Never a Pro

Some updates on my 3D print project experiment: Some Tamiya clear orange brushed with a wide brush. This paint becomes very thick after some seconds, a little tricky to use but it gives very good results if we want to do wood grains. The 3D plastic lines also help a lot in this case. I added a instrument panel decal from a Eduard Fokker D VII, does the work. Control stick scratch-built, and I will be done for now, not really focused on a detailed cockpit... ...but the 3D printed chair had a print pattern thast looked like a vickers chair, so I used some brown, clear orange and thinner to dillute and make the contrast to look like it. I am adding the seatbelts that came with my Sopwith triplane (which were not really close to what they should be). Well, probably not the best choice for a german plane, but I am just looking for a basic cockpit. It does the work. Plastic putty is very good, specially with these wings. It feathers great, and we can adjust with water after one week. Since that is how I can get time slots to wotk with this kit, it really suits me. The wings I printed are very thin, so 0.4mm brass works, but only because the plastic is actually very hard and hold it well even with a very thin layer. Scribing the fuel tanks and radiator using my eye meter. the plastic is hard and not great for scribing, but I got the job done, hoping that a primer layer hides some rough parts. I tried gluing with CA glue, but I was not happy with the bonding, and I need it to be 100% trustable. So I went with sprue glue, which worked so well. It filled all gaps left by the imperfect printing, and on top of it, I filled enough to clear the seams. I really am amazed on how versatile sprue glue is, and how is that not a product.

Hi, I lost count on how many times I painted these struts. I know that they will determine how good the model will look like in the end. The hardest part is to hold them, so I tried with some needles with handlers. It didn't work that great I really like the clear orange from Tamiya, but brushing it requires some learning, as the paint behaves quite uniquely. Combining that to the fact that I have to do both sides at the same time, and I have to do a lot of tries until the paint has the right consistency to make wood grains, and 10 seconds after, it starts to solidify and pull the paint underneath. So yeah, really interesting paint. I am curious to hear your experiences with it. I also am trying to simulate turning, by pre-shading the engine cowl. the rest of the steel body will follow through, but that reqires more time that I am struggling with.

try this fellow modeller, he did the green one, he has a pic with unused golden decals. good luck, and thanks all for the compliments

Hi, Managed to squish a couple hours to trim the rest of the pieces. I was planning to replace wing struts and undercarriage with styrene rods, but after some filing, I thing I manage to shape them properly. This PLA plastic is actually very strong and flexible, so I think it will work, specially since the wings will not be supported on the struts. Anyway, I am just painting everything yellow so I can keep experimenting with clear orange. I like a lot that color, but I still don't know how to apply it properly. This is the perfect kit for that. Propeller kindly donated by a stashed Eduard Fokker D VII.

Hi, I am giving up Ebay, I am glad that I stashed all I wanted in 2020, because that site is unusable now. The prices in shipping are a joke, as everyone is trying to avoid Ebay fees. 50 USD for shipping? Yeah right. I would rather print one. I was looking at a Eduard 1/48 DFW T.28 Floh, this guy: but it is just not worth it. For the joke, I checked if someone have it as a model, and here it is: So, I downloaded the pieces, and used a Ultimaker 2+ Connect printer I have access to. Happy with my first piece, but I realised that the orientation was not the best. Back to the printer, and this time printing it on a way that the fuselage curves are one in the xy-axis, not in the z-axis which will always be "pixelated" Much better now. Also, since the Floh pictures I see do not have exhaust pipes, I decided to print two "port" pieces, one mirrored so I can do my own exhaust holes. The rest of the pieces were mashed together on a single session. I am not sure if I will use the 3D printed struts, but at least they are useful for measurements. The wing was also an experiment, to see how the rib indents would print out. Yeah, it looks terrible. Printing the wings with the leading edge down. They look thin, strong and retain the airfoil curve. The only con is that they do not have the rib indentations, but that is not a big deal. Adding a tail for the second prototype using sprue sheet. This is going to be a quick kit only to test the 3D printing capabilities. So far I am enjoying a lot, this kit looks doable in an acceptable way, although I will skip most of the cockpit details. Plastic is harder and more annoying to work with (and probably glue), but that also comes with the benefits of thinner pieces.

Hello. I haven't done much work on the Triplane, actually working more on upcoming projects that I think I will begin now to help flush the Triplane work that I am trying to avoid. I am scratch-building the Roterham pump, using stretched sprue and threading the smallest hole ever. I am amazed how it worked. I will paint it in metal tones and attach a black wire and braces when I am done. I was not happy with the propeller hub, so I decided to borrow the Camel one, and user a steel tube to get a prober hub center Now, for some reasons I didn't quite understand, while brushing clear orange thinned with X-20A on top of a wooden deck base (also Tamiya acrylic), I removed the wooden deck, and all went mixed into a slush that I just tried to control. Now, in the end it still looks wood-ish (I will try some grains with oil paint), but I am not happy as I didn't know what happened. I want to do the same with the wing structures, but now I am afraid I need to coat it before, but unsure if it will make a similar paint salad. Anyone has a better understanding about tamiya clear paints and how they work, I would appreciate.

Can I piggyback on this thread? I was wondering how much complicated this t is to 3D print the fuselage of a dhw flow for a 1/48 scratch build plane my idea was either to ask someone who is good at 3D printing and modeling in 3D software, or it is easier to make a bunch of sections and glue them together and shape the thing.

Yeah, that tailplane adjustment was not great. I redid it, much better now

Thanks for the kind words. I added a pair of double hooks on each side so I have a place to attach the double wing cables. I used sprue glue to attach it. I also added a hole for the ammo rounds. I filed the tail end so I could scratch build a tailplane adjustment mechanism. I made the cilynder out of some rods I have. I glued to the fuselage so it has a strong bond, I need it for the tail skid. there is a belt I made with metal part, but I don't think that would work. The idea was better than the execution. There is also a lot of space, I will try to trim it a little. Execution was not great, but better than before. Now for masking for a layer of white, then some pre-shading.

works now, company wi-fi… great work, I love the Ho-229, I have two 1/48 in my stash (a Dragon and a Zoukei-Mura) Be aware that the landing gear doors on both kits are quite different, and I trust more the Zoukei Mura, so the v3 has two big doors instead of 3 doors.

something wrong with embedding pictures? I can not see any of them

A WWI kit in resin? wow, this is going to be fun

Hi guys, I am finally done with the cockpit. I followed the great Wingnuts Wings instructions as a template for cable wiring. I used black and grey stretched sprue for the cables. They don't look that tight and aligned, but they will be hidden. I would definitely do it better if they would be visible. I get that they do not make pictures nicer. Also, this is almost too tiny for me. I had a lot of problems fitting the seat on the cage, and I struggle to get steady hands for this kind of detail. I like the challenge, but it is quite time consuming. I added only 4 cable wires on the floor, and I am finally relieved in seeing that it's done and I can close the fuselage. I am really loving sprue glue, it is now my go-to product for seam filling, and also to glue photo-etch parts. I really hate seams, but luckily, this kit is very small. Fitting is not terrible, but it has its age. I am adding two pieces of sprue to the end of the middle wings, so that the fuselage struct is not visible. Also, the leading edge holes for the wing cables are now closed with sprue glue. Now I will work on the tail section, I will have to cut it out so I can scratch build a stabilizer elevator.

it’s in that phase where we are looking the light at the end of the tunnel! Looking great, eager to see more

Ok, so a Facebook post. Great.