Sasho, it’s great to see you! Where have you been hiding?
We’re running an armor group build coming up in August. We’d love to have you along. Here’s a link to it.
WooHoo! Big congrads Marc! Maybe I can learn enough to finally get the last rigging on my Nieuport done…[:(]
Hi Tim,
I was quitely working on this 
Thanks for the invite, I will probably join the armor build, but it is too early to tell - just starting a Gotha GVa, Fokker EIV and plan on Lamborghini AVentador
Busy schedule
Best regards,
Sasho
Nice one marc, will be looking forward to that.
[:‘(][:’(]
most folks did…
This is awesome! …and it couldn’t happen to a more deserving guy. This guy is a master – armor, modern aircraft, WWII, bipes, this guy builds 'em all, and they’re all showstoppers. Without doubt, the most skilled modeler it’s been my pleasure to know. Nicely done my friend. [Y]
Another beautiful bipe! Great work on the woodgrain.
They must have figured out we live in Northern California, Bill!
Hey guys. First let me apologize for taking so long to see this post and all nice things you guys have said. I really can’t thank you all enough for the comments and kind thoughts.
Build time is… well… I am not even sure what build time means any more. I would have acknowledged you guys sooner but forum time is but a fraction of build time these days.
Yeah, this is a long dead thread, but I want to reach out to the guys who participated (or really, anyone who wants to jump in) to talk about replicating machine-turned aluminum for WWI aircraft. I have a couple of ideas, but what techniques have you all used to get the job done?
Yes, this post is totally selfish and self-serving, because I have an E.IV on the workbench and you know what that means. So help an old companion and FSM editor out.
Thanks!
Wish I could help, Tim, but it’s not something I’ve done yet. I suspect it would depend on the scale. Revell supplied a decal for the Spirit of St Louis. On the full scale work it was done to hide rough metal work and was done by working the surface with a sort of flat bottom milling tool, hence engine turned. I think there were two different patterns. One fairly regular and repeating, the other more random.
Thanks so much for chiming in, John! The pattern on the E.IV cowl is random. I think I might be able to replicate the look with an airbrush, but I’m not sure if it’s the best route.
Tim, during the course of the contest build, one of the participants did an amazing rendition of the ‘sworl’ pattern with a home-made decal pattern over an aluminum undercoat. (I thought it was Jack/Jgeratic’s Albatros, but looking at the ‘completed’ photos on page 1 of the contest thread, it may have been Ruddrat’s Fokker, which has an excellent version as well.)
When I PM’d them at the time, they were kind enough to share the graphic with me…but, alas, both that and the related correspondence is on a laptop currently in storage. Profuse apologies to whichever kind and generous soul it was…but it was quite a while ago, and having passed the big 65, the memory seems more crayon-sharp than pencil-sharp these days.
The good news is, that laptop is pretty easily accessible, it’ll just take me a day or two to get to it. I’ll check back with an update.
Cheers…and it’s still good to have you back!
I had read something years ago where you cover the model in one of the foil products, then spin a technical pencil eracer against the foil to burnish the circular pattern. Use one of the abrasive types of erasers, not the soft white erasers. I’ve not tried it nor do I remember if there were any pictures when I read about the processors.
Would love to see what you come up with!
Thanks, Greg! I appreciate it. And it’s still good to be back!
Sounds interesting. I’ll let you know what I go with and how it turns out.
Well…what I said earlier about my memory was entirely correct; I’d forgotten an intervening hard drive failure since that contest…so no joy on the decal pattern I mentioned. Sorry.
In its place I’ll offer a couple of (regretably source-unidentified) photos from my Fokker EIII files, labled with the caption “cowling swirl hand-painted w silver-black mix over humbrol 11 silver.” It’s a pretty decent representation of the effect, and it’s probably what I’d go with now…although I suspect I might use oils rather than enamels to paint the swirls, just from an ease-of-use standpoint.
Hope it’s some help. Good luck with your project!
Greg,
Thanks for taking the time to dig up those photos! I appreciate the effort and the help. I’m going to do a couple of tests and post them in a different thread to show everyone what I’m thinking.
TK
Tim
Here’s a link to a build of a 1/72 Airfix Fokker E.II I found on the Imodeler site. It looks like a good plan, though I don’t usually break out the airbrush for 72 scale WWI planes
https://armouredsprue.blogspot.com/2018/11/fokker-eindecker-eii-6915-baron-kurt.html
Good luck!!
Freem,
Thanks for that link! The interior shots of the cockpit with the aluminum inside are great. I was diverted from the model due to a packed last few weeks, but I’m finally back on it as of last night, so I should have something to report in the not too distant future.
TK