Hey, great work there Fred!!! Looks pretty darn close the replica at the museum in Kill Devil Hills NC. It's amazing that you can walk the distance of the first four flights in less than than five minutes or so. 

Way to go, Fred!! That's a sweet build for sure. A very ambitious project for your first try at complex rigging, and you pulled it off nicely! What did you use for rigging material, because it looks amazing - nice and tight like it should. Very nice job!

Looks very well executed!

Thats a really nice build, and somthing you don't see everyday. 1/39th, thats an unusual scale. How old is this kit?

Thanks, guys

Mike, the kit includes a spool of silver-grey thread, which is nice because it means you don't have to go looking for it.  Far as I can calculate, the kit has 7 1/2' - 8' feet of rigging, and I still have quite a bit of thread, left-over.  I found the trick to tight rigging for the wings, is a dab of CA and accelerator, at key points.  You don't need it at every point, but the first, last and maybe 2 points in between.  For the rest of the build, I used glue only at the first and last points, to secure it in place.  If I could do it all again, I might consider using 2lb test line, only so I wouldn't have to deal with the thread fuzzies.

Bish, the box is marked 2011, but the molds are from the 60's.  There was a re-release in 2003 for the 100th anniversary.

The one omission in the kit that bugs me, is a way to keep the props on the shaft.  If you don't glue them on, they just fall right off.  I ended up fashioning a stopper, out of brass tube.  It looks good, but it's not something everyone is going to have in their supply. In all my extras, I couldn't find a single poly-cap that fit, correctly .

All in all, it was a fun build, and as a fan of aviation, I felt it was something that I had to have in the collection.  I'd recommend it for anyone with the patience for rigging (and repainting all the wood pieces, to look like wood).

-Fred

Gigatron

  I'd recommend it for anyone with the patience for rigging (and repainting all the wood pieces, to look like wood).

 What was your technique for the wood pieces?

The whole thing looks really good. Very impressive.

Hey Dave,

The wood is pretty easy - it's a technique I came up with, a few years ago. 

First I airbrush the base, Radome Tan.  After that's had time to dry, I brush on Leather (or another dark, woody color), using a short bristled brush (I took one of those cheap  plastic handled brushes and cut the bristles down to 1/4"). Get some of the dark color on the brush and start puling it in the direction of your wood grain, wiping off the excess as you go.  This will create streaks, revealing the tan underneath.  It's like a heavy dry brush technique.

After that's all dry, give it a coat of Future, which will warm the hue, making it look like wood.  You can then flat coat it, if you're going for the old wood, look.

-Fred

Cool technique Fred.  Thanks for sharing.

I've had this kit in my stash for a while but have felt daunted by all the wood, fabric and rigging.

Like you I feel I really need to add it to the collection due to the historical significance. I hope I can do mine justice as well as you did.

Came out great! Really beautiful.