Knights of the Sky WWI GB The End

Hey DesertRat-

Thanks for the comment.  I'm happy with the way that they came out, mostly.  You won't be able to see them too much!  They DO make a big photoetched fret of stuff for this aircraft, and it has been REALLY hard not to buy it.  It definitely would make this build look a ton better in the end.  I just have to tell myself constantly to not think about it--build for the joy of building, not detailing!

jeaton-  Yeah, it IS hard to make this thing look right.  I can't think of any other time that I've modeled anything that was made almost entirely of fabric and wood....  wood especially is a challenge!!

Well, this is my first one too.  I'm usually a WWII builder, so this thing is stretching me!

As far as difficulty goes, I guess that it really depends on which kit you get.  I know that some of the Roden, Eduard, and Dragon kits can have some little tiny fiddly bits, and from what I've heard, rigging the plane can be a bit of a pain.  There are some VERY bare bones kits out there, I'm sure.  I think that the Testors Spad is one of those.  

Whenever Stephen pipes in, read what he writes!  The man knows his stuff.  

MrDrummy wrote:

There are some VERY bare bones kits out there, I'm sure.  I think that the Testors Spad is one of those.

Yep! That's what it looks like, and that was kinda a draw for me too. Well, that and the price tag!

As a kid, i did mostly modern jets, with maybe a WWII here and there. But since i'm still kinda new back after 15 years or so, i'm also trying to change it up as often as possible. Having never done one of these, the bare bones kit is probably the best way to get my feet wet in the subject! Maybe with enough practice and trial & error, i'll actually be as good as alot of these guys are! It's all about the learning experience

Those belts do look great, both the drape and the 'age' of the belts.

As for the Testors SPAD, I built one of those a few years back when I first got back into modelling, definitely a bare bones kit. You can slap it together in 1 evening. They are so cheap that it would be great to practice rigging on without too much worry about messing up. I think I got mine for $6, they are still on sale for less than $9.

MrDrummy wrote:

" . . .I scratch-built the harness out of lead foil.  I've never done it before, so it looks a little cheap, but that seat HAD to have something on it!!!  Stephen-- the parts coming out of the top of the a/c are the ammo chutes, right?  They should be aluminum too, right?  I think I goofed on that part, but it's fixable. . . "

Greetings MrDrummy; The harness straps look good. Nicely done.  And yes the parts you are concerned about are ammo feed chutes.  These were a boxed affair and they had small hatches at the top outer curves to assist the armourer in feeding the belts through the breeches.

DesertRat wrote:

Well i haven't started my build for this project yet but i will once i get a few more projects completed. But looking at alot of the WWI kits, they SEEM like they are relatively easy builds! Course, i've never done any biplanes before. But i take it the difficulty lies in colors and texture? Or is it something else? Just wondering......

Textures are apart of the overall look but the real goal for me is keeping things inscale and plumb.  Struts that are too weak or too thick ar replaced with extruded (airfoil shaped) brass rod. Edges must be super thin.  Wood must look like wood.  Metal must look like metal fabric should look like fabric.  Fretted or fluted gun jackets etc etc.

 Always compare the kit items to images of the real thing.

StephenLawson wrote:

Greetings MrDrummy; The harness straps look good. Nicely done.  And yes the parts you are concerned about are ammo feed chutes.  These were a boxed affair and they had small hatches at the top outer curves to assist the armourer in feeding the belts through the breeches.

So the chutes, and that whole part should be painted aluminum, correct?  I'm getting ready to button up the fuselage this evening.  I already got the brass rod worked out to insert into the front connection point of the lower wings.  Thanks for that tip!! 

MrDrummy wrote:

". . .So the chutes, and that whole part should be painted aluminum, correct?  I'm getting ready to button up the fuselage this evening.  I already got the brass rod worked out to insert into the front connection point of the lower wings.  Thanks for that tip. . "

The ammo box and the empty belt box are aluminum and the bulkhead was is wood with metal inserts at the bottom.

Greetings all;

A fellow modeler and good fellow at that - Mr. Peter Leonard has a modeling website.  Even after many years of operation his links page is generally intact and a great source of modeling mania for WWI wingnuts.  Enjoy.

http://www.wwimodeler.com/esc/links-frame.html

Hi is my Rafhart,  from Poland , sorry for late

Stephen-

Thanks for that link, gonna have to check that one out.

Rafhart- Looking good!  Boy, that sure is RED!

That is one sweet build. Must have taken him ages just to build the seat.

Daywalker wrote:

That's what I thought!  He probably spent more time on that seat that I do with an ENTIRE kit!

Greetings all; while there is a lot of working in this 1/32 version it is lacking a basic component. The seat and back ridge cushions.  He didn't have to wrap the "wicker" around the periphery of the back & arm rest and the cushions would allow him to finish this up in quick order.  Point in case a fellow modeler Lars Qvarfvordt shows us his 1/48 scale version.

I have question , thet color seat is correct ???

Greetings Rafhart;

The seat backing on the Fokker Dr.I production types was covered in clear doped linen fabric like the wings and fuselage. Though the seat was not streaked like these airframe items. In the case of von Richthofen's  Dr.I 425/17 even the seat fabric was doped red.  We know this because the seat is in the Royal Military Institute and was given to them by none other than A.R. Brown.  It was sewn into eyelets around the rim backing.  We don't know about MvR's other red triplanes. 

Ok , i have photo.

 http://www.rcmi.org/museum/museum-collections.html

Thank.

Stephen--

Is there a big difference between the Albatros DVa and the DIII internals?  I'm wanting to use some of Mark Miller's images to detail the engine area, including scratch building a fuel tank.  There's just too much empty space there to let it go.

Thanks, buddy! 

MrDrummy wrote:

Stephen-- Is there a big difference between the Albatros DVa and the DIII internals?  I'm wanting to use some of Mark Miller's images to detail the engine area, including scratch building a fuel tank.  There's just too much empty space there to let it go. Thanks, buddy!

Greetings Mr Drummy,

The Albatros D.Va was the factory's return to the earlier Albatros D.III wing control design. The aileron cables ran through the lower wing to a point below the upper wing aileron. There the cables rose from the lower wing to the upper wing. Keeping the Albatros D.V oval cross-section fuselage and the now strengthened lower wing, the Albatros D.Va had the Mercedes D IIIaü 180 hp motor installed as a standard.

They were probably very similar especially in the cockpit area.

Alright-  I'm going to use his details as what my Albatros would look like, and if I mess up, then so be it! :)

Thanks a ton, Stephen!

dostacos-

to the GB! 

Everyone, we have a new addition to our GB!  It's a father son team, Dan and Jake!

Hiya and welcome to Dan and Jake! Not often we have a father/son team around these parts (that i know of)

What most people don't know is that at night they go out and fight crime!

Just kiddin, guys! Whatcha got on the bench?

Awesome!! Welcome to the GB!!   Looking forward to seeing your stuff.

I know how tweezerpaulting things goes!!  On my group build project, the carpet monster has been VERY, VERY hungry.  I'm almost certain that I've dropped nearly every piece of the cockpit at one time or another.  Luckily only one piece has been lost so far, and it was an easily scratch-built part!!  Whew.  

Cheating the carpet monster is one of my favorite things to do, next to actually building models.

DesertRat wrote:

Hiya and welcome to Dan and Jake! Not often we have a father/son team around these parts (that i know of) What most people don't know is that at night they go out and fight crime! Just kiddin, guys! Whatcha got on the bench?

 Jake: Sherman, jeep/trailer,US halftrack 

Dan: Sherman, M3 Stuart, and Stuart comand tank

 all waiting for final paint and weathering {test sleds for both of us.} I just bought him a German Self propelled howitzer since he had all the American armory and only 5 German figures he felt it was not a "fair" fight 

 I have the 1/32 Camel for this build along with a pair of DVIIs for us to do together.

A german Halftrack to start and more Stuarts to play with  

 I also have a P40 for the P40 build