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

That is looking awesome wing!

Excellent work on all fronts guys.  Multiple SCHWINGS go out to you all.

I think the fuselage is officially done.  It's been flat coated and then a light buff to bring a slight sheen. 

Had I remembered to do it before putting on the bottom wings, the largest of the rivet wheels would likely have worked well for the nail heads.  I made pencil marks spaced 1/16" on tape and cut a thin strip, applied to the model and made the dimples with a sharp probe.  Went surprising fast.  Some dark gray oils rubbed in with a Q-Tip and wiped clean.  I did screw on thing up with the nails though.  Anyone? ;)

And next Albatros I build... and there will be more... oh yes, there will be more ==)  I iwll fill the panel lines and have a smooth fuselage and mask off th wood panels.

Prop is ready for a bunch of clear coats.

Lookin' good Doogs.

Here's my current progress.Four straight hours of painting.My kinda night off!

The masking is finally off the Pup!

Still have numerous little bits (gun, landing gear...) to deal with, then it's on to the struts and rigging. I have to admit, I'm very nervous about rigging up the elevators and rudder...the rudder especially is barely held in place...takes almost nothing to break it off (as I've already done once!). I think I may end up running EZ line out back, and on the ailerons, then using monofilament for the main wing rigging.

Rob - no problem, most of what I found was when I was searching for my own ideas for a figure(s).  If you chose an offering from Masterclub, order from HobbyEasy based in China.  Just can't beat their prices at an average of US$11 per figure.

For the name plate I used Corel's Photo-Paint program.  
First I created a new file in the dimensions required to fit the base and set the resolution really high (2400 pixels) since I know my printer can handle it.  
For the background I did an image search on the net for "old paper".  Saved the image to hard drive. Then I just copied and pasted the image a few times till the background was filled.  Same thing with the flags, just images found on the net - save, copy and paste. If the image is too small, you can resample them to the same dpi as your main work file and manipulate it from there.
Finally, use the text tool to write what you want on the name plate.  If you don't have a particular font you like on your list, there are plenty on the net you can download for free. The Windows program is kind enough to install it in the proper folder.

Once all that is done save the file and it is ready to print.  Since it already was out I used white decal paper, but any thick or photo paper will do.  Printing preferences are set to the highest quality for both print and media type(paper).  From the local art shop, I got a can of Krylon matte finish spray and applied one coat.  Once dry, brushed on a coat of future.  Once this is dry cut out with a straight edge and blade and affix to base with white glue and let dry at least 30 mins.  Then seal it with a liberal coat of future - I brushed it over all of the wood part of the base as well.

regards,
Jack

JACK - Thanks and think will take your advise and not clean up the numbers, will just paint the center of the four.  Once the weathering starts the irregular shape will fit in nicely.

Theres not much out there but you put up more than I thought there was.  Big thanks for that.  Will do some looking and see what catches my eye for a dio.  Really like the Masterclub sets. 

Have another question for you.  Your figure that you had completed already, how did you make the name plate for the base?  Thought it was well done (the whole thing was well done) and would like to try something like that.  When I start the figures hope can get them half as good as yours.  Enjoy painting them but mine still need a lot of work to be convincing.  Still learning on all subjects but especially with figures.

Rob - I think your armoured tank is coming along nicely.  That pre-shading really enhances it visually and having to make your own stencil worked to your favour.  The slightly irregular sides on the numbers give it a decent field applied look.

You ask if there are some good figures out there - some but not much.  The subject is not as popular as some other eras.  There are quite a few individual figure kits out there if you include 54mm, but that might be a tad too big (and the figures themselves tend to be more pricey as they are cast in metal or are limited runs).    A  website you can try is Coloradominatures . 

Emhar has made both a British and German infantry figure set, but I have no idea of the quality. 

ICM has a plastic injected set of British infantry and apparently a German one too:

Masterclub has some nice individual resin figures of Germans.  Some that you might consider:

A  Polish manufacturer,  Adalbertus:

There is a new company in the UK called Tommy's War . Figure's are 54 mm but they sure do look nice:

...and while looking for the above images, found this list:

The Great War (World War I) Era Index Page

regards,

Jack

Does anyone know of some good figures.  Was thinking of a German MG team running off as the MK IV was coming over the trench or some Tomies following in trail of the MK IV as it makes its way through barbwire.  Just need to find some figs before anything I suppose?

Marc your work on this is fantastic!  I get closer and closer to trying out one of these aircraft.  All of the different color schems and art work applied to these early birds is cool.

This update should have been this morning but troubles were with me today.  Had two goals for today, put on large call sign numbers and clean up all of the track pieces.  The kit comes with only one set of large numbers (decals) and looking on line, everyone who builds this kit uses those numbers.  Wanted mine to be different, the kit supplied ones are F 56.  Went about making some on the computer and printed some on decal paper.  everything looked good after spraying the bonder so went to put them on the MK IV.  Come to find out they were to light in color once off the paper and would not show when on the tank.  Next, thought would look through the spare decals.  Had srayed a coat of future last night so went about putting on the decals. Was using Micro Solto try to get the decal to conform arond all of the rivets but the more I tryed the worst things became.  Eventually decided to give up on the decal because it was turning into a real mess and still would not shape to the features.  Removed the decal but there was so much Micro Sol it removed some of the paint and made sticky splotches of the future.  Went at it with a scrub brush and removed the whole mess.  Back to square one, had to paint the pre shade and the base coat over again.   Was going to give up but.. was insistent on getting my numbers. 

What I did was print the size numbers wanted in black, taped onto workbench put wax paper on top of that then put down Tamiya masking tape on top of that.  That way could see the black numbers through the tape.  Used #11 blade and cut a stencile.

Put in place and sprayed away. 

Still some touch ups to do around the numbers in some spots but over all am pleased with the results.  Also have to paint the center of the four.  Will do this when everything is good and dry tomorrow.  Had also painted the exhaust and MG they just dont show in these pics.

Started work on the tracks between paint drying.  Was able to get all shoes and tread plates for one track cut of the sprue.  Thats 92 shoes and 92 tread plates for one track.  Cleaned all the one tracks shoes and now will continue with the tread plates.

Finish these and tomorrow will work on the other track.  Seems to be a bit of work but the two part link will make a nice track and they fit perfectly on the MK IV.  Here is a link put togther.

Forgot to mention power here went out today and temperature in the house got up to 99 degrees was not able to stay at the bench for long periods of time.

Thanks Nate... appreciate that.

Doogs... This is what I did.  I think I said i put a pot-it on one side of the rib.  maybe if I could type and said post-it, which is what I used, it might have made more sense.

A buff filter fist the lighten/fade the lozenge because the smoke spray darkened it up again.

OMG Marc! That looks incredible!!!

Nate

Id still like to see somoene do a what if build of WWII planes with that camo scheme

Jack, a very interesting read. That this would be taken from pointillism never occurred to me.  A Google search of pointillism brings up some interesting pages.  Some of the closeups of  Grande Jatte and Circus are strikingly similar.

http://www.webexhibits.org/colorart/jatte.html

Imagine of the trend of art to camo had continued.  Late 60's century jets painted like a can of tomato soup.

These WWI warbirds you guys are cranking out look awesome.I might have to build me one some day.That's one of the few modeling subjects I've never attempted.

MARC, DOOGS - Both of your builds are looking super sweet!  Great work, both of you on those decals!

TD - Happy to see the navy sailing.  Now we have all areas covered, land air and sea 

Marc - your albatros is lookin great!

I have wondered too about those lozenge colours, (and those pinks and purples) but a lot of study and writing is out there and have stumbled across it in various forums, such as the aerodrome.com.  So i'll just post some quotes:

The idea "... is based on the concept of pointilism, a school of modern art, the principle proponent of which was Georges Seurat whose most well known work is AN AFTERNOON ON THE GRAND JATTE. The method was to create a painting using a series of dots (your reference to pixels is right on) of different colors. viewed from a distance these dots blend together to form areas of color.                                        Modern phisiological psychology research has shown that when a subject such as lozenge fabric with its varied colors is viewed from a distance a blending of these color occurs within the MIND of the viewer and the camoflaged object is seen as the same color as is predominate in the backround upon which it is interposed.                                                                                                                                                                               The purples, pinks browns and greens are all found in that area and in that light at that latitude. Little is more varied than sunlight because of atmospheric conditions but early and late the ground does reflect the shorter wavelengths(blue) while the sky will have the longer wavelengths(red)Colors will literally change from minute to minute. Which is why the lozenge fabric was so effective.                                                             The question in my mind is,why did this idea fall into disuse.My best quess is that it is lots harder to paint on metal than print on fabric.                                                                                                            -Terry Crisp  

"I believe the inspiration for the camouflage scheme was from the impressionist school of art that exsisted in Europe at the turn of the 20th Century. In their thinking, was using dots of unmixed color adjacent to another and letting the eye perceive the colors and the brain doing the mixing. The colors are somewhat bright and vibrant, they were not dark and dull as some illustrators have depicted. At a distance, the colors are muted, the top colors becoming a greyish green and the bottom colors a greyish pink."                                                              "... directed to dope the printed fabric with a matte dope the firm, Cohn, Belin-Neuköln. All the other exposed parts of the aircraft were to be painted in colors that match the colors of the printed fabric. The number of coats of dope applied by the manufacturers varied two or three on fuselages and three to five coats on the wings and tail surfaces. The doped surfaces were given one coat of clear copal varnish to waterproof the doped fabric surfaces. The varnish had a yellow cast to it, which slightly altered the colors of the printed polygons."                                                 -Dan San Abbott

"In fact, it seems the Germans were onto something with the mauve, modern experiments in the 1980s by the US determined that the best camouflage paint to disguise an airplane in the air and against the ground is a light pink. The idea was dropped for cost reasons and because it's irrelevant in the age of radar."                                                                                                                                                       -Romani                                                                                                                                                                                         

regards,

Jack                                                                                                          

Ever wonder what it would have looked like if the nations never realized that weird stained glass looking camo was bad for planes, and had ME-109s and Zeros, and Super Fortresses with that camo? 

Thanks doogs.  I will be doing the rest of the wings soon and will snap some pics as I go.  The stars were on groups of 4 or 5 so it wasn't as bad as it sure could have been.

STV... I saw a war time photo taken form directly above a plane flying over a filed with lozenge camo and it was surprisingly effective.

Ever wonder what it would have looked like if the nations never realized that weird stained glass looking camo was bad for planes, and had ME-109s and Zeros, and Super Fortresses with that camo? 

Marc - looking slick, man! I can imagine that all those stars were rather tedious!

If you don't mind, would you describe the modulation method a bit more? I'm pretty much AT the weathering stage now, and I'm sort of at a loss as far as how to proceed. I've been considering a buff filter as well, but I'm worried it might show a bit too strong on the OD. Been considering a smoke approach on the wings as well, but I was just going to go into the valleys. I'd love to hear more about the modulation idea...

My pleasure TD.  Hope the info helps

I think we all have those little milestones that get us excited.  One of mine is getting the decal finished.  I think its the 1st peel off formation while I make motor noises :|

The weather process has started too. The first thing to do was add some depth to the wings.  A pot-it on one side of the rib and some thinned Tamiya smoke on the other.  Have spent most of my recent time ,the last couple of years, in the armor forums, this has come to be known as color modulation.  Giving the impression of 3D when there isn't any.  Is this term used in aircraft as well?   I plan to give the wings a few coats of a buff filter to tone down the lozenge color.  Should have done that first.  :(  The smoke will come off easily with some alcohol.

wing_nut

Smeago, Dooks.. thanks guys.

 

Doogs, From what I cna tell in phtots and olter build it's a metal wheel.  And they all had peeling paint.

 

TD... I asked the ship guy form my club aboutte red color.  here is a cut/paste of his email.

The decks in the superstructure were probably corticene, which is what the Brits called their linoleum.  It's a reddish brown color, lighter than the Japanese linoleum.

What type of paint is he using?  If enamels, White Ensign has a match for it.

If acrylic, I used Vallejo "Red Leather" for corticene.   However, it's a little too red, tell him to add a few drops of brown. 

You can see the color of corticene here, here and here on my various British battleships/battlecruisers in the Modelwarships.com gallery.   

The Agincourt is a MW.com "exclusive" so don't post any photos of that build in the FSM forums, please.   Links are okay, photos, no.  

HTH!

Martin

 

I have the camera on a tripod for long exposure with the aperture at f8.  Using the 10 second self timer as an electronic shutter release.   I think it's the soft light from the photo booth.  Maybe try some natural light or a close up.

Wing_nut: Try an additional light at a sharp angle to the subject. It should give you a shadow effect that will show upp your wood grain. Also don't use a flash they tend to fill in low areas and wash out high areas. Use a stand of some kind and your camera's remote timer. Very nice technique.

Smeago, Dooks.. thanks guys.

Doogs, From what I cna tell in phtots and olter build it's a metal wheel.  And they all had peeling paint.

TD... I asked the ship guy form my club aboutte red color.  here is a cut/paste of his email.

The decks in the superstructure were probably corticene, which is what the Brits called their linoleum.  It's a reddish brown color, lighter than the Japanese linoleum.

What type of paint is he using?  If enamels, White Ensign has a match for it.

If acrylic, I used Vallejo "Red Leather" for corticene.   However, it's a little too red, tell him to add a few drops of brown. 

You can see the color of corticene here, here and here on my various British battleships/battlecruisers in the Modelwarships.com gallery.   

The Agincourt is a MW.com "exclusive" so don't post any photos of that build in the FSM forums, please.   Links are okay, photos, no.  

HTH!

Martin

Marc - your efforts make me want to give up - that thing looks amazing! Even the wheels! Did they use metal rims? The Pup's wheels are just flat boring in contrast.

Not much of a Pupdate today. I sprayed the sealing coat of gloss over the decals.

I also went to install the control horns for the rudder...they're actually one piece that was either short shot or went missing from the tree. I'm going to fashion replacements with some Eduard PE control horns I scored at a vendor table awhile back.

Looking awesome Marc

Thanks Waikong

I will likely get the fuselage decals finished up tonight.  Wings are ready to go and struts and a few other add-ons are painted up.  The bungee cords on the LG were chiseled off and wrapped with thin solder.  Tire ready.  Note the darker grain on the LG.  I didn't brush off  the pigment this time.  Make me want to build more wood stuff ;)   So it's time to do some planning for the rigging.

Doogs, I really like how your pup is coming along, I love the stage when the decals go on.

Marc - very, very creative technique - I do like the look.

TD - a WWI ship, that's great - certainly don't see one of those often!

Marc - that came out very well! You're busting out all kinds of creative approaches on that build! 

TD - Ship looks cool! Got to love anything called the Iron Duke!

Apologies for being quiet these past few days...been laying down several layers of gloss on the Pup. The OD on the fuselage and wings dusted something fierce (wish I could isolate why...sometimes Tamiya lays down perfectly for me, other times it dusts...no change in thinning ratios, PSI, distance, etc) so I wanted to make it as shiny as possible for the decals.

On that note...Alclad II Klear Gloss is the business. The Aqua Clear is a bit of a pain and likes to clog pretty bad, but when it goes down, it goes down very well.

Alright, on to the Pupdate. Put most of the decals on last night (still have the strut, prop, and a few stencils left to do, but those will wait for now. 

All I can say is...WOW why can't all decals be this good? Admirably thin, yet tough. They go on nice, are strong enough to maneuver into place, and settle down perfectly. The cockades and rudder decals have NO excess carrier film. None. Amazing. The Black Arrow and "P" decals both have some film, but despite my dusty surface, they went on and laid down with absolutely no silvering. 

The last stencils go on tonight, and then I'll start sealing. Looking very forward to stripping off the cowl and deck masking!