Knights of the Sky II- The End

SC, she is looking sweet. I love the DVII and this is definately shaping up to be a blinder.

...Guy

Also-- need to waste a little time?  Ha.  Here you go!!!!

http://www.rocksolidarcade.com/games/dogfight2/

SC--

That looks really nice, man.  Really like the way that is turning out!!!

Thanks for the input guys. I have seen other people heat the PE when making round shapes with it but I never stop to think that some PE is stainless steel like Trumpeters and some are brass like Eduard. I have never had a problem with PE. I have done many complex shapes and the etchmate made it very easy. I have never had to roll the PE into a round shape before. I might as well dive in as half of the techniques I used to get this far I had never done before either. One more trick I can add to my bag!

                                                                                         Soulcrusher

Soulcrusher,

I have to concur with Stephen here.  Brass, especially Eduard PE, should bend (or roll in  this case) with minimal effort, and should not require heat.  I have built a few of the older DML Knight of the Air series planes with the stainless PE parts, and probably could have made my life easier by heating them first.

I almost wonder if some manufacturers don't read these group builds as there was a fair amount of conversation in KOTS I and now in this build about the need for streaked camouflage decals.  I was amazed when I saw them advertised in my mail order catalogue and then in Fine Scale.

Stephen,

The blue could also be the fact that the sheet itself is blue, and my eyes may be carrying that over a bit.  Anyway, I have a question regarding the rigging on my Pfalz D.IIIa.  Eduard's directions show the rigging for a D.III where the "a" model appears to have an additional line from the forward outer protion of the upper wing down near the supports on the lower wing.  Any light that you can shed will be appreciated.

soulcrusher wrote:

I see in the new issue under new products streaked camo decals by Gunsight Graphics. It would have made my life alot easier if I knew about these two months ago! Small update. I have the upper wing mounted and surprisingly I was able to install it without any special tools or any major problems. Now time to try my hand at assembling the photo etch guns. Something else I have never tryed. I know to heat up the photo etch to make it easier to work with I just do'nt know how good I am going to be at turning flat brass into a round tube. Anyway here are are a couple of pics.                                                                          Soulcrusher

STOP RIGHT THERE!!!!!!! Do not heat the PE if it came from the Eduard kit. It is the type you do not heat.  It bends easily.  Use a drill bit of the appropriate size and use it to wrap the PE gun jacket around. 

I see in the new issue under new products streaked camo decals by Gunsight Graphics. It would have made my life alot easier if I knew about these two months ago! Small update. I have the upper wing mounted and surprisingly I was able to install it without any special tools or any major problems. Now time to try my hand at assembling the photo etch guns. Something else I have never tryed. I know to heat up the photo etch to make it easier to work with I just do'nt know how good I am going to be at turning flat brass into a round tube. Anyway here are are a couple of pics.

                                                                         Soulcrusher 

More Power Scotty wrote:

". . .Stephen, I saw those streak patern decals offered in a mail order magazine that just arrived over the weekend.  They do look nice, but as others have mentioned, I think the hand-painted can look a little better, but for those not wanting to try their hand at this technique, they now have an alternative.  One question, is it just me, or does that Microsculpt set have a little bit of blue in the base color?"

Not blue but an impression of grey.  It maybe your monitor here. This attempt was done with usinga a base colour that represents bleached linen.  With the streaking tends to give you the greyish yellow. 

Justin,

I feel your pain brother!   I pretty much abandoned my first entry for this group build due to a decal problem.

Frank and all,

I have started my Pfalz D.IIIa, and am just about ready to join the fuselage halves.  I did get some interior photographs the other evening, so once I download them from the camera, I will post them here.  The graduation ceremony went well last Sunday, and my son was the first speaker (does a dad proud).  He wanted to have the party this weekend, so I am spending extra time preparing the house and not at my bench, but there should be more time available soon, and the kit is still moving forward better than I anticipated.  Fortunately, there are not too many decals on this Weekend Edition kit.

Marco,

Very nicely done, especially that propeller!   I have now built four of the Eduard Strip-down kits, and one thing is for certain, they are fragile. 

Stephen,

I saw those streak patern decals offered in a mail order magazine that just arrived over the weekend.  They do look nice, but as others have mentioned, I think the hand-painted can look a little better, but for those not wanting to try their hand at this technique, they now have an alternative.  One question, is it just me, or does that Microsculpt set have a little bit of blue in the base color?

Here is a bit more on the Gunsight graphics.

MrDrummy wrote:

StephenLawson wrote: Think about it this way. These components were often / easily damaged and replaced.  At least temporarily while the original wing was  repaired. Maybe yours was replaced at the unit level where all they had was lower surface fabric to use for replacement fabric. . .Just a thought. Yes, I have a lot of experience with IPMS judges. Model on! Haha.  Yeah, I've thought about that, but then I'd have to have extra fabric for the bottom of the wings, which I don't.  It's just a big mess.   You know what happens when I make a big mess?  I build a 109.  Ha.  Once I kick out the 109, I'll be back to the Fokker.  For the moment it sits in its box and waits.

I know how you feel Justin. The slow pace of building required to build these fragile biplanes can really bog you down. Especially if you have a setback like both of us had. You with the decals and me with the fuselage streaking. I  set my Fokker aside for a bit and build a 1/48 Hasegawa Macchi 202 to get me moving agian. It worked and now I have been making slow but steady progress. I have the upper wing in place and about half of the struts in place. Giving the ones I set in place plenty of time to dry before handling the model and adding the other so nothing comes undone. Will have some progress pics up soon.

                                                                                       Soulcrusher

StephenLawson wrote:

Here is a bit of a taste on the Microsculpt set.

Now that does look nice. I think the brushing of the Field Drab into the mix really makes the right difference but even without, those decals look great. Very nice Stephen.

...Guy

StephenLawson wrote:

Think about it this way. These components were often / easily damaged and replaced.  At least temporarily while the original wing was  repaired. Maybe yours was replaced at the unit level where all they had was lower surface fabric to use for replacement fabric. . .Just a thought. Yes, I have a lot of experience with IPMS judges. Model on!

Haha.  Yeah, I've thought about that, but then I'd have to have extra fabric for the bottom of the wings, which I don't.  It's just a big mess.  

You know what happens when I make a big mess?  I build a 109.  Ha.  Once I kick out the 109, I'll be back to the Fokker.  For the moment it sits in its box and waits.

Here is a bit of a taste on the Microsculpt.com set

MrDrummy wrote:

". . .Hmmm.  I guess it looks like I'm going to have to make some model-type purchases whenever the funds become available.  BUMMER!!!!  Looks like the D.VII is going to be on hold for a bit. . ."

Think about it this way. These components were often / easily damaged and replaced.  At least temporarily while the original wing was  repaired. Maybe yours was replaced at the unit level where all they had was lower surface fabric to use for replacement fabric. . .Just a thought. Yes, I have a lot of experience with IPMS judges. Model on!

Hmmm.  I guess it looks like I'm going to have to make some model-type purchases whenever the funds become available. 

BUMMER!!!!

Looks like the D.VII is going to be on hold for a bit...

Justin I just dug out the Eduard box with the second kit in it. Apparently you can only build one with the five color lozenge pattern like the Fokker I am building now and one with the four color pattern. All that is left in the box is two sheets for doing the upper and bottom in 4 color. I think yours is the four color pattern but either Eduard or Roden got the colors very wrong because the colors on the Eduard lozenge sheet are alot different than the pic you have posted. I do'nt think they will do you any good because they are not going to match the Roden decals at all. Sorry I thought I could help you out but I do'nt thing these decals will match the Roden one at all.

                                                                                Soulcrusher

Frank-- those decals look really nice...  now I just have to decide if I buy them, or take up SC on his offer...  I think that my wife would like the latter...

Hey, SC!  Many thanks, man.  If you think you've got enough extra to do the tops of the top and bottom wing, I'll gladly take them off your hands!  If not,  I can literally pay for my mistake and buy some of those fancy decals...  The thing I like about these Roden decals is that they are in strips.  It seems like some of the others are just in big sheets.  That doesn't sound like fun!

 Hey Stephen, the triple play tridecker's are outstanding. I agree with all that has been said already. The decals look good, but the streaked camo you've painted has subtle variances that cannot be accurately reproduced. I really am looking forward to seeing updates on the trifecta tri fokkers.

 Marco, that is a cool tiny build. Huge on detail. Very cool.

 Justin, Sorry to see the lozenge camo mishap. Don't feel bad, I still haven't succesfully completed a Fokker of any kind in a decent looking lozenge camo. And I still need to get started on the E.V soon.

What a bummer Justin. I thought it was just me that had those sort of probs. Crusher you are a great fella for the offer. So many top blokes on these forums.

...Guy

Man that is a real bummer there Justin. I am the king of the redo's I can tell you how many paint jobs I have stripped and redone because I did not like the results. Are you doing a    1/48 Fokker D VII? If so I have some extras. Both 4 color and 5 color lozenge patterns from my Eduard dual combo kit.. I would be happy to ship them if you want. I post a pic of the colors and you can decide if they will suit your need. just let me know buddy.

                                                                                        Soulcrusher

Thanks, Frank!  I have been decaling all night-- and then awoke from my slumber with but one thought (which also goes to show that I need to get a life...) *GASP* "Did I put the wrong color lozenge on the upper surfaces!?"

Alas, I did.  I have finished the top of the entire upper wing in the lozenge that SHOULD BE on the bottoms.  *sigh*  What a waste of time AND decals!!

Ok, boys.  Who sells good aftermarket lozenge decals?  

Thank you everyone for the kind works, If you guys like it than I think all of the time I spent on getting it right was worth it.

Marco that Dr I is amazing and so small! Very impressive!

                                                                                   Soulcrusher

Marco the DR.1 is simply stunning. Im so impressed im on the search for one now LOL. Great work.

Stephen, The streaky decals do look a little on the 'Uniform' side for my liking but id love to see a good period photo to compare them against. Im with Frank on your streaking. Very nice. And what a production line you got going on. Geez, your a machine mate.

...Guy

Justin- The Mercedes looks very nice indeed!  Can't believe you're decalling already!

Marco- Stunning work!  What a little gem you have there, especially the photo of her sitting next to the bottle of paint.  Don't know how you managed to acheive such good results so quickly.  Thanks for sharing the pics!

Stephen- I like your progress on the Dr.I, especially the streaking.  The streaked decals are nice, but a bit too uniform for my tastes.  Your painted version looks better IMHO.  Well done!

Here is a bit of fun with the Gunsight Graphics streaked decals on an Eduard 1/48 Fokker D.VII fuselage. (Early Schwerin of course.)

Stephen-- the streaking on those wings looks awesome!!! How much easier is the Eduard kit than the Dragon? 

Marco-- that little triplane is absolutely stunning.  I've never seen something so small and detailed, and again, I'm totally jealous of your propeller!  Great job!!

StephenLawson, you're doing an excelent job on your triplanes! That streaked camouflage is really great.

I've complete my small triplane, although I should have painted the "4th wing" (the one between the landing gear wheels) differently. It was made of plywood and not canvas, has I originally thought. I only realized this after completing it. Even so, I managed to remove the canvas texture and tried to add some wood grain, but everything is very fragil, and I wasn't successefull. I'm going to leave it this way. Here are some photos:

 I hope you like it.

Cheers