Steve's Models

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Well, the part I've been dreading the most finally came and ended up going fairly quickly and easily. No 100 Squadron was organized for night bombing, and the paint scheme was mostly black, which I liked enough to want to do that one. The problem was it would look silly without the bombs.

The FE.2b night bombers carried a rack under each wing and one under the fuselage. Each rack could hold four 25-lb 'Cooper Bombs', or two 40-lb bombs, or one 112-lb bomb. In addition the center rack could be modified to carry a single 230-lb bomb. Nothing like the two 500-pounders a P-51 could carry in WW2, but pretty big for the era. The maximum bomb load was 350 pounds, so if they carried the big boy in the middle they could only carry four 25-lbers or two 40-lbers total. I found some 1/144-scale bombs that would do for the Coopers, but where to find the big one? Then, on the top shelf, I saw that I had a 1/72-scale Vickers Vimy kit. I opened the box, and sure enough, there was a whole tree of 230-lb bombs! I only needed one.

The hard part was assembling the bomb racks out of .020 (.508 mm) brass wire. Again it went a lot faster and easier than I expected. I guess I'm having a good day. Anyway the bomb racks are installed and the bombs are mounted. Tomorrow we paint!









Oh, yeah: The reason the big bomb is slung so low is so it won't hit the propeller when it drops.

I see it!Armorers loading 112lb bomb? on FE 2b with Cooper's on wings

[Sailor Steve]

I didn't do anything Wednesday - recovering from a night playing music. Yesterday I got it painted but forgot to take pictures. Today I was going to put decals on, but ran into another snag: The night bombers had white rings on the bottom wings, and I don't have any. I've looked online for a decal sheet that has them, with no luck. I do have a sheet of white decal paper, so the solution was to buy a special tool for cutting circles; basically a compass with an X-Acto blade on the outer point. It's on the way, but I have to wait until it arrives.

I'll be starting a new project tomorrow while I wait for the tool to get here.

[Aktungbby]

What flat black paint are you using for the night camo?

[Sailor Steve]

I completely forgot to post the pictures!

I had bottles of Testors flat and gloss blacks. I usually use gloss paints because decals require a smooth surface. When everything is done and dry I give it a coat of DullCote. Since neither one of my black paints would open (except the one that opened itself at the bottom) I stopped in at an Arts & Crafts store and picked up a bottle of Testors Aztek black acrylic paint. Normally I don't use a flash for pictures, but this was so dark I took two - one with and one without.

[Aktungbby]

Ya gonna go with three three gun 'custom' cockpit?

[Sailor Steve]

No. I'm not doing an FE.2d.

Yet.

These guys know how to do it right.
http://thevintageaviator.co.nz/proje...b/flying-fe-2b

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

No. I'm not doing an FE.2d.

Yet.

These guys know how to do it right.
http://thevintageaviator.co.nz/proje...b/flying-fe-2b

AHH I didn't realize the 3 gun config was relegated only to the 'd ' because of R.R. engine size... I had caught the post for the rebuild too. gorgeous and dangerous; as the type that put both Immelmann and Richthofen out of business. Von R. probably never should have flown after his head wound but they didn't know that in 1917. "Von Richthofen stayed in the field hospital for 20 days until July 25, 1917 (figure 2). He left because he wanted to take command of his wing again. The skull wound was not closed, and the bare bone was probably visible until his death. He was advised not to fly until the wound in his head had healed completely. There is a special mention of the fact that even the surgeon in charge held this opinion in the medical file. It was also recorded that "without a doubt there had been a severe concussion of the brain and even more probable a cerebral haemorrhage. For this reason sudden changes in air pressure during flight might lead to disturbances of his consciousness". A series of medical conferences was held in the autumn of 1916 sponsored by the Prussian Ministry of War concerning the evaluation of fitness for military and combat duty of soldiers who had received injuries or wounds. Kurt Goldstein (professor of neurology from Frankfurt am Main) gave a lecture on brain injuries and concluded that fitness for combat duty would only be restored in rare cases and that a qualified evaluation of the course of disease was necessary to make such a determination. He pointed out that only 20% of patients with a skull wound and only 4% of those with a brain injury wound were deemed fit for combat duty again. According to those recommendations, von Richthofen should not have been allowed to return to active flight duty since he was diagnosed as having a concussion and cerebral haemorrhage. The physicians and surgeons who treated him knew this, as can be concluded from their strong recommendation to von Richthofen not to fly before his head wound had completely healed." http://www.pilotfriend.com/aeromed/medical/red_baron.htm

[Sailor Steve]

Changed my mind again. At first I decided that the white circles could come last; being on the bottom wing they wouldn't interfere with the rigging, so I could put them off. Then I decided to try cutting the white parts out of a large roundel. They came off pretty well, so I went ahead and put them on. If I change my mind again later it won't be much of a chore to redo them. If not, the money won't have been wasted. I've been wanting a cutting compass for a long time now anyway.

[em2nought]

Reminds me of my first pinewood derby car my pop "helped" me build.

[Buddahaid]

I missed your last update. It looks the part very nicely.

[Sailor Steve]

Update without pictures. I started painting the crew, and found that after four months it wasn't just the black paint that had dried up. Other jars opened alright, but the paints were sticky and wouldn't take thinning. tomorrow is game night, and the only decent model shop left may be out of my way normally but is on the way to the gaming place, so I guess I need to stop and buy some paint. The list is fairly long now...

[Sailor Steve]

Thursday the 28th I picked up some paints on the way to game night. Friday I painted the crew. Saturday I was busy with other projects, and yesterday I drilled out all the rigging holes. Today I got the main rigging on the port wings done.

[Sailor Steve]

Starboard wing rigging completed.

[Aktungbby]

Superb! In looking for FE2a shots, came across this in Russian but with a lot of night Fe2b's http://flyingmachines.ru/Site2/Crafts/Craft25439.htm And sunday sevices from the nacelle of a Night bomber!: "Gott Strafe the Hun?" WOOPS! but what great tail rigging focus shot:

[Sailor Steve]

Main rigging is finally done. All I have now is the flying rigging (control wires) and a whole lot of touch-up work.