Quiet Mike

What a satisfying colour combination ... Wing roots done by Mike, on Flickr Hopefully there won't be too many shenanigans getting them attached to the 'plane. Chores today, in preparation for memsaabs return tomorrow morning, but hopefully I'll be able to drop the Domestic Goddess impersonation this evening and make a little more progress before Lights Out. Something I've neglected is how to do the rigging, so I'll add that to the To Do list.

One of the reasons why I haven't attempted a scale copy of mine Chris, too many differences between early and late models!

One more before I turn in. My phone and desk lighting isn't doing the yellow justice, it's a little more orange. I've decided to leave it slightly patchy. I'll give it a blow over with some varnish tomorrow and see what it looks like with a bit of sheen on it. The flat paint isn't doing it any favours. The paint around the side portholes looks very slap dash, not sure what went on there. Not sure how to fix it either, so probably best to leave it. Checking the colours out together by Mike, on Flickr

Not really a shame Chris, it's been a faithful motor since 2015, and I think this is the first time I've had to pull this motor for a problem. (I think, but in 18 years I've pulled motors in and out of the kombi so many times, I ran out of fingers and toes a while ago.) I'll probably just pull one side apart and check No3 and 4. If I change the rings on 3 I think I need to re hone the barrel as well? And I'll check the exhaust valves too. When we fitted the lump, it was a massive leap forward from the old 1950s 1192cc 30hp I had! It even reached the giddy heights of 70mph* (Might have been downhill, might have had a tailwind) Now it strains at 60mph on the flat, and waves a white flag at most gradients. In fact I'm more aware of hills in this thing than I am on a pushbike! Have a break. Have a #hayburner by Mike, on Flickr Enough of German engineering, lets get back to German engineering ... Masked the pylon and sprayed some semi gloss black on. Surprisingly went on smoothly, so I've made friends with the ancient Super 63 again. Engine painted black by Mike, on Flickr Next up are the upper surfaces of the wings. I have XF-3 Yellow to hand, which looks brighter than a highlighter pen. I thought something more like egg yolk would suit, so found the leftover orange from the 2cv build, and just added to that. I think it's going OK. This is the first few coats. (I'll paint the wing roots black afterwards) First coats of egg yolk yellow on the upper surfaces of the wings by Mike, on Flickr

I feel your pain CC ... very different motor though! Low compression on #3. Cylinder bore and new rings I think. Been faithful for 5 years though! Compression testing the kombi by Mike, on Flickr

After 8 1/2 miles of walking on Friday ... Not a productive evening on the bench! Untitled by Mike, on Flickr Started slapping on some ivory paint though. I had Deck Tan to hand, which I thought looked a good match. I do like the colour, I don't like that it is a Tamiya XF. It looks like I'm dusting the paint on! Also, I bent the needle on my ancient Super63 and it was quite 'splattery'. I've since straightened it out a little, bit it's still not 100%. I'm still hankering after something like a Iwata Eclipse, to see if that has any effect on my skills. (I can't justify the expense right now) Anyway, to cover up the splats I had to put more layers of paint down. Here we are in unforgiving close up after a light coat of varnish, and some very tentative masking tape removal. Not what you want to see, but I was expecting far worse. (There's annoying overspray here too that needs correcting) Think I got off lightly! by Mike, on Flickr The other side was better. This side was better! by Mike, on Flickr So, a few touch ups required, and some more varnish. I'll be masking the engine pylon next and painting that black. And for @bigbadbadge, guess which cylinder has low compression on the Kombi ... The 1:1 scale project getting some winter TLC. Compression testing the kombi by Mike, on Flickr

Thank you both. Yes Mike, I'm modelling the version with the earlier engines and the black engine pylon. Also thank you for bringing to my attention the colour of the aerilons, I was going to paint the top surfaces yellow like the wings! @AdrianMF touched on the innacuracies of the Matchbox civil paint scheme, and they have been explained in other build threads on here. Apparently the decals are for a different varient of the Do18, with extended wings for longer ocean crossing flights? I've just found some superb reference images of D-ABYM here on this link, can't believe I've missed them until now? https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/dornier-do18.43224/

Thanks David. I'm afraid I haven't got any links to hand, but I can give you a run down. I had to find out what printer we had at work first, and then get the paper specific to that, either inkjet or laser. Ours was an old Ricoh Laser. (Decals Ltd from Wrexham, bought off ebay) I bought a couple of sheets of white paper, and a couple of clear. I ended up using the clear. (Something I've not found out - how do you print white? I'm guessing it doesn't show on clear transfer paper?) I'm an illustrator by trade, so artworking what I wanted to be a transfer was easy. I did produce multiples, just because I had the space on the sheet of A4. I didn't want to go down the route of printing half a sheet of transfers. I made a few slightly different scales but this was extravagent on my part, I could easily do a test print and find out exactly what size worked. I had to make sure the printer was set up to print high quality, and I clicked on the settings for printing on thick photo paper. (Our printer usually prints really low quality on cheap thin paper) I was really careful not to touch the print as it's supposed to be unstable and easily smudged. I also gave it a quick blast with acrylic sealent from hobbycraft just to protect it. Then I cut out the transfers, put them in warm water exactly like you would a kit transfer, it went on really well, I was pleasantly surprised! They are quite thick though, and I'm not sure if me adding a quick spray of sealent added to that. I'll make sure I trim the Dornier ones to an inch of their life. (make that a thou of an inch)

Thanks Chris! Despite being my own boss for a whole week, I've accomplished diddly squat! I need to have a word with myself Zac, that Tabloid is getting near the top of the pile, hands off! So, this weeks paltry progress. After a few coats of varnish I felt brave enough to stick some pasking tape on. Masking the lower hull by Mike, on Flickr And then, just to humour myself, a little pre shading. This will all be lost once colour goes on, I don't know why I bother ... Some very vague pre shade on the Dornier by Mike, on Flickr The pink I mixed up was awful, it was like trying to sppray copydex. In face I may market it as liquid mask ... No plans this evening so fingers crossed for some decent progress! But I rather rashly walked into work today with the mutt, rather than leave her at home all day on her tod. That's an 8+ mile round trip ... I may end up sat on the sofa with a cuppa and a book for some of it while I recover!

Following with interest, Nieuports are stunning little aeroplanes. Soubiran died in 1949 in New York aged 62. His wife survived him and died in 1982. I need to check out his photo archive now, sounds fascinating.

Another stunning build. For some reason, I have never studied the Dolphn this closely before. Maybe put off by the unusual stagger of the wings. What has surprised me is the watercooled engine, I always associate Sopwiths with rotrary motors. Looking forward to the finish!

Mines a SMLE. Unfortunately I've never fired one, this is a piece of furniture now. (there must be a lbs of steel rode welded into the cut barrel) I've just taken a couple of phone snaps of it's current role as man cave Objet d'art. The MkIII* by Mike, on Flickr The MkIII* by Mike, on Flickr The MkIII* by Mike, on Flickr

What a curve ball to end your build thread Ed! @Hook I hope you're back up on a bike soon! You realise how vulnerable you are when something like that happens. If all non cycling motorists knew this feeling, I think the roads would be far safer for everyone! From a from an increasingly militant middle aged cyclist who occasionally wears lycra, but mostly wears wool, and occasionally a MkIII* Winchester Barracks by Mike, on Flickr

A splash of Vallejo acrylic duralium on Tamiya X1 black. I'm not very confident how tough the paint is, so I'll leave it a while and get a coat of varnish on before I mask it to paint the top hull. Silver duralumin on the hill bottom by Mike, on Flickr I'm struggling to nail down the exact colour scheme. I think I am painting the hull and tail surfaces in ivory. also the underside of the wings. Top of the wings in yellow, and the engine pylon in black. I love that splash of colour, although I'm not sure when they had their top wings painted yellow. Also the wing upper surfaces and tail seem to be painted much a darker sea grey at some point, and the engine and wing pylon painted the same as the hull, just covered in oily exhaust from the diesels. Is there a diffinitive guide out there? I can't find one on google. Do18E Aeolus D-ABYM by Mike, on Flickr Reference shots by Mike, on Flickr Do18E Aeolus D-ABYM by Mike, on Flickr Plus, the closest we get to flying boats now here on the Solent. It's always impressive seeing a swan come into to land of course! But here is Skye doing her best to work out that discretion is the better part of valour, while I wonder if Dorniers ever visited here. Paddle along Weston Shore with the mutt by Mike, on Flickr Paddle along Weston Shore with the mutt by Mike, on Flickr And the charity shop gods smiled on me on the way back. That's me sorted for Christmas! Silver duralumin on the hill bottom by Mike, on Flickr

That Sea Hurricane box art is great. And really looking forward to seeing what you can do with the Nimrod Chris!