Quiet Mike

Currently reading 'Sky Fighters of France' by Lt Henri Farré. I'm a keen student of WW1 aviation accounts, and this popped up on my radar a couple of weeks ago. Farré was an artist well into his 40's at the start of the war, but was keen to join up and do his bit. He was assigned the role war artist with a brief to record the life of the rapidly blossoming air service. I had seen his paintings and sketches before but never knew the artist or the story behind them. As for the book, it's published in 1919 and is typically jingoisitic of the period, but still interesting. A few paintings are reproduced in the book, but in my 2014 copy they are very poor quality. I'm doing more research online. https://hyperallergic.com/466822/the-artist-who-witnessed-the-beauty-and-horror-of-wwi-aerial-combat/

Well, another month slips through my fingers ... but I have sat down at the bench for a few hours at last! The fuselage was left tantelisingly close to being closed up, I just needed to fix in the PE harness ... easy! Well, it should have been. It sorely tried my patience, made me question my meagre modelling skills, and was probably the reason the build stalled so long. I think next time I'll play fast and loose with them, just wang them in early, before paint. I don't think it's worth me getting my knickers in a twist over when it's mostly invisible later in the build. The LMG's have been fitted here. Picking up the stalled DIII build by Mike, on Flickr Fuselage closed up, take two. First attempt had a hiccup when the motor was worked loose trying to get the LMG's to sit right. It wasn't very secure in the fuselage to start with. Luckily it came apart easily even though it had a day to cure. I added a some extra support 'brackets' inside the fuselage. The seams have been mostly sanded back. I'll rescribe the lost detail. Also, I'd like to add 'riviting' for the plywood nails. Picking up the stalled DIII build by Mike, on Flickr I'm still debating how to achieve the wood effect. I'm not using decals though. Either brushing the wood grain detail on, or as I saw someone post on social media this week, using watercolour pencils. And in other news, I was overwhelmed with the kind responses to the winter build Guillows Camel RFI I posted recently. I was reticent to post it as I thought it was a little outside our interest. I searched and could find no stick and tissue builds on here. It's an odd one, a flying kit, but built for display? Partly the reason there was not a project thread on it. Anyway, it was lovely to share the Guillows love out there. Scratching that balsa kit itch again by Mike, on Flickr Guillows Sopwith Camel by Mike, on Flickr I highly recommend a balsa build, especially if you feel stuck in a rut. The Guillows Camel rrp is about £90, so pricey. I got a very second hand one for under £40, which is a lot more reasonable. (But die cut balsa, not laser) But I would recommend something easier and cheaper to start with. (I just much prefer WW1 aircraft) (Just click on the images, it'll take you to flickr and you can check out the whole build album)

Great build. I watched Godzilla Minus One last week and they had one of these in it, looked awesome! The 'what if?' colour scheme looks spot on 👏

Following with interest! I have a few early Sopwiths in the stash, picking up a lot of hints and tips here.

Beautiful builds Neil, the weathering is spot on. I'd be chuffed to bits if they were mine!

If anyone is looking for a good film recommendation, go see Godzilla Minus One. I saw it last week at my local art cinema and it blew me away, had me glued to my seat from start to finish. I'm not a massive Godzilla fan, but when the 2014 flick with Brian Cranston came out, I got the chance to watch the 1954 original on the big screen. The 2014 film was OK, but the original was brilliant! Godzilla Minus One is right up there with the 1954 original. I have heard talk of a black and white release, and am keeping my fingers crossed it gets a UK theatre release. And I've mentioned it here just because of the Shinden in it! https://www.scalemates.com/kits/hasegawa-52739-kyushu-j7w1-interceptor-fighter-shinden-godzilla-minus-one-movie-version--1512995

Just catching up, what a thing of beauty this masterpeice is turning into! Looks glorious clad in metal, I can understand your reluctance to paint it!

Many thanks CC 👍 By the way, go big or go home ... 😳 😂 😉 (Has this got your name all over it?) http://www.virtualaerodrome.com/image_thread.html?p_aircraft_id=118&p_user_id=1473

Superb, love the subtle weathering.

Cheers Bill! And thanks for the heads up on the Guillows history, you have re-enforced a lot of stuff I've been hearing about the kits. I now follow a few groups who build and fly balsa 'planes. I had heard of the Peanut scale for indoor flying, but Walnut scale is a new one for me. It totally makes sense for these flying kits to be based around their wingspans rather than marketed as a certain scale. The Nieuport Bébe was my first kit in 2018, and that was laser cut. The Camel was an older second hand kit, and die cut. The difference between them is night and day!

Thanks Pat. I'm not sure on the scale. It says 1" = 1', but my maths is not confident enough to convert that to a scale! I want to say 1/12 scale, does that sound right? And I'm not sure how that scale runs across all the kits, as I know there is a big and a smaller Camel in the range. I'm interested in making more WW1 kits, and was lucky to pick up the long discontinued DH4. That says 5/8"=1', with a 27" wingspan. I have a feeling they are all scaled differently to fit the boxes!

Plain smashing? Or plane smashing? The later is a very good description of building flying kits!

Mike, my Christmas Secret Santa from work is a 1/72 London Omnibus by Roden. Not something I'd would ever pick out myself, but I think it may have just jumped to the top of the pile!

Rich, I don't have a decent photo to hand, but one of the reasons I'm drawn to early aeroplanes is they had unbleached linen covering them. When you make one of these kits and just cover it in thin tissue, you can still see through it. The Nieuport hangs in front of my window here and when the light shows through it it's like an X-Ray 😉

Gentlemen, you are all more than kind, thank you for the encouraging words. And for sharing the 'stick and tissue' Guillows love ❤️ (I am guilty of using 'Guillows' as a catch all for all balsa kits, like calling all vaccumn cleaners 'Hoovers', but since I've started looking around I've realised there are many manufacturers. This shouldn't have surprised me as much as it did!) @georgeusa, you are spot on, these balsa kits really suit early aviation subjects. It's a real art making plastic look like canvas and wood ... These kits handily bypass that by making them out of ... well, you're already ahead of me on that one. I'm currently tapping my fingers waiting for 2003 Centenery edition of the Wright Flyer to turn up ... @noelh sorry to hear your Corsair 'stalled'. Stressed skin aircraft are always tricky to make look like the real thing in stick and tissue. Some look better than others. The P-40 looks good, but the Spitfire always looks too crude. I guess this is where balsa kits have to compromise. They are really designed for flight. If you are foolish enough to build a whopping 28" wingspan 'plane "for display", fill your boots! But these kits modus operandi are really to take to the air. @Keeff, @Bertie McBoatface, you mention the detail, but really this feels like an upscaled 1/72 kit. It is quite crude. I had to seriously fight the urge to double the wing ribs to make it look more authentic. It's so big that it's not a massive reach to make all the flying controls actually connect to the cockpit and actually work! I mean, it's only one step on from making it Radi Contolled, right? 😎 @bigbadbadge, yes, I hold you fully responsible for this build! I'm not sure yet how to build the Puss Moth that started all this. I've yet to make one of these kits actually fly, and that is really the point of them. Maybe the Puss Moth will take to the air??

After a very barren 2023 on the workbench, where I just couldn't get my act together and get in the right headspace to sit down and model for a few hours of an evening, I decided to scratch the balsa itch again, that's never far under my skin. I finished the ancient Matchbox Dornier at the very start of the year, and despite an accident at the final hurdle, recovered it and was really happy with the finished result. An Eduard Albatros III got started late summer, but never got off the ground. It's still on the bench waiting for me to get the shot of enthusiasm to continue. That's the only plastic kit started in 12 months! Why I couldn't enjoy hobby I love so much is beyond me, who knows what goes on in our heads though! I usually only build one kit at a time. I know not everyones cup of tea, but for an undisciplined builder like me it's really the only way to go. With these desperate measures I deciced to break that self enforced rule though. I very occasionally build balsa kits. Started when a good pal who helps me keep my Kombi on the road was buying some RC parts in the States, and saw a Guillows Nieuport in the bargain bucket bin, and thought it was up my street. I really enjoyed the whole build process, but the scale of these things just put me off building another. Then last year I spotted the DH Puss Moth @bigbadbadge made a lovely job of, and looked for one in a more forgiving scale to build for my clumsy fingers and eyes. No go, but hang on - West Wings do a flying balsa kit! That search sent me off on a balsa kit rabbit hole! While I was waiting for this discontinued kit to surface at an affordable price, the Camel popped up, and here we are. Built for display, and more or less out of the box, although I was always thinking how much I'd like to super detail one of these. The big Guillows kits are like a basic little kit scaled up, rather than the real thing, scaled down, if you know what I mean. I've seen better detailed pilots in 1/72 scale. But that's not the point with it, I just had fun for the several weeks it took over the kitchen table, and it reminded me what I love about building again. I did think if balsa kits are allowed on here? They don't really fit in? Anyway, forgive me, hopefully normal service will resume shortly. Guillows Sopwith Camel by Mike, on Flickr Guillows Sopwith Camel by Mike, on Flickr Guillows Sopwith Camel by Mike, on Flickr Guillows Sopwith Camel by Mike, on Flickr Guillows Sopwith Camel by Mike, on Flickr Guillows Sopwith Camel by Mike, on Flickr Guillows Sopwith Camel by Mike, on Flickr Guillows Sopwith Camel by Mike, on Flickr Guillows Sopwith Camel by Mike, on Flickr Guillows Sopwith Camel by Mike, on Flickr

Good recovery after that minor disater on the cockpit @Tomas Enerdal . Same happened to me on my last build, the Do18, and it takes a lot of will power to pick yourself back up. Once the black dog goes away the solution is usually straightforward, with a clear head! Well done! Glad this build is back on track!

Looking good Chris. What an absolute brute of a plane that Beaufighter is. Looking forward to seeing it come together.

What a neat little build so far, following (belatedly!) with interest.

The distraction is nearly finished, but the good news is it got me back in the saddle! (Guillows kits are HUGE 😳 ) Sopwith Camel nearly done by Mike, on Flickr

Very tidy little build Chris!

What a beautiful build! You've made quite a simple colour scheme really pop, the weathing is spot on.

Splendid work Chris, this is a little belter, wonderful!

Good choice sir! I have a couple of Sopwiths in the pipeline, but not a Tripe (yet) Sopwith Triplane "DIXIE" by Mike, on Flickr

What a beautiful build! I'm taking a lot of notes, I'm in the early stages of building one too.