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

Mike don't forget to putt he rib tape over the seam in the Formica counter top

Sean, I had to do a "Playboy" view (pictures only) of that thread but will give a close look later.   Real nice work.  The guns look a treat.  Flat black and graphite.  That is tucked away for later

Thanks Sean, I will refer to your build. I remember  following along as you built it on the Aerodrome: awesome job!

Ruddrat: I'll do my best!

Nate

Nate; 

oh - I didn't realize - sorry, what's your alias on the aerodrome? 

well instead of going through all it over again, the cowlings need some thinning to fit snugly, locate your inner eyelets for rigging the bottom wing before attaching the wing, the rib tape between the ribs where the decals meet is wrong, they should just butt together, also the thin black line along the edge of the decal should be trimmed off [if it will be visible] - it's a printing error.  - that's all I remember.  oh yea- except, make sure you put the top wing on right way around ;) 

-sean

Marc, I had planned on doing just that, but she shot down my idea for a 5 -color lozenge back splash - bummer!

Small update on the Pup. Or, if you will, a Pupdate...

Sprayed a mix of Tamiya Clear/Clear Orange/Clear Yellow on the wood surfaces last night, and they're looking pretty sweet. Need to go back tonight to see how they've cured and if I want to do another coat, or a just a coat of clear gloss on top.

Also started work on the engine...it's a sweet little number, that's for sure! Trying to figure out how much of it I want to assemble before I start painting.

Things will probably speed up this week since the Achilles is kind of on hold until I get my friul tracks.

No worries Sean. My name on the 'drome is Transitmek. I don't post too often, but I did put up some pics of my Pfalz D. IIIa.

Doogs: Pupdate.........I love that!

Nate

Looks like some good starts going on in here and even a couple of almost finished builds, very cool

Marc, buddy my 10 year old son has talked me into giving him one of the DR1's out of my stash and wants to join this GB if he can...He has his own profile but i'll be building mine with him at the same time and bowing to his nagging again we will both be doing the Red ones...

Here's the latest Pupdate...

Got the wood pieces treated...here's a sampling...

Tomorrow work starts on the turnbuckles and rigging for the cockpit.

Also got started on the engine, and primed the engine, cowl, and metal bits with decanted Tamiya Bare Metal Silver. Planning to use the salt technique for the cowl before the black goes on. For the engine, the BMS is more of a primer for Alclad.

And here's a shot of the control yoke. I wrapped it with ultra wire that will be painted to simulate the wrapped yoke grip. Hard to get a close shot of this puppy as its so small, but there you have it.

here they are not my best creation but its a job well done

Nice completion.  I iwll update the DONE list.

Julez... very cool.

Pupdate... classic.  And good work too.

Julez, it'l be awesome to have Julez Jr. on board. Definitely looking forward to both your builds!

Baron, congrats on your finished build!

Doogs, that's some first-rate stuff. Great work on the wood finish, and I really like the added details, like on the control column grip. Neat!

Another morning pupdate...

Was all geared up to paint the cowl area last night when I realized there's a bit on the lower wing that's supposed to be black over metal as well. Doh! Sprayed it with Tamiya BMS. 

Also went and snapped the control column removing it from the blu-tak. Good thing I was stocking up on tubing! Cut the plastic column off, drilled out some holes, and am in the process of attaching a length of .5mm nickel tubing.

A bit of engine work, too, but nothing worth writing home about yet.

Ohhh man...don't know what I've gotten myself into here! Between the stuff you guys are posting up, and looking at a bunch of Nate's work firsthand this weekend, I'm a bit worried about what I'd be able to contribute. Rigging will be the death of me, I'm sure!

Hey, thanks Marc! After looking at some of YOUR work this weekend, I'm sure you will do just fine!

Nate

dupes

Ohhh man...don't know what I've gotten myself into here! Between the stuff you guys are posting up, and looking at a bunch of Nate's work firsthand this weekend, I'm a bit worried about what I'd be able to contribute. Rigging will be the death of me, I'm sure!

Hey, this is my first bipe, and I'm shaking every time I even look at it! If I can tackle it, I have no doubt you can as well!

Shoulda "Gone Fokker"... The Dr 1 and D VII have about three wires, lol...

Reminds me of a story...

Seems there was this old, Veteran fighter pilot that was asked to speak at the local VFW Ladies Auxilliary meeting one fine evening and share some of his experiences as a fighter pilot to the ladies, and then maybe answer some questions from the floor.

 As he was introduced, the Post Commander quietly reminded him to watch his language in front of the ladies, as he knew that that particular Vet had a rather "salty" dialogue, especially when talking about dogfights during the war...

As he finished up his speech, he opened the floor to Q & A... One of the ladies asked him, "Colonel, what was your most frightening experience as a fighter pilot?

He thought for a moment and then answered, "The most frightening?.. Well, no doubt, one experience is burned into my fff... brain... One afternoon, after we'd let the damn, whoops, sorry ladies, that one slipped... and we'd let the bombers go and were returning to base, and I'd become separated from my flight because of some bad weather... 

I flew back and forth for a bit along the coast of France, trying to pick up a landmark, when I looked down and spotted twelve Fokkers comin' up at me from below!  Then, always aware of the "Hun in the Sun", I looked up, and sure enough, there were twelve more Fokkers coming down at me! I was helpless and scared shiii... err... To death!

At this moment the Post Commander stepped in, trying to be helpful, and said, "Ladies, just a breif explaination,  a Fokker is type of German Fighter plane,  isn't that right, Colonel?

The old Colonel quickly replied, "Yup, you're right, and these Fokkers was Messerschmitts! "...

A classic.

..............................................................

ohh i get now after i read it the second time

2nd time, eh?... Must be the time zones...

The rules.. I mean suggestions state if you wanna start...GO

But for those that good internal clock...1 MONTH FROM TODAY is the official start date.

I should be done with my panzerjager in plenty of time for the official start. Gotta switch gears from armor to aircraft.

Nate

wing_nut

The rules.. I mean suggestions state if you wanna start...GO

But for those that good internal clock...1 MONTH FROM TODAY is the official start date.

Sweet! By then I should hopefully have the fuselage closed up!

Been making solid progress on what I'm now coming to believe is quite possibly the hardest (at least the most intricate) part of the build - rigging the cockpit bracing wires.

Unlike the wings, there are no pre-drilled holes here. Just thin plastic (maybe 1/16" at the most...), with precious little room to work with a drill.

I ended up using, often as not, a battle-damaged airbrush need to "punch" the hole rather than relying on the rather precarious drill. 

Eyebolts were made by twisting ultrawire around a small diameter wire (0.3mm I believe), and glued into the holes with Gator's Grip. I've been nothing but impressed with the stuff so far, so I'm curious to see how it holds up to rigging duties.

I'm planning on using .5mm nickel tubing and monofilament for the bracing wires from the eyebolts. Should be moving on to that this evening. Fingers crossed!

Which are you impressed with?  The glue or the wire?

Looks good doogs.  And tedious. What, if any,  of top rail of that frame will be visible inside the cockpit? Could you have drilled through at an angle from outside the square and made the tails a little long to go through and trim off?  If you have not done the other side yet, patching a couple of tiny spots may be easier than poking holes for a shallow attachment point.

So you know the old saying... Walk before you run.  This may be an all out haul a$$ go but Picked this up at the show yesterday.  All resin... a 1st... in 1/72.  The parts are so beautifully cast.  The tailing edges on the wings as so sharp I could shave with them.  And darn near thin enough to read through.  And not a single bubble in any part.  Luftwoller built one in 1/46 for the Knights of the Sky II in '09 and it is just so cool looking.

I've been reading the boards on WingNut and everybody agrees they're splendid kits. And easy as long as you eyesight better than a professional racing driver's. (And experience with biplanes doesn't hurt.) Course you found the Zvezda LA5 a piece of cake so maybe you're ready for Le Mans. I'm starting a biplane too - hope my pin vise isn't too clumsy an instrument. Never thought of using an airbrush as a drill. Think you're Pup's off to a very nice start. Keep the pics coming to those of us down the food chain that still find the rigging stuff something like black magic.

Speaking of rigging, I'm thinking of doing Koenig for this GB, but sanity may intervene.

Eric

wing_nut

Which are you impressed with?  The glue or the wire?

Looks good doogs.  And tedious. What, if any,  of top rail of that frame will be visible inside the cockpit? Could you have drilled through at an angle from outside the square and made the tails a little long to go through and trim off?  If you have not done the other side yet, patching a couple of tiny spots may be easier than poking holes for a shallow attachment point.

Heh...impressed with the glue, but now that you mention it, I've been very impressed with the ultrawire, too. It's got that springiness to it that some wire has, but when you bend it, it holds its shape exceptionally well. 

As for the rest...what can I say? The Pup brings out the tedious in me. First the control yoke wrapping, then replacing the broken control column, now these. But in this case, there is a tiny bit of method to my madness.

First - I'm not sure how much of the top rail will be visible once the upper deck goes on (my guess...not much), but I'm also viewing this as a nice trial run for the later wing rigging (and if I muck it up, it'll be mostly out of sight!).

Second - It's tough to be really certain where all the outside of the frame contacts the fuselage, floor, and decklid pieces. That's one thing - this kit isn't very test-fit friendly. Figured, though tedious, drilling into the squares themselves would be the safer bet from a bigger fit perspective.

Third - I used the airbrush needle as a punch in the upper run, then drilled with the microbits. In my experience, and quite possibly due to having a bad set of bits or something, but those really small bits suck at actually opening holes (and wander all over the plastic). The needle gives them something to bite into.

Fourth - on the lower run, I actually discovered that, with minimal pressure, I could actually drive the airbrush needle straight through the plastic and make holes without drilling! I'll be running the monofilament out these holes, then trimming the excess away.

EBergerud

I've been reading the boards on WingNut and everybody agrees they're splendid kits. And easy as long as you eyesight better than a professional racing driver's. (And experience with biplanes doesn't hurt.) Course you found the Zvezda LA5 a piece of cake so maybe you're ready for Le Mans. I'm starting a biplane too - hope my pin vise isn't too clumsy an instrument. Never thought of using an airbrush as a drill. Think you're Pup's off to a very nice start. Keep the pics coming to those of us down the food chain that still find the rigging stuff something like black magic.

Speaking of rigging, I'm thinking of doing Koenig for this GB, but sanity may intervene.

Eric

So far this one hasn't been too bad. Mostly a lot of techniques I've never tried before (woodgrain, rigging...). If it weren't for my going off the reservation in a few spots, the parts are in my opinion no more fiddly than, say, the Accurate Miniatures Dauntless. 

I highly recommend the old airbrush needle, though. It's an awesome all around tool. I use it as a punch for locating drilling holes, as a scraper, as a spear for tiny PE parts, glue applicator...next to my tweezers and xacto, it's probably the most-used tool in my arsenal.

The excitement continues in this morning's Pupdate!

First...Gator's Grip glue, while generally excellent, yeah, not so much for eyeholes. Too much give. Ended up having to CA all the eyeholes back in place, including one that broke after the other side was already rigged. That one...well, if they made 1/32 duct tape and zip ties, the fix would have been the rough equivalent.

So...eyelets of ultrawire + .004 monofilament + 0.5mm nickel tubing. String the mono through the eyelet, then run both ends of the mono through a small length of tubing as though it's a bolo tie. Run the tubing "up" the monofilament until it's a short distance from the eyelet. Apply small drop of thin CA to the top of the tubing. 

Here's where I learned a valuable lesson - use one pair of tweezers to hold the "main" mono line taut. And a second pair to hold the "spare" line away at an angle. Otherwise the thin CA will run between them and they'll stick.

Run main mono line through holes in the bottom of the frame. CA at the top, trim at the bottom. 

Overall...making the holes was far and away the most tedious part of the operation. That, and dealing with the forward eyelet, which broke away after everything was rigged. Couldn't reposition with tweezers, so I ran a piece of ultrawire through the eye, pulled taut, and twisted. The extra ultrawire around the frame held the eyelet fast and gave the thin CA more to grab. Still...when I rig the plane, eyeholes and other connection points wil have PLENTY of depth.

That looks smokin' hot.

Doogs - I like it!  Thanks for  taking the time for the pics and detailed explanations- I'm definitely learning something new here.

Well this should be the final update on this one: 

I thought I had a good idea by using decal paper for the collar patches.  Every attempt at placing them on the figure would result in having some of the printer dye leeching out from the edges even though there was three layers of future acrylic.  In the end the decals were left with the backing paper on and were white glued in place.  I did peel about half  the thickness away to help with scale effect.  A flesh base coat has been brushed on the face and hands.  Now the fun really begins - the face can either make or break a model figure.

The wooden base is an Elisena product from Italy.  The sides were masked off with tape.  While mixing up  Celluclay, I added a small amount of fine ballast from Woodland Scenics.  Before applying this onto the base, the top was sanded  and white glue spread over for better adhesion.  To one side I created a mound and embedded coarse ballast.  I also shaped the ground to a slight incline in the direction the figure would be running.  To the flat surface is added more fine ballast, random sprinkling of static grass and a few medium ballast.

The whole surface was sprayed flat black followed with an earth colour for the ground.  The pile of rocks was sprayed with a grey and then some field gray where the grass was.  Afterwards I drybrushed with lighter tones of the base coats.

regards,

Jack