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

DOOGS - The rigging is looking Great!!

MARC - Nice save!

Both tracks have been painted now just have to adjust them and get them attached on.  Here is a partial section of how these Model Cellar tracks look.

DoogsATX

Marc - EPIC save! That's the kind of thing where, if I encountered it, I would have said screw it rather than pull the friggin' wings off!

 

PANZERWAFFE

DOOGS - The rigging is looking Great!!

MARC - Nice save!

Both tracks have been painted now just have to adjust them and get them attached on.  Here is a partial section of how these Model Cellar tracks look.

I've got the basics done on the Emden- Revell 1/350 kit. I'm kind of at a stopping point until the PE shows up.

Out of the box a good kit and I have high hopes for the detail parts.

The Pup continues to almost be ready for rigging. Strut and prop logo decals are now on. Tomorrow I'll seal them, install the Vickers gun, and start mounting eyebolts.

Hopefully the Uni-mono shows up tomorrow or Saturday so I can start rigging!

I'm also considering stripping off one of the landing gear wires, since it keeps going out of taut on me.

Doogs - your build is look'n A1

Well was off the whole week and it is almost over, and don't have much to show for my Fokker build (busy with other things around the house).  Did three bends on the photo-etch framework and glued one piece to it.  This is a product from Part, but was designed for the Roden kit, so will have to thin the insides of the Eduard fuselage halves to get it to fit. 

The Aber fret arrived in the mail today, so back to the figure.

regards,

Jack

Rob-those track looks sweet.

Doogs-Can't wait to see that all rigged up.

Bondo-  Looks great.  Ship PE scares the hell outta me

Jack- Yikes that's small  But should look terrific in the fuselage.

Sean... The late answer to your question is yes and no.  The cabanes are real thin and I was worried about too much pressure on them.  And if they lifted the upper wing high enough to be in the right spot the lower tips wold have t come way up to get the inter plane struts in their holes.

Trying to get the last bits done so I can get the upper wing installed.  I made a jig for the cabanes by laying out the holes pattern from the wing to a piece of .030 plastic sheet and gluing on some strips square to the leading edge and thrust line.  Makes for an easy visual reference so the cabanes are set just right.

The Aber set for the Spandaus is awesome. And a final mock up before everything is glued in place for the wing install.

The "new" lower wings with some dihedral.

Jack - my goodness that's small! After the experience with this Pup, I couldn't imagine building a WWI-era bipe in 1/48. Much less the psychos who build them in 1/72!

Marc - OMG LOVE those Spandaus! Master makes a set that look pretty gorgeous as well. Sadly, no love for the Vickers yet, and if there's a weak point with this kit detail-wise, I'd have to call the Vickers as it.

And it looks like we're in a race to install the top wing. Mine's probably going on tonight. Depends how efficient I can get looping mono through micro tubing!

Last night was spent on eyebolts! Eyebolts, everywhere! 

And another lesson learned - glue the eyebolts in place with medium CA. Dipped and placed with thin CA at first, but couldn't get enough onto the wire to fill the holes they were being mounted in. Started pulling them out, dipping them in medium CA, and dropping them back in place. Rock solid.

I've messed up enough on this Pup that it'll never be more than a shelf queen, but with everything I've learned, I think I can make the night trainer into something awesome.

The actual stringing things together starts tonight. Stay tuned!

bondoman

I've got the basics done on the Emden- Revell 1/350 kit. I'm kind of at a stopping point until the PE shows up.

Out of the box a good kit and I have high hopes for the detail parts.

I'll be watching this one!

***completed pics***

Austrian infantryman as depicted in the latter half of WW1.   The three stars on either collar denote rank of zugsfuhrer (sergeant).  The 87th regiment was another one with a major portion of it's recruits coming from Slovenia,  the recruitment center based in the town of Celje.

.

regards,

Jack

WOW jack, that is just plain beautiful.

That is one fine looking fig!

Excellent work on the figure! Also love the little display vignette!

Had about an hour this afternoon where the kids were playing quietly, so I brought a few things in from the garage, set up at the breakfast room table, and made me some turnbuckles:

I've read about people setting up jigs and measuring these things precisely, but I used the FICE (F- it, close enough) scale, and they look fine to me. Also imagine these could double as .50 cal casings in a pinch...something to remember for my idea for a P-47 on the firing range dio...

Jack, that's a great figure, fantastic painting job.

Marc, love those Spandaus, I finished mine in 1/48, but they were made of this really hard steel material. Even after annealling, I couldnt' roll them to a nice round shape.

Doogs,  You've got enough turnbuckles for 2 or 3 more kits there!

I actually put the few riggings required onto my Fokker Dr1 last week. They were the kit's steel wires, a bit overscaled, but alas I was committed as I didn't make any provisions for my usual method of using monofilament.  While I was contemplating this, I dropped the thing onto my work area. Off came 1/2 the rigging, the wheels, landing structs, sigh.....

waikong

Marc, love those Spandaus, I finished mine in 1/48, but they were made of this really hard steel material. Even after annealling, I couldnt' roll them to a nice round shape.

Doogs,  You've got enough turnbuckles for 2 or 3 more kits there!

Don't know about the Aber, but the Master Spandaus come already, uh, cylinder-ized

As for the turnbuckles - yep! Hoping I have enough to use on Pup #2 as well. That and I think they'd work really well for rigging the aerials on 1/32 WWII birds.

As for the morning Pupdate - it officially has some strings attached now. Rigged the top brackets of all the struts save the rear cabanes, which I couldn't drill due to the fact that they're molded as part of the cockpit framing. So I also rigged up the lower brackets of the forward cabanes. My plan is to loop them loose around the aft struts, then move them into position and pull taut once the upper wing's in place.

I'm also following the lead from the WWI Aircraft Models site and rigging the lines to the upper wing before I attach. Got about half of them done last night.

So far, the Uni-Mono is great. Much easier to work with than fishing line, though the turnbuckles have a tendency to want to run back up the rigging a ways. Definitely a three-hand job!

Also, a question for everyone. I'm giving serious thought to "loose-rigging" the entire wing up front. Basically, rigging the turnbuckles, pulling kind-of taut, trimming off the ridiculous excess lines, and then tightening and gluing. Or maybe doing this for the cabanes, and then for the outer rigging. Sound workable at all, or would I be better rigging and gluing line-by-line?

I've found "pre-rigging' the upper wings to be much easier than trying to do each line after it's attached.  Once its attached, you are much more restricted in getting at the attachment ponts.

I pre-rigged once & found it to be a hairy mess, even with some 'cable management' ... I work with 2 pairs of tweezers & have no problems 'getting at anything'  - 

It's a matter of preference really... 

-sean

Today's Pupdate...

The wing goes on tonight, gents!

Got all of the upper wing rigging connections made last night. I have to imagine there'd be money to be made in some sort of cable management tool for rigging, because geez, that's a lot of monofilament. And the Pup is relatively simple compared to the SE.5, DH.2, etc.

Not exactly sure yet how I'm going to go about mounting the wing. Maneuvering it top-down looks like a jellyfish and a nightmare, so I'm leaning toward an upside-down install, then flipping the whole thing over to do the rigging. 

Also, a few thoughts on materials so far...

Albion Alloy's 0.5mm silver nickel tubing is amazing stuff. Tougher than brass, but still cuts very easily (though making all those cuts toasted a #10 blade). Plus, it tarnishes when you handle it, so it's almost self-weathering. One $8 set (something like 30cm total) and I've got more than enough for two complete Pups, easily.

Uni-Mono. Way more workable than the Trilene .005" monofilament fishing line I was using earlier. Not so much for the hint of elasticity, which I haven't been able to really put to the test yet, but for sheer ease of use. 

Beat-up old airbrush needle. I swear this damaged Iwata .35mm needle is like the Jeep of my workbench. I've used it as a punch to create guide-holes for drilling. I've used it to paint detail bits, scrape stuff, and with the turnbuckles, it's pure excellence for reaming out the tubing.

Hopefully I'll have a fairly awesome update tomorrow.

Got all the rigging connections made to the upper wing last night. Holy cow that's a lot of monofilament to keep track of! And the Pup's rigging is relatively simple.

Not exactly sure yet how I'm going to go about mounting the wing. I'm leaning toward attempting to install it upside down, then flip it over once I get the struts inserted. 

Also, the more I work with them, the more I'm liking the Albion 0.5mm silver nickel tubing. It tarnishes a bit as you handle it, 

Doogs that is looking way too awesome.

I just put my wing on today... pics soon... but not progress pics 

I went with the upside down.  One side of the cabanes glued, then the other.  Once set then the interplanes.  went real smooth and looks to be dead on.  I also went with some pre-rigging.  But there will still be a lot of the 2 tweezer manipulating for sure.

Morning Pupdate...

THE WING IS ON!

I went with the upside down install. Very fussy working around all the pre-rigged turnbuckles, but I managed to get it. Also got the cabane strut rigging knocked out. I was all set to get the "front cross rigging" (technical term) done, but one of the turnbuckles was all womperjawed when I pulled taut, glued and cut, and I didn't notice until after. The Uni-Mono has a nice degree of elasticity to it, but not so much as to stay taut when I realigned the turnbuckle. Had to cut it off, and in the process destroyed the eyebolt there. Re-rigged a new line onto the top of the strut itself. It's so close to the location that you'd have to know what you're looking at to spot the difference. the other front-cross line, the eyebolt on the cowl was blocked by CA. Broke it trying to punch a hole, had to redrill and glue a new eyebolt in place.

And then suddenly it was 2 AM, and I have a lot of work to do today...so I guess I'll pick up again tonight!

Doogs, looking good!  If you rigging is just slightly bowing, I've success passing a freshly blown out match underneatht he rigging. The heat will make the monofilament tighten up.

waikong

Doogs, looking good!  If you rigging is just slightly bowing, I've success passing a freshly blown out match underneatht he rigging. The heat will make the monofilament tighten up.

Yeah, I did that with one of the undercarriage lines.

Unfortunately the one that bowed up front was too far gone for that to work. Looked more like a strung bow.

Fortunately, though, the Uni-Mono is proving fantastic at staying taut (or appearing so, at least!) even as other lines are tightened around it. Solves a big headache I was having with the monofilament fishing line.

Now that I've got those cabane struts done, the rest of the wing rigging should go pretty fast. Front cross-rigging, then the rear double-wires, front and rear singles, front double-wires, wing struts. Think I can probably knock all of those out tonight. Maybe get the ailerons done, too, if I'm lucky. 

Here's a bit of an update on the Royal Navy.After viewing the previous craftsmanship,I'm a bit reluctant to show you what I've been up to.Those planes are stunning.I'm just getting around to all the goodies found on deck.

It was a pleasant surprise to find the Duke had a nice wooden railing on the sternwalk.Gave me an excuse to add a bit of color.

doogs, td... evrything is movong right along for both of you.

Been real busy lately and trying to find some bench time.  I finally did get a bit in and just about have things wrapped up. A few tiny bits and bobs to add... flares, radiator pipe...

Here are a few pics while i try to get started on the saw horse and tables for the base.

Gorgeous bird,wing nut.

TD - the ship's looking solid! It's been a long time since I've build any floaty things, but I do remember that special hell that was adding all the bits to the deck.

Marc - what's there to say but WOW? Fantastic looking build!

Didn't get as far with the rigging as I'd hoped last night. Popped two eyebolts during the rigging last night...don't think I checked the lower wing and fuselage eyebolts as thoroughly as I did the uppers. But it slowed me down, especially as one was one of the double-wire eyebolts, and it popped only as I was trimming away the excess. Fortunately some tweezer work and the timely application of my trusty old airbrush needle got it reseated.

Still have the front double-wires and a good chunk of tail rigging to go...but it's almost there!

Apologies that it's kind of hard to see - haven't painted the wires yet so they don't show up that well in pics.

Both planes looking fantastic!

DoogsATX

TD - the ship's looking solid! It's been a long time since I've build any floaty things, but I do remember that special hell that was adding all the bits to the deck.

Marc - what's there to say but WOW? Fantastic looking build!

Didn't get as far with the rigging as I'd hoped last night. Popped two eyebolts during the rigging last night...don't think I checked the lower wing and fuselage eyebolts as thoroughly as I did the uppers. But it slowed me down, especially as one was one of the double-wire eyebolts, and it popped only as I was trimming away the excess. Fortunately some tweezer work and the timely application of my trusty old airbrush needle got it reseated.

Still have the front double-wires and a good chunk of tail rigging to go...but it's almost there!

Apologies that it's kind of hard to see - haven't painted the wires yet so they don't show up that well in pics.

 

So...it's not Marc's Albatros and it's still got a few days yet before I call it done, but the main wing rigging is completed, and I figured that worthy of a few pics!

Still have to do the remainder of the aileron and tail rigging and some light weathering. So close yet so far!