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fjaweijfopi4j48

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Everything posted by fjaweijfopi4j48

  1. fjaweijfopi4j48
    One note about the doors: they are tricky little things, and the midsection expands in a curvature, producing a window the is straight on top but convex at the bottom. I bent the doors to conform to that shape, but depending on how they finally look I may have to produce a master and vac them instead. My plan is to use the wings and tail of the new Airfix kit of the DH82, which will need some alterations. The thread, created by Andy Wood, I was referring to is here in Britmodeller:
  2. fjaweijfopi4j48
    Not long ago I saw this on Getty Images while looking for something else: https://www.gettyimages.ae/license/3430428 It was love at first sight. The search begun, and I learned that there was a resin kit from Aeropoxy and an out of production vac from Aeroclub. The Aeroclub kit can be seen popping sometimes on online auctions, but is not easy to get, plus it's a bit dated. The few images I saw online of the Aeropoxy kit didn't tempt me, but in all fairness I did not have the kit on my hands, so this is subjective. I think that Contour Creative Studio produced at some point a paper kit of the DH83, but I have no direct knowledge of it, besides is not the media I build on. Since there are in the market now two relatively new kits of civil De Havillands in 1/72nd scale, the 60 and 82, it could be perhaps possible to borrow some parts and achieve a credible representation of such beautiful airplane. Very fortunately, I was directed by Ebil Genius and friend Sönke Schulz to a thread on the topic right here at Britmodeller, where a great deal of information was provided by John Adams, to whom I am grateful. I am using a combination of plans that are available on the Net, although none seems to be completely accurate. So here it starts this attempt to a half-scratched 1/72nd scale Fox Moth, this time the one with the aft rectangular window. All this is a bit tentative, and although hopes are high I really don't know how far this will go or how successful this may ultimately be. So let's start the road, but bear in mind that I am very practical modeler. The flat sides and formers are cut: Windows and doors are cut. Usually I am unable to extricate the door cleanly from a fuselage side, and have to carve out first the opening and then produce a separate door, but this time somehow it worked: Both doors will be posed open: Gluing begins: It is very small, smaller than I though it will be, how they managed to cram up to four people there I don't know: The window that communicated cabin and cockpit is carved, seat and controls prepared, and the oil reservoir made too:
  3. fjaweijfopi4j48
    The primer revealed as usual a few spots that need attention:
  4. fjaweijfopi4j48
    The tubing for the wing tanks (omitted in the kit) is added, plus some "metal" strips on the windows:
  5. fjaweijfopi4j48
    Looking forward to it, Andy. You would be working in 1/32, isn't it?
  6. fjaweijfopi4j48
    Thanks Roger for the reminder, I read that at least one had those, but in general they didn't. Cheers
  7. fjaweijfopi4j48
    As you can see, and as explained by John, the sides splay-out noticeably as they go for the trailing edge. Also notice that the wing-center panel separation line is covered at the LE by what looks like some kind of metal fairing, not sure if this was standard. Cheers
  8. fjaweijfopi4j48
    I read this thread in a sort of light overflight, but here is what I think is proof of John's non-parallel wing center section chord: https://suwalls.com/aircraft/dh-83-fox-moth-33115/
  9. fjaweijfopi4j48
    Ready for the first mist of primer now: Meanwhile as usual little bits (antennas, airscoops, beacon, etc.) are being prepped: Float-to-door ladder is built:
  10. fjaweijfopi4j48
    Is this model construction going on? It seems that the most important points have been clarifed. I just ordered one of the relatively new Airfix DH82 to contemplate this conversion. Pity some of the images posted at the time are now not working links. Cheers
  11. fjaweijfopi4j48
    This seaplane version did not have the oil radiator in the usual positions seen in photos of the land plane, i.e. under the chin or on the left side, but on the right side of the nose. It is clear that it's not the same radiator seen in the land plane photos, but I can't quite make its shape from the few photos I have, so I am experiment a bit here to decide what to eventually glue on:
  12. fjaweijfopi4j48
    The Aeroclub white metal engines are drybrushed and their crankcases painted grey. I try to finish the details as I go on with the major parts, in order not be delayed later on to complete the model:
  13. fjaweijfopi4j48
    SBS Model makes a very good and well detailed resin kit in 1/72nd scale of this one. Perhaps the advantage of Mikro-Mir would be that it is in injected media? and the engines if they are sufficiently detailed? Mikro-Mir kits are nice, I have built a few (just recently the Miles Aerovan), but the level of detail, if ok, is not near close to this resin.
  14. fjaweijfopi4j48
    A little bit strange, but the B-G (or at least Belvedere) had the bottom of the floats painted red (red underfloats, as they are known in the Ornithopter modeling community). At this point engines are given a base coat of black paint, and prop tips are painted yellow as per photos:
  15. fjaweijfopi4j48
    The float assembly is given the base coat of gloss black in preparation for the aluminium color:
  16. fjaweijfopi4j48
    Central fin on: Given the rather simple and a tad pudgy nature of this kit, I will not go too much into detailing, but I felt like doing some things on the floats. Here the punched metal inspection caps that will be added later: Also the rudders are being prepared, and in the background you can see a length of clear styrene tinted red, from where the left nav light will come: Rudder assemblies: The lack of neat joints forces you to be generous with the filler. One thing we off-the-beaten-path modelers soon learn is that we can save money on gym memberships, and get all our exercise from sanding and crouching under the building area to look for lost bits:
  17. fjaweijfopi4j48
    Here Milliput, as said above, was added on top of the wing/fuselage joint. Normal putty is on the seams elsewhere. All that of course has to be sanded to proper contour. A cut is made to lodge the stab: And the stab glued in place, taking care of allowing a theoretical elevator down movement: Next to central fin is going to be glued, but after I tidy the seams in the area. At this point, will all the putty, is when models don't look really appealing.
  18. fjaweijfopi4j48
    Hi Stuart Epoxy as we know is harder than the plastic used in models (injected or vacs), so what I am doing is actually this: The rest of the gap is filled with putty, or, in some places (joint under the nose and wing LE), Milliput. Milliput is also harder than this type of plastic, and we use it nevertheless frequently. The only caveat is to use "backed" sanding material, in this case for example a wood dowel wrapped with sandpaper, or a strip of sandpaper glued on a flat piece of wood, so we can sand uniformly preserving the needed shape no matter the materials' hardness difference. In any case, after epoxy has hardened enough, it is still easy to carefully remove excess with a single edge razor blade (depending on the area). And once completely hardened I have sanded it without problems when needed, using the adequate grit grade, from coarse to fine, but as described above, using backed sanding tools.
  19. fjaweijfopi4j48
    Hi Bendinggrass Just having fun, much more able modelers out there, some of incomparable talent. I try not to look much at their creations, it inhibits me ;-) Seriously, I see sometimes really exceptional modelers of such an ability that seems out of this world (may be they are aliens), I just dable and try to do something decent, with varied luck and inconsistent results, that's all.
  20. fjaweijfopi4j48
    The yawning gaps and not so good fit called for drastic modeling action, so 10 min. epoxy had to be used to glue the wing to the fuselage, giving plenty of time to make adjustments and material to fill the enormous gaps:
  21. fjaweijfopi4j48
    To confer rigidity to the float assembly, the two aft struts that connect floats and fuselage are measured, made, tried, trimmed, and glued to the floats. Once the float assembly is painted like the rest of the model, then it can be secured to the fuselage stably with four attaching points, leaving the front connecting struts in turn to be measured, made, tried and glued on. To navigate uncharted waters is not only challenging for seaplanes! No kit parts here, you make them as you go!
  22. fjaweijfopi4j48
    The shades are added: Ready to proceed: Fuselage halves glued together, the exhausts are given pins to secure them on the fuselage bottom as per photos:
  23. fjaweijfopi4j48
    Slightly oversized pieces of acrylic are cut, then shaped to fit the particular window, one by one: Once fitted, they are removed, aligned to follow their respective positions, and one by one bathed in floor polish, excess removed on a piece of card, and let to rest leaning on a surface. Once dry, they will be positioned on the model, and very carefully given a very thin touch in the borders with low density cyano, letting it run the seam. Once set, the windows will be masked on the outside, and the fuselage sides glued together. It just tired me of writing it!
  24. fjaweijfopi4j48
    More struttery thingies are added. The short reinforcements go only on the aft wing struts (the kit ignores them). Also installed are the ones that go from the teardrop to the wing root. All this is good, since the kit's wings are unnecessarily heavy (kind of chunky molds) and also the heavy resin floats are going to be connected to this array, so the more reinforcements the better: This seaplane had two Pitots, one aiming downwards on the right wing, and another aiming up and ahead on the left wing: Note: if you are building the kit's normal, land version, have a look at diagram 11. Part 25 doesn't seem to exist in photos, but some times part 24 (the bit going to the nose area from the teardrop) will in photos give the impression of being in the position shown in the diagram for part 25 (quite confusing, by the way). Something to check if you are building this kit.
  25. fjaweijfopi4j48
    Tail is assembled. The central fin is a bit roundish in the kit, but photos show that its LE and TE were straight, so the part is accordingly easily reshaped, and given the "tail-up" cut to clear the "elevator up" position:
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