rmcclure Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 Hi All, I like to try something new with each build and this time I had a go at building a biplane and torturing myself with rigging. I certainly learned a lot as I went through this and will happily do some more. The kit itself is pretty horrible, coming from some fairly antique molds. The age of those molds is plain to see with flash everywhere, parts that have become quite misshapen over the years and fit that is...well the parts fit where they touch so a deft hand with the filler is required almost everywhere in order to get a reasonable finish. Having said all that, I really enjoyed building this and although there is a lot of work to correct the many faults, none of it is all that difficult but just time consuming. A number of parts were scratched - mainly wires/links from control horns and the tailplane struts went in the bin straight away to be replaced with fine brass tubing. A visit to the RAF museum came in very useful indeed to get some reference shots of the way rigging was dealt with. There are myriad inaccuracies still, many of which I chose to live with in the interests of pragmatism and getting the thing finished! I used Bob's Buckles for the first time - creating turnbuckles by mating them with 0.5mm brass tubing that I cut to size. Great service from Bob - his email confirming despatch included a photo of the envelope being put in the postbox! These things really are tiny and I could never have used them without the aid of a good magnifying lamp. The rigging and antennae lines were made with EZee line but I will be trying knitting-in elastic that another BM member has suggested. I like EZee line very much but it is slightly ribbon-like rather than round and sometimes that does cause problems sometimes when the line twists and then the flatness can be very apparent. I chose not to use the kit decals as I'd been really taken with the 5 FTS colour scheme and this also gave me a chance to use Mal's great Miracle Masks again. The only decals used here are the stencils on the edges of the wings and tailplane. Because of the contours on the model to simulate ribbing and fabric, using the roundel masks was fairly tricky with regard to getting them to adhere closely to the surface and then reapplying the various parts of the masks for shooting the different colours. All in all I'm quite pleased with the effect though. I didn't have that problem with the masks for the squadron signifiers, of course, so that part was very easy. This is the second model I've built using masks and I'm a complete convert. Paints were a fair mixture. The cockpit was sprayed Humbrol 78, although you don't get much of a view when it's all zipped up. There's quite a nice little instrument panel in there too. The trainer yellow was a 1:1 mix of Tamiya XF3 and Mr Hobby FS13538 and the metal surfaces are finished with Alclad Airframe Aluminium, shot over Halfords gloss black (a Rover colour, IIRC), all over a base of Halfords grey primer. Struts and anything that would have been painted with silver laquer have been painted with Citadel Mithril Silver, or whatever the odd new name is - Runefang Steel? I knew I'd have to paint and mark the build before adding the upper wings and rigging so I gave the Alclad a coat of the same brand clear coat, and the other surfaces all got a few coats of original Klear. It all stood up well to the considerable handling the kit got during the rigging stage. I chose not to weather the model as I don't think any would have been visible on the real thing. Or that's what my research suggests, anyway. I did consider taping over the ribs and giving wings and tailplane a shot of Tamiya Smoke to simulate highlights but, in the flesh, the finished build doesn't need it. I had a terrible moment when I ham-fistedly snapped the undercarriage cross-strut after painting and clearcoating the whole assembly. To my eyes the repair has never looked 100% but I'll live with it. Annoyingly, I didn't check the fit of the radiator before planning the bracing wires that should go, cross-ways, from the rear of the radiator to the U/C cross-strut. Once it was on and glued in place, I only then discovered that there just wasn't clearance as the radiator part is too long and extends so far that it would have been fouled by the bracing wires. It would have been easy to shorten the rad - ho hum, next time! Anyway that's enough waffle and on to the shots. I hope you enjoy them and I'm always more than happy for people to offer constructive criticism. Cheers all, Roger 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 That is something else! Absolutely gorgeous! Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prowler0000 Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 Astonishing! Just beautiful!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 Beautiful, some great modelling there and a great scheme, it looks gorgeous in yellow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batcode Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 very nice looks great and a very nmf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIRAGEF1 Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 One of my favorites....and you have done an excellent job....simply brilliant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 Absolute stunner Roger - superb! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonR Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 That is really stunning, brilliant job on a tricky kit, the natural metal looks amazing! cheers Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackBart Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 Outstanding! Beautiful build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderjug Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 Stunning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
general melchett Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 Beautiful job and great scheme Roger.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triumphfan Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 Superb looking model. A beautiful aircraft and, in that scheme, it looks even better. Love it. Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousAA72 Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 Absolutely lovely!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOAN Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 Beautiful and inspiring build. thanks for sharing. olivier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ c Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 You can`t tell it`s a horrible kit from your build !! Awesome job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveinns Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 Certainly is spectacular ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digital Genocide Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 Everything that's been said previously, absolutely beautiful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 Simply stunning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
llking Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 very nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmcclure Posted June 30, 2013 Author Share Posted June 30, 2013 Thanks to everybody for the very kind comments. Cheers all, Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 A very special model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellsprop Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 Absolutely 100% on this kite! Ben. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted July 2, 2013 Share Posted July 2, 2013 Beautiful job. feel quite envious as I have an Inpact Fury on build and may finish it one day but not to this standard. But, if I may without being a nitpicker, can I just point out that the underwing serial number on the lower port wing should read from the wing tip therefore upside down to the starboard wing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmcclure Posted July 2, 2013 Author Share Posted July 2, 2013 Beautiful job. feel quite envious as I have an Inpact Fury on build and may finish it one day but not to this standard. But, if I may without being a nitpicker, can I just point out that the underwing serial number on the lower port wing should read from the wing tip therefore upside down to the starboard wing. Of course - what an idiot! Nitpick away as far as I'm concerned - thanks for that. I just checked my reference pictures again and you are completely right. RTFM! Cheers, Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pyro-manic Posted July 2, 2013 Share Posted July 2, 2013 Wow, sexy! I love the Hawker bipe family, and this is just beautiful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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