To be honest, it was not a complete recovery, but I lost my nerve when it came to using strong solutions to strip the paint. The paint-over did not completely obscure the splotches, but I can live with it. I have, however, pretty much lost the effect of the shading of the “valleys” between the spars to give a more authentic stretched-canvas look. I decided it is best to move forward.
1 Like
Applying decals. On the top wing, the piece protruding through the cross will be painted black.
On the left, a small piece that is mounted on the radiator, on the top of the upper wing, and the anemometer, which will be mounted on the wing strut (!). I plan to do those at the very end, since otherwise I’d probably knock them off.
6 Likes
This is coming together nicely, Molly! Lots of great detail and a beautiful finish. Your patience is paying off!
I have used oven cleaner (easy off) effectively to strip a couple of bad acrylic paint jobs.
I’ve had to do the exact same thing. Well done!
2 Likes
You are overcoming the obstacles thrown your way exceptionally well so far Molly. Tamiya Clear lacquers can indeed be hard on color coats as I found out myself.
Progressing very nicely so far.
Working on creating tiny eyelets to mount the rigging. I got the tips from the Scale-a-Ton builder and am trying the process with just the lower right wing. I need to see if my rigging (.006 mm monofilament line) will fit through the little brass tubing I’ll use for the rigging. That’s coming up.
This one’s a little sloppy and too big, but maybe I’ll get better with practice.
I ordered a glue applicator tool that seems to work well for this job.
One more to go on this piece. (two of the pre-drilled holes won’t be used) - oh, and it’s important to drill those holes out a little beforehand, too.
2 Likes
That’s the technique I will be using when I start my WWI models.
1 Like
Tried to get my monofilament line (.1524 mm diameter) through the brass tube with an inner diameter of 0.4 mm. It has to pass through twice - thread in the brass tube, then through the eyelet, then back through the bass tube. Theoretically, this should work… but it doesn’t. I’ll try again in the morning when my eyes are fresher and maybe my hands steadier.
Plan B: order tubing with 0.5 mm and (just in case) 0.6 mm inner diameters. But my plane must be finished by May 22nd, and I’m not sure I can get these in time.
Plan C: try using 36 gauge wire (already on hand) - 0.127 mm diameter.
Plan D - skip the brass tubing and glue monofilament to itself?
2 Likes
I have a brass tube of 0.4 mm through which the rigging must pass (twice), and I was planning to use monofilament line which says its diameter is 0.15 mm. But it is too thick. This is what I have on hand:
Silver thread - 0.12 mm, fishing line - 0.1 mm, 36 gauge wire - 0.127 mm, monofilament line - 0.15 mm
Same choices, up close. You can see that I have successfully threaded the silver thread and the 36-gauge wire through the brass piece and eyelet.
The fishing line is actually braided, so the ends fray easily. I could not get it through the brass tube twice. Expensive, too. $15 for this spool.
I’d prefer using the monofilament line because the end result would be nicer, as opposed to the wire, which easily shows slight bends or kinks, and they are hard to work out once the rigging is in place.
I think I am going with the silver thread because it will go through the brass piece twice and it is a metallic polyester-nylon thread (59% nylon; 41% polyester) with a slight bit of elasticity to it. I also have some EZ Line (fine) on hand, but decided to forego using it because I’ve read that it can degrade and become brittle over time.
3 Likes
Have you considered using piano wire (music wire)? It’s stiff and you will not have to worry about slack or kinks. I think you can get it in thin enough sizes. You can glue one end into a turnbuckle and the other end a wire loop. I haven’t used this method exactly, but I have used piano wire on a Ford Tri-motor. It worked well.
Gary
1 Like
Thanks, Gary. Good to know. I had not considered it but will keep it in mind.
Wow, looks more like surgery, than model building. My hats off to you ma’am.
2 Likes
It feels like surgery sometimes, too! I would think that micro-surgeons and dental hygienists would excel at this hobby (and they would already have some of the cool tools!)
2 Likes
I checked into the size of the smallest piano wire. It is about 0.2 mm in diameter - according to “the Google,” which actually gave me two different answers. The other was about 0.254 mm. Neither one would work for passing through a .4 mm brass tube twice.
1 Like
A lot of dicey moments right now. I had to revert to using the 36-gauge wire for the rigging because the silver thread was too difficult to get through the brass ferules without fraying. (I figured out where my process went wrong - I was using the Scale-a-ton video recommendation of doing this with a 0.5 mm brass tube. He was speaking of the inner diameter, not the outer diameter. I ordered a 0.6 mm brass tube - to be safe, I thought. But its inner diameter is 0.4 mm, so I actually went down a step. Oh, well. Memo to self for the next time.)
I threaded all the rigging on the top wing and then - the moment of truth - began assembling the wing onto the fuselage and matching up the struts. I had read from others that this is a delicate move. Something about a “banana wing…” After fiddling with it for about an hour around midnight last night, I understood the banana wing reference. To get the inner struts to align where they should be positioned, it requires that the lower wings flex and bow just a tiny bit. After I understood the physics of this, I still couldn’t quite get it to go, so I found a safe stopping point and quit for the night. The outer struts are glued into place, and this morning, I am resuming the delicate process of getting the inner struts where I want them. It’s miraculously better than it seemed when I went to bed. Going slowly now, but now it is much harder to reach those little places under the wings and my fingers seemed to have gotten fatter.
Partially assembled, but not yet stable enough to continue working with the rigging.
Somehow, little parts got away from their assigned spot, even though they were glued (I thought) in place. This rigging point on the end of the upper wing has lost its brass ferrule, which has worked up the line. I found it and put it back. I also found an orphan turnbuckle sitting in the work area. It fell off of its assigned spot, but I’ve located where it’s supposed to go and will get it back in place.
Still a long ways to go, and now every mistake makes me jittery.
5 Likes
Hang in there. It looks amazing!
Nice. But I have to say this picture is bringing up some personal PTSD from one attempt at building a 48th scale Sopwith Camel.
2 Likes
Sorry and thanks for the warning, @Aggieman. The friend who gave me this kit has another Wingnuts Wings kit - a Sopwith Camel. A few days ago I thought it might be fun to do another one, but I may need to have therapy after this one.
1 Like