:Kaleun_Applaud:

All the control cables are complete, and touch-up paint is done. All I have now is to install the prop, pilots and guns. It should be finished tomorrow.

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

:Kaleun_Applaud:

Four months and eight days. Eighteen weeks and two days. One hundred and twenty-eight days. Too many distractions. Too much procrastinating. It should have taken four weeks tops.

But it's done. That's all I have to say. The rest can speak for itself.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...psnoa2o9dv.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...psgqijt2bj.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...psqmij1xgj.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...psf88dva36.jpg


The guns are brass kits I ordered from a shop in the Ukraine. Very fine details. The front and rear sights are etched brass (very tiny, and they offer three different rear sights). The canvas shell bags (to keep spent cartridges from going into the propeller) are thick plastic. The wrinkles were made by squeezing them with a pair of pliers.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...psb7fnexnj.jpg

I broke out the game stand to get some "in flight" shots (also some better angles).

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...pstl96qki5.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...psnzl9xdqw.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...psg232faiz.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...psdkye9xol.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...pssntmsq5s.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...psjbjeat8q.jpg

Tomorrow I need to repair some broken models so I can use them again.

What tangled webs we weave!
 

Sorry. I couldn't get a decent close-up, and the Union Flag is almost impossible to make out anyway, so I didn't mention it. I used the logos of the Standard Motor Company. During the war they made aircraft under license, and while I can't find any confirmation that the FE.2 was among those, they certainly made propellers for a variety of planes, so it was a simple choice. Also, I like the Union Flags.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Motor_Company

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...pso2ipudth.jpg

That is absolutely a fantastic piece of modelling right there. :up:
I love this thread you have shown some real dedication in building these great aircraft.
No matter how long it takes you to build them the end result is always fantastic. :o
keep up the good work Steve :yeah:

Now that is something rather special mate, the gunner in particular and the rigging really set this apart and beyond most of your other fine efforts :sunny:

I spent today's model building time cleaning up after the last mess, organizing tools and paints, throwing away old reference sheets and filing the ones I think I might need again.

The next project is another Royal Aircraft Factory job, a B.E.12. Since the Allies still had a severe shortage of fighter types it was decided to try to turn the B.E.2 into a single-seat fighter. The engine was upgraded from the V8 RAF 1a to the 150-hp V12 RAF 4a, and it was given one of the earliest Vickers gun mountings, to the port side of the fuselage. It still had the great shortcomings of the BE.2, being a very stable aircraft, which meant it was slow to roll and slow to turn.

There are no available kits of the aircraft. Formaplane used to make a vacuform conversion for their BE.2 kit, but it is long out of production and impossible to find. I happen to have a second copy of their original BE.2 kit, so I'll be doing the conversion myself. I thought about making a BE.12b, which had the 200 hp Hispano-Suiza engine and looked like a BE.2 with the nose of an SE.5 tacked on. I like its oddness, but it only came out late in the war and was used strictly as a home-defense night fighter.

Still, here is my starting point.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ps8rly6ess.jpg

I meant to get started yesterday, but I got busy with other things (including catching up on some much-needed sleep). Today I got the fuselage halves cut out and sanded and the meagre interior installed and painted.

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

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

Fuselage halves together. A lot of filling and sanding ahead.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ps42z34vui.jpg

Some putty, some primer, lower wings cut, sanded and mounted.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...psgrill32c.jpg

Tailplanes mounted. The kit tail surfaces are all curved, due to the nature of vacuform molding. Rather than try to sand them so both sides are the same, I cut them out and used them for patterns to cut new planes from sheet plastic. These were compared to the three-view drawings and sanded to the right shape and size. I then sanded the edges to a curve and the tail ends to a knife-edge. Next was making the rib lines. In real life these are raised, but on the model it's hard to tell the difference when they're scribed into the plastic. Again, if it was a display model I would have gone that extra step, but to me it's pointless for a game piece.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...psrymihvq0.jpg

Tomorrow will be the landing gear.

Landing gear installed.

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

Wish I'd checked on this thread before...I'm a big fan of pusher planes so obviously I'm in heaven.:D Although I don't think their crews liked them very much. :rotfl2: