Knights of the Sky WWI GB The End

Finally here is a four bladed prop with three woods in the laminations on my 1/48 Fokker V.7.  I made two identical layered blanks (see step 4 above) and cut them down on the same pattern. Then I Lincoln log cut the hubs to fit. Viola.

Here is a laminated prop with walnut and bass wood on a 1/48 build of an Albatros D.Va.

Here is my 1/28 scale build of Oblt. Udet's early Schwerin Fokker  D.VII labeled  "Du doch Nicht!!"  which means "certainly Not You!!"  The prop is a wooden one that Martin Digmayer carved out from one piece of wood and he used varnish applied in layers to create the laminated look.

Here is my 1/48 build of MvR's Dr.I 425/17 with a three wood laminations variation instead of just the two.

 Here are some modern replica wooden props on full scale flying WWI types

Daywalker wrote:

". . .Stephen- I would love to see some photos of that.  The thought of gluing and carving a real wood replacement is VERY intriguing.  I think I may have a go at that method."

Here are my original instructions as drawn by one of my model building mentors Bob Horton.

Darren-

Nice looking prop!  The color looks spot-on.

Stephen- I would love to see some photos of that.  The thought of gluing and carving a real wood replacement is VERY intriguing.  I think I may have a go at that method.

Greetings daywalker.  As mentioned earlier some manufacturers did not clear varnish propellers but shellaced them.   To do laminations on propellers you can either laminate woods with expoy or enamel paint kit items.  I could post either method but painting is a bit quicker for most modelers to do.  You almost have to have a separate setup to use woods. 

 A. For woods;

1. A box of rubber / latex gloves.

2. various thin woods from dollhouse marqueting sheets for floor planking and etc.  The thickness is important here.

a. bass wood

b.mahogany woods

c. walnut

3.Clear varnish, semi gloss is best for small scale.

4. Homemade wire supports to hang them on while drying.

5. Beau coup Xacto blades (#11 are best.)

6. The lanimations should be an average of three of two kinds.  3 bass 3 walnut etc.

I can post an image /drawing of the process later tonight. 

Here's mine.......

I have just painted a laminated "look" on my N-17 prop..............not sure if it looks right or not, I'll post a pic later and let you guys be the judge.

Mike-

I am looking forward to seeing photos of your aircraft and techniques! 

Hmmm... Are any of our resident strinbag experts willing to give a little tutorial before we get started?  I for one would be VERY interested is seeing how you guys get that laminated look on your props.  Just an idea...

Daywalker wrote:

it's gonna be a lot of fun!

Heck yeah!! I hope to make some major progress on my Pfalz D.III in the next few days. This is my warm-up for this GB, as I plan on trying a few different techniques and using some new info I've acquired from reading this thread.

Darren-

Glad to hear you are planning on sticking around here, it's gonna be a lot of fun!

Hello Chaps!

My word, there has been a lot of activity here hasn't there?  I have enjoyed reading the posts here. In preperation for this build, the secret workshop quartermaster has been busy setting up the parts of my Nieuport 17 on bench no.2.

I have also been making serious preperation by drinking plenty of French wine and reading all about Charles Nungeser-its his kite that I'm building. A very interesting chap, just the sort of fellow one would want in one's squadron.

I think I will enjoy this build. Cheers!

The good news is that depending on the manufacturer most British props especially for the Sopwith F.1 camel were overcoated in a red brown shellac.  The French did this too.  Other aircraft  that had these red brown propellers were Spad XII & XIII, Nieuport 11-27 types and SE 5 & 5a types.  This shellac did not let wood laminations show through.

NIcely done, Marc! You should have no problem building your Camel.

For that laminated look on the props, I mask it using very thin strips of masking tape running from one end to the other.

I finished what I consider a warm up build for this GB. The pics are posted in the Aircraft section.

/forums/826312/ShowPost.aspx

  My hand painting for stripes is not so good.  How do you WWI buffs do the layered look for the props? 

If you liked that one, here is the organization I volunteer for.  This is Hanagar #1 of 3 (with a fourth in planning.)

http://www.lafayettefoundation.org/

You will see our organization and some of my models featured on the second disc of "Flyboys Collector's DVD".  The closing shot of the "real Lafayette Escadrille came from our archive by the way.

Greetings all;  Here is a bit of fun from down under (the influence of PJ and his Wingnut productions.)  The most of the machines are 80% scale..

http://capphotography.fotopic.net/

I have been fighting an urge to build some WW1 aircraft for a couple of years now but finally gave in and bought a bunch of 1/72 kits so I might as well get in on this build. I've been debating which scale for some time but decided to go with 1/72 since they are easier to display, I won't feel guilty for not rigging them (I don't think scale rigging would really be visible) and they should be quick builds. Since with my primary hobby is building fire apparatus that require lots of scratchbuilding I can use some quick builds. It also doesn't hurt that most of the 1/72 kits are under $10.

Got started with Revell's DH2, probably not the best choice to jump in with but after resisting a strong temptation to fling it out the window I finally got the wings and tail booms on straight and its shaping up to be a nice little kit. If they all go together as quickly as this one I may blow through the stack before Oct 1 so I'll leave the specifics until we are closer to the start date, but it will be 1/72.

Well everyone, seeing as how it is the first of September in some parts of the world, we now have just 30 days until this GB takes off!  Time to start gathering up the references, compiling data, and ordering up those accessories!

Since many of you are IPMS members and the 2007 Nationals are but a memory at this time, I thought you might find this of interest.

Perhaps the highest award in the realm of WWI aviation model building is the Michael L. Fritz award. Essentially it is talented modelers in our area of study awarding honours to those of us that excell in building more than a fine model. The award is named after one of the most prolific scratchbuilders I have ever seen. Michael L. Fritz was the kind of modeler I admire and respect. Sadly he is gone west but his spirit lives on in the award that carries his name. Awarded at the USA IPMS Nationals almost every year it is the holy grail to many stout hearts that call themselves "Wingnuts."  The following is from Mr. Ed Boll.

"The 2007 Recipient of the Michael L Fritz Award for WWI Modeling is Mark Marez of Fontana Calif. for his 1/72 Albatros D.II at the IPMS NAtional Convention on august 25, 2007. ( Check the history and explinations in other posts on the Aeroscale and the IPMS Journal, Jan/Feb 2007 vol.19,no.1 page 61) This was the 18th consecutive year the Award has been given by the IPMS Spruce Goose Chapter. It is the longest current consecutive Award at the IPMS National Convention." - Ed Boll (drIace)