beeza1

It might be slow but it's very good - well done Bob. Des.

That is a very nice looking model and the finish looks great Well done Des

Here are some photos of my completed SSW D.III The kit went together very well with only a few areas that needed attention. The decals are a far cry from Roden's previous efforts but they could still do with some improving Hope you like the finished product. Des.

Thanks guys for your comments. Damo. The turnbuckles are made from 0.5mm brass tube drilled out to 0.4mm, the tube is supplied with an internal size of 0.33mm so drilling is very easy, I then cut it to a length of 3mm. The little brass sleeves for the rigging lines to loop through are the same size tube except cut to a length of 1.2mm. On my latest build, the Roden SSW D.III, the little brass sleeves are made from 0.4mm brass tube drilled out to 0.3mm and cut to 1.2mm. Everything is held together with runny CA. I buy the brass tube from jbmodel.eu They are very good with their pricing and postage to Australia normally only takes 4 - 5 days. I have had an enormous number of people asking me where to obtain the brass tube and because of that jbmodel of been out of stock on a few occasions, but they do replenish very quickly. Hope this helps you out and if there is anything else that I can help you with please feel free to ask. Cheers Des.

I'll throw my two bobs worth in and see what you think. I am in the process of building a 1:32 scale Roden SSW D.III and for the scheme I chose the nose and tail needed to be white. I sprayed these areas with Humbrol full gloss white enamel, two coats five minutes apart with no primer. I thinned the paint by 50% using general purpose enamel thinners, sprayed at 20psi and the result was a brilliant white with very good coverage. Just a thought for you to ponder over. Des.

I am an avid user of Humbrol enamels and when spraying I thin it by 50% (sometimes more) using general purpose enamel thinners from any hardware shop. It has always worked very well for me, I spray using 20psi. To clean my air brush I use lacquer thinners, it will disolve any type of paint you have run through your gun. Most important though is to wear a respirator when using lacquer thinners, it is real bad stuff if inhaled. Des.

Hi Christopher What size is 5 amp fuse wire (dia). For all my WW1 aircraft models where I need to use wire inside the cockpit for control cables, elec cables, throttle linkages etc I use wire stripped from multi strand electrical cables. Some of the wires are as small as 0.05mm. Des.

Looking very nice so far - the prop turned out really well Looking forward to more progress photos - well done Des.

Very nice collection of aeroplanes - the long nose 109 stands out though - very well done. Des.

Thanks guys for your comments. Here are a few more photos of the progress so far. The loz on the wings went on extremely well as did the decals on the fuselage. The gloss on the fueslage will be toned down before wing rigging starts. Undercarriage is completed apart from the rigging, cabanes are also complete but did require pinning to give some added strength. Under side photo shows the louvres that have been opened up, a simple matter of drilling and filing. The lozenge on the bottom of each wing will be "smoked"to knock the edge off the colour, should bring it more in line with what it is supposed to look like, I hope. The kit is going together very well with only a few little problems along the way, I am more than happy with the decals supplied, going on past experience with Roden decals I was very wary about using them. Des.

A beautiful trio of aeroplanes you have there. I have always been partial to the Dornier but I didn't realize how big an aircraft it was until I saw it compared to the other two. You have done a great job on all three - very well done. Des.

Thanks guys for your comments. Sorry about the title, it should read - Roden SSW D.III in 1:32 scale I did type it in correctly but for some reason it came out the way it did - and I can't fix it........ Des.

This is my Roden 1:32 scale Siemens Schuckert D.III depicting; Siemens Schuckert D.III 1626/18 Vzfw Reimann Kest 4b September 1918 The engine is straight forward with soft detail, cylinder cooling fins are very fine which can very easily disappear if too much paint is applied. I drilled out the plastic below the rocker arms to give a more defined rocker arm/valve/rocker arm support look. I removed the not so good spark plugs and made my own using brass tube and small wire, plug leads are very fine copper wire. First photo is the front of the 11 cylinder rotary engine, second photo shows the rear of the engine with the intake pipes. The mounting flanges for these pipes to the cylinders should be turned 90 degrees, I didn't think it warranted the effort as very little will be seen once the engine in installed and the large spinner put on. Cockpit detail is again a bit scant on detail, no instrument face decals are supplied with the kit. I added plumbing and wiring plus rudder cables. The seat is very basic, a bit of putty for the seat cushion plus edge padding helps the appearance. No seat belts are supplied. The wood grain is done by using artists oils over acrylics then sprayed with matt clear. I left the fuselage framing as is except for a bit of paint and I made my own instrument faces. Fuselage halves go together well but there are no locating pins/holes, so care must be taken when assembling these two halves. The rear hand hold is very badly located so I cut them out and repositioned them, quite an easy fix. Panel lines are deep and wide but as I am using oils on the fuselage I'm hoping most of the lines will be filled in. Fitting the bottom wing to the fuselage is the only real major problem, it don't fit. A lot of filing and sanding is required to get this section right, it took some time and a lot of trial fitting before it finally all fell into place. The trailing edge of the wing is so thing that a great deal of care has to be taken as not to sand through it. Anyhow, it all fits and only required a small amount of filler. The bottom louvred section requires the slots to be opened up, just a matter of drilling and filing, this section fits well with the fuselage. Forward part of the fuselage where the guns mount required a lot of fitting, alignment with the fuselage sides was not good. Guns are very basic, a PE set would certainly enhance the appearance. Tailplane slips into the fuselage very nicely but the control horns need work before they will fit. Fuselage has been wood grained using artists oils over acrylics, I needed to make a dark wood so I used Burnt Umber over Gunze Hemp. The black stripes are cut from left over decals, the rudder cross is kit supplied. The undercarriage goes together very easily but I had to drill and fit pins to all 4 locating points, this strengthens what would otherwise be a very weak assembly. I used 0.5mm brass tube with CA to hold it all in place, the brass could be swapped for steel pins if a stonger unit is required, but I found the brass to be more than strong enough. The white areas are painted with full gloss white enamel (sprayed) so applying decals was very easy, they stuck like glue. The lozenge is not the right colour but is close, I will give it a coat of Tamiya smoke to darken it just a tad. I polished the wing with micro mesh then applied the decals, with a little decal set solution the decals settled down beautifully. A note about the top wing, the trailing edge is very thin, nearly razor sharp, hence very weak. My wing suffered 3 lots of damage to the trailing edge, probably caused during transit, also, the four locating lugs (hinges) for the ailerons were missing completely. The ailerons are a lot thicker than the wing itself, so sanding is required to make things right. I also applied the loz decals to the wheels, these ones are the same colour as the upper surfaces of the wings. Prop needed to be a light wood so I used Raw Sienna over Gunze Radome It takes about 4 days for the oil paints to dry so I will continue on with the loz on the top of the top wing and also the loz on the struts. There is not a great deal of rigging on this aircraft. Apart from the few problems Roden has built into this kit I am enjoying the build, it is a relatively easy kit to build but does leave itself open for some super detailing Thanks for looking and any comments or criticism welcome. Des.

Just picked up on this one, that is a really nice build, and you have done a great job with the finish. I like it - well done. Des.

Very nice looking Sopwith - very well done Des.

Very impressive work so far - the interior will be great when completed - engine detail looks good - this is one of my favorite aircraft, it has a very appealing design and is proportioned well. Looking forward to seeing more updates. - very well done Des.

Ah yes, brings back memories from when I used to work on these things - in the RAAF we had the F-4E, they where, and in my eyes still are an awesome aeroplane You did a great job recreating this beautiful aircraft - very well done. Des. Many times when taking off they would scream down the runway then the pilot would sit it on it's tail and climb vertical on full afterburner until nearly out of sight, a very spectacular thing to see.

That is a really cute little glider - you have done a very good job not only with the build but the finish as well - very well done. Des. I don't care what markings are on an aircraft, I buy and build WW1 model aeroplanes because of the way the aircraft looks, the shape, design, colours, it's history and it's contribution to aeronautical achievements. All aircraft have a place in history and without some of them we would not be at the stage we are today with our modern planes. It doesn't worry me in the least if the markings are circles, crosses, stars or polka dots, it's the actual aeroplane that I am interested in.

ENAMELS RULE I LOVE ENAMELS, ESPECIALLY HUMBROL - EASY TO SPRAY, DRY SMOOTH AND HARD, SMELL OK, LOOKS GOOD ENAMELS FOREVER

Very nice indeed - you have captured the aura of the legendary Spit extremely well. Des.

No, they are not pre painted, I painted them using the paints supplied with the kit all axcept the blue for the tractor. I mixed up some Humbrol enamels to try and get the Ford colour, pretty close I think. Des. Everything was brush painted.

Very very nice Bob, I like the markings - well done mate. Des.

Hi Paul. Thank you, and all the others, for your kind words. I will get some photos done of the SE.5a, but you have to remember that this kit was done not long after I resumed modelling so I was still going through a retraining phase. Also, I didn't do a build photo log of that particular aircraft. Cheers Des.

SHE IS FINALLY COMPLETED Here are the photos of my completed WNW Bristol F.2b. I have thoroughly enjoyed building this kit, WNW have a produced an excellent kit with good detail, perfect fit of parts, beautiful decals and an exceptional instruction book. There is plenty of room for added detailing for those who wish to do so but even OOB it makes up to be a wonderful model. Thanks to all those who took the time to look at my build and many thanks to all who left comments, every word is much appreciated. I hope what I have shown here helps in some small way towards those who are building this kit or any other WW1 aircraft. My next project is the Roden SS. DIII. Des.

Nice looking rocket and finished very well. I know little about this type of model, you say it is 1:72 scale, what is the overall length of the completed model? Thanks for sharing - very well done. Des.