Old Man Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 (edited) Have started a second entry.... I will be building this as one of two DVII's flown by the United States Marine Corps at Quantico in the early 1920s. Here is a photograph of one in its early appearance, probably not too long after erection from its crate. I started work on this a couple of weeks ago, but have been a bit ill and so have not managed to get 'step by step' shots; probably just as well, it would not have been pretty. I am used to Roden kits having, shall we say, a sum that is less than the total of the parts, but this kit, and I do not often say this, sucks. I cannot recommend it to anyone but a very experienced modeler who badly wants a 1/72 Fokker DVII. There is so much wrong with how this kit i engineered and goes together there is really no point going into detail: you will have problems, you will be surprised by some of them, you will not have a jolly time, but may get a certain grim satisfaction.... Here is a picture of the cockpit (mostly kit parts, but I made my own floor). The white flakes are sanding dust, not over-spray... The most recent bit thrown up by this kit is that the rudder did not extend far enough down when fitted to the top of the horizontal tailplane. The short-fall was at least a full millimeter, shocking enough to move me to get out my only drawing of this (my ancient Harleyford Fighters, 1914-1918). By this, the kit fuselage is too deep, so I sanded away a bit from the fuselage bottom, and extended the bottom of the rudder a little with a dollop of CA gel.... The thing will fit now.... Edited December 17, 2012 by Old Man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killingholme Posted September 29, 2012 Share Posted September 29, 2012 Interesting model! Are you using the Insignia Magazine decals for this? If you do- I have found them to be very thin- things like white fin flashes will definitely need an undercoat of the final colour to make them 'pop'. regards. Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 I love the phrase 'grim satisfaction'! I'm sure you'll love it all the more for it, when it's finished Looking good so far. Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted October 28, 2012 Author Share Posted October 28, 2012 Interesting model! Are you using the Insignia Magazine decals for this? If you do- I have found them to be very thin- things like white fin flashes will definitely need an undercoat of the final colour to make them 'pop'. regards. Will I did not know there were decals for this, Sir. I have a lot of U.S. stars, and intend to make the side numbers from Woodland Scenics dry transfers. I expect i will be painting the rudder stripes, and printing a home-made bit for the tiny numbers there. I love the phrase 'grim satisfaction'! I'm sure you'll love it all the more for it, when it's finished Looking good so far. Cliff Thank you, Sir. I expect I will like the thing when it is done, but it is a grim build, and no mistake.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted October 28, 2012 Author Share Posted October 28, 2012 (edited) More progress on this one, Gentlemen. Basic painting is done, and the engine is installed. I have removed the ammunition feeds, as by all photographic indications these machines were not generally armed. These two machines were painted an over all olive drab/olive green. The exact shade is open to some question, as there was no stocked olive drab enamel for Navy aircraft finishes, so the paint may well have been mixed by the ground crew. Navy (and hence Marine) standard at this time would have been a light grey (Navy Grey) or aluminum dope. The Navy used enamel paints over clear dope, while the Army used pigmented dopes, so chances of Army paint being scrounged and used seems quite unlikely, as maintenance of the two sorts of finish is different. Some Army aircraft supplied to the Marines at this time were maintained in Army finish, however, so chances are a paint was mixed to more or less match the Army color for these aeroplanes. Army olive drab at this time is usually described as being well to the green side of the olive drab field, and one source reports the color of these machines was described at the time as 'forest green' (the color of Marine dress coats). So I have given these an under-coat of dark green, and layered over some thin coats of yellower olive drab paints. I trimmed the cylinders and water-piping off the Roden motor and put this into the slot, resting on a baffle plate. I had to make my own exhaust manifold, but not through any fault in the kit piece --- I managed to lose the kit piece.... Here are a couple of close-ups, of the cockpit, and the scratched exhaust manifold: I expect I will be making my own interplane struts, as the kit pieces are badly off in length, according to an excellent modeler here: http://www.greatwaraviation.com/ Edited October 28, 2012 by Old Man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted December 2, 2012 Author Share Posted December 2, 2012 Coming together now, my friends, and looking rather like an aeroplane.... Bearing in mind advice from someone who has wrestled this kit, that the rear legs of the interplane struts are too long, and the forward ones too short, I discarded the kits struts and made my own, from .75mm x .50mm strip, using dimensions from my old Harleyford Fighters 1914-1918 volumn ( the only drawings I have of the DVII). The vertical fore and aft elements of the interplane struts were put up first, the upper wing attached, and then the cross-piece of the Ns added. The cabane was built up after that. I determined length by trimming a lengty of thinnish rod to fit first, then cutting the strip to match. I made a small windscreen, and fitted it where it seemed appropriate: there must have been something there, and the normal 'over the gun breeches' position would not have been available on the un-armed machine. The kit undercarriage elements went on with little difficulty, though all locating holes had of course been destroyed while fitting and finishing the lower wing's attachment. As there is no structural rigging, there really is not much left to do on this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 Looking good, if somewhat strange (to my eyes!), to see a D.VII in US markings Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted December 17, 2012 Author Share Posted December 17, 2012 Here are a couple of pictures; more in the Gallery.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMChladek Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 Semper Fi! Hoorah! Nice job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 Never seen one in these colours before...really nice. Well done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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