Yeah, only 3 days until I can pull out the albatross D III and start working on it again.
John
P.S. better be soon it could get lost on my work bench! [:O]
Ah, yes, the modelers’ code: Never sell out another modeler, unless he’s about to beat you in a contest. OH, that’s not the code … oops.
Thanks, Ruddratt. Aaron and I were thinking the same thing (so was Chuck). Oh, well. Onwards!
Yes, it sounds like many have gotten their start. Falconmod is still idling, but he’ll be up and running here shortly. I’m sure Aaron will pipe up here soon. He’s snowed in with another model for the magazine at the moment, but we have a vlog post coming, so I’ll poke him with some sharpened sprue.
Good start, everyone! And thanks for the info, Jack. Very helpful and interesting.
Have a great day and happy building!
Jack: Thanks for the info sir - that’s perfect! Of course it now adds a trial with “canvas” coloring as a base coat, but that’s OK.
Have fun everyone…
Ruddratt, thanks for the info on the rolling photo etch.
Started doing the work on the engines for my Gotha and as I look at the instructions and pieces for the rest of the kit I came to a conclusion. It seems like I am cheating with this kit, almost 90% of it is covered in decals. Looks like I am going to have to do one incredible weathering job to keep up with you guys.
Unless you’re paying someone to build it for you, I think you’re in fine standing. Me, I’m still trying to drain my head so I can get back to the bench. I think I’ll bring the D.VII into the office and see what I can get done here. Also, need to catch some video of the work.
Broke out my E-IV. Been looking at all the online reviews I can find and studying the pics in the Squadron book. Right now I’ll probably finish it in Boelke’s scheme just to honor the great one. Kit seems to have a few shape issues outside but the engine looks good and there’s enough detail in the cockpit for 72 scale. Kinda embarassed with all these big kits going on but I have a ton of 72 scale WW1 kits collected over the last 25+ years. Good to see all the work being done!
Why be embarrassed? You may be the only one who has chosen a kit with a skill level equal to your pay grade, instead of above it, as I have!
shiv, Cliff, no problem man. Happy to help. Looking forward to seeing some progress pics of your builds.
shiv, man, that’s a lot of decals. I don’t envy you having to apply those suckers, and weather 'em too. That’s gonna be a challenge!
freem, anyone who models that braille scale stuff has my respect. No way my peepers or fingers allow me to work with stuff that small any more. Can’t wait to see some pics!
John, you must be chompin’ at the bit! Well, we are too, to see more of that build! It’s really lookin’ sweet!
Going to finish try to finish up the engine tomorrow night in spite of the slightly buggered cylinder head and see how it looks. If I ain’t happy, well, there’s this as a possible replacement…
thanks for the confidence vote jeaton and ruddratt! Eindekkers have always been amongst my fave planes. Pics will happen if I can figure out how to get em off my iphone and onto the forum. Ive taken the cumpulsory box art and sprue shot. By the way, I could screw up a snaptite kit so pay grade is down there. The Wingnut kits are probably the ultimate model kits out there as far as what I’ve seen from sprues to built kits. And the cost seems way reasonable for what you’re gonna get!
freem
For those of you who have been kind enough to follow along, I’ve finished the pair of Airfix 1/72 SPAD VIIs I was working on. They can be seen here.
Love what all you guys have been doing with your birds so far. I’m anxious to get on to the Sopwith Baby!
So things are chugging along I see. My Kingtiger is done but need to do the figs and base and I will get into this full tilt. While some stuff was drying the other day I did get the wood prop blank ready at least.
I’ll start with a basic boxed kit photo with the microscopic turnbuckles and the Master Spandau upgrade set.
The prop starts with 1/32 sheets of bass wood and mahogany. which are stacked, glued and clamped.
There are 4 propss in the box but this is the easiest to make. It had the simplest profile and the length of it lays flat on the back edge. Less curves to worry about.
The prop boss was sanded off the kit part for the next steps. Holding the prop firmly trace the outside shape. Take a circle template to mark the hub. Mark the center of the hub and draw in a guide for the airfoil shape at the hub.
Greg - beautiful SPAD sir…nicely done. How is it rigged?
Marc - a true crafstman at work I see. I’ll be watching this part of the build. I envy those with skills sharp enough to carve their own props. I plan to “cheat” on mine and use the photo etched laminate prop mask from RB Productions. I used it on my D.VII and it worked well…although I need more practice.
Things are a-happinin’ in the Group. That’s great! I had hoped to post a couple of pictures this weekend, but I have to take a couple days off from the bench. Keep up the good work, folks!
Nice Spads, Greg, lots of detail for 1/72.
Marc, I’ve been carving props for rubber powered airplanes lately, maybe I should try laminating some of those just for the look. I have seen photos of full scale wood props being built and my thought is that they cut the profiles first. Then the offsets they use when stacking the wood determines the pitch. Must make it hard to get even gluing pressure, though. Need to go back and look at some old books I have on the subject.
I give this an unreserved HECK YEAH! Meanwhile, I’ve sprayed my wings with some gloss black. If all goes well, you’ll see how they turned out tomorrow.
Kind? No, no. It was our pleasure! Good stuff, sir. Can’t wait to see the Baby come together.
Hi All,
i’m following you closely and when I finish my current project (hopefully this weekend) - a SPAD XIII, I will dive into this build head on. I’m waiting to see where this wooden propeller idea is going on 
Best regards,
Sasho
Hi folks - I managed to squeeze in a bit of time to post some pics.
I had read that my F.1 has a minor accuracy issue with the stub wing between the gear struts - the pictures show a quick trim-fill-fix sequnce to remove the clips and replace them with jack pads used to change wheels in the field. That’ll be the extent of updates for a few days - enjoy your weekend evereyone!
Thanks to all for the encouraging words on the SPADs
Stretched sprue and white glue. Not elegant, but fast and forgiving—and for 1/72, surprisingly strong. Though, looking again at the photos, it’s clear a few lines weren’t quite as taut as they first appeared. Ah, well…
Happy Friday, you guys!
Chuck - Some excellent progress. I admire how clean your improvements are.
Sasho - Good to see you! I’m with you: I think we’re all waiting with bated breath to see how Marc’s prop turns out.
Freem - I think the easiest way to do maybe to email them to yourself, unless you have an Instagram account or something similar.
Here’s the second installment of Tim and Aaron’s WWI Aeroplane Group Build vlog.
A little history on this video: It was at one point much longer, showing me putting paint on those wings and detailing some challenges. However, we (too late) discovered the audio was unusable. We had to reshoot a shorter version. So, I thought I’d impart a couple of things here in text.
I used Plastic Prep on the wings before painting to get rid of any residue or release agent that may have still been on them. Although I blew them off, I noticed that the cotton pad left little fuzzies on the the wings that were captured beneath the paint.
I went back with 2000-grit sand paper and removed those and then hit the wings with another solid coat of Tamiya gloss black. Something I learned from Aaron is that a good finish is all about the prep. And while the wings will be covered with a lozenge decal, it’s best to go back and make sure that your gloss finish is as smooth as you can get it. Don’t be afraid to put down some paint, go back with high-grit sand paper to clean things up and then paint again. It’ll be worth it in the end.
I’m aiming at getting the cockpit together this weekend. We’ll see how close I get.
Good work everyone! I think Falconmod is now allowed out of the gate. And those of you who haven’t clocked in yet, there’s still plenty of time.
Have a great weekend!