Knights of the Sky WWI GB The End

StephenLawson wrote:

Thats right Mr. Drummy;  Fok. Dr.I 404/17 black tail & rear fuselage, white cowling and the cross fields were overpainted.  I'll see if I can dig up an image later today.

Here they are. Top image has a white rudder. The bottom has a black rudder. This last image was takem a few hours before von Tutschek's death.

OK Mike, save something for the GB!

Justin- Glad to hear you're alive and well!

Hey everyone--

Just letting you know that I haven't dropped off the face of the earth, 
even though my lack of posts makes it seem so!

I'm waiting on a friend of mine to send me some decals I let him have awhile back, only to realize that I needed them for my DR1!  Eek!  Luckily he's a good guy, and they're on their way back to me.  

Also-- Stephen, on these decals are markings for an Hptm. Eduard von Tutschek.  That was a mostly black DR1-right?  Can't seem to find a shot on the net!

Looks good Mike!  Just be sure to save at least a little bit of the kit for when the GB officially starts!

Looks like you're off to a good start, Rafhart. That is tiny for sure.

Stephen, you are a wealth of information sir! Nice pic of the column!

OK guys, my curiosity got the best of me. I just HAD to make sure this was going to work. Earlier in this thread, Stephen and I discussed the fragility of the twin booms in the Eduard DH.2 kit and he suggested a solution. Looks like it will be a 'go' when the time comes. I replaced the lower part of the boom with brass rod and reinforced it further with .007" steel bracing wire (left). Feels a lot stronger than the kit part (right). The job was made easier with the help of a rudimentary jig. I left the upper part of the boom intact to preserve the pitch of the two vertical struts.

Now that my curiosity has been satisfied, I promise I will put this kit aside until the GB starts. Won't be easy though.

Rafhart wrote:

That is small 

Rafhart wrote:

Hey Rafhart,  I hope this may help you with your build.  The kit looks like the old Hawkeye Dr.I parts.  Your control column head could benefit with some strengthening. As it stands now you have installed it kind of reversed. The image at left is the pilot's view.  His right thumb and fingers wrap around the wooden  grip.  The revolving handle is the auxiliary throttle.  The triggers are at a right angle for the right hand fore and middle fingers. 

Just got this  today for those of you asking about where to find German 4 & 5 colour lozenge decals.

When Squadron purchased Eagle Strike / Aeromaster one concern was evidently not fielded. The fellows who printed the Eagle Strike loz. were not in the USA. Squadron usually has Krasel industries do their decal sheets and their cost of 4-5 colour lozenge is pretty steep. Even Copper State Models has had concerns with their lozenge printed by Krasel industries.

Even though there are at least two minor companies working on this now (one in the USA "not Squadron" the other is SPADA in Europe) Squadron has at least contacted Krasel on this subject and is not planning on more than a small run sometime in the future.

I suppose I see this a bit different, Greg. Stephen IMO has done nothing that violates board policies in any way. He is offering free how-to info on building models of WWI aircraft that is immediately accessable instead of waiting for a reply on the boards. This info incorporates years of experience on the subject, and I am sure contains answers to questions that have not even been asked here yet. I find that invaluable, and will take full advantage of it. It will be nice having such a wealth of knowledge at our fingertips. That there are also items for sale on that site that to me is irrelevant. Nobody is having their arm twisted to open their wallets.

I will respect your decision to withdraw if you feel a need to, and I'm sure others will too. You will be missed, however, and I hope that you will at least reconsider your decision. This is going to be a fun GB and we'd hate to see you miss out.

StephenLawson wrote:

MrDrummy wrote: Hey Stephen. . .I don't want to get for free what you sell on CD, but at the point the model money is drying up!! Greetings Mr Drummy. . . 3. No worries.  If I offer it (like I did in the list above) you can ask about it. Modelers come here to get help. . .

Just for clarity.

StephenLawson wrote:

gzt wrote:  StephenLawson wrote: As has been mentioned doing your first WWI aircaft kit can be a bit confusing when it comes to the sequence of events in the build.  As a part of an "extras file" to the kit review CD's I offer on my website, I have a document outlining the best methods I have found.  To help everyone here that could benefit from it, I'll offer a free PDF document to anyone who sends me an e-mail.   Just title the request "Splinter in the Mind's Eye".  Use the e-mail listed on the first page of my website to reach me.  Again this is a free offer and there are no images with this version of the text.  The document is 5 pages long so it would be impractical to post here. I can not get rid of a strange thought that Stephen uses this forum to promote his products in my opinion. . . Stephen: what is your purpose here? selling your knowledge or sharing it ?   gzt: I have a website.  I keep it separate from my personal e-mails.  As I mentioned in earlier posts anything we discuss here would be gratis.  My guess is you missed that.  It can be stated that if I offer any help here that it is for everyone's benefit.  I can withdraw the offer if it is offensive.

Stephen,

I do not think I missed anything. I traced your postings here, and my impression is pretty clear:  you make money off people here by giving them a bait to your products. If your intention is to share information than why you do not post it here for everyone (like everyone else is doing) ?

Why you do not answer a question streight on the forum, if you know the answer but instead you show the CD you made as it has answer to all our problems?

Anyway, I think I know the answer to those questions.  In my opinion your action is not ethical.

I try to share whatever I know about any subject here and I am happy I can help others.  

I am officialy asking to withdraw my build from this group because I can not agree with such practice. 

gzt wrote:

StephenLawson wrote: As has been mentioned doing your first WWI aircaft kit can be a bit confusing when it comes to the sequence of events in the build.  As a part of an "extras file" to the kit review CD's I offer on my website, I have a document outlining the best methods I have found.  To help everyone here that could benefit from it, I'll offer a free PDF document to anyone who sends me an e-mail.   Just title the request "Splinter in the Mind's Eye".  Use the e-mail listed on the first page of my website to reach me.  Again this is a free offer and there are no images with this version of the text.  The document is 5 pages long so it would be impractical to post here. I can not get rid of a strange thought that Stephen uses this forum to promote his products in my opinion. . . Stephen: what is your purpose here? selling your knowledge or sharing it ?

 gzt: I have a website.  I keep it separate from my personal e-mails.  As I mentioned in earlier posts anything we discuss here would be gratis.  My guess is you missed that.  It can be stated that if I offer any help here that it is for everyone's benefit.  I can withdraw the offer if it is offensive. 

Daywalker wrote:

Thank you Stephen for that generous offer!  I would like to download that file, is "WWI-n-plastic" your website?  Just wanted to be sure before sending off the request!

Sorry about that Daywalker Yes, my site is ;

http://www.wwi-n-plastic.com

I can send the document as an pdf attachment. And for those of you who don't have the adobe reader, I offer a free link on the same front page as the e-mail as well.  I wrote that late last night and was more tired than I thought.  I can accomodate Word Perfect or most any common format too. 

StephenLawson wrote:

As has been mentioned doing your first WWI aircaft kit can be a bit confusing when it comes to the sequence of events in the build.  As a part of an "extras file" to the kit review CD's I offer on my website, I have a document outlining the best methods I have found.  To help everyone here that could benefit from it, I'll offer a free PDF document to anyone who sends me an e-mail.   Just title the request "Splinter in the Mind's Eye".  Use the e-mail listed on the first page of my website to reach me.  Again this is a free offer and there are no images with this version of the text.  The document is 5 pages long so it would be impractical to post here.

I can not get rid of a strange thought that Steohen uses this forum to promote his products in my opinion the nasty way: show an inch and ask for money for the rest.

I thought this forum is for sharing information, not to make money of it.

Almost 50% of Stephen posts contain a bit info and relay to his web site where one can purchase a "thing" to resolve all problems and resolve all issues.

I just can not get rid of this impression. Am I hallucinating ?  

Stephen: what is your purpose here? selling your knowledge or sharing it ? 

I found some usefull information here

rigging: 

http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2001/11/stuff_eng_tech_rigging.htm

http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2004/08/stuff_eng_tech_rigging.htm

As has been mentioned doing your first WWI aircaft kit can be a bit confusing when it comes to the sequence of events in the build.  As a part of an "extras file" to the kit review CD's I offer on my website, I have a document outlining the best methods I have found.  To help everyone here that could benefit from it, I'll offer a free PDF document to anyone who sends me an e-mail.   Just title the request "Splinter in the Mind's Eye".  Use the e-mail listed on the first page of my website to reach me.  Again this is a free offer and there are no images with this version of the text.

 The document is 5 pages long so it would be impractical to post here.

I start bulding my Fokker Dr.I , is smoll

Photo coming today night.

Marc, I always attach the struts at the bottom first, and usually start with the outermost struts. I'll use a slow setting liquid cement like Tamiya's thick stuff (in the orange bottle), glue the lower points, and then place the upper wing into position. I give it a good visual to make sure everything looks lined up properly, then set up a jig to make sure everything stays in place until the cement cures. Sometimes doing this with the model in an inverted position is easier. After about 24 hours, I'll then remove the upper wing, cement the lower points of the cabane struts in place with the same Tamiya cement, set the upper wing back on and align all of the upper attachment points to their respective holes on the upper wing, and let it set again for another 24 hours. When the time comes to permanently attach the upper wing, I will place a small drop of thick CA on the upper struts and drop the upper wing into position.

Hope this helps.

wing_nut wrote:

After building so many low wing monoplanes and knowing what to do and when to do it… It is kind of intimidating with all the wings and struts and lions and tigers and bears…OH MY.  I don’t even want to think about masking and rigging.

Hmmm... I don't think tanks have any of that Tom Foolery, ever think of building those instead?

I am working on y 1^st biplane ever.  And while it is a pre-WWII a/c I am considering this a warm up to the GB. With that in mind I am some question, as far as procedures, for the bipe experts. 

Best way to attach the upper wing? Glue the struts to the bottom and place upper wing on top or glue the struts to the upper and set it all down on the lower wing/fuselage?  Do you make some sort of jig to align everything?  Glue all the strut attachment points all at once or one at a time and let it set before moving to the next one?  Do you use something like a 5 minute epoxy so you have a little “move it around” time?

After building so many low wing monoplanes and knowing what to do and when to do it… It is kind of intimidating with all the wings and struts and lions and tigers and bears…OH MY.  I don’t even want to think about masking and rigging.

With the chance to build 3 new stringbags from Eduard, I'm glad it was just a rumor.

Who starts those things anyway?

ruddratt wrote:

StephenLawson wrote: From another fellow, ". . .In addition, during 2008 Eduard will release perhaps their final all-new 1/48 scale WWI kits for the time being. These three kits will be a SPAD XIII, Fokker Dr.I and a Fokker Eindekker. These kits are due around Spring/Summer 2008." This made my day!

But why Rumor has it that you're going back to building armor    

StephenLawson wrote:

From another fellow, ". . .In addition, during 2008 Eduard will release perhaps their final all-new 1/48 scale WWI kits for the time being. These three kits will be a SPAD XIII, Fokker Dr.I and a Fokker Eindekker. These kits are due around Spring/Summer 2008."

This made my day!

Looks like I had better get my wallet ready...

Thanks Stephen!

Greetings all Its seems as though the GB  will be marking the entrance of three new molds by Eduard before they step back from WWI aviation molds.  From Lynn at HS.

 ". . .First thing this morning, I cornered Vlad to cover a few questions that were raised here last night and this AM, namely the WWI situation and the continuation of the Mirage series. Regarding the WWI stuff, Eduard is most emphatically NOT turning their backs on the series; Vlad mentioned a few things he'd like to tackle in the future, which will certainly bring smiles to ragwing builders' faces if they were to come to fruition, . . . Make no mistake, Eduard is in it to win it, and is comfortable taking on the "big boys" when it comes to the F-4 family, so WWI guys, just trust that they're not abandoning you, they're doing what they think is best for their business and I suspect they'll be proven right. . . "

From another fellow, ". . .In addition, during 2008 Eduard will release perhaps their final all-new 1/48 scale WWI kits for the time being. These three kits will be a SPAD XIII, Fokker Dr.I and a Fokker Eindekker. These kits are due around Spring/Summer 2008."

jeaton01 wrote:

I'd be really surprised to hear that von Richthofen had a change of heart about war, nothing I have read would indicate that.  But, you never know.  He certainly had enough exposure to the dirt of war in the cavalry, didn't he?

There has been a lot written about MvR.  While we don't have his diary in the public domain what we do have are comments from the people he knew.  Many of these comments say that after his head wound on July 6, 1917 that he was a changed individual.  His ghost written autobiography the "Red Battle Flyer" was full of courageous statements and elan.  The truth was his courage was intact but the realities of war were more of a daily concern.  MvR didn't care for the women that adored him, the generals that praised him.  He cared about the soldiers in the trench and mentioned this to his mother on the visit I spoke of in May 1917.  MvR noted that his red bird was quite well known and after downing a reconn machine  the would fly low over the trenches and the whole line would wave their helmets and arms from behind their cover looking up at him.  This gave him a vivid sense of duty, stopping photo reconn machines from getting their information back to hdqtrs.  Look at his victory score and you will note he shot down many more two-seater than single seaters.

Onehistorian has said that there have been more books written about Ritt. Manfred von Richthofen than Abraham Lincoln.  One of the best is a monograph by the late A. E. (Ed) Ferko. simply titled "RICHTHOFEN" it is available through Albatros publications Ltd.

http://www.windsockdatafilespecials.co.uk/

Richthofen by A E (ED) Ferko. This is a superb record of Germany's leading fighter pilot, which also includes detailed appendices and notes. There are 203 photos (many hitherto unpublished) that trace the Baron's WWI career. 84 pages offer a unique, fresh insight into Germany's Ace of Aces; also included are 4 colour pages with 15 colour profiles of the Baron's aeroplanes. £21.00