Putty Animal
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Posts posted by Putty Animal
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I love it. Thank you for the pics. I adore Malta Spitfires!
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Bravo! That looks fantastic. It's amazing what a difference it makes when the panel lines are reduced.
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Looking good already. Phenomenal in fact.
If I get you a bigger cabinet, will you do a Handley Page HP.42?-
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Hey thanks Malc. That wheel is the initial test one. The final pair are in the works 👌
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Nice one Tempestfan! There’s a copy on its way to me now 👌
Cheers gents for the offer of pics. Luckily I’ve got a stack of them now, so I’m all good to go. 😊 -
Beautiful work. These pics are really good references too for duffers like me who hope to follow in your footsteps and build a much smaller one. 🙏
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Got it sorted. Thanks to all! 👍 😀
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Hello to all! I'm currently embarking on a new scratchbuilding project and could use a little help. The plan is to do a 1/144 Jeannin Stahltaube with all the bells and whistles. However, I've run into a little problem...
The two major references that I have on hand are a hard-won copy of Windsock's Taube at War, plus some sprue shots and the downloadable JPGs/PDF of Wingnut Wings' Stahltaube instruction booklet.
As I compare the Windsock drawings and the 3-view plans in the WNW instructions, I can see several noticeable discrepancies between the two. Particularly in the wing, cockpit and nose shapes. The WNW instructions seem to compare more favourably to photographs of the real thing and I suspect that the Wingnut team had access to more up-to-date sources than the datafile did. Unfortunately the 3-view drawings in the WNW booklet are too fuzzy and low resolution for me to take any reliable measurements from them. Which leaves me cap in hand, asking for a favour... 🙏
If anyone has the WNW Taube kit instructions and a scanner handy: would they be able to come to the rescue and provide a fresh scan of the 3-view drawing that is shown on page 17? I think if I am armed with that at a resolution of 600 or at a pinch, 300dpi, I should be able to answer all my questions regarding shape and dimensions and get me motoring again.
Thanks so much for taking a look! Here's an image of the required page and a pic of the model so far:
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I really think you've found your calling among these classic interwar aircraft.
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I’ve always been attracted to this waspish little aircraft. I’m very much looking forward to following the build.
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Seen the first two episodes. The acting and dialogue are very bad, and the aircraft look and fly like something made by Corgi. But you have to admit: the vomiting effects are top-notch! 👌
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I knew it was going to be good and I was expecting a lot. But this is far, far beyond anything I imagined. 🏆🏆🏆
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Omg this is incredible!
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Some details are unthinkable in 1/144 scale. But the trouble is, once you start thinking about them it is very difficult to stop.
I started getting into scratchbuilding WW1 aircraft models about five or six years ago. There are plenty of challenges there and I've been slowly working my way through them. However, the absolute speed limit for what is possible in 1/144 seemed to always fall just short of the spoked wheels that many early aircraft carried.
Over the years it became a habit to imagine various solutions and run through them in my mind. I would do this when going to sleep, or if I was feeling bored or anxious or whatever. I must have gone over it hundreds of times. The biggest problem that I could see was how to hold the wheel hub in place and keep it centred so that the wires of the half-assembled wheel didn't cause it to deflect. Also: how do you handle the thing and mount it on the axle afterwards?
A couple of weeks ago I was in the kitchen, puttering around, when I suddenly had a thought; I was originally going to cast the hub. But what if I cast the hub, the metal axle and the jig itself - all in one piece? The hub would then be pre-positioned centrally and at the right height every time. Plus the axle would strengthen it and in its turn be braced by the jig itself.
I stood there, frozen for quite some time... this might work! 😲
It took several days to make the jig, plus the masters for the tyre and hub. Then a few more days to do a silicone mould and make some castings. Eventually, it was time to do some very delicate weaving.
I used 0.02mm copper wire, which scales out to 2.88mm spokes in real life. A pretty reasonable match. The threading process went okay, after a couple of false starts. There is a sequence that needs to be followed and it is easy to get out of sync. The inside spokes are the hardest to reach, but the outer ones are better. I think it took about 3 hours to do each side.
I was able to tack the 2nd half of the wheel to a short length of silver tube and use it as a handle to hold the piece so that it glued flush with the opposite half of the tyre. It wasn't the best idea, as I had to hold it like that for about half an hour until the resin dried. My hand went numb after the first ten minutes...
Once it was cured I could snip the external wires and shave off the supporting struts around the tyre. When I first cast the jig, I pushed the .4mm axle into the resin so that it would be an integral part of the wheel hub. Luckily I had the presence of mind to coat the axle in a suitable release agent. I didn't have a proper mould release, but went to the bathroom cabinet and used some of my wife's pawpaw-scented lip balm instead 🤐 . It made the axle oily enough that I now just had to give it a push with my fingernail, and the wheel lifted easily off of the surface... Cor!
Here are some photos of the whole sequence, starting with the tyre. I'll be doing two more over the next few weeks and choose the best of them to use. With a bit of luck, there will be an aircraft attached to them too!
Spinning some styrene on my rotary tool to make the half-tyre.
Drawing the jig layout (not a pizza). The outside diameter is 55mm wide, which makes it something like 1/10 scale. However, it is the bit in the middle which matters. That is 5.6mm across.
The sequence for threading the spoke wires. It's best to start down near 6 o'clock and start working anticlockwise.
How it looks when you put it all together:
A picture of the assembly jig with the recessed middle and setout holes around the outside
The wheel hub is part of the jig with the .4mm (and pawpaw-scented) axle tube embedded into it and protruding out the back.
The two halves of the tyre drop into the space between the supports. The first layer of spokes will hold the tyre down.
Starting the process of threading the wires... This might actually work 😲
Day 2 of the threading process and both halves have been done. A pause to catch my breath as I wonder how to put the lid on 😕
Got it. Thankfully no wires shifted as I glued the 2nd half of the tyre down.
Snipping away the wires and supports. A push on the axle tube from below and the wheel lifts off of the jig.
It worked! A bit of a sand and we'll tidy up the seams later. But rather unbelievably it's a success.
And lastly, a shot on my rather relieved palm for scale:
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32 minutes ago, Bandsaw Steve said:
I’m sorry- I hope you understand that I tried to get it corrected before you saw it but was too late.
Please don’t hit me with your matchstick! 🥺
Errr... Just the tip then?
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This is outrageous! Such effrontery. I shall break my matchstick over my knee this instant!!!
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12 hours ago, Epeeman said:
Jaw droppingly good work!
Your details (laminated wood prop; cockpit and rid tapes to name a few) are simply amazing ......
What material do you use for rigging?
Regards
Dave
Hi Dave,
I use 0.05mm nichrome wire that I roll out flat and trim to size. I usually glue it in place with tiny amounts of diluted PVA, but lately I've switched to clear UV resin glue. The wire tends to be self-supporting over the lengths that I use. It hardly needs much glue either, as it's not under tension like threads and elastics. Here's the stuff I've been using. 👍
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10 minutes ago, Remus389 said:
You might need a magnifying glass to see the details, but the details are there. 💪🙂
It's a strange thing that I've noticed. The heart sees them, even if the eyes think they don't!
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Ugh! Shoot me through the heart why don’t you, Dieda. It took months to build the model, but only a moment to hit the Buy it Now button for the coin… 😓
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Phew! Just finished. This is Otto Kissenberth's Pfalz D.IIIa from Jasta 23b, scratchbuilt in 1/144 and using Aviattic's excellent 5-colour upper and lower lozenge decals.
The main components are cast from a handmade master that used solid styrene for the fuselage and acrylic sheet for the wings. Other components are a mix of brass and sterling silver, with homemade decals for things like the Edelweiss insignia and Axial logos on the propellor. The rigging was done with 0.05mm nichrome wire and fixed in place with UV-activated resin glue.
The most time-consuming part of the build was the rib tapes, which are individual strips of 0.20mm lozenge decal cut from the stock Aviattic sheet. The decal material is thin and translucent. So to maintain the correct colour, each rib tape required a strip of white decal to be added first, before the lozenge strip could be placed on top. The whole process required 82 strips in total. 😵
Things I'm pleased with: The upper and lower wing alignment is strong and nicely even. Thanks to a jig and some very careful preparation. The 3-colour prop worked out well too (after 3 tries) and the Axial logo is surprisingly clear. This was a white disc with the black portions photocopied onto clear decal film and added over the top. I'm also pleased with the separate control surfaces, which give the thing a more animated appearance.
Things I'm not so pleased with: the white portion of the edelweiss was cut from commercially available blank white decal sheet and the shape was marked out by first putting it through a photocopier. It looks too thick and speckly when viewed close up. Next time I'll paint clear decal film instead and use a lightbox to cut the shape out. That way I can "choose" the shade of white and get a cleaner result. The tyres are perhaps too dark as well. I recently learned that carbon black wasn't added to continental rubber until after the war, so they would look more realistic with a lighter tone. The black fuselage finish also has a slight texture to it, particularly around the nose, where I foolishly sprayed the last coat from too far away... Grrr!I hope you will like the pics. The 10 Pfennig coin is 21mm in diameter. Just a little bit smaller than a modern 10c/10p piece. And yes, before anyone asks: the matchstick is actual size... And so am I!
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Its worth noting that the Fujima A5M1 headrest fairing is too broad when compared to photographs. I used the Fujimi kit as a reference when doing a 1/144 conversion and didn't discover the issue until after I'd finished it.
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Mike, that looks brilliant!
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Excellent bit of graftage. Love it 🏆
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Handley Page Heyford 1/72nd scale
in Ready for Inspection - Aircraft
Posted
Lovely job, I adore the Heyford. ❤️
Seeing it again so nicely built up reminds me of those full page advertisements that Matchbox used to run in Scale Models magazine during to early 80s. I used to drool over those as a kid.