The group build to end all group builds - THE GREAT WAR

John, I think you should post some pics. We have a lot of tread heads in here, as well as guys who appreciate a great build. I say go for it.

Dang Mike, that's looking SO GOOD!!  That streak camo looks AMAZING!  So does the engine....you need to share how you painted it, it looks quite real!  One thing I've learned from this GB is how you guys go about building and painting these bi and triplanes.  Its interesting how you keep parts like the wings and tail assemblies separate and join them AFTER the painting is complete.  I don't know how you keep all the struts and supports aligned during this!!    I guess I'll need to do the same thing with the Pfalz, but I'm eager to figure it all out!  The one thing I'm dreading is doing the rigging which I've never done before...ever!  But I'll give it my best shot! 

BTW, I've decided to do some detailing so I'm going to use the Eduard Pfalz as the basis for doing the Glencoe interior, plus the Wingnut Wings site that you so thoughtfully directed me to!  THANKS!!

URL=http://s479.photobucket.com/albums/rr153/jtrace/?action=view&current=GEDC0117.jpg][/URL]

I hope this works....

Yeah jtrace!!  That's a nice Mark IV Male tank!!  Thanks for posting the pics!

Work has started on the Pfalz D.III.  The Glencoe kit is seriously underdetailed so, with Mike's encouragement, I've started detailing.   The cockpit. is up first and the only part provided is the seat, which I cleaned up, sanded down to fit better and thinned out to a more scale thickness.  I added some seatbelts made from wine bottle lead oil and buckles from an Aber PE set.  Probably not accurate but that's all I have to work with and I'm just trying to "suggest" some cockpit detail and accuracy.  Then using the Eduard Pfalz D.III kit as a guide I started scratchbuilding some of the pit using Evergreen stryrene sheet, strip and rod. 

This is all I've manage to do as most of today was spent researching and studying the two kits to determine a game plan.

I also added a brace (?) to both fuselage walls which I now can add some gauges and controls to!  I'll clean up the excess glue when its solidly dry tomorrow.

That's it.  More pics and updates in a couple of days.

Thanks Buffle,its built oob (Ehmar) except for the anti ditching log..... Needed alot of putty on the sponsons but a good fun build..

John

John, that's a great-looking build ya have there! Thanks for sharing it with us!

Ernest, I'm glad you decided to beef up the 'pit. It's gonna be a vast improvement over the kit parts. The trick to rigging these birds is to plan well ahead, making sure your attachment points are drilled and ready before final assembly, and knowing which rigging medium you plan on using. The fact that you chose a bipe as your first aircraft speaks volumes. If you can build and rig one of these puppies, anything else with wings should be a breeze.

The gear struts are on the DR.1 - a lot easier than first anticipated. Eduard engineered this kit well. Even after I shortened them to lower the stance a bit, they still fit like a dream. The engine was painted with Alclad II dark aluminum and given a black pin wash to pop the detail. Grime was added with the help of Tamiya weathering powders. I am nearing the home stretch on this one. More pics soon.

Hello Boys, I 'm baaAaack!

Been 10 days thought it was time to check in.   Having a heck of a time kicking this modelling funk I am in.  Have not been away from the bench this long since getting back into the hobby in '05.

John... A HUGE congrats of the Empire Night win.  So now do you believe me when I tell you that you're a tread head?  And no worries about not knowing aboutthe GB.  I do beileve we talked about it before you finished that beast.So grab a badge.

Mike, well what can I say.  Too sweet looking>  That is gonna be the poo when it's done.

Ernest, no surprise you are ending up adding s0em scratched bit.  I had a feeling you might.

Good to see ya Marc! (....and now please explain this image stuck in my head of Randy Quaid, an FA-18, and a big alien space ship !)

Thanks Marc,good to hear from you... I worked long and hard on that bugger a whole lotta putty,lol.... Gee, my first win and my first group build badge,I am honored.... Stay in touch,hope to see ya soon,I know your not building right now but let me know if you want anything from Mosquitocon.

John

Mike, sorry, can't explain that at all

John the work you put into that shows.  Sure don't need anything fork MCon.  Probably gonna be EBaying some kits that I know I will never build... even if I do start up again.  BTW, I added your model to the completed builds on my site..  What kit was that?

You don't think you'll get back into it?? I hope you do.. My Mk.IV was made by Ehmar in 1/35th scale,If you have anything I might like let me know before you e-bay it...Also how do I add the group badge?

John

Yeah John, I'm hoping Marc gets back into it as well. His builds IMO have to rank among the absolute best I've seen on this forum (or any other for that matter). Regardless of subject, his works are always top-notch - he has no 'comfort zone' - IOW, he can build anything and make it look great, a rare talent, and he'd be missed.

As for your well-earned badge, what I do is upload the image to a hosting site like photobucket and paste the image link into your profile.

You're sitting in the same position I was before I did an Academy Sopwith Camel last summer: fist biplane etc. (I've got the WingNut Pflaz III so I'll be watching how you handle things.) Just in case you've missed it, there is an incredible resource for bipes at http://www.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.html . This site is a real labor of love and is run by an extraordinary Aussie modeler named Des Delatorre: it includes extremely detailed photo builds of perhaps 20 bipes along with tutorials on all kinds of subjects, including the WNW Pflaz VIII which is marred by that horrid late war German camo. Methinks you'll find that the rigging is actually quite manageable. And you'll find that the rigging does what it's supposed to do - it makes the kit stronger. I have heretical views on this subject. Depending upon what you're after, you might want to go scale plus on rigging. I did mine with very light mono (Des' weapon of choice, although fly tying thread is a good option.) What you'll find, however, is that unless someone is viewing from close range, the rigging becomes extremely indistinct - it would be invisible if you used some of the very fine thread favored by some folk. I might try 4lb mono on another Academy kit I have (want to warm up for the WGN): if that works, I'll use the same approach when rigging ships. I think this is a major matter because biplanes are terrific display items (as are elaborately rigged ships) - the Camel is always the plane people first notice even though it's far from my best work. Obviously stuff like position and lighting make a big difference. The real fun and games might be setting the wings. On my next bipe I'm going to employ my new best friend for ship PE - Aleene's Tacky Craft Glue. (Comes in super tacky and fast drying also: cheap and found in any craft store and probably most hardware stores.) As the name implies the stuff has astounding "grab" but will let you fiddle around for a while while you get things set. Wipe off the excess when things look good. Goes very nicely with a little dab of CA.

Eric

John I doubt I am out for good.  It would take a significant shift in the balance of the universe for that to happen  When I go through the stash and make a list i will let you know.

Mike... WOW. Thask so much for those kind words. From a modeler sucj as yourself that is no small compliments.

Ed...How strong is this tacky glue you mention?  Where would make it in a comparison to gluing a PE part to plastic with say Elmer's at the low end and CA at the high end? 

I agree 100% Ruddratt on Marc's builds I have seen many in person and all I can say is wow......I don't know how he does it lol......Thanks for the info on posting the badges

John

EBergerud

...because biplanes are terrific display items (as are elaborately rigged ships) - the Camel is always the plane people first notice even though it's far from my best work.

I totally agree. When people look at my completed builds, it's the bipes that get the first and most 'ooooohs' and 'aaaahhhs'. Not a ship guy myself, but I did build a fully rigged Constitution for my dad many years back, and to this day it is still quite the conversation piece when his friends come to visit (I invested about four months on that build - longest for any of my projects).

Geez, gave me a good shock there with your 'out of it comment' Marc. Glad to hear you are still going to be in the hobby, I always look forward to seeing your builds online and in person. It would be a loss to the modeling community if you stopped.

Waikong, when I saw your post i immediately thought of Mosquito Con and how I put a post up in the Gen'l area.  I almost forgot... maybe cuz it's not too likely I will be going.  But it's not an impossibility either

Ah, it's that time of year again. My output last year though was poor, not too many contest worthy builds. The only one that stood a chance was done as a gift for a decorated Vietnam pilot - and that's been shiped off already. 

If you don't show up, you will be sorely missed.  I always enjoy your displays, especially those 1/144 eye sight harming wonders.  I was looking forward to see your wingnut wings butilds too.  Well, hope you show up and hope you get your modellilng *** back.

Copy that, waikong. I miss seeing Marc's builds as well. So many of the detailing techniques he uses are really quite innovative.

Work has been progressing steadily on the DR.I. Most of the fiddly bits are on, so I've been focusing on the gun assembly and doing a bit more weathering. The next pics I post will most likely be of the completed build, with some detail shots of the guns (those AM sets for the Spandaus are little gems).

On a side note, has to go get some x-rays this morning - that shoulder of mine still has been more than a bit wonky the past few weeks, and got me to thinking that maybe I oughta get it looked at and see if there's anything out of whack.

Mike, sorry to hear about your shoulder. Best of luck at the doctors.

Mike, take care of that shoulder and get better soon!  You're one of my inspirations for bulding these WWI bipes!!

On a side note, I was flipping through the movie channels this morning and found a 2008 German movie called, "The Red Baron".  I don't know how accurate it is, but the aerial scenes with all those Great War aircraft was amazing!  I kept rewinding to check out the paint and camo schemes of all the fighters!!    To be honest, I've never watched any WWI movies with aircraft (like "The Blue Max"), but I found this movie fascinating!

Yes the above mentioned movie is German made, but received harsh reviews.  The action scenes are great, as well as the background scenery (a whole town was computer generated).  It's downfall was fictitious events and the scenes jumped abruptly from one time frame to the next.  For a person with no knowledge of the Red Baron and WW1, it would be tough to follow.

regards,

Jack

Thanks for the well-wishes fellas, and Ernest, glad I could help inspire you to take a crack at these amazing machines. I'm very much looking forward to seeing them all.  As the x-ray tech did not freak out after viewing my shoulder, I'm assuming there's no broken bones or anything like that - probably just soft tissue damage. I'll be getting the full low-down this friday.

....and now, some pics (of the DR1 of course, not my shoulder ). Have to say I really enjoyed this kit, and I'm glad it's the dual combo version, because I get to do it all over again. Anyway, I hope you enjoy looking at the pics (which I'm glad to say are getting much better thanks to all the great advice on this thread).

or perhaps

OH WOW

Outstanding work and the photos are head and shoulders  above your earlier ones.

Oh and do confirm once again that your shoulder injury was not, from patting yerself on the back, as told to me by...

... Cough-Cough (sorry bit of dust) ,  eh?

Mike, Mikester, Mike-a-arama.   D,D,D,D,D,DAY-UM!  That's nice. Are you going to start the "pretty" one now?

Got you on the website and tweaked to color balance a little.  Hope I went in the right direction.

Got to go back cuz I missed what's up with your shoulder.  What' ever it is I hope it's OK.  I am going through a thing with the MC joint at the base of my thumb.  Getting worse by the day and I can get a doc appt. 'til Friday.  I won't be able to hold a pen by them

The DRi came out fantastic! LOve the streaking, the black/white scheme, and those nice pe macine gun jackets.

P.S. That brings the build total to 20

Marc, sorry to hear about your thumb. Best of luck at the doctors. I'm actually sick at home too - "getting old stinks, until you think about the alternative"

Many thanks fellas! Those were all awesome comments and I do appreciate them very much!

Waikong, sorry to hear you're feeling under the weather - hope you're feeling better soon!

Marc, the shoulder injury came from a tumble I took on the ice. It bore the entire brunt of the fall and took quite a hit. Not sure how long ago it was (6 weeks maybe?), but it's still pretty sore. ....and take care of that thumb of yours. I'm hoping everything goes well at the docs.

My next entry for this GB will be to finish up that WnW SE.5. It's been sitting in limbo way too long. First though, I need to attend to a few other GB commitments, but I'll still be around!