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Airfix/MPC Roland C-11. LFG built, with a good story behind it...


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The story behind this one is very fun and I have included the PrintScale text so you can read it for yourself.  Colours will be fun too as they combine the light blue with the green/brown camo and a shark's mouth.  This is from the American MPC rebox of the Airfix kit from 1960-something according to Scalemates.

 

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I have some upgrades too.  I have some white metal Spandaus and possibly a Parabellum.  If not I can scratch build the Parabellum using the kit piece as a superstructure.  The engine is looking ok, but needs a better exhaust system.  Hmmm...we shall see as I go along!

 

--John

 

 

 

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The nose needs lengthening, and the rear end shortening. Plus the wing tips and central cutouts are the wrong shape, and the tail surfaces are totally wrong, but I'm sure you know that!

 Oh, and the undercarriage height is wrong too.....

 

Ian

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Yes, well...we shall see how much of that I get to Ian...Too much work becomes not so much fun for me.  Sorry to disappoint you all.

 

First looks...all the pieces are here.  I will augment from the spares box.  And I can finally use some of those Aeroclub Spandaus I have had laying about for decades (it seems).  The new wheels are from the spares and I will clean them up so they look better, of course.  I can build a decent Parabellum from the Roden Fokker sprue and what came with the kit.  Hmmm...New landing gear since what is supplied just looks bad...Love the figures!  They'll be used for sure.

 

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Oh...I must use this!

 

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...and this too...

 

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--John

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IMO its a splendid wee kit if you are not bothered by the inaccuracies. I highly recommend it as an introduction to building and rigging biplanes, and you can really go to town on an interior that will for once be seen! I ditched the engine and used a Roden spare.

 

IIRC the kit is an early CII but the synchronised forward MG only appeared on later ones, but I could be wrong.

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Thanks John.  I'll probably overlook those inaccuracies and have fun.  I have a good idea for the interior too, so that'll be interesting.

 

Yes...quite simple rigging.  Not what I am used to.😁

Edited by John D.C. Masters
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Sorry for the down time.  I have been busy all week getting ready for a photo exhibit on a nearby island and have had no energy to be at the bench.  What I have done is here, so far.

 

I won't be adding any interior details since the figures will be used so they will take up most of the viewing area.  I have cleaned off any flash from the main parts.

 

I think that most of the work will be exterior--painting, decals, gun ring, Parabellum, etc...Now that my show is up and the opening is over with (thank the gods) I can get down to some real work...😉

 

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Sanded own some small sink holes...cleaned off the flash.  I will also be removing those nasty rib bits from the rudder and stabilizers.

 

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--John

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A bit of work this afternoon...I realized that I have not documented the installing of windows, pilot and engine and the closing up of the fuselage.  Sorry about that.  It happened without incident.  So far very much OOB.  I feel good about that.  This is the Airfix Golden Years, after all.  Maybe I should also paint it all with gloppy Testors paints with plastic brushes and do it all in one day, just to give it that authentic feel!?  No...but I must remember, in the famous words or Terry Gilliam, "It's only a model..."

 

I have added a bit of paint...the light blue, in this case Vallejo Sky Blue.  The photos make it look lighter than it is and now, as it dries, it has darkened just a shade.  It airbrushed well enough with no need for flow improver or thinning.  I'll let this dry and then go for the green pieces which include the struts, wheels, wing topsides, etc...I'll drill a few holes too, just for old time's sake! 😁

 

Masked and plugged...wings are behind it.

 

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More blue than grey, believe me...

 

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...and after some painting.  It really is blue.  

 

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--John

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Lovely weather here...dry, warm...a stellar evening to paint!  The stuff just dries in minutes with no tackiness which allows me to press on...

 

Re-masked for the green bits.  I have decided to sue a set of Fokker DVII wheels from a MAC kit.  They may not be perfect, but they are a good size, I think.

 

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A nice shade of green.  I think I will use this when I build my Colombian Hawk on floats for the upcoming Floatplane GB.

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By the way...this is already dry, so I think I might get on with the brown.  I had a freddo espresso around 6:30, so I am awake for a while...😁

 

--John

 

 

 

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Very nice. I love this kit as it reminds me of the Dog Fight Doubles I made with my Dad, many years ago when I was just a nipper. We did all the WWI subjects, my Dads area of interest.

 

I also love the aircrew figures and the beautiful way they are modelled in the flying kit and individual poses, unique to this kit. Such a shame most, if not all other kits use a generic figure, that is neither one thing or another. The colourful scarves are a nice touch :)

 

Did the Airfix HP 0/400 have similar unique figures? I think so..........

 

 

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9 minutes ago, Smudge said:

Did the Airfix HP 0/400 have similar unique figures? I think so..........

Thanks Smudge.  I think the 0/400 had the same figures plus a few others.  And you are right..they are the best of the Airfix crews-detailed and animated.

 

Thanks for the compliment.

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The brown went on late last night and I waited until this morning to take a snapshot.  Looks pretty good I think.  It will need a small amount of brush/touch-up.

 

Thus afternoon I will work on the landing gear (scratch) and drill the rigging holes.  I have filled in the area where the Spandau used to be in the upper wing since this incarnation of the C-II didn't have one.  Also, further reading has proved that this C-II was armed with a Lewis gun, not a Parabellum.  That was a surprise.  Thankfully I have a few of those in the spares box.  I'll work on the scarf ring mount too.  

 

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--John

 

 

Edited by John D.C. Masters
Oops!
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Excellent paint job, John, and interesting research on the armament. The camouflage  scheme seems to represent a preview of what was to come in later years. Loving this build. Mike.

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Thanks Mike.  The green/brown camo was quite common in the early years on many German machines.  This would have been before lozenge came into vogue. The Halberstadt D.II and the Fokker D.II both used this scheme.  

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A fair amount of construction...scarf ring, hole drilling for rigging, aircraft assembly, drilled out the exhaust pipe front and back, control horns for the rudder, landing gear, etc...

 

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Attached the exhaust, radiator 'ears', outer struts, scratched the roll-bar thingy on top.

 

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...rebuilt the landing gear struts and axle...

 

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I'll clean up the struts a bit, fill in a gap or two and give them all a bit of primer.  There will be some touching up of the paint as I go along.  As they say here,

'peripatimeni'...just routine.

 

--John

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Hmmmm...yes...in my enthusiasm for rigging I committed a common blunder for me.  I did not take into account where the nose decal will fit, either around or beneath the rigging lines...so I rigged, then unrigged a line a or two, applied the decals and, thank the gods, it all worked out.  Then re-rigged the necessary cables.  Notice that I have chosen to use a different rigging approach to this kit, one that I have seen demonstrated here on BM many times.  I may continue along this thread (no pun intended!).

 

.006 monofilament, coloured with black marker...

 

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After the repair...a note on these decals.  Be very careful with them.  They are slippery and soft and react poorly with setting solution.  In fact, they almost seem to melt.  They have a rubbery consistency.  Just use water.  Once down and in place, they adhere like glue and settle in quite well without it.  Perfect registration.

 

The profiles for this craft included with the sheet (which do not seem to match), and the decals associated with it, do not allow for underside Maltese Crosses and those provided for the top of the wings do not have the white background.  So I went with what they gave me, accurate or not.

 

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I have rebuilt the axle again (brass rod and some squashed Contrail tube) and also added a better version of the arresting hook from Evergreen.

 

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Next up...landing gear assembly, wheels on, fix the prop nose to the clear acetate 'spinning prop', attach the Lewis gun...That might be the end of it.

 

--John

 

 

 

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I caught these fellows on dawn patrol this morning as I went to start the coffee...BBBRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....rrrrrrrrrrrrrroooooowwwwww.....:pilot:

 

They took some snaps of the olive oil depot, a short strafe of the cutting board and headed off north...perhaps to do the washing up from last night's lamb curry!

 

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...the rest are in the gallery!

Edited by John D.C. Masters
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