Wow!! I knew this was a seaplane build, I just didn't realize it was the Schneider Cup Races !!!
![Big Smile [:D]](/FSM/CS/emoticons/icon_smile_big.gif)
I'm gonna have to move a bit faster to keep up ....never happen, I'm too slow.
My project is Roden's 1/72 Felixstowe F.2A (late version). I plan to add detail inside the hull and to add an additional gun station above the fuselage, behind the upper wing center section. My main reference is Windsock #82, and the particular aircraft is Nr 4543. One problem is that the photo shows id-bands circling the rear fuselage, but does not show the front fuselage scheme or indicate what the colors might be. I did find, on the Roden site, what appears to be a drawing (see below) of my aircraft so I assume they may actually put this variation out. From that drawing I gather they believe the front fuselage stripes to be horizontal. After due consideration, I'm gonna assume the color to be white with blue stripes, although I may change that if something new comes up.
I went really nuts over the beaching trolley, kind of forgot the build is the airplane. Anyway, Roden gives you a nice little trolley, but it isn't quite the same as in the Windsock pictures or drawings. The main thing is that Roden provides a flat plate top surface, where it should be slats that will drain nicely. So here you can see the scale drawing and my re-built trolley -- the grey stuff is Roden, the white is Evergreen. Note also that I carefully drilled out the spokes on the trolley wheels.
Here is the reworked trolley frame, with no slats/detail.
and two more completion pictures. I have a few slats that don't look good & need reworking, but that'll come later. I plan to paint this using oils to see if I can get that wood grain effect on it; we shall see how that comes out -- I've never done it before.
I've glued the wing sections, using wax paper covered balsa as a jig & pins to hold things in place. I gave both wings 1/16" dihedral because they are so long & thin, I figured they'll droop once I get them built. The top wing is holding the dihedral but the bottom isn't -- I think because the two spars aren't as strong as a solid section. I think this will fix itself when I mount the lower wing in the hull -- if not the top wing better be strong.
Also note a good use for Lego's -- one can pretty well custom build any sort of jig.
And lastly, I'm going to detail the fuselage although not much will be visible unless I decide to leave the upper deck loose so it can be displayed -- not sure yet. Anyway, the first picture is the original hull detail, which I sanded down, and replaced by Evergreen as shown in the second picture. I'm also going to try to paint the interior using oils for wood grain simulation -- as I said, I've never done that before.
Well, from this point, I need to clean up the wing joints, start on the fuselage interior, and dive into the very beautiful 30-some piece Rolls Royce Eagle engines that come with this kit. I guess I can also work on guns & other details. I also need to work on jigs to support the build of the wing module. Lots to do ....
There are more pix on my website, but I haven't added text yet -- the whole thing is under (re-) construction (again) ....
John