StephenLawson

The numbers being red on Guynemer's machine are a bit questionable. An original source say that they were green.

Many thanks for the heads-up. I'd read that might be a possibility, but "wienied out" and went with the kit decals in the interests of expediency.

Bob, Gamera, Mike & bsyamato, thanks for the encouraging words. Onward and upward!

Awesome works Greg  

Greg, those are both stellar! I mean really top-notch stuff! Can't wait to see what you do with the Sopwith.

Greg: I love both of them, fine work sir!!!

WOW !! Once again I want to thank you for posting the builds. You did a great job ( based on my limited experience anyhow ). A good friend of mine tells me that " Real airplanes have propellers... who wants to ride around with a lit candle stuck up their !@#$ ". He also says that " Real airplanes have two wings ". Based on the way your builds look I'm almost there !!! GREAT JOB !!           Bob

Very Decent work.  The numbers being red on Guynemer's machine are a bit questionable. An original source say that they were green.

Finally got these out of the way so I can proceed with my GB Sopwith BABY. Thanks to all for your encouragement and observations.

First, Capt.Georges Guynemer's well-known machine from Escadrille SPA3, Summer 1917:

The second is the SPAD VII of 5-balloon ace Sgt. Pierre Cardon of SPA81, May-June 1918. Greyhound decals from Eduard's Profipack SPAD XIII sheet.

Insane i say too about the le micro triangles   avoided to do on my spad because too little!

I've been looking at the progress and it looks outstanding.... particularly for 1/72 scale. I can only hope that some of my future WWI 1/48 builds will turn out half as good. Please keep us updated. Thanks for posting.                                                  Bob

Great job on the bellcranks Greg, nice work on such teeny-tiny parts.

nuts !!!

CallSignOWL

yer insane!

great looking builds. :)

Thanks. I just do what the voices in my head tell me to do.

yer insane!

great looking builds. :)

Moving along...

In a final spasm of pre-GB insanity, I decided these two wouldn't be proper SPADs without the characteristic bellcrank mechanisms that worked the SPADs' ailerons. After not finding any suitable etched leftovers that would fill the bill (honest, I looked), I decided bits of styrene and stretched sprue would do as well.

And what it looks like in place:

Rigging should be next, unless I think of something I forgot.

Both SPADs are really looking sharp, Greg! That 's a lot of struts to line up, and the alignment looks perfect.

Work is moving along. Guynemer's wing is on (no rigging yet) and, best of all, everything is pretty much squared up and straight.

Second bird has the camouflage and a bit of weathering/detail applied, "Futured" up and waiting for decals.

Have a good weekend, all. Thanks for the nice comments.

Wow! excellent scratc work on both Greg :)

Greg, good stuff! Can't wait to see them finished.

You know, I've rigged ships since I was a youngster (Dad was a ship modeler), but I haven't rigged a biplane in a long time. Truth be told, I'm both excited and a little nervous. But it's a good kind of stress.

A DH.2!? In 1/72?! You're a brave man, Greg, and after that one, nothing should intimidate you. I haven't gone anywhere near my Eduard 1/48 version (but I do have a Wingnut Wings Fe.2b waiting in the stash).

Thanks, Mike, for the words of support.

I'm not really worried about the rigging--I've rigged a lot of bipes over the years, big and small. Once I'd fully rigged the old Revell 1/72 DH-2, I knew I could handle just about anything after that.

Those are really looking sharp Greg!

....and don't fret the rigging too much. Just take your time and start from the inside working out. You nail those two SPADs and rigging your 1/48 Sopwith build will be a breeze by comparison.

Now comes the fun part :)

Thanks all. I'll try to get closer photos, but they're the scary ones...they show all glitches.

Small progress. Wash added (and---mostly---removed). Windscreen, exhausts and Vickers gun added, the latter scratchbuilt since the kit one is essentially only 2-dimensional.

Kit's windscreen is seriously thick, but it'll do in this scale.

Next up: top wing and (gulp) rigging.

Outstanding work Greg. I would love to see closer photos.

Those look awesome Greg, love the detail in the cockpits

Thanks to all for the encouraging replies!

Looking good Greg. Cockpit looks great.

Jim

Nice!  Love the cockpit work.

Outstanding results.  Great looking cockpit.  Nice work.