I think this one came out pretty well. The rigging is 0.004" stainless wire with flat black paint used to simulate the turnbuckles.
I’ve been building WWI a/c all summer and fall. It’s time to stop for a while. I’m going to build a 1/700 Crusier next.
Nicely done Donald! A lot of interesting colors, textures, and such on this build. These WWI fighters are a lot of fun to build. Even though you are taking a break from them right now, perhaps I can persuade you to join the Knights of the Sky II GB in the beginning of next year. [;)]
Thanks for the pics, stunning work! [^]
Daywalker - I’ve got plenty of WWI a/c left in the inventory. I’m game. Just let me know when the group build begins.
Roger that, I’ll make sure I get in touch with you before it starts. [;)]
That looks great! The rigging came out awesome.
What kit is that?
It’s the Eduard “Weekend Edition” in 1/48 scale with an Albatros D-V/D-Va PE detail set and Eduard Lozenge plus Aeromaster Lozenge and also Wood Grain decals.
Wow! Very well done! I’m learningnow that Biplanes are certainly harder than they look. But she looks like she just fell together. Hats off to you, Sir![8D]
I can’t say that she just fell together. I guess if I had built out of the box and went with the purple and green camo scheme of the weekend edition kit I could have finished in in one (maybe a long) weekend. But I probably have 35 or 40 hours into this baby. I spent about 4 hours this morning and last night doing the rigging.
Superb example of WWI modeling at its finest! Display it proudly. I’m not sure why we don’t see more of these birds on this forum. IMO they’re the most visually appealing warbirds around.
Twist my arm, buddy (yeah, like that’s really necessary! [swg] )
Lovely job on one of my all time favorite planes.
Thanks to you all from such nice comments. I appreciate the feedback. Ever one gets a little better. If you want to hone your skills a WWI a/c is the canvas to test yourself upon.
I totally agree! Aligning the dihedral on one wing can be tricky enough. Try aligning two, along with 12 struts all at the same time. Quite a challenge.
Nice job, dcaponeII. I built that kit earlier this spring but OOB, no extras. Yours makes the kit look deceptively easy. Getting those wings and struts aligned is NOT fun. I even had trouble with the landing gear.
It was a bit tricky aligning everything. I put together a small jig made from foam board hot glued together along with a few clamps to hold things where they belonged. The advantage to not pulling rigging through holes in the wing is that I don’t have to worry so much about pulling everything out of alignment while rigging the bird.
That really looks great. Have to agree with everything said sao far.
Those birds sure are a challenge. I’ve only done one so far but the sense of accomplishment having finished it, and it not wanting to make me puke to look at it, was enormous.
I just wish more modelers would build them for competitions. It’s pretty depressing to show up at a contest and find that you’ve brought two of the three biplanes in the competition. That’s part of the reason I build more WWII single engine prop than anything else because i like the competition. Maybe I’ll try my hand at Nationals this year and see how it goes. I did notice that one the the third place box stock finishes this year was a model that I had beaten earlier in the year so I guess it wouldn’t be a complete waste of time.
How did you do the rigging?
I have a spool of 0.004" Stainless Steel wire. I keep it slightly under tension on a rod so that when I pull a length off it straightens itself. I work with about 18" at a time.
Using a pair of dividers I measure the exact length I need to span the particular bay I’m rigging. I then attach one end to the correct location with a small (VERY small) drop of Testor’s cement for clear plastic. It has good initial tack and holds the wire in place very well. Before it has dried completely I glue the other end into the correct location with another drop of the same cement. Then I walk away for 10 to 15 minutes.
A small dab of flat black at the ends of the wires simulates the turnbuckles because there’s always a little bit of wicking that works its way up the wire just a tad.
I apply the glue with a small length of stretched sprue. Note: I apply CA using the same kind of stretched sprue applicator. They are cheap, easy to make, and work really well for me.
Nice work Donald I’ve always been afraid of WWI because of the rigging but you make it look easy.
It’s relatively easy. Just takes a lot of patience. You should take a crack at one. I recommend a Fokker Dr-1 since it only has a little bit of rigging. Then do a monoplane like the Moraine Saulnier N-1 or the Fokker E-III so you don’t have to fiddle around in between the wings of a biplane. Then you can move to biplanes with more rigging. I’d stay away from the Sequisplanes for your first ones since I find it harder to get the wings aligned than with a biplane with relatively equal chord wings.