Quentin Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 (edited) Hello everyone, I've just joined the forum. I've spent the last couple of years scratch-building a Sopwith Dolphin in 1/72nd scale. I was hoping to get it finished around the same time as the one they've been rebuilding at RAF Cosford, but I've fallen way behind. I started by making the framework as a free-standing structure. The rearmost bits won't be seen but they help add rigidity to the structure. The fuselage skin in the background is 0.3mm card. And here's what it looks like at the moment: I hope these images are visible, by the way. The "https" prefix worries me, but the Picasa settings say that the links should work. I've just added some home-made decals, largely cut out of Microscale film, on top of a coat of Gloss Cote. And this is where the quality control is beginning to get a bit shaky. I've managed to end up with little flecks of white decal stuck to the surface. You might just be able to see what I mean in this pic, towards the rear of the fuselage (the stuff on the wings is just dust - I've been working on it for quite a while now). Anyone know of a good way of cleaning up this sort of thing? I've tried working away with a brush and some Microsol, but no luck. I know I could sand down that side of the fuselage and start again, but I'm not very keen on the idea. I might just have to paint over with tiny spots of PC10 before the final coat of Satin Cote. Edited July 26, 2012 by Quentin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarLos Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 I have no idea about the decal, but your Dolphin is awesome! Do you have in progress pics? And welcome to the forum! Carlos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quentin Posted March 19, 2012 Author Share Posted March 19, 2012 I have no idea about the decal, but your Dolphin is awesome! Do you have in progress pics?And welcome to the forum! Carlos Thanks. I'll add some more tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kwakou61 Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Hi Quentin, A very nice model you have there, even though not yet finished. My compliments! I'm familair with this decal flake problem too. What I do to much avail is just carefully scrape it off with a rounded scalpel blade. (just a blade between your fingers, no cutting, only sliding with soft strokes) They will pop off. Hope this helps. Regards, Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbuna Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 That looks brilliant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Wow, scratch built ? 1/72 scale ? Simply incredible A very warm welcome to BM Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quentin Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 Thanks for the comments and tips everyone. I've just noticed that the first pic has been blocked - I must have got my privacy settings wrong - so I've edited my post to show a different one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarLos Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Quentin, is the framework made of plastic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quentin Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 Quentin, is the framework made of plastic? See my next post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quentin Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 (edited) Going back... back... back... This is how it all started. I used the scale plans from Windsock No. 54, traced round them in TurboCAD and added extended guidelines. Then I stuck in a few pins and got to work with 0.5mmx0.5mm Evergreen strip. That bit was actually surprisingly easy and resulted in two identical side frameworks, which was a good start. But then I had to add the cross-members. That was rather fiddly, but eventually I ended up with something like this. The next job was to make the fuselage skin, for which I was planning to use a mixture of flat card and vac-formed bits. I'll add some more photos of this stage later, at the risk of being boring. Edited March 20, 2012 by Quentin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 aboard Quentin - lovely job on the Sopwith so far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyverns4 Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Boring!!! Not on your life! PLEASE keep adding! I have been thinking of doing something similar in 1/48 Settling down to watch. Christian the Married Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrzeM Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Hey man! It's FAN-TAS-TIC!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarLos Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 I'll add some more photos of this stage later, at the risk of being boring. Are you kidding ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul A H Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Stupendous work so far I have found that a little Tamiya masking tape is good for removing decals, provided that you haven't applied gloss varnish over the decals first. Just apply the masking tape to the affected area and then peel it away. The masking tape should be tacky enough to lift the decal away from the model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Wow, amazing work, you must have the patience of a saint! Keep the piccies coming. Oh and welcome by the way. Keep up the good work and thanks for sharing. All the best Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quentin Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 Thanks Ron, that worked a treat. It's left a bit of scuffing but I've given it a bit of a polish with toothpaste and I'm confident that the final coat of Satin Cote will cover up the variation in finish. It just shows that when you make a mistake like that, it's best to leave it a day or two till you can think of a way of fixing it, rather than doing something drastic in the heat of the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quentin Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 Stupendous work so far I have found that a little Tamiya masking tape is good for removing decals, provided that you haven't applied gloss varnish over the decals first. Just apply the masking tape to the affected area and then peel it away. The masking tape should be tacky enough to lift the decal away from the model. Thanks very much. I don't know if it's these particular decals or the way I've applied them (I've been using Microscale white film on top of Gloss Cote, with lots of Microsol), but they set like concrete. Still, I've managed to scrape off the worst with a curved knife blade (h/t Kwakou61). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airhead Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 I love what you've done so far, top notch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quentin Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 (edited) I've just added the serial numbers. It's like a sort of christening. Yes it's C4056, as flown by Lt C E Worthington in April 1918 according to my source (Osprey Aircraft of the Aces 48). The interesting thing about this choice, for my project, is that C4056 belonged to 87 Squadron, which was responsible for an innovation in gun placement. Dolphins were designed to have two Lewis guns mounted on the centre section above the cockpit, but 87 Squadron tried mounting them on the lower wings, outboard of the propeller arc. Ahead of their time or what? Anyway, that's the placement I'll be depicting. I'm assuming that C4056 had the experimental configuration, but if I'm wrong about that, now's the time to put me right. This photo shows up quite a lot of dust and watermarks, by the way. I'll have to clean it up a bit before doing the Satin Cote. Next: the roundels on the lower wings. Edited March 20, 2012 by Quentin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbuna Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Looking great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 First off, a big welcome to Britmodeller! Secondly that is awesome building going on there! I love the way you have done the fuselage framing. That's the first time I've ever seen radio control aircraft balsa wood framing techniques used for static modelling. Trevor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quentin Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 More details about the construction process: I had decided right from the start that the construction would take the form of a thin skin over a semi-rigid framework. The framework was fairly straightforward, if rather fiddly, and the fuselage sides were quite easy to cut out of plastic card; but there was no escaping the fact that certain bits would have to be vac-formed. The difficulty then was to make sure that the vac-formed bits matched up exactly with the other bits. I started with the flat bits. Using the plans from Windsock 54, I drew up a cutting guide in TurboCAD, printed it out and taped it to a piece of 0.3mm plastic card, then cut through both thicknesses with a sharp knife. This is not too bad if you keep a steady hand, and you end up with something like this: After building up these pieces, I could check them for size against the framework: Next, the vac-formed bits. I knocked up a simple vac-forming box without too much trouble, but the difficulty was to make the pieces match up properly. The way I tackled this was to cut the wooden mould roughly to size and then sand it down until it just fit into the fuselage skin, like this: Once it was the right size, I could carve it to shape and do the vac-forming, ending up with this result: Then I just had to cut out the pieces, in this fashion: The next job was to put all the pieces together and add a bit of detail... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JP Vieira Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Great build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moofles Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Blimey that is stunning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now