Hey Guys, an extension sounds great, I'd like to have a go at starting and finishing that E.V. if it's OK?

 Great... Looking forward to seeing that Saulnier return to the bench too.

 Stephen, The Osprey Aces series is a great series of books. The color plates are very helpful and the personal history of each of the pilots is well written. I've started a collection of these spanning WWI and WWII, both Allied and German Aces. A very nice prize indeed.

Hi all,

Here is my next contribution to the group build - the Aeroclub 1/48 RE8.  This one is going to be painted up in the markings of 3SQN, Australian Flying Corps.  Anyone who has tackled an Aeroclub kit knows that they can be quite rough, but in 1/48 this kit is the only game in town. 

So far, progress is limited to the RAF4a engine.  The Aeroclub engine was fairly heavily and roughly cast, but also had some fine details buried away.  I managed to carve a basic engine out of the flash and get something with which to add some details. 

Luckily for me, I will be modelling the aircraft with the cowls on so nothing much can be seen below the engine bearers or around the sides, so minimal detail in these areas is required.  There was no detail provded for between the banks of cylinders, so I added some details from wire, solder and plastic based on a few photos of the RAF4a that I could find on the net.  I also added some rocker arm details atop the cylinder heads.

I replaced the heavy and crude white metal air scoop with one scratch built from sheet brass and plastic.

I sat her all into the fuselage to see how she looked - looks roughly like an RE8 to me!  Looks like some work will be required on the tail fins as well...

Here is the engine with some paint thrown on:

Next I will start work on the interior.

All feedback welcome!

BC

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Brad,

That engine looks great! I am looking forward to seeing the plane that it will go in.

Frank,

I can work with Halloween for now (to be honest, I was hoping for the end of the year).  Due to my other favorite hobby (cycling ), it took a little extra time to wrap up the Pfalz and take the photographs, download them to Photobucket, and get to this point.  Anyway, here are the Pfalz D.IIIa and Hansa Brandenburg W.29, all finished. 

Comments from one and all are always welcome.

I apologize for the shadows, but I took the photos outdoors this evening after I finished a ride.

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Scott

Stephen,

I sent the PM, let me know here whether you receive it or not as I have had limited success using them in the past.

Mobius,

Thanks so much for the kind words.  

Frank,

The Hansa Brandenburg W.29 was the first kit that I was building for this GB.  If you recall, I was down to the last decal when my luck ran out.  After letting it set and collect dust for several weeks, I finally decided that it needed to be finished.  The kit comes from Eastern Express, and is a reissue of a kit originally produced by Toko.  It is 1/72 scale and is about the same size as the Pfalz in 1/48, so it was a fairly large plane in real life.  I decided that my story is that this plane lost its left wing while landing in rough water.  When the new wing was installed, it had a different size cross painted on the upper surface.  Well, at least that is my story, and I am sticking with it.

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Scott