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

Bob that's fine with me.  Go for it.

Ernest no worries about missing the question.  I had forgotten I asked it anyway

OK: Konig is launched and is my part in the Group Build commemorating the Kaiser, Tirpitz, Lenin, future Hitler lover David Lloyd George and a host of lesser knaves to the tune of maybe 20 million lives. 

Anyone dying of curiosity can check my messages for periodic posts of WIP. I've also done a longer entry on the model in the ship section. I just want to assure everyone here that any and all talk about wavering morale in the High Seas Fleet and rumors of "talking Lenin" are the product of Anglo-American banking interests. Konig has just returned from the Baltic where it beat up on a Rooskie pre-Dreadnought. The reef struck on the way home, which did allow several tons of water in, will be repaired soon as the fleet readies for another "Der Tag." We spit on the Royal Navy and their ships launched since their lucky escape at Jutland. We especially spit on Admiral Sims and his five Yankee battleships and look forward to sinking them all with a single broadside.

Pics Below

Eric

Thanks Marc....might not get the weathering done over during the Weekend GB but I should be able to make a sizable dent in the project.

Eric that really looks great. Well done on the completion.  Would love to see some close ups of the superstructure. 

Very nice build Eric....I don't have the patience nor skill to tackle anything as challenging as that....you've done a great job.  The rigging alone makes me shiver.  And the wood work on the deck is well done. 

Eric - that came out really well, right on

Well I really wanted to do a new post this weekend, but it looks like photobucket is on the fritz.  Can't get into the site.   UGH!!!!

Anyway have a fair amount done on the Hannover  build's Argus engine.  The crankase is mostly done with the oil pan and the cylinder pairs.  Also have a tidbit about making a photoetch into a mold for some small parts.  

Bad news is that I have to take a break for a while and build something else.  Too much scratch is not a good thing as it isn't seeming to finish.  Plus I need to build a new paint booth (about a 3rd done already) to vent to fumes and collect the paint dust.  Almost learned the hard way a number of years ago about doing a lot of airbrushing in a closed room.    Left the room to get a Mtn Dew and came back to see the air all foggy.    Made a basic ventilator that worked quite well but can't find the fan unit.  Have the vent hose and window adapter though.

I also need to do some airbrush painting.  Been 20 years and have a new Badger Rengade Krome I bought from Tennessee Hobbies at the Memphis Road Warrior model contest back in May.  Need to waste some paint on something not quite so critical before I mess up all my work on the Hannover.

Lastly while I will continue to make posts here and progress reports on the Hannover until either I finish it or the Group Build closes, I am going to be starting a new thread under aircraft builds that will have a little more on the beginning parts and will start a new thread on building my "practice" project.  Who knows what I will do with that one.  Trimaster and DML kits of Fw 190 A8 / R11 Night fighters, White 8 and White 14 in the back in a double dio.  Not planning on much "extra" but who knows.  

Anyway, will post further photos once photobucket gets their bucket  of  Shhh  (poo) together.

Alert the media....I've started the build!  Decided to build the Fokker E V....less rigging...applied the sail color to the interior and the first round of wood to the various wood components....hopefully tomorrow I work some more on the prop.  Probably won't get the interior components assembled until next weekend at best but will post some pics at that point.

Cheers

Hey, is this GB still alive?   I think its officially over (12/31), but I'm still working on the Emhar Mk.IV Whippet tank.  Its getting close to getting a paint job....should I bother with a post?  I've managed quite a few pics over the last couple of weeks.....

End date or not, I could care less personally.  Finish that ol' girl up and post pictures!

Ernest, I would still like to see your pics.  Have been anticipating seeing your Whippet.

A friend mentioned his dad used to build 1/72 WWI airplanes.  He's long since passed and he has some of his collection.  He said his favorite was the Se5a.  I decided to try my hand at one in the hopes of giving it to my friend. 

After two kits and many frustrating hours, I passed a 1/48th Se5 on to my buddy today.  He was bowled over.  I hope he never looks on this forum and this thread and sees what real modelers can do.  I marvel at the quality of the models presented here.  I never knew how hard WWI aircraft were until I tried one. 

My hat's off to you guys.  Truly amazing how good you are.

Satch

Hey smeagol, Rob, satch, nice to hear from you! 

There were some great builds here and I'm sorry that I wasn't able to finish on time.  Not only that I won't even get to the Glencoe Models Pfalz D.III that was supposed to be my 2nd build.

Thanks wing_nut for the GB! 

Since there's some interest I think I'll move the WIP posts to the Armor forum so as not to keep bumping the expired GB up in this forum.

As to the planned ending time, I believe that it has been extended (messaged WingNut about a week or so ago)  I am still planning on doing some more work on the Hannover, but had to stop for a bit and just build a kit.  The scratchin was starting to drag and I have not actually built a kit in about 20 years.  Needed something to just put together and needed to do some practice with my new airbrush. (been 20 years for that too!) (decal application etc.)  The building has always been the known quantity here for me.

If you want to see my first post on the current project you can do so at the "Hunting after Dark Night Fighter GB" [ here ].  Will get back on to doing the Hannover once it is done and it is coming along quite nicely.

Just to keep things going a little, I will show you some of what I got done and the paint booth.  Just a little teaser!  

Sorry, but that's it for now.  I need to be able to do some painting and other detail work on the fuselage and interior before I can really finish up the engine.  (Sigh! It never seems to end with this kit does it    )

Anyway, I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year's and now I will have to go back to work starting tomarrow.  Had to do some tweak and cleaning work on my old PC this weekend.  Built it in 2003.  Still cranks right along, but am needing to do a memory upgrade.  The 1 gig it has is a little tight. Matched up some new memory today so that (hopefully) it will be compatible and will be able to add another gig.  Am needing the extra so I can keep doing these detailed posts.  HA!  It has been super reliable, but just am not able to afford to build a new one at this time.  Cutting edge gaming machines do cost, but if done right they last and last.

Thanks for the update Paul!  I didn't know wing_nut had extended the end time a bit.  If so I'll keep posting here.

Its getting late so I'll post my update tomorrow!

BTW, I checked out your posts in the "Hunting After Dark.." GB.  Sweet stuff dude!!

Well guys, here's an update on the Emhar Mk.IV Whippet tank that I started in October:

In my previous post I had removed all the major components from the sprues, cleaned them up, and gave them a soapy wash. 

The first thing I decided to do before assembly was replace the molded on bolt/nut for the idlers.  The molded on parts just bugged me so I had to improve this area!!   Removing the plastic was relatively easy using a Mission Models 2 MM Micro Chisel.  I then used the same chisel to scrape away the plastic to create a deeper recess for the replacement bolt/nut.  To smooth out the recess I brushed on some Tamiya Extra Thin liquid cement. 

To replace the molded parts I used  some 00-90 size brass screws and nuts that I found at a local hobby store.  I used my Dremel tool to cut the screws down to size, then drilled a suitably sized hole using a pin vise/drill bit.  Because I had to drill at an angle (so as not to damage the recess's surrounding lip) I made sure the hole was ovesized.  Medium ZAP-A-GAP CA glue helped fill the hole when I glued the brass screw/nut in place.

Much better (IMHO!) !!  I mentioned that the molded on engine vents needed to be replaced as well.  I used the Airwaves PE set for this.  Early on I decided that the best way to accomplish this was to assemble each vent off the hull and glue on when complete.  My first attempt was with soldering and this proved to be an utter failure.  I just couldn't get the multiple parts to stay together when the heat was applied!! ARRRGH!! Instead I simply used super thin CA glue and this method was much more successful.  Although not designed correctly, they still offer a vast improvement over the clunky molded on vents.  I also added some small nuts made from salami sliced hex styrene rod (.05 dia).  When done I decided to glue the vents on after the main hull assembly was done.

The next step was to glue the hull parts together.  smeagol was spot on when he advised CAUTION when lining up all the panels and gluing together!!  The lower hull wasn't a problem , but for the upper hull and crew compartment it took several atttempts to get everything lined up and even then there were still some decent sized gaps that I had to fill.  Overall though, the hull assembled relatively easy.  I used styrene strip rod to fill in all the major gaps and Mr. Surfacer 500 for smaller gaps.  Instead of sanding these Mr. 500 filled areas smooth I used an cotton swab dipped in 90% alcohol to remove excess filler. 

When dry I installed the inner sponson plates, followed by gluing on the PE engine vents.  Then I assembled the fuel tank assembly, which turns out is the "nose" of the tank!  Here the gaps we just too big to fill.  Time for some scratchbuilding;  turns out the kit's lower plate assembly for the fuel tank is just designed poorly so I made a new lower plate from sheet stryrene and Grandt Line rivets.  

After making sure the fuel tank assembly would fit ont the hull correctly, I turned my attention to the suspension/track area.  I finally busted open the Model Cellar's indy tracks and read the instructions.  WHOA!!I  It was a good thing I did this BEFORE installing the outer sponsons because it turns out that you are instructed to add a "lip" to the insidesof the sponsons all round the perimeter so that the track will fit properly.  I won't bore you with details other than I had to glue 5mm x 4mm styrene rod all around as instructed.  Although somewhat tedious I can see why this neede to be done, else the tracks would drop too much  into the sponson causing the track links to rub agains the sponson plates.

That's it for now, I'll post more updates tomorrow!

That looks pretty neat. I've got an Emher MKV and am looking for an excuse not to build it - they sound like Eastern European modeling at its best. Whippet is sweet but still don't get why there's no 35 scale Renault BT out there - easily the most important tank of the war.

I've got a Dremel and haven't been as successful as I'd like to find things to do with it. What kind of tool did you use to drill through a brass screw?

Eric

HEY... what's going on in here?  Looks busier than when it was "running"  And some damn fine work being done too.

I guess it's time to make a an official decree...

Mankind has had an affliction with waging war.  It likley started as soon as we "stood up" and wil likely contunie until the end f time (sorry, no hope for a Star Trek like society in my opinion), then so too shall the The group build to end all group builds - THE GREAT WAR continue. 

So keep building and posting.  I  will be starting a WNW FE2b in the near future so I will even be contributing.

Those whippet details looks fantastic!  Hey, if this is the GB part 2, I'm going to jump back in too in a while.

Yeah man, jump back in.  What are you thinking about doing?

I was thinking about this kit, just picked it up a few months back when it was released - a 1/48 Ford Ambulance

I have to agree with Marc - some amazing work on display here. That tank is mind-blowing! Nice work Ernest!

...and it's great to see it still running. Looks like I'll get the chance to finish up that 1/32 SE.5, and throw in another build (Eduard's 1/48 SPAD XIII with Frank Luke's markings would be a fun build). Thanks to all that kept this GB goin' ! Winter is definitely upon us up here, and modeling season will be in full bloom.

Ernest that looks great.  

I can't remember the last time i said this but...  page 1 has been update!  WOOHOO!

Hey GREG!

Ummm shouldn't you maybe edit the DATE? now that things have kind of moved back into high gear after the Holiday Hiatus? 

So glad to see this thread go "full tilt boogie" again.  It HAS been a while.  Been doing my after holiday "clean up the house" ( hmm more like STY ) Should be back in build swing again though this weekend.  WooHoo!

Hey bufflehead,  the tank is looking great!  Excellent work on the build so far!

Soldering PE brass can be quite challenging unless you have done years of it.

Here are some tricks for the next try:

1. Pre-tin the areas that will be soldered together.  This will make the actual solder job work as the tinned part will reflow a ton easier than trying to get the solder to go where you want after the fact.
2. Once pretinned, the parts can be tacked in place with just a touch of the solder iron.
3. Keep the tip of the iron cleaned off and tinned at all times.  When doing a lot of soldering it is a big help to have a damp (very damp is better, but not soggy)  sponge handy to wipe the tip on. This removes the oxidized solder then re-tin the tip.
4. Once everything is tacked in place and lined up, THEN heat an area just enough to start making the pretinned parts flow together.  Having a small (and I do mean SMALL ) drop of clean solder on the tip of the iron helps to transfer the heat a lot faster plus as it goes fast it doesn't heat the whole part.
5. Have some way to clamp at least some of the parts solidly in place.  A piece of thin steel and a couple of small but strong magnets can do a lot.
6. The last one here, a black dirty tip on your soldering iron will almost never put enough heat to anything to make solder flow.  The small drop of clean solder wrapped around the tip will do the job in seconds.

Here is a repost of the page I did showing the soldered together cockpit from the Hannover.  (The rest is on page 52 of this build)

Hope this sheds a little light on a sometimes difficult process.  I did electronics prototyping for over 10 years. Had LOTS of practice.

Blinking amazing. Looks like I'm going to need a sapphire. Just when I thinking I'm making some progress along comes someone with real world skills that can do things I really couldn't dream of. Over at Model Warship they have a Scratch Build forum and the things done there are amazing. And most of the people that are doing them have some kind of background in wood working, graphics, machine tools, engineering etc. I was a history teacher. Got mean with a piece of chalk and pretty fair with a microphone. Sure helps a lot when building a Dreadnought.

Going from the sublime to the ridiculous, I've found that epoxy and even good PVA like Aleene's when used in conjunction with CA can take you a long way with PE. But I don't build cockpits either. I did get a couple of little gadgets at White Ensign that cost under $10 that have really helped with fine PE bending. I don't see the need for one of those big bending gizmos.

That's a good tip about using a wood Xacto for cutting PE. I've got one and never even thought of using it. White Ensign, which makes very delicate PE, recommends the standard #11 blade which I think is a good way to wreck a part while getting it off the sprue: a #17 is much better or even a razor blade. I use glass to cut on. Glad the blades are cheap.

And it would be nice if this build became something close to eternal. Actually WWI weaponry is a little high tech for me right now. The next major project I'm committed to is USS Oregon in 225 scale for the PreDreadnought group build. But after that I've got an Academy/Hobby Boss Nieuport 17 and a WNW Pfalz III in the stash along with a bucket of Bob's buckles. (Say it three times.) Looking forward to it. I built the Academy 32 scale Camel last summer and I had a fine time: came out pretty well too.

Eric

Eric

Paul, Thanks for the tips regarding soldering PE.  I tried my hand at that just recently for some PE flaps.  Didn't turn out too well, figure I need a LOT more practice, but your tips will sure come in handy.

If the build is going to continue I'd like to make a couple of points:

1. The site World War I Aircraft Models (  http://www.ww1aircraftmodels.com/  ) has grown considerably since I last saw it. There are several new very detailed video builds along with a bucket of extremely valuable information on biplane building. It's run by a lone Aussie Des Delatorre who has picked up some sponsors - little companies that make WWI model accessories. This site isn't as large as a couple of others, but it's quality makes it indispensable to a biplane builders. Des, who is a genuinely nice guy, makes jaw-dropping models and his photo logs are so detailed that they rival the long video builds you find at Phil Flory's site for usefulness, and it's all free. (His last build was the Academy Camel I did a few months back - wish I'd had it then for inspiration.) Des is in the lightly weathered school which is I think "iffy" history. But armor guru Tony Greenland makes no apologies for modeling tanks and not the mud they fought in. Anyway, if you're going to seriously weather your biplane, you're on your own. That said, this is a must-see for biplane fans.

2. Des gives thumbs up to the Academy 32 scale kits still out there (rebox of kits made by HobbyCraft). It's down to a Camel and Nieuport 17 which are both selling for $14 at Scalehobbyist. HobbyCraft's Spad XIII is also available for $21. Six months ago there was a Triplane to go with them, but it's out of print. I'd think it's a get them now or forever keep your peace proposition. I built the Camel, the least of the breed (the Spad is supposed to be the toughest, but that's because of the rigging of the low set upper wing and has nothing to do with the model) and can attest that it was a clean build. I've never built an Eastern European kit that didn't have at least one surprise in it. Personally I'll trade lack of detail for a clean build any day.  Des helps here. He has a jaundiced eye when it comes to PE (which says something: some of his sponsors make PE) but is keen on scratch building and has detailed instructions on how to spiffy-up a kit at zero cost if you're so inclined. (I still haven't quite got the idea of why modelers spend days doing a perfect cockpit when nobody will ever see it unless it goes to a contest. Doubt I'll ever be an exceptional modeler with such thoughts.) Anyway, if you want under $20 serious 32 scale biplanes, you might think about doing it now or put yourself in the hands of Roden and WNW for the foreseeable future. Be nice if Eduard would do 32 scale: biplanes cry for it.

3. I'll do a biplane for the GB: I was planning to do the Academy Nieuport first to hone rigging skills before tackling a WNW Pflaz III that I have, but might get ambitious. I build ships too and there's rigging there, actually harder in some ways. 

EBergerud

2. Des gives thumbs up to the Academy 32 scale kits still out there (rebox of kits made by HobbyCraft). It's down to a Camel and Nieuport 17 which are both selling for $14 at Scalehobbyist. HobbyCraft's Spad XIII is also available for $21. Six months ago there was a Triplane to go with them, but it's out of print. I'd think it's a get them now or forever keep your peace proposition. I built the Camel, the least of the breed (the Spad is supposed to be the toughest, but that's because of the rigging of the low set upper wing and has nothing to do with the model) and can attest that it was a clean build. I've never built an Eastern European kit that didn't have at least one surprise in it. Personally I'll trade lack of detail for a clean build any day.  Des helps here. He has a jaundiced eye when it comes to PE (which says something: some of his sponsors make PE) but is keen on scratch building and has detailed instructions on how to spiffy-up a kit at zero cost if you're so inclined. (I still haven't quite got the idea of why modelers spend days doing a perfect cockpit when nobody will ever see it unless it goes to a contest. Doubt I'll ever be an exceptional modeler with such thoughts.) Anyway, if you want under $20 serious 32 scale biplanes, you might think about doing it now or put yourself in the hands of Roden and WNW for the foreseeable future. Be nice if Eduard would do 32 scale: biplanes cry for it.

I have the HCR SPAD XIII and...to be honest...even on the parts tree it doesn't look anywhere near as good as the Ni.17. Not to say its terrible or unbuildable or anything, but the difference to my eye was immediate. 

That said...solid kits for the price.

Yeah, I really wish Eduard would belly up to 1/32 bipes. My 1/32 Pup's the size of a 1/48 P-47 (if that) and the scale gives you a lot more room to work within.

I don't understand the stuff about the badges, but I finished Konig October 25 and posted it here. Do I get one?

I'd also like to make a late entry. A few months back when Doog and others were doing wonderful biplanes I was plodding on an Academy Camel and throwing in my two cents. I finished the thing and posted it in aircraft but simply forgot to post it here. So, a little late, below are a couple of pics of my camel. (You can see one pic has the wheel a little off alignment: that happened during handling and was fixed straight away. Didn't notice until I looked at the photos closely and by then the camera was away. Anyone remotely interested can get details at :

/forums/p/137663/1427395.aspx#1427395

Also a pic of Iron Duke which I finished literally about a week before this build started.  And one of Konig for comparison. Shows my dedication to an era where the entire industrial world could go to war over issues that nobody could remotely understand.

Eric