Wow guys those look great! I'm getting a bit of cockpit envy here since the 1/48th Eduard kit I'm building has a wood floor, a seat, a control stick and a throttle...

Tim, I decided a long time ago that the Mike and Marc show is just something to aspire to.  To expect to achieve the same is just too daunting a task for me to take on.

I think your D.VII looks real good.

Mike - beautiful cockpit on the E.III, sir!

Tim - D.VII is lookin' fine - I like the wash on the engine.  Enjoy the party, too!..

Minor setback tonight...finally glued all the resin cylinders to the case, trying to keep them all aligned and straight.  Managed OK, but then I decided to check the fit of the rest of the components.  The exhaust manifold is too tall - meaning I went brain dead (common occurrence, despite my best efforts) and trimmed the cylinders to sit too low.  That's what I get for going nuts with the tiny drill bit.  Sigh.  Oh well...the kit injected engine is actually pretty good - and yes, the exhaust seems to fit it just fine.  Back to square one.  I did manage to get all the wood areas prepped, so I should be oiling and graining soon.

Hope everyone is having a fun, safe, and productive weekend!

Tim, look at your photos again... you have no reason to hide

jeaton01

Tim, I decided a long time ago that the Mike and Marc show is just something to aspire to.  To expect to achieve the same is just too daunting a task for me to take on.

I think your D.VII looks real good.

John, nice of you to say.  But nowt go sell that show idea to some network as the latest reality show and make us all rich.  Won't be worse than any of that other realty crap that's on.  Oh wait... we would be up against shows like profession beard growing.  So never mind.   

Hmmm, now where is that sarcasm smilie.  I guess this will do... 

Quick post before pre-party prep:

First: Thanks for the support, guys. A bit of hyperbole there to give Mike a thumbs up. I'm pretty happy with mine, but I definitely see where I can make some improvements the next time around.  

Second: I think I figured out the fuselage problem and should be able to add the side rigging after all.

Third: I found some wire to make suitable spark plugs, so before I close everything up, I'll finish wiring the engine. This week's vlog should be full of goodies!

Chuck - OUCH! 

Marc -  Here's the title of the new show: "Extreme Glue." Synopsis: Things get nasty in the world of competitive model building. We follow six die-hard scale modelers as they navigate personal relationships, contest intrigue, shady third-party vendors, and models that just won't go together, all on their way to a best of show at the IPMS Nationals!

Finally, Aaron and I have been going back and forth about the number of turnbuckles we'll need for our D.VIIs. We're poring over images, and it looks like there are two for the rigging between the wheels and then two on the control lines just outside the cockpit for a total of four. Does that sound right?

Also, we're going back and forth between Gaspatch and Bob's Buckles. If we went with Gaspatch, which turnbuckles would be the appropriate ones to purchase? We're thinking C.

Thanks!

Oh Chuck, sorry man I missed your post somehow.  That's to bad but the good news when it comes to things like... ya got a lot of company.  (This is where I recall gluing fuselage halves together leaving out the cockpit tub... TWICE!)

Tim the synopsis is perfect.  And if the titles for these shows are not some sort of "Extreme" they play with the words.  We could go with, "Plastic ModHellers!"

BTW... how ya fleeing?  I'm still cough my brains out.  In fact, so hard I nearly blacked out while driving.  Decided maybe another trip to the doc was in order.  Developed bronchitis.

Yikes, sorry to hear what some of you fellas are going through. Marc, bronchitis!? That's nasty stuff. Hope you guys get on the mend soon. I hate being sick in any way - drives me nuts! Aside from the obvious discomfort, the worst part is the boredom that accompanies it.

Tim, I'm digging that D.VII. Looks great, and the weathering on the engine looks spot on! Regarding the turnbuckles, I received my Gaspatch order last week. They are gorgeous, they're shipped fast, and are the one's I'd recommend for yours and Aaron's Fokkers. The "C" buckles should work fine for both of you.

Chuck, bummed to hear about your engine woes. Those resin pieces really looked sweet and I was stoked to see the finished product. Nice that you have the kit engine as a backup.

Chuck, why don't you see if you can pop the cylinders off of the crankcase and shim them up some?  I've been able to do that with other resin ports, even with CA the bonds aren't that strong.  If you can't use the engine otherwise, there doesn't seem to be much of a downside.

I agree with John.  they should pop off no prbelm

Gamera

Wow guys those look great! I'm getting a bit of cockpit envy here since the 1/48th Eduard kit I'm building has a wood floor, a seat, a control stick and a throttle...

Cliff, I wouldn't worry too much about that. Many of the 'pit openings on these birds are so small anyway, especially in 1/48, that much of it is not even visible once everything gets closed up (trust me - I know I knocked myself out detailing the snot out of many of my 1/48 WWI 'pits, only to wonder where it all went once they were buttoned up).

How's the build going so far? Have you decided on how you plan to do that aluminum doped finish so common to the Nieuports?

Well, I decided I couldn't settle for no grain or shading on the woodwork, so I drybrushed on some umber oil paint with a stiff brush and then tried an overcoat with Tamiya Clear Yellow on a few spots.  It didn't look quite like varnish to me so I went with Clear Orange as a final coat and I like that better.  See what you think.

I got all excited tonight because I had used up all the parts for the fuselage and realized it was time to assemble the side frames with the cockpit parts.  There is some control rigging for the throttles that I might have been better off to put in before the assembling, but I wasn't sure if I could route it correctly that way so wish me luck.  There is rigging in the sideframes and x-bracing to do as well.  Got to get some of those Gaspatch things.

Lots of decals are already applied, you can actually read the open and closed placards next to the throttles.  I like how the pilot's wicker seat came out.  I preshaded with a thin flat black, wiped a lot of it off, then did some thinned coats of clear doped linen (Humbrol, have a bunch of that), then the Clear Orange.  The leather areas are Model Master Leather.  For steel I am using Model Master Non-Buffing Metalizer, it has a very nice fine grain.  Aluminum is Floquil.  There is a grease pump for the interruptor gear and I dipped it in SNJ Bronze until it had a nice color, it is by the pilot's right foot.

John, that looks awsome. The amoint of detail going into these buyilds is stunning.

wing_nut

John, very nice start there indeed.

Oh yes... the tolerances  I remembered from the 1st Albatros I built the fuselage halves needed a good squeeze to close up.  Not masked though Mike.  This time I scraped 'em out with a micro chisel.

Moving forward in the fuselage I got the next bulkhead  done with he fuel tank and magazines.  Are they called bulkheads or formers inside a fuselage?  Started in on the engine too.  hard to see in the pic but the valve rockers arm springs that are nothing more than tiny pegs on the cylinders where replaced with springs made from copper wire.  A little dry brush will make them visible down the road.

Before you all jump on me about the ejector pin marks i am adjusting my philosophy from, "I fix them because I know they are there." to, "If they won't be seen they won't be fixed."

Lovely work. I love the look of the wood.

I think its time i got round to an up date. This is an OOB build of a rather old Airfix kit, so theres nothing like the detail you guys are putting in. Its been slow going but i think the thought of doing the rigging has put me off a bit. But decided to just bit the bullet and get it done.

This is the kit.

Thanks for the help with the fabric colours, i used the tamiya deck tan and it worked great.

Then got the fuselage together and tail on.

Just got one more wing section to get on before painting, so hopefully another up date soon.

Hi Bish,

this old Airfix kit of your is going great. Reagarding the rigging, many modellers fear it, but it is all a matter of very carefull planning! Also I don't know how much experience do you have with rigging biplanes, but do all the holes and glue all the eyelets (if you use such things) before glueing/painting the wings! If my comment is not relevant please excuse me.

Keeping my eye on all the wonderfull builds going on around here. Keep up the good work guys!

Reagrds,

Sasho

Sasho, thanks for the advice. No, i have never rigged a bi plane, so this is a new one. I am not useing any eyeleys. The kit wings do have holes for the rigging, but they have missed a lot out. I think i have a plan for doing it, i am just not entirely sure how the rigging should go. Some images seem to suggest two line of wires along the front of the wing and two along the back.

this old kit have holes for the rigging? Strange, are you sure those are not the holes for the struts? I confess that I haven't build this particular kit, but it sounds strange to have predrilled holes. Anyway you should be sure where all the cables start and end, drill the missing holes and just then start continue with the wings. I know that this can be a challenge. Between I'm not sure if it is ok to post some links with rigging tutorials, but if you need help, I'm sure that here are a lot of people that will have usefull advices

Reagdrs,

Sasho

Yep, it deffinatly has holes for the rigging. All the struts are in. The instructions have you doing the rigging in one big section. I'll get some photos tonight before i star painting. I think it would be ok to post a link to a rigging tut, that would be much appreciated.

here are few usefull links:

this post sums it up very nicely

www.austinsms.org/Rigging-Scale-Mode-Biplanes.pdf

Des's site have not just rigging tutorials but many many other usefull hints and if I have to recommend a single WWI site this is it:

ww1aircraftmodels.com/page8.html

I generally always use eyelets for rigging as they allow easier tensioning (is there such a verb in English) of the wires and if you brake a wire its fairly easy to replace it. Turnbuckles I use only for 1/48 or 1/32 scales. I tried the technique with drilling a hole thru the whole wing, but it requires to paint the wing after it is glued to the rest of the plane and this turned out quite messy. So I don't recommend it.

regards,

Sasho

Thanks Bish.  Yours is coming along real well too.  But I have to add, you've got a big set of walnuts to do that aircraft in that scale for your 1st stab at rigging.

John that is one nice interior.  The control panel looks great.

Thanks Marc, not my aidea though. My other half thought it would be something different.

Jeaton: That cockpit looks fantastic, I love the IP and the leather seats!

Marc: Don't think I commented but yeah I too love that awesome gas (guess I should say petrol here) tank. And the wooden seat looks great.

Bish: Neat aircraft! Nice to see a big bomber make her way into here. Now we need a friggin' Zeppelin!!!

Mike and guys: I glued the Nieuport together this weekend. Just need to add the top wing and the struts to it. I'm trying to make sure everything is straight and aligned.  I don't think the aluminum dope should really super shiny like Alclad right? So I've been thinking I'll use Polly-S aluminum paint instead. We'll see how it goes. I've got some E-Z Line I intend to use for rigging, first time for me so it will be a little intense.

I thought I'd post my latest build updates,  I still have the struts to paint then I can gloss coat the entire model to even out the paint,  and then I can start rigging!!!  This will be my first time at this,  I do have all the holes pre-drilled, so hopefully it goes good.

John

Sasho, thanks for those links, will have a good read through those. I am not sure if there are any eyelets in 72nd scale are there. Might be a bit small threading those lol.

Jeaton01 - I like it. The wicker turned out very nice. That is a monster plane. And speaking of monsters ...

Bish - Wow! I'm with Marc on his assessment: you definitely took the go big or go home approach.

Falconmod - The D.III is almost there. Love the green camo effect.

Gamera - Can't wait to see some photos.

GOOD JOB EVERYONE!

OK, gotta dash.

here is my update, the cockpit is ready for closure and then it is going to be easier...at least I hope so.

Bets reagdrs,
Sasho 

Thanks Tim. You guys are giving me some real confidance about this.

Sasho, looking good.

Greetings:

I finished the engines this weekend and started on the hull.

First, the two Rolls Royce Eagle Mk. VIIIs.

As you can see, I replaced quite a bit of the kit's crude plastic piping with wire and solder.

The bottom of the hull is made from 6" wide mahogany planking, by boat builders.

Nice work GM. And i am going to show my ignorance here. When i saw the hull/fuselage, i had to check what byou were building then had to have a look at what it was. I am guessing by this

The bottom of the hull is made from 6" wide mahogany planking, by boat builders.

your not reffering to the model. How did you do that.

Sweet looking work by all

I finally cut some sprue and have the engine together, about 17 pieces and three hours later.  There are 3 coloured PE pieces that look to be nameplates of some sorts that I did leave off.  I think though it be easier to add them now before painting and just place some masking tape over them. 

No progress pics worth posting yet, but I did find this decent shot of the Daimler 200hp engine.  More pics and other museum photos here: http://www.mincbergr.net/index.php?page=en-ad6-200-hp

regards,

Jack