Steve! Colour me impressed.

I didn't have much patience for modeling. Post high-school I built a very fine T-34/85, another that had a poor paint job, and then two KV-1As that I never bothered to paint. I'm a "doing" hobbyist, when the thing is done I always want to do what's next; which is simulating their actions.

Your molding for the ships is enlightening for me. For my dreadnaught building game I had wondered if such an approach would work, but I see now there'd be no way to streamline such a thing for a gamer to do. Plan B is definitely plan A now, cardboard counters.

[Sailor Steve]

Are you going to do the Albatros in Polish or Lufstreitkräfte markings?

Looks interesting anyway!
The Polish markings are postwar, so it will be 1914 German. I do have a SPAD 13 in postwar US markings, but the stars and stripes all over it were too cute to pass up.

[Sailor Steve]

Your molding for the ships is enlightening for me. For my dreadnaught building game I had wondered if such an approach would work, but I see now there'd be no way to streamline such a thing for a gamer to do. Plan B is definitely plan A now, cardboard counters.
There are a huge amount of 1/2400 ship models available. Gobs of WW2 and modern, and a large handful of WW1. What's not so much available is the 1880s and '90s stuff, so I have to fake it. My game is strictly for ship-to-ship combat, with the emphasis on making me feel like I'm aboard the ship. It sounds like for what you're doing counters are the best way to go.

A friend of mine is a fan of Avalanche Press's Great War At Sea series.
http://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/2928/the-great-war-at-sea

[Sailor Steve]

Fuselage assembled, pilots installed, wings and tail surfaces painted and ready for mounting.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-171FuselageandWings_zps38274212.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-171FuselageandWings_zps38274212.jpg.html)

The fuselage is not actually painted. I used a wood-colored primer. It only took three coats of primer, a dab of putty and a moderate amount of sanding to get the seams out.

[Sailor Steve]

Fuselage painted in wood grain, and lower wings mounted.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-181LowerWingsMounted_zps7791c2b9.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-181LowerWingsMounted_zps7791c2b9.jpg.html)

Looking at the picture the lower wings appear not to be straight. The Caudon and Voisin kits had a single-piece lower wing that slotted into the fuselage. This kit has separate wings, which makes it a bit more difficult. The bad news is that when using superglue it's hard to get it properly aligned before it dries. The good news is that it can be adjusted. It's not easy, but it's not impossible, and it has to be done.

[Jimbuna]

Those magnificent men in their flying machines :cool:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK74kZoyEXw

[Sailor Steve]

When I think of WW1 and flight I think of The Blue Max.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94qDQ0JW3DU

[kranz]

I'd love to see Richthofen's Dr. 1 as your next project.:yep:

[Sailor Steve]

I already have one. I'll be doing another, but right now I'm working on the old crappy planes from 1914. The Dr.I doesn't come along for quite some time.

[Sailor Steve]

Engine and tail surfaces mounted.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-182EngineandTail_zps5c540464.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-182EngineandTail_zps5c540464.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Yesterday I mounted the upper wing, but forgot to take a picture. This one was difficult because the wing is in two pieces that attach to a triangular cabane (the struts that attach the upper wing to the fuselage, as opposed to the struts that attach the upper wing to the lower wing, which are called struts). The cabane was in two halves that had to be properly aligned. I didn't get them right the first time, which left the wing crooked. I had to carefully pry the cabane halves apart without breaking them, and put them back together correctly. Gluing the struts between the wings wasn't easy either, and the spray accelerator that makes the superglue dry instantly ate some of the paint off the upper wing, so I had to go back and respray it.

Today I got the landing gear mounted, so all that's left are the details (propeller and delicate "rhino-horn" exhaust stack), markings and rigging. The wheels were solid, to represent fabric-covering, but most of the photos show no fabric. I hollowed out the wheels until all that was left were the tires, then used some etched-brass spokes I bought some time ago. I'll probably spray a gloss coat on it tonight and tomorrow do the rigging first, as the exhaust will be easy to break of with all the handling it's going to get.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-201Doneexceptdetails_zps42d6dfd2.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-201Doneexceptdetails_zps42d6dfd2.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

And another one is in the suitcase. Propeller mounted, exhaust mounted, rigged, markings applied and ready to go.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-231Done_zps679f1152.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-231Done_zps679f1152.jpg.html)

It's funny how sometimes it's better without the flash than with. Above is with flash. I only kept it because the one below is blurry.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-232Done_zps58123e88.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-232Done_zps58123e88.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-233Done_zpsd7e061eb.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-233Done_zpsd7e061eb.jpg.html)

Front view with Axial propeller logos.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-234Done_zps7632c4ca.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-234Done_zps7632c4ca.jpg.html)

Pilots, engine, radiator and "rhino-horn" exhaust.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/7-235Done_zpsd19890b3.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/7-235Done_zpsd19890b3.jpg.html)

Thursday they're moving me out for the reconstruction. There won't be any new planes for a couple of weeks.

[Jimbuna]

Nothing 'should' ever beat natural lighting but circumstances sometimes dictate otherwise....the joys of photography.

Nice new addition Steve :cool:

[Cybermat47]

Brilliant job Steve!

There used to be an Albatros C.III (the last one!) in New Zealand, before the people in charge of the museum had it burnt :o

[Red October1984]

There used to be an Albatros C.III (the last one!) in New Zealand, before the people in charge of the museum had it burnt :o

I have a sudden hatred for people who run museums in New Zealand. :nope:

WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT!!!!!

[Jimbuna]

Brilliant job Steve!

There used to be an Albatros C.III (the last one!) in New Zealand, before the people in charge of the museum had it burnt :o

Was that the one based at the Omaka Aviation Museum?

[Sailor Steve]

Finally ready to get started on the next one: An Aviatik B.II, another "unarmed" two-seater, this time Austro-Hungarian. These early aircraft were technically unarmed, the observer carrying a rifle or carbine. If they were fitted with a machine gun the observer was still in the front cockpit, so he had to fire over the pilot's head.

I still haven't found the compressor, but everything else is in place, and since this is another vac kit I have a lot of cutting and sanding ahead anyway.

The Kit
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/8-151Kit_zps49789733.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/8-151Kit_zps49789733.jpg.html)

[Cybermat47]

Hooray for the Austro-Hungarians! :woot:

[Sailor Steve]

Fuselage halves cut and sanded, interior assembled, lower wings cut and sanded.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/8-161Interior_zps531aa919.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/8-161Interior_zps531aa919.jpg.html)

[Jimbuna]

Working at a fair pace Steve :cool:

[Sailor Steve]

A quote from the 'What are you doing now' thread.
This reminds me...I need to finish up my P-40... :oops:
I just remembered a funny story from a couple of decades ago. I may have already told it. I hope not.

It was in the 1990s that Acadamy came out with the first P-40B kit. Prior to that there may have been a vac conversion kit, but we converted ours manually. When the kit came out Rocky and I noticed a couple in a local shop. We immediately went to the owner and told him we would take what he had, and wanted to special order twenty of them, ten each.

"Ten?", he asked, "Why?"

"We use them for an airwar game. I need one for Flying Tigers, one for US Pacific, one for British, one for British North Africa and one for Russian."

"That's five," he said. "Why ten?"

"They never went out alone. I need to provide planes for my wingmen, too."

"Okay, that's ten. Why twenty?"

Rocky immediately said "What if Steve doesn't show up one night?"




I still have seven of them sitting on my shelf right now.

[TLAM Strike]

In case you missed it Steve you just hit 10,000 views on this thread. :up:

Oh and I noticed you work with vacumeform kits. I got one of a Su-7 sitting on my shelf but never had the guts to try and build it. :)

[Sailor Steve]

In case you missed it Steve you just hit 10,000 views on this thread. :up:
No, I didn't. I look every now and then, but somehow I missed that one. :oops:

Oh and I noticed you work with vacumeform kits. I got one of a Su-7 sitting on my shelf but never had the guts to try and build it. :)
If you've built regular plastic models, vac kits aren't really that much different. Score the plastic along the edges and gently break out the pieces, then sand them until they're flush. There's more work involved because of that, and you have to be careful, but if you are careful it can be a fairly straightforward job.

On the other hand there are so many great kits out there now that vacs are falling by the wayside. A good modern plastic kit can already have so much detail that you don't really need to add anything. A vac can leave you scrambling for plastic wheels and other parts. The upside is that a lot of vacs come with plastic, resin or metal wheels and struts that are better than some of the 'regular' kits.

[Sailor Steve]

FUN 'N' GAMES, or problems with OCD.

I keep looking at the main reference for the Aviatik B.II, which is the Windsock Datafile booklet on the subject. They talk mostly about the prototypes and very little about actual production models. There are no pictures at all of the one I want to build. I found a few random photos online, but not many. I then looked at Wiki, of all places, and got the answer I was looking for. Aviatik was not an Austrian company, but a German one. That's why the Datafile didn't cover them - it's only about the German models. They opened a new factory in Austria, the Österreichisch-Ungarische Flugzeugfabrik Aviatik, which made the plane I'm trying to model. Still, there are no pictures I could find of the particular plane I want to build.

The kit comes with a nice metal top-half to the engine. The fuselage has a full cowling. I cut away the cowling and kept fiddling with it until the engine top fits in perfectly, then thought that maybe 32.19 had the full cowling. Too late to change it now. Then I remembered that in the summer they removed the cowlings for better cooling, at least according to sources on the Austrian Albatros.

The problem isn't the airplane, and it isn't the model. The problem, as I've been told many times, is that I think too much. As Bruce Lee said in one of his movies, "Don't think. Feeeeel."

Anyway, the fuselage is done, the lower wings are mounted and drying. Upper wing and primer coat (and likely much puttying and sanding) tomorrow.

[Sailor Steve]

Fuselage and wings painted, ready for assembly.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/8-171FuselageandWingsPainted_zpsafd6b30c.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/8-171FuselageandWingsPainted_zpsafd6b30c.jpg.html)

[Jimbuna]

Coming along nicely Steve :cool:

[Sailor Steve]

I seem to have fallen behind myself. Monday I had a lot of errands, and when I was done I was done in. No energy left at all. Yesterday I had some more things to do, so I didn't get back to the model until early in the evening. I ran into the same problem I had with the Albatros, namely that the upper wing is two pieces rather than one, and both mount to the central cabane. If the cabane is crooked, so is the wing.

The cabane was crooked. I tried adjusting it. No joy. I tried mounting the wings straight on the crooked cabane. There was a noticable gap on both sides. during the process I managed to jab my finger with the X-Acto knife. It didn't hurt much but it kept trying to bleed on the model. I finally ended up ripping the whole thing off and setting it aside.

This morning I started again. Mount the cabane struts to the fuselage. Glue the top piece, but only on one end. Place both wings. They're crooked, but the top piece is now semi-adjustable. Keep fiddling with it until the wings are straight. Glue the other end of the top piece. Glue the wings on. The struts aren't glued yet, but at least the wing is mounted. Three days behind schedule.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/8-211UpperWingMounted_zps449cbbda.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/8-211UpperWingMounted_zps449cbbda.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

All done except for paint, decals and rigging.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/8-221FinalAssembly_zps37e916ba.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/8-221FinalAssembly_zps37e916ba.jpg.html)

[TLAM Strike]

I don't know much about WWI aircraft so what is that squarish object above the engine?

It looks like it is right in the pilot's field of view. :o

[Sailor Steve]

It's the radiator. Not only is it right in his line of sight, if it takes a hit the scalding water will blow right in his face. No, not in his face. Maybe that's why they put the observer in front.

The fuel tank is also right over his head, suspended from the upper wing. No fuel pump, so gravity feed is a necessity.

Many of the early planes had radiators mounted on the side. See the AEG on page 4. The problem there is that a hit will drain it in seconds, since it's below the engine. Albatros, tried that with their first fighters, then moved it to the upper wing, where it could empty right into the pilot's face. Finally they moved it a couple of feet to the right. The Fokker D-VII, like the SPAD and SE.5a, has the radiator mounted to the front of the engine, right behind the propeller and out in the slipstream. If it takes a hit the water blows onto the engine.

I'll have close-ups when it's done.

[Sailor Steve]

Well, it's been eight days since I painted the national markings and put the decals on, and I haven't touched it since. I've looked at it a bunch of times, but just haven't had the will to get the job done. I've done a huge amount of research into my next project, but I won't start that until this one's in the bag.

Yesterday I decided to take it to the game unfinished. Halfway to the suitcases I dropped it. Luckily nothing serious broke, but one of the wheels popped off and though I searched high and low I couldn't find it. I have a new pair of wheels set aside for mounting and painting, but first I have to go to the hobby shop to buy some more brass wire of the appropriate diameter, and I'll probably make that part of tomorrow's errands.

Someday it will be finished.

Maybe. :dead:

[Sailor Steve]

At long last love! It's fnally done and ready for the game stand, not that I've actually used any of my new planes yet. Since they are all from the same period it's likely that the one with the best performance will get used and the others never will. Still, I like building and it's nice to have them.

The Austrian Aviatik B.II:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/9-21Done_zps09e32a65.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/9-21Done_zps09e32a65.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/9-23Done_zpsf6f90234.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/9-23Done_zpsf6f90234.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/9-25Done_zps066a0430.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/9-25Done_zps066a0430.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/9-22Done_zpsa44d1b4c.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/9-22Done_zpsa44d1b4c.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/9-24Done_zps83c389b5.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/9-24Done_zps83c389b5.jpg.html)

[Jimbuna]

That's one cool looking bird Steve :cool:

[Sailor Steve]

For my next project I may be a little too ambitious. I'm planning to build the Fokker B.II, but the plane itself is fascinating to me.

Fokker numbered their models with an 'M'. M1-M4 were Anthony Fokker's original 'Spin' ('Spider') monoplanes. M5 was the monoplane he based on the Morane-Saulnier 'H' he had purchased, M5K ('Kurtz', or short wing) and M5L ('Lange', or long wing). M6 was an M5L with two seats for observation use.

M7 was a sesquiplane based on the M6 fuselage, and had an upper wingspan 4 meters (15 feet) longer than the lower. They then made the M10e, which was similar but had a shorter upper wing and longer lower wing. Finally they made M10z, which was a full biplane.

There were only 20 M7s built, some going to the Kaiserliche Marine and some to the Austrian Air Force, which designated them B.I. The number of M10e is unknown, but tiny. They were also called B.I by the Austrians. M10z was called B.II and there were only 23 of them.

My problem is that I think both planes are cool, so the part I mentioned at the first about ambition is that I'm planning to build both at the same time. We'll see how it goes.

M7:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/BIM7_zps6489b09f.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/BIM7_zps6489b09f.jpg.html)

M10z
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/BIIM10z_zps20cda91c.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/BIIM10z_zps20cda91c.jpg.html)

[Buddahaid]

For my next project I may be a little too ambitious. I'm planning to build the Fokker B.II, but the plane itself is fascinating to me.

Fokker numbered their models with an 'M'. M1-M4 were Anthony Fokker's original 'Spin' ('Spider') monoplanes. M5 was the monoplane he based on the Morane-Saulnier 'H' he had purchased, M5K ('Kurtz', or short wing) and M5L ('Lange', or long wing). M6 was an M5L with two seats for observation use.

M7 was a sesquiplane based on the M6 fuselage, and had an upper wingspan 4 meters (15 feet) longer than the lower. They then made the M10e, which was similar but had a shorter upper wing and longer lower wing. Finally they made M10z, which was a full biplane.

There were only 20 M7s built, some going to the Kaiserliche Marine and some to the Austrian Air Force, which designated them B.I. The number of M10e is unknown, but tiny. They were also called B.I by the Austrians. M10z was called B.II and there were only 23 of them.

My problem is that I think both planes are cool, so the part I mentioned at the first about ambition is that I'm planning to build both at the same time. We'll see how it goes.

M7:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/BIM7_zps6489b09f.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/BIM7_zps6489b09f.jpg.html)

M10z
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/BIIM10z_zps20cda91c.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/BIIM10z_zps20cda91c.jpg.html)

Interesting and odd that I've never known of that Fokker. Your Aviatik came out nice crash and all.

[Cybermat47]

The M.10z has a E.III fueselage. That must've saved money :)

[Sailor Steve]

The M.10z has a E.III fueselage. That must've saved money :)
Yes and no. I'm sure it saved money, but technically both are based on the original M.5 body. The first E.Is were factory designation M5K/mg, but the production variant had longer wings and was Fokker designation M.14. The E.II was also designated M.14, but had the 100hp Oberusel U.1 engine, and had a slightly longer fuselage to balance the weight of gun and ammo. The E.III was factory designation M.14v. It had additional fuel tanks to extend the endurance from 1.5 to 2.5 hours. I did a lot of looking but still haven't found what the 'v' stands for.

The M.7 arrived at the front in January 1915, the M.10 in May, the first E.I (M5K/mg) in June, the E.II in July and the E.III in October.

In any case having a fuselage of almost the same length will make for an easier conversion, so it will save me money. There are resin kits available for the biplanes, but they are expensive. :sunny:

[Sailor Steve]

Interesting and odd that I've never known of that Fokker.
Then you may be very surprised by M.9, also known as K.I (Kampfflugzeug, or Battle Plane). It was an experimental design for a 3-seater, with the pilot sandwiched between two engines and the outer fuselages each holding a gunner. It was flown twice, once with only the pilot and then with all three. The test pilot said very bad things about the handling. It seems that none of the fuselages were attached to each other, only to the wings, and when the wings warped so did the outer fuselages! Very scary to fly, I'm sure.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/M91_zps7bbc7c2f.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/M91_zps7bbc7c2f.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/M92_zps9eeb2a7d.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/M92_zps9eeb2a7d.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/M93_zpsf6b17eec.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/M93_zpsf6b17eec.jpg.html)




Your Aviatik came out nice crash and all.
Thanks! I'm fairly happy with it, and the wheels look better than the first pair I did.

[Sailor Steve]

Project underway. I decided to use some Eduard E.III kits I recently purchased rather than the Revell kits, mainly because the Revell kit has the wing fit into a slot in the engine fairing and the Eduard has the wing taper around the fairing. If I used the Revell fairings I'd have to fill in the slots and sand them smooth. With the Eduard kits that's one step I can skip.

Two fuselages with floorboards assembled, one of them has the rear seat lot cut out.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/9-51TwoFuselages_zpsf8e1c8be.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/9-51TwoFuselages_zpsf8e1c8be.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Three days later. Fuselages assembled, lower wings and tail assemblies attached, upper wings assembled and all primered. The long upper wings and lower wing on the B.II required some cutting and gluing of eindekker wings, and it's nearly impossible to get them perfect, so there's going to be a bit of puttying and sanding before they're ready. Still, some progress has been made.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/9-81BasicAssembly_zpsaccea05e.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/9-81BasicAssembly_zpsaccea05e.jpg.html)

[Jimbuna]

^ That helps me better understand what you were explaining on Skype yesterday :yep:

Nice work.

[Sailor Steve]

After nine days of puttying and sanding over and over again, I finally have the wings to a level I can accept. Landing gear and cabane assemblies are installed and both were given a coat of CDL (Clear Doped Linen). I think I'm ready to put them both together.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/9-171CabanesandLandingGear_zps059b0325.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/9-171CabanesandLandingGear_zps059b0325.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

After careful examination of the drawings I realized the cockpit cutouts were too short. After lengthening the rear cockpit of both planes I had to relocate the deck between the pilot and observer and relocate the rear cabanes. I finally got the pilots and engines painted and installed and the forward metal panels and cowlings painted.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/9-191EnginesandPilots_zps3ebc8de8.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/9-191EnginesandPilots_zps3ebc8de8.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

After a whole lot of fussing, fidgiting, fiddling and fighting I finally got the upper wings mounted.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/9-221UpperWings_zpse14a810f.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/9-221UpperWings_zpse14a810f.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Well, they Fokker twins are done. Both are in early Austro-Hungarian markings, because they seem to have had the most of them, and because the German markings of the period are even more boring.

They both have very unusual rigging. Most biplanes have bracing wires from the fuselage to the inner struts, then to the outer struts if it's a two-bay. There are wires connecting the front and rear struts, making an 'X' between them. For whatever reasons they may have had, the Fokker B-Types had the front struts braced normally, but the rear struts had one wire from the fuselage to each strut, and nothing connecting the struts, either along the wing or fore-and-aft.

First up is the B.I, with its 7-cylinder 80-horsepower engine.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/9-251BI_zps83319778.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/9-251BI_zps83319778.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/9-252BI_zps0a1e463b.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/9-252BI_zps0a1e463b.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/9-25-3BI_zpscbd4da7c.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/9-25-3BI_zpscbd4da7c.jpg.html)

Then is B.II, with a 9-cylinder 100-hp engine and double-bay wings.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/9-254BII_zps25e286e9.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/9-254BII_zps25e286e9.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/9-255BII_zpsd8e70a4a.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/9-255BII_zpsd8e70a4a.jpg.html)

One of the characteristics of German B-Type unarmed two-seaters was that the observer was in the front cockpit and the pilot in the rear. When fighters became a danger and they started arming them, they left the arrangement alone, so they had to mount a machine gun in the front cockpit. This was done by putting a rail on each side of the cockpit. The observer could shoot aft or forward to one side or the other, with a steel bar keeping him from shooting either the propeller or the pilot. If he wanted to shoot to the other side he had to lift the gun off of the mounting bracket and fit it into the one on the opposite rail. Some crews tried carrying two guns, but this cause too much loss of performance.

B.II machine gun.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/9-256BIIMachineGun_zps5b8face9.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/9-256BIIMachineGun_zps5b8face9.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/9-257BIIMachineGun_zps1354941c.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/9-257BIIMachineGun_zps1354941c.jpg.html)

Both planes together, just for comparison.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/9-258Both_zpseb14ba43.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/9-258Both_zpseb14ba43.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/9-259Both_zps73c54373.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/9-259Both_zps73c54373.jpg.html)

Yes, the front view shows the unusual strut mountings of some German biplanes. The struts do not run straight up and down, but slope inward slightly.

[Buddahaid]

Those look great Steve. I imagine the odd bracing was in part due to the wing warping method for roll control, or did these employ actual ailerons?

[Jimbuna]

A fine looking pair Steve...I should be on Skype this afternoon :cool:

[Sailor Steve]

One of the things I forgot to mention is that I didn't have a seven-cylinder engine to put in the B.I. I took a nine-cylinder and cut off eight of them, then glued six back on, using a front-view drawing as a guide.

All that and you can't really see them anyway. :dead:

Those look great Steve. I imagine the odd bracing was in part due to the wing warping method for roll control, or did these employ actual ailerons?
No, these were warpers. I'm not sure how that affected the bracing, because these were the only planes I've found so far that were done that way.

Good stuff; great photos; and a new twist on "Meet the Fokkers"- scourge wise any how! How is that nice pitting effect done on the engine cowel?:smug:
I was trying to duplicate the "swirl" effect made on the real ones by guys using circular sanders on the metal. I used a Dremel drill, but it looks more to me like big holes in the metal. I finally settled on waiting until the paint was almost dry and stabbing it with a stippling brush. The big dents weren't intentional. :oops:

A fine looking pair Steve...I should be on Skype this afternoon :cool:
I was thinking that I'll be going gaming this afternoon. Then I remembered it's afternoon where you are now. I'm obviously online now. :sunny:

[Jimbuna]

I would never have realised had we not been talking as I was typing this :03:

[u crank]

Very cool Steve and very good photos.:up:

[Sailor Steve]

And my next project is...









DONE!

When I first set out repairing broken models I only rigged the ones I had repaired. Now I'm taking things in order as they come on our game generators, and the next one up is a Royal Aircraft Factory Be.2c. I built it more than twenty years ago, and it shows, but I'm not going to strip it down and rebuild it from scratch. I did add skids to the landing gear to represent an earlier model, but beyond that I left it alone except for rigging. Therefore the occasional glue spot shows where it's been repaired more than once.

The Be.2 was an early design meant just for reconnaissance and training, and it was designed to be very stable and gentle to fly. Once it got into a situation where maneuverability was required, it was found to have none. This made it an easy target for the first Fokker fighters.

One other historical note: Since it represents a pre-war aircraft hastily adapted for The Front, the markings are a bit odd. It was the Germans who first realized that if they put a large cross on the bottom of each wing their ground gunners would know not to shoot at them. The French thought this was a brilliant idea, and quickly followed suit with cockades (roundels) on the bottom wings. The British also thought this was smart, and put Union Flags on their bottom wings. They then found to their chagrin that while a red, white and blue Union Flag looked great close up, at 1000 feet in the air it looked like a large black and white cross, and Allied troops would shoot at them. The flags were painted on and couldn't be scraped off. Removing them would require re-covering the whole aircraft. The solution was to paint roundels wherever possible, so the troops would recognize them for what they were.

So here is my very old Be.2c, finally finished and rigged.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/RAFBe2c1_zpsf4cce878.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/RAFBe2c1_zpsf4cce878.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/RAFBe2c2_zpsbd4c9a49.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/RAFBe2c2_zpsbd4c9a49.jpg.html)

Just for Aktungbby: You made a comment earlier about not having a camera, and I mentioned that I had done it before and didn't have one to put on the Aviatik. Well, this was the one that I had done so long ago, and rigged it with the only scale camera I had at the time.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/RAFBe2c3_zpsc36aa13c.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/RAFBe2c3_zpsc36aa13c.jpg.html)

Finally, here are the Union flags, and the roundels on the stabilizers.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/RAFBe2c4_zps66e7bf82.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/RAFBe2c4_zps66e7bf82.jpg.html)

Oh, I also had a proud moment while gaming three nights ago. One of my fellow history buffs and gamers commented on the side-mounted gun on the Fokker B.II without me pointing it out first, and said he thought it was cool.

[Jimbuna]

Very nice :cool:

[Sailor Steve]

My next project is going to be another pair, this time two different versions of the Hansa-Brandenburg C.I. The plane was Austria's first armed two-seater, designed an built specifically to carry a defensive gun. It was designed by a young engineer named Ernst Heinkel, who would gain fame between the wars and in World War Two with his own company. The original design moved the observer to the rear seat and supplied him with a ring-mounted Schwarzlose machine gun. Hansa-Brandenburg only built 84 of them, but they were licensed out and Phönix built around 400 while UFAG (Ungarische Flugzeugfabrik Alles Gesellschaft, or Hungarian Aircraft Public Company) built more than 800. Phönix and UFAG both experimented with giving the observer a better field of fire by placing him and his gun on a tower. While this worked as far as shooting went, it made the plane less stable and stopped communication between pilot and observer. Since in German and Austrian practice the observer was the officer, and thus aircraft commander, it made it difficult for him to tell the pilot where to point the plane. Ultimately they supplied a second gun for the pilot to shoot, mounted above the wing in a streamline pod sometimes referred to as a "baby coffin". For some reason the version with the tower has come to be known as "Hansa-Brandenburg C.I UFAG", which leads some people to ask "What's an UFAG?"

This is what I'm facing:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/9-30Kits_zps068d4e8f.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/9-30Kits_zps068d4e8f.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Bodies cut out, sanded and glued.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-2Bodies_zps4ebe19bd.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-2Bodies_zps4ebe19bd.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

HOLY HANNAH! They did it to me again!

One of the problems I'm having is finding proper guns, especially Austrian Schwarzlose guns for the two-seaters I'm building right now. There are photo-etched brass kits to make cool tiny models of British, French and German guns, but none for the Austrians. The one on my Austrian eindekker was one of a pair somebody made in metal many years ago. It's been so long that I don't even remember who made them. A couple of companies used to make them in resin, but both are now out of business and finding them is proving extremely difficult.

I was on line looking at pictures of the real thing, figuring I'm now going to have to make my own. It still looks that way, but while I was looking on Google I looked at the images page for Swarzlose guns. One of the pictures immediately caught my eye, because it was that same eindekker close-up. And it led to that same picture in this very thread! It happened earlier with my Caudron G.IV, and I mentioned it then. It's just really surprising and really cool to come across one of your own models online somewhere you weren't expecting it.

WOOHOO! :rock:

[Sailor Steve]

I was uploading some pictures of my older models to my FaceBook photo album to share with my gaming friends, and I found out I didn't have any pictures of my ancient Morane 'L' parasol. I figured I'd steal them back from Subsim, and found that if they aren't in my Photobucket account then they aren't here either. I dug it out and took some pictures.

Another very early attempt at arming a two-seater - the Morane 'L'.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/MoraneL1_zps86b89b82.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/MoraneL1_zps86b89b82.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/MoraneL2_zpsfbca5a86.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/MoraneL2_zpsfbca5a86.jpg.html)

Another one with the 'MS' logo.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/MoraneL3_zps3d6b7720.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/MoraneL3_zps3d6b7720.jpg.html)

[Jimbuna]

Another great example Steve :cool:

[Sailor Steve]

Tailplanes.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-4Tailplanes_zps50fa21de.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-4Tailplanes_zps50fa21de.jpg.html)

One of the interesting things about these kits is that they are double-sided. Regular injection-molded kits provide a top and bottom half for the thick wings on newer planes, but the thinner wings on WW1 planes are a single piece. Vac kits are the same way, but this leaves ribs on top of the wings but indentations on the bottom. With the Be.2c I used the same nylon monofilament line I use for rigging to make bottom ribs, gluing them on one at a time. Later I just didn't worry about it, once again telling myself that they're only gaming toys.

These particular kits come with a top and a bottom for each wing. This makes rib bulges on both sides, but it also means twice the sanding and very careful fitting to make them the proper thickness, or thin-ness as the case may be. I've spent several hours sanding and fitting those stabilizers and rudders before I was ready to glue them on. I'm hoping to have the lower wings cut out, sanded, glued together and glued on by the time I'm done tomorrow.

I also got a cool little package in the mail today. Part of the fun of being a serious modeler is collecting interesting decal sheets. I have a sheet for the B-24 'The Dragon and His Tail', should I ever want to build that spectacularly-painted plane. What I ordered last week and recieved today is numbers. Specifically Austro-Hungarian serial numbers. I have a bunch of British and French numbers, and the little numbers for German planes, but the Austrians used special serials for each run of planes. As you can see, the Fokker B-types all started with '03.' and then serial numbers. Every Austro-Hungarian series had a two-or-three letter company code before the period, then a serial number behind. Scraping up numbers from random decal sheets was always a problem. No more. This new sheet from Blue Rider Decals has a pair of series codes for every type build, and a bunch of sets of numbers for the serials following the period. This sheet should number every A/H aircraft I'll ever build, with a lot left over.

[Sailor Steve]

Well, it turns out that this is more work than I thought. Given everything I have going on it took me two days just to do one set of bottom wings. That's one wing per day, and about four hours' work for each wing. I'm thinking about building one of them like a regular vac kit, with ribs only showing from above. I'm thinking about just finishing one of them and putting the other one off. I'm thinking about setting them both aside and working on something else for awhile. I'm thinking about going back to bed. :dead:

[Sailor Steve]

Well, after four days of cutting, sanding, scraping and gluing I finally have one set of wings done. ONE! A part of the slowness involves my ongoing fight with an ear infection, which leaves me more interested in sleeping than working, and a part of it is that it's very tedious work. I could save a lot of time by only doing the top half of each wing, like in a regular vac kit, but when done properly these actually look very good. So I'm taking my time and trying to do it right.

Anyway, the lower wings are mounted to the fuselage and the whole thing has a primer coat finally, so setting aside the other one for the time being this one at least is ready to be assembled. I've decided to do one of the early German Hansa-built models, so it won't have the forward-firing gun and part of the tail is cut away because early on they didn't have balanced rudders.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-8Primer_zps6b2b3773.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-8Primer_zps6b2b3773.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

Landing gear, cabanes and tail supports in place.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-91LandinggearCabanes_zps11e8a66f.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-91LandinggearCabanes_zps11e8a66f.jpg.html)

[Sailor Steve]

I didn't work on the model at all Thursday, instead preparing myself for game night. After coming home I couldn't sleep, and didn't manage to until about 04:00. I slept pretty well after that, but yesterday I still didn't feel like working at all.

This morning I applied the overall paint scheme of Clear Doped Linen. After a few hours' drying time I went to work on the wood fuselage. I'm not overly happy with the current result. I hand-painted a medium brown overcoat, and liked the result, but I've been thinking that plywood isn't normally that dark. Of course that depends on the varnish used, but still I wanted to try something lighter. I painted on a dark tan color, and to me it looks gloppy.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-12Paint_zps4a6d82c5.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-12Paint_zps4a6d82c5.jpg.html)

Tomorrow I'm going to try sanding it a bit to see it that improves the appearance. If not I'm thinking of stripping it completely and starting over. We'll see how it goes.

[Sailor Steve]

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.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-131CrewTankGunRing_zps962b2e66.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-131CrewTankGunRing_zps962b2e66.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Models/10-132CrewTankGunRing_zps574e16ac.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Models/10-132CrewTankGunRing_zps574e16ac.jpg.html)