D.H. 83 Fox Moth, half scratch

[Terry1954]

10 hours ago, Moa said:

Needless to say, and in spite of appearances, completion is not really near.

But it is starting to look the part Moa. I really like the look of that colour scheme.

 

Terry

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Wheels inside the pants:

 

Masks off the doors, cockpit and cabin:

 

 

 

[Azgaron]

Nice paint job so far!

 

Håkan

 

[bigbadbadge]

Hi Moa

I have missed this build for a while. Wow what amazing work. A great build and some great tips /information thank you. 

All beautiful model.  

All the best 

Chris 

[greggles.w]

Looking good .. very promising.

 

I look forward to the (commendably imminent) completion!

[AdrianMF]

Lovely colour scheme! I know that "close but not close" feeling.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The four main fuselage-to-upper-wing struts are set in position:

 

This is going a little slow, and so are the other two in-progress builds.

Unfortunately more time is being taken by my hobby: working to earn money.

To compensate for the relative lack of action, here are the two hummingbird chicks that just hatched in our hedge:

 

Edited May 17, 2018 by Moa
to correct typo

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Top wing on.

 

Exhaust being prepared. The fore windows were filled with window maker.

If you want to use the kit's top wing (on the side), other option (besides the one flown by the despicable prince) is to model VH-UAL, that at some point in life had them, see here the top image:

http://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac1/austmz/VH-UAL(1).html

 

 

In retrospect, I should have completed fuselage decaling, glued on the windshield and canopy, and dealt with other minor detail (step, for example) before gluing the top wing.

But that would have made this build less thrilling.

 

Edited May 16, 2018 by Moa
add image

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Wheels and manifold are added:

 

 

[StephenCJ]

What have you used for the silver?  

 

Stephen

[Azgaron]

Looks nice!

 

Håkan

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

 

18 hours ago, StephenCJ said:

What have you used for the silver?  

 

Stephen

Hi Stephen:

Ole Alclad II aluminium on the customary gloss back base coat, and then a coat of acrylic floor polish over that and the rest of the paint.

 

 

 

[StephenCJ]

Thanks Moa.  I should get some and try it.

 

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Funny that the model looks the same, yet all these were added: step to gain the cockpit, all minor (6) struts on the cabane, the telescopic jury struts (2), beacon on top of wing, the exhaust plumbing that follows the manifold, the five-slot louvers on top of the nose on each side:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

48 minutes ago, StephenCJ said:

Thanks Moa.  I should get some and try it.

Hi Stephen

If you are not familiar with Alclad lacquer, I suggest that you read the tutorials that are on the Net. It is not difficult, but it requires a specific handling.

You will need a nice surface, well finished and very clean, and a base coat of gloss black (Alclad offers that too).

Practice when you get the product, but NOT on your model. It takes a few tries (or at least I needed them) to familiarize yourself with the process and results.

Alclad comes in a wide variety of metal shades, use the ones that you believe are better for your project.

It's a lacquer, so the caveats for that kind of product apply.

Cheers

At This Point Completely De Havillanded

 

 

[StephenCJ]

Thanks again Moa.  I will go to the university of Youtube and look into Alcad.

I have tried Humbrol's 11 and Tamiya's X18 for a silver finish???????

She is a beaut looking model, quite salubrious.

 

Stephen

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

22 minutes ago, StephenCJ said:

Thanks again Moa.  I will go to the university of Youtube and look into Alcad.

I have tried Humbrol's 11 and Tamiya's X18 for a silver finish???????

She is a beaut looking model, quite salubrious.

 

Stephen

I have used them too, and I think they have their place, but Alclad finish is -at least for me- incomparable.

Again, less forgiving than the ones you mentioned. But once I learned, I never went back to any other paint for large surfaces of metal finish.

Alclad is picky, though, and won't tolerate a bad surface, and will show the minutest defect, and not all clear top coats will do.

As I mentioned above, I use acrylic floor polish for the final coat, before decaling, but I sometimes leave the natural finish.

Matter of taste, personal preference, and individual proclivities and skills.

Hope this helps.

 

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The decals arrived:

 

Detail as usual superb:

 

Decals on:

[greggles.w]

That’s one fine looking machine, good choice of livery!

[StephenCJ]

Beautiful Moa

[Azgaron]

Looks very nice with decals on!

 

Håkan

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

And again, progress that is almost invisible: the Venturi, "metal" window frames and wing struts are on.

 

Still to go are six lengths of tail control cable, twelve lengths of wing rigging, prop and doors.

 

[Tomoshenko]

Beautiful!

[Roger Holden]

19 hours ago, Moa said:

Decals on:

You are probably going to hate me for this........BUT the wing registrations should be aligned with the ribs and at 90 degrees to the leading and trailing edges and NOT parallel to the fuselage centre line.  Those letters were usually painted with the wings removed from the aircraft and applying them the way you have done would be extremely difficult as there is no datum feature to align them with.....  Check with the internet photos of restored aircraft where it is quite obvious how they were orientated.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Fooled by the slight curvature of the trailing edge on the section of the wing closer to the center on the only photo I found showing the reg on the upper wing in an almost convenient angle:

https://audiovis.nac.gov.pl/obraz/195414:1/

Sigh.

Drat.

Darn.

(follows unintelligible string of expletives)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 23, 2018 by Moa
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