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:

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.

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/a3...psa993212a.jpg

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.

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

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ps14d46766.jpg


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.

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/a3...psb3727a33.jpg

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/a3...pse9141fc8.jpg

Coming along nicely :cool:

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/a3...ps9385dc70.jpg

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

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:

Landing gear main bracing and engine mounted.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ps454b6d86.jpg

Starting to take a bit shape on now :cool:

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.

That's a pretty cool looking site :cool:

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

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/a3...ps21a040b6.jpg

Plastic:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...pse642d8bd.jpg

Pattern:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ps55530a33.jpg

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

Sanded to shape.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ps22d18d33.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ps761b5162.jpg

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.

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/a3...psf4e47d23.jpg

Deck in place.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ps3a9ec488.jpg

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/d...2013Run079.jpg