100th Anniversary of WWI GB

Marc - nice that, are those builds for a museum display, or someone's personal request?

regards,

Jack

It's for a personal collection. Not that I was wondering too hard why he had selected 3 Brit planes, when he emailed that he had "posted" the kits I thought Hmmm?  Not that it matters of course.  Anyway... works for me.  A nice break from all Albatros all the time

Marc,  so far I have got the 'pit completed and buttoned up inside the fuselage, along with the tail skid assembly.  No fit issues to report there.  I followed their directions to the letter as far as sequence - no issues to speak of.  I did a test fit of the lower wing to the completed fuselage and there is a slight gap at each wing root, but something tells me that it should be there, based on how the front and rear sections of the fuselage floor (integral to the lower wing assembly) line up, which is perfectly.  They call for the guns to be installed early in the fuselage assembly, before you attach the upper cockpit combing.  This is because the guns are partially concealed beneath it. The fit is so good around the guns that masking the guns after you install that upper panel would be tricky, so I would suggest painting that panel's exterior color on it before installation.  The same may apply for the lower wing.  I am seriously considering painting it as well before I install it. 

You're going to love this kit!  The quality of the parts left me shaking my head in disbelief,  thinking  "How on earth did they mold that as one part?"

There's a lot of woodgrain in the cockpit, but the IP's on some Snipes were painted black.  I chose that option to break it up a bit and I'm glad I did.  The wicker seat is a jewel, but it can be made even better.  I sanded away at the middle portion of the backrest from behind to open up the wicker detail - big imrovement.

Mike old bean.  See, I'm gettin' myself in Brit mode for the builds  Thanks for all that info.  you got a wip thread going some where to see some pics?

Marc, with my work on the Snipe and the Spit,  been in brit mode for a while myself, but a touch of the flu has me sidelined for a bit and quite antsy to get back to the bench....IOW,  been feelin' a wee bit lurgy and would bite me arm off for some bench time. 

I've been taking pics of the Snipe as I go.  As of now, they're still on the camera until I feel more comfortable with windows 8.1.  My last system ran XP, so it's been quite the technological leap for me.  Hadn't planned on doing a WIP thread.  Instead,  was just going to post 'em here.

XP to 8.1? Jeez that has got to be like letting go of a dime store rubber band powered balsa airplane then jumping into the cockpit of an F-18.  And let me guess... Flu B?  Literally every person I know had that tis year. Me too... and I had a flu shot.  All that meant was fever for 2 days instead of 4 or 5

Love to see th photos when ya get to them.

Marc,

Sorry for the late response; I've been away from the forums (as well as the modeling table to be honest) and didn't see this until now.  

I worked on my Snipe only sporadically due to silly things like family, work & travel.  That said, no major surprises for me so far.  Cockpit and engine are done, fuselage is closed and base-coat painted (more paint to come).  Similarly, the wings, tail stabilizers, etc. have their basic painting done. I hope to get some shading going tonight, but have been dragging my feet on cutting tape for masking the spars.  Most of the potentially tricky stuff is still ahead of me.

As I'm sure you've read, the Aldis scope is rumored to be "fiddly", and I have seen recommendations to install it prior to attaching the upper wing (contra the instructions).  Otherwise, I would say to be sure to follow the manual as closely as possible; I attached the compass to the instrument panel earlier than I was supposed to and had to break it off to get the IP installed behind the machine guns.

Speaking of the guns, one small issue I had was in getting them mounted in parallel to each other.  I'm guessing it was do to paint getting into the various attachment points and the need to handle them gently with the attached p/e.  Not a big deal, but a bit pesky.

All in all, any issues I've faced are particular to my shortcomings, rather than the model; its lovely.  If I can get my act together, I'll put up some pics.

Looking forward to seeing how your Snipe is turning out, Blue. 

Marc, here are a few pics I hope will illustrate what I was referring to better than my verbal skills.  They may be a bit fuzzy, as I was too lazy to get out the tripod.  Here's where the 'pit currently sits.....

Here, you can see how snug a fit there is around the guns and how tough it would be to mask them....

The gap at the wing roots.....

.... and the perfect fit at the leading and trailing edges, leading me to believe this is the norm for this aircraft.

A token shot of the engine, just for fun...

Hope you find these helpful Marc. 

Blue, thanks for the thoughts on the build so far.

Mike thanks for the pics.  That BR2 is a sweet looking little motor.

Mike,

Your wing fits the same as mine, so if its not the norm, we are both having the same issues.   Your cockpit and engine both look lovely.  I still need to get some pictures taken.

I was thinking that given the incredible engineering of these kits if that gap is there it's meant to be there..  Then I thought to look at the finished model on the WNW site and yup, that is most assuredly supposed to be there.

Work is progressing steadily on the Snipe, but slowly.  Lots of yard work and landscaping this time of year that needs to be at the front of the line though.

Slow Snipe progress here as well.

I hope nobody minds, but I did finally get a few pics uploaded.  Not a full WIP or anything like that since this GB hasn't even started, but I figured I'd share.  Anyway...

The upper decking is just temporarily snapped in place, and I removed the guns and compass to simplify masking.  As you can tell, everything is still in gloss coat for decals, and no real weathering has been done yet (other than the staining on the lower wing which I wanted to do early in case it went poorly.)  Struts are primed and waiting for paint.   I'm running out of ways to put off the scary rigging stage!

Its been a really fun build so far.  Nicest kit I've built.  This is my first WWI aircraft, and will not be my last.

Blue

Looks super great there, Blue.  That woodwork frame and underside wing detail is fantastic!

regards,

Jack

All I can say is just WOW, that woodgraining is just awesome Blue!! Thanks for sharing...

Stunning work! Just beautiful!!!

Doug

Thanks guys.  This will be a fun GB once it gets going.

Geez Blue, with work like that, it better not be your last bipe.    That is really some incredible stuff ya got goin' on there. 

OK fellas, in GreySnake's absence, I took the liberty of scanning the thread and updating the entry list.   When Dave gets back, he can copy and paste my list in place of his current (the official) one on the first page. If I missed anyone or screwed up anyone's name or entry, let me know and I'll take care of it.

We're just over one month away!

I had just about written this one off.  Kinda like the coverage its been getting on the tube  Maybe they are waiting for the 100 anniversary of the end of the end of the war.

And can you please change me from the Albatros to a Harry Tate?

Done, Marc. 

The Wingnut kit I'm presuming.

Ruddratt, I'd like to join you all if possible.  I'd like to enter an Eduard 1:48 Sopwith Camel F1 to add to the mix of German aircraft.  =]

Thanks Mike for stepping in/up to do this. 

bvallot - you're in man!  Welcome aboard.  Looking forward to seeing your build! 

Steve - no worries buddy.  Figured Dave's gotta be a busy guy,  though I'm sure he'll be back for the start of the build, and this will make it a bit easier for him when he returns.

Mike, I am glad to see you have picked up the baton on this one. Would be a shame to see it not happen.

Has anyone heard from dave, hope he is ok.

Bish, no way this build ain't gonna happen.  We've got 30 guys ready to go once the start date arrives.  Haven't heard anything from Dave,  but he's been out for extended periods before and it was usually work related.  This build will surely be a go. 

Hi Mike,

Just to let you know, I changed my project to the WnW 1/32 Albatros D.Va.  The Eduard version

and my old eyes and chubby fingers weren't going to get along.

In the meantime I have been practicing on a WnW Sopwith Pup. Now all I have to do is

figure where all those wires go.

Cheers,

Ernie

A little over a month! I've gotten jet fever here lately but I'm sure once I break out my biplanes I won't be able to get enough of them

Counting down the days.  Finished my Snipe, and am now filling the time before this begins with a "quick" Eduard Spitfire.  Filler until this thing gets going!