stevehed Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 Hi All, Had a soft spot for this plane for a while. Started to cut out the pieces but no construction to date. Will be an early bird so no lozenge and the crew will fill up those large empty spaces. Regards, Steve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy wood Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Hello Steve. Glad you could join us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 This looks like being quite a build. Hats off to the vacform crowd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazdot Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 That is truly nuts I am full of admiration for vacform builders running out builds to watch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 Great choice Good luck Steve I want to learn about vacforms and with a love of big bi-planes this is great, so no pressure then eh ! Cheers Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehed Posted July 20, 2014 Author Share Posted July 20, 2014 Thanks Guys, I like big biplanes too because there is usually more room for fat fingers to manoeuvre. But as they take up acres of shelf space I have to restrict myself until I can afford some more shelves. However, the AEG is a mini twin so let work commence. The bits I intend to use have been cut from the card. Usually a line is drawn around the base of the part and it is cut out with the knife at an angle of about 45 degrees. The plastic that remains below the line is then filed off. With Sierra they must take the thickness of the card into account and the instructions counsel against over drastic sanding. I have the WS DF51 for the AEG GIV and kept referring to the plans to prevent overkill. The trailing edges of the wings required regular sanding over several days to try and get thin edges. It's hard to believe how much plastic dust can be made for so small a reduction in thickness. I'm happy enough with them but the purist would probably persevere a little longer. The cockpits were cut out with a pair of nail scissors and a rounded file combination and I've added plastic card guides along the rear fuselage joins to aid alignment. The kit floor is ok to use but I've cut the bulkheads from plastic card. The seats are from the spares as are the control wheel, spare column and foot controls. Regards, Steve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Great to see things progressing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazdot Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 That. Looks good I wish I had the courage to take on a vacform Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehed Posted July 29, 2014 Author Share Posted July 29, 2014 (edited) Been plodding on and a little more to show. The floor was located and three plastic card cross members were cut to fit underneath. This was to help the soft plastic of the fuselage maintain shape to ensure a better join when the halves are joined. Sierra also recommend that a filler is used to strengthen the fuselage around the wing cut out. With the bulkheads also added the construction is fairly sound and dry runs indicate filler will be required but the fuselage halves should go together ok. Cemented the lower wing halves together and the bottom half is slightly larger than the upper. The top wing is ok and have checked that the strut location holes line up before allowing the lower wing to set and mark out the areas to be removed. My cockpits will never rival Wingnuts but I have installed a seat for the pilot, a fold up for the front gunner, a wheel operated control column and an emergency stick column based on a photo in WS51. The fold up may be artistic licence but it seems logical. And for those worried about vacforms consider this. Once it has been cut out it's just another kit. Regards, Steve Edited July 29, 2014 by stevehed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazdot Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 Looking impressive how much is kit and how much scratched? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehed Posted August 3, 2014 Author Share Posted August 3, 2014 Ready to join up now. Added some Parabellum drums made from round sprue and a rack of stick bombs which were spare from the Hannover. These were dropped from the front cockpit so I'll have to drill a small aperture for this purpose. The upper wing is now ready and will start painting next, I think. Feel as if I'm getting somewhere when paint and transfers can be used. The fuselage joins all require filler but it's starting to come together. Lower wing next, then nacelles and associated struts for which Contrail comes with the kit. As for scratched parts the floor is kit but all the rest of the internals are card or spares box. I reckon that over 95% of the build will be composed of kit supplied parts. Regards, Steve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazdot Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 Looking good Steve that's coming together nicely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 I'm looking at the half-section v struts on your remaining plastic sheet. Hardcore!! Nice to see some real modelling! Regards, Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehed Posted August 9, 2014 Author Share Posted August 9, 2014 (edited) Thanks Guys, Thankfully there is about four foot of Contrail strut and some additional rod with the kit so the sheet struts are templates only. Construction wise the lower wing is in place and I've modified the nacelles to show the engines a little. Quite a bit of filler on the joints but most of it is smoothed off now. The lower surfaces have been painted with a home made brew that is definitely more blue than it looks in the photos. Regards, Steve Edited August 9, 2014 by stevehed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazdot Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 Lovely want to do a vac from but it certainly won't be a bipe lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehed Posted August 11, 2014 Author Share Posted August 11, 2014 Here's the first coat on the upper surfaces. I'm not making any claims to accuracy except the sheet says red brown and green and it's pretty close to what a mate used on an early Gotha. Plus I like it. Regards, Steve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazdot Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Nice progress, Like the Colour, is that going to be covred with lozenge or stay like that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Nice work so far Steve. I have the Merlin "kit" of this aircraft which I'm saving for the release of the WNW kit so I can get some better ideas for the colour schemes. I believe some early ones were green/brown but most were either hand painted hexagons or 5 colour night lozenge, or a combination of the two with hex on the nose and lozenge over the rest. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehed Posted August 18, 2014 Author Share Posted August 18, 2014 The colour scheme is going to be green/brown uppers and this is my interpretation of the scheme that appears on an aircraft in the WS DF 51 that managed to land on the hangar instead of the field. Aircraft of the first production batch probably sported these colours before lozenge in it's various forms took over. Another suggestion was lilac/green or light blue/lilac but these are later 1917 colours I believe. As the first orders for G.IV's were placed in 1916 when the green/brown schemes were the norm I'm going for it on those grounds. Regards, Steve PS Good luck with the Merlin, Ian. I'm quite prepared to dive in with vac forms but Merlin is probably too deep for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazdot Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 That's coming on nicely inspiring me to have a go at a vacform one day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murdo Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 Love it, good to see another vacform on the go, especially a WW1 job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 Quote: "PS Good luck with the Merlin, Ian. I'm quite prepared to dive in with vac forms but Merlin is probably too deep for me." It probably is for me too, but it's the only one I have! I have 3 or 4 Merlin's in the stash, plus one built - they are CRAP! (Technical term!) and the plastic is awful....I like a challenge! Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehed Posted August 27, 2014 Author Share Posted August 27, 2014 Still plodding on when I can slip away unnoticed. Added most of the crosses prior to tackling the engine nacelles. With the tops removed I had to add some plastic card to the rear of the radiators to give them some body. Drilled/filed the gap in the front where the water pipe can be seen. Took my time with the support legs and concentrated on getting the angles right over a couple of nights. Used the Contrail rod supplied with the kit and the bracing struts are also Contrail and kit supplied. seem to have got them reasonably straight and there are another four each side to go. Cabanes and inner interplanes next so I can dry run the upper wing. Regards, Steve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazdot Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 Nice work Steve. Does the kit give you measurements and angles for the struts or are you working from plans? Darren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehed Posted August 27, 2014 Author Share Posted August 27, 2014 Bit of both actually, Darren. Used the kit instructions for the uprights and the WS plans for the near horizontal struts. Regards, Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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