Martin1962

Very very nice indeed and as a newbie in terms of rigging myself I feel your pains!

The detail and workmanship belies the small scale. Very impressive.

Thank you for saying so. Appreciate it.

Here is my Sopwith Camel which was stared just over 12 months ago. The progress has been covered in my WiP posts on that forum, so for those of you who have been following, you'll know it's been a series of ups and downs - much like I imagine flying one of these things would have been. For me this kit represented the biggest challenge I've had in 50 years of model making since all of my previous efforts have been in plastic. The sheer number of parts - about 800 - was a bit overwhelming at the beginning especially as so many were tiny phot etched pieces, many of which needed trimming, bending and glueing before falling off or snapping then to be glued all over again! In the end I'm happy with it and I've learned a lot. I would thoroughly recommend the kit to anyone interested and am happy to pass on what I've learned along the way. Thanks for sticking with me and dropping by. My next kit will be back to 1/35 Tamiya armour so will be a walk in the park by comparison. Now I'm going for a beer!

Here is my Sopwith Camel which was stared just over 12 months ago. The progress has been covered in my WiP posts on that forum, so for those of you who have been following, you'll know it's been a series of ups and downs - much like I imagine flying one of these things would have been. For me this kit represented the biggest challenge I've had in 50 years of model making since all of my previous efforts have been in plastic. The sheer number of parts - about 800 - was a bit overwhelming at the beginning especially as so many were tiny phot etched pieces, many of which needed trimming, bending and glueing before falling off or snapping then to be glued all over again! In the end I'm happy with it and I've learned a lot. I would thoroughly recommend the kit to anyone interested and am happy to pass on what I've learned along the way. Thanks for sticking with me and dropping by. My next kit will be back to 1/35 Tamiya armour so will be a walk in the park by comparison. Now I'm going for a beer!

No photos this time just a quick update. It feels like two steps forward and one step back this last week. As I near the end I am finding that bits are falling off each time I pick it up or move it (the model, not me). The last bits of bracing have been a real nuisance which has ended up in some sections being re-done three times. Today I mounted the engine to the bulkhead and two more unrelated pieces decide to let go of the glue and disappear into the cockpit! Nevertheless this build has been characterised by patience and determination so each hurdle has been overcome and I march towards the end with high hopes for a completion by the weekend. All that's left to do is fit a few minor parts, install the guns again, add some decals and touch up some paint that has become chipped here and there. Probably about 2-3 hours work left to do.

My 1/16 Camel is nearly done and will be on the Ready for Inspection forum very soon (I hope). I'll give a review of the kit there, but my thoughts right now are that I would thoroughly recommend it.

Speechless.

Please have a look at my posts here:

Thanks David, it's been a journey that's for sure. I spent the weekend with my elder brother who bought me the kit and was telling him how much I've enjoyed making it. Each step has thrown up new challenges - mainly because I think my skills lie elsewhere than wood and metal. I would build another one, but there wouldn't be much point! I may do the Fokker triplane from the same manufacturer, but have promised my wife that the 1/35 Tamiya M41 self-propelled gun she bought me last year will be next. After that there's my 1/72 V Bomber collection to finish and I have an exciting plan for those. I also have Airfix's new 1/48 Gannet and Sea King kits so it will be a while before there's another 1/16 on the bench. Hopefully next week the Camel will be finished. Thanks for your kind comments.

I'm nearing the end of the build now and although I wanted to have it finished by the 1st anniversary of starting, due to some pressing home DIY projects it's slipped back a little. Since the last update I have completed the build of the Clerget 9 Cyl rotary engine. I lost count at the parts total, but it's in the region of 100 pieces. I am considering displaying it as a separate kit in its own right as most of it will be hidden from view on the finished model, as these things often are. This is the view from the back with the exhausts and (I'm guessing) HT leads from the spark plugs, coloured black The propeller was next and took several hours of work. It is made from 7 separate pieces laminated together with PVA glue, then progressively sanded down to shape. I'm happy with the result. but it will need a bit more polishing. Here it is attached with the PE centre boss in place. And here is a look at the propeller as a work in progress. Unfortunate colour cast I'm afraid I'll display the kit on the supplied acrylic stand and here it is as a test fit. A few more bots of bracing 'wire' to install. and finally for now here's a model Camel I photographed today at the Royal Air Force Museum, Cosford. I'm hoping that the next photos will be the completed model in the 'ready for inspection' forum. Thanks for looking.

Absolutely first class. I can't wait to start mine

Good evening fellow modellers. It has been a while since I've posted and life has interrupted the model-making, but a recent renewed push has resulted in some progress. I've completed the upper wing and all the rigging and very happy with the results overall. I was waiting for an opportunity to use my new Badger Extreme airbrush and set about painting the wood effect on the side and upper panels. This was done by spraying a light base colour then applying a darker top coat using a stencil. I used epoxy to fix the side panels as I was struggling to get the superglue to hold. It may be the type of glue I was using, but it didn't really work very well. I think the wood effect works quite nicely The pictures below show the state of play right now. The undercarriage frame is painted and in place and wheels will be built up and added soon. I think it's about 80% finished and although there's a decent list of jobs still to do, they mainly involve fixing parts to the airframe rather than building them up. All of the wood work is complete. The engine is part-made and will be the next job, followed by adding the upper wing. There are struts and more bracing wire (yippee), but the job doesn't fill me with trepidation as with the fuselage as I have learned quite a bit since then. Last week I was looking at the Artesania website and started day-dreaming about building their Red Baron Fokker.......................... Thanks for stopping by. More soon. The wood grain effect came off better than expected. Parts just resting on the side panels for now. You can just see the guns. Upper wing obviously not in the right place! Some detail on the upper wing. Each of the metal parts on the leading edge of the wing had to be bent three ways. At the bottom of the image is the pulley around which the aerolon control cable fits. That piece of thread goes from the aerolon through the width of the wing, all along the leading edge and into the cockpit where it fits to the pedals More 'wire' rigging. I lost count of the number of knots tied altogether but it's in the region of 200.

Here's my latest progress update with some photos. As mentioned before the whole fuselage was re-strung due to issues with the material I was using and I prefer the new results. The bottom wing is more or less complete and all that needs doing is to tie off the remaining 'cables' onto the aerolons. You can see on this photo below how a photo etched part recreates a pully that the cable runs around. The other end of that cable connects to a control on the cockpit floor. I think it's a pretty cool bit of detail The upper wing is coming along and is at the bracing stage so more knot-tying to be done. It's difficult to get the whole thing into one shot as it's about 50cm long, but this was a representative shot from earlier today. You can see the bar on the leading edge is white and that's because it's made from styrene rod. I ran out of the stripwood that came with the kit, and although it was only about £2 to buy from Artesania, the £12 postage was bit salty. Attached to the leading edge of the wing are a number (24) photo etched ties. The parts are flat and have to be bent at both ends to make them 3D. Fiddly or what. I bought a decent pair of snippers. One false mood and its an hour on the floor searching for it! Each piece had to have a twist applied at both ends ......and fixed into place. Another pulley is shown inside the rectangular metal frame. I want to throw in a couple of phots of the refurbished fuselage as it looks now The revised bracing and cabling. All of this had to be re-done and every fixing eye de-glued and cleaned out. Took weeks! The constant companion for this build is the laptop with the instructions open. I have noticed that there are some errors in a few steps and also part numbering. Also there isn't always a warning that a certain step will impact upon another much later one. One example relates to the aforementioned cable from the cockpit to the aerolon pulley to the cockpit. The instructions don't explain how it's fixed at one end and how that later relates to it's final position, so I ended up tying a length to the cockpit control and waiting for several step before I found out where it went. If that makes sense. Having said that, it's so utterly complex I can understand the off error! Thanks for dropping by. Next steps involve painting metal parts, so I'm looking forward to making use of my new Badger Patriot airbrush. Thanks for stopping by. Martin

You're too modest. It's great.