Scratch-Building the Boeing Model 1 in 1/72 Scale

You might consider building it from wood, like the old flying model kits.  However, since you don't intend to fly it, you can build it with basswood instead of balsa.  Makes for a stronger model, and weight won't matter.  Cover it with doped tissue- many hobby shops still have tissue and dope.

I should have mentioned- if you like Boeing early commercial aircraft, Checzk Models made a very nice kit of the Boeing model 40.

Sorry I haven't responded sooner. I've been locked out of the forum. I'm currently posting from my local library trying to fix the problem

I work almost exclusively in plastic, so building one from wood isn't really in my field of interest. I have the old Merlin kit of the Boeing 40, and the resin kit was one of the options I've considered. There is also a resin kit of the 200 and a nice vac kit of the Model 80 trimotor. I may do one of those when this is finished.

I do appreciate the suggestions.

After a couple of days off I got back to building. Today's project was to cut out copies of the sides, top and bottom and glue-stick them to some very thin plastic. So thin, in fact, that the paper and glue-stick made the plastic curl. Then I had to measure and draw the bulkheads. They aren't perfect right now, but they are oversized so it will be easy to sand them down later.

Everything is cut out and ready for assembly.

After a week of frustration and anger I figured I'd better post an update. I've tried over and over again to perfect the louvres for the cowling, with no luck. I've tried cutting and pulling, cutting and punching, and gluing plastic rod. The .020 quarter-round rods looked the best, but were just too large, and that's the smallest they make them. They do make a smaller fully round rod, but they just don't look right.

I found a company that makes louvre punches specifically for 1/72 scale, but I need to call them first, so that has to wait until Monday. I'm also considering trying to sculpt the things, but there are 78 of them so that's a last resort.

Meanwhile the PE cockpit interior set I ordered arrived yesterday, so I'll divert my attention to that for a couple of days.

I'm more than a little embarrassed over not posting anything for so long, but at least I have an excuse (and a note from the doctor). I spent the week following my last post fiddling with louvres some more, still with no better results than before. I finally broke down and bought a punch-set from UMMA. They say they are releasing a set of louvre punches to go with it, but they won't be out intil the fall, far too late for this project.

I finally set it aside and started on the fuselage. The first step was to experiment with the ribs. I'm used to scribing out the ribs, leaving small grooves into which I glue nylon thread. This method works pretty well, but is quite tedious. I decided to try a method I had read about years ago, but was never brave enough to actually start. This is to use a straight-edge and a scribing tool to scribe the ribs from the inside, which leaves a bulge on the outside. I glued the fuselage floor, forward frame and right side together, then scribed the ribs into both sides.

The tool used was a ball-point pen, which should be obvious from the black lines. I recently read an article by a builder who uses a bamboo skewer, sanded to have a round end. I may try the same with a toothpick next time.

Finally I took a picture of the scribed ribs from the outside.

Again, sorry for the delay, but it is still happening.

I like that rib scribing technique Steve.  It looks pretty effective to me.  Good luck with the project, you have a great start.

And I can sure sympathize about the flu.  I was stricken on a Sunday in early March and felt like hell for almost two weeks.  My flu shot didn't help much I guess.  Here's hoping your recovery continues!

Gary

Love viewing scratchbuild projects. They do take time, but always a delight to see.

Another two-and-a-half weeks gone by, and I'm starting to despair. My computer started having major problems, which ended in a complete reformat, and then re-installing everything the way I like it. It's true, but it also feels like an excuse when I type it out. And it is, because like some others I also suffer from lethargy, and when I do have time I sometimes don't have the inclination.

Anyway, the cockpit interior is almost complete. I had some perfect steering wheels from a Vickers Vimy kit - circular with four arms. I set them aside a long time ago and now I can't find them. I came up with some etched brass wheels, but dropped one and lost it. Finally I took the steering wheels out of a DC-3 kit. They only have three posts and are open at the top, but I mounted them upside down and once it's finished they should look just fine.

First picture shows the etched throttle quadrants, and the second is of the almost-complete interior. I need to do the instrument panels, but it should be together tomorrow.

Only four days this time!

I decided the instrument panels might be better left until the fuselage was assembled, so I could sand the frames to the right shape before the panels go in. I ordered a pre-colored seat belt set from 1001 Model Kits, and after nearly two months of not hearing anything they finally emailed me saying they couldn't get them. At least they refunded my money.

I frequently use masking tape for seat belts.  The run of the mill hardware store tape- the tan stuff- is a good color for belts. Cut strips to a three inch (scale) width.

  Depending on scale, you can just color in buckles with silver magic marker, or for larger scale bend buckles up out of silver colored wire.

Thanks for that, Don. The British cockpit set I bough has belts as well, but the ones I ordered were pre-colored. I've been considering masking tape, and your advice has pushed me further in that direction. I'll give it a try today.

Thanks, Steve. I had hoped to have the cockpit done today, but a neighbor invited me to lunch, which turned into a jam session. which turned into...

It reminds me of a joke I heard awhile back: "I was going to take over the world today, but I saw something shiny."

At the rate I'm going it should be done in time for the 200th anniversary.

Minimalist instrument panels. I looked for some instrument decals with black needles on a white background, but couldn't find any that would fit the etched-brass bezels I had. I finally glued the bezels in and then dabbed on the white paint with a .020 brass wire and did the needles with a .008 steel guitar string. When they were dry I dabbed on a little Micro Krystal Kleer for the glass. The magneto switches are a couple more bezels filled in with copper paint, and a piece of the guitar string glued in place. Once the upper deck is on it should look okay.

AmazingAmazing scratchbuilding skills steve.

A google image search for specific instruments will find loads of instrument images.  If you have a decent graphics program (try GIMP for free if nothing else) you can resize them for the scale you are building.  Print these on glossy photo paper and mount behind the bezels.  Use one of those windows/transparency cements.

Thanks, Don. I'll remember that for next time.

I went ahead and ordered some cool fake-fabric seatbelts from Eduard. While I'm waiting for them to arrive I decided to start on the tail. First came the rear decking. I tried to bend some super-thin plastic to shape, but I couldn't quite get it round enough. Then I remembered that scoring the ribs into the side panels caused them to curl, and I had to straighten them out again. I scored the rib lines into the decking and sure enough, it curled up to exactly the shape I needed. I love it when that happens.

I tried mounting one side first, but I couldn't get the ribs to line up properly, so I mounted it from the center and worked down toward both sides. This worked out well. Unfortunately the plastic is so thin that even the tiniest amount of cement made it sag. Filling it with putty will likely make it worse, but I remembered solving a similar problem a couple of years ago by hand-painting some thick paint, so that's probably the way I'll go.

Shaping up really well, Steve.  Love the frame effect.

I love scratch making/building things. This is great, and I would love to do something similar such as Sopwith Camel, or even a Fokker tri-plane in 1/32nd scale. It's harder when you have to build something accurately than your own design of course. I love the challenge any way. You can also use fabric ribbon available at sewing stores, and at Jo Ann fabrics, and Michaels. You can cut this down to the thickness you need, then glue the edge to keep it from fraying. It also makes a more realistic looking seat belt/saftey belt than painted paper, or tape can. I use this for anything similar, and I also use it for figures, and other things where a slightly satin appearance is needed.

~ Cobra Chris

I hand-brushed some primer on the deck to see how it looked, and it looks like I have a lot of sanding ahead, and maybe even a strip-down and redo. Meanwhile I experimented with the stabilizer. I considered sanding down a thick piece of plastic to shape and then using a round sanding stick to shape the ribs. First I wanted to try the scribing method. I cut out two of the super-fine sheets and scribed the ribs into both of them. I was gentler this time since the ribs are fairly close together so there shouldn't be as much sag, and even less so on the bottom. I then glued the two pieces together, being careful with the glue so the plastic wouldn't melt. It worked just fine, but unfortunately I took the picture at the wrong angle so the ribs don't show up! They will once it's painted.

Got the rudder finished yesterday. Put the tail together today and gave it a primer coat in CDL (Testors Sand ANA 616 in this case). Needs a bit of cleaning up before moving to the next stage.

Yeah, a little work but it is coming along nicely. It looks like a kit build.

The seat belt set I ordered arrived Saturday. Sunday is "pizza-and-movie" day for me, so I just got them installed. It's not PE, but a set from Eduard called "SuperFabric", printed on paper like a very thick decal. You peel it off the paper with an X-Acto knife, use tweezers to place them and white glue to fix them down. Very flexible but strong, and it was easy to peel apart when I accidentally glued them to each other. A bit of work, but worth the time and the money.

The only bad part is that the close-ups reveal that I still have some more sanding to do.

This is getting really frustrating. I want to finish the nose, so I've spent the last five days trying to get the louvers right. Continuous failures, and the best one so far still looks lumpy and bad.

Is that plastic or aluminum, and are you slitting the panel on the open side before using your die on it?

Plastic, and yes.