Stevejj Posted April 25, 2019 Share Posted April 25, 2019 Colour looks right to me. This will be a pronominal build when finished. I bow to your skill sir! Steve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pheonix Posted April 25, 2019 Share Posted April 25, 2019 That shade looks perfectly within the range of shades that probably appeared on contemporary aircraft... so yes you have nailed it! The remainder of the model is looking first class too and as others have written, a tribute to real skill. As for Perdu's comments about this important and interesting machine .... well words fail me, (polite ones anyway!). Does the chap not know that there were about 2500 of these built and that they were in front line service for longer than any other allied type in WW1? Mutter, mutter.... Carolina? What's that? Give me a spare wing and a fan or two on any aeroplane - things with holes in the back indeed!!? P 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putty Animal Posted April 27, 2019 Author Share Posted April 27, 2019 Thank you so much everybody. It is really a relief to know its in the right ballpark. I used two apps which I have on my phone, that are designed for colour blind people. While mixing, one told me it was brown. The other said it was dull, dark green... so I figured I must be somewhere close! 😅 I think I'm through with Mr Tamiya and his acrylics from now on however. I tried an experimental panel line wash in oils thinned with turpentine to an area behind the pilot's cockpit, but the Tamiya paint soaked up the wash and soon went tacky. I found I had to respray the area (again) and add what I hope will be a protective coat of Mr Color clear lacquer over the surface so I can work with it. By comparison the Mr Color lacquer coat that was used to do the clear doped areas of the wings is very durable and allowed me to do washes of oil and turpentine over the surface without complaint. The walkway sections were grimed up a bit, and the rib tapes were shaded as lightly as I could manage with a sharpened .5mm pencil lead that was traced along strips of tape that were laid down as a guide. I tried something new with the little rectangular brackets that mark the position of the hardpoints on the wings. A piece a scrap decal was brush painted in very dark grey and taped to an old gift card which I use as a sort of hand-held cutting board. The edges of the card are nicely square to one another, so I can rest my calipers on them and use them as a straight edge to mark and cut up grids of the decal film with a fresh scalpel blade. The effect is shown below. The rectangles measure .3x.5mm and are quite easy to place in position with a fine brush that is lightly dampened with decal setting solution. I'm really pleased with that, as they are a very crisp looking detail that takes only a little time to do. Maybe this could be useful in larger scales for data plates, fasteners and such? 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 5 hours ago, Putty Animal said: The rectangles measure .3x.5mm 🤪 Thanks for showing your tips and tricks, this is an inspirational build. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pheonix Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 Completely agrre with Ted. BTW where on earth did you find that telegraph pole sized match? P 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putty Animal Posted May 5, 2019 Author Share Posted May 5, 2019 (edited) On 28/04/2019 at 05:04, pheonix said: Completely agrre with Ted. BTW where on earth did you find that telegraph pole sized match? P Aw man, if I had a dollar for every giant match comment! Okay, my little jam fancies. Here we go again... So, earlier in the week I made this cute little Boulton Paul 4-blade propeller out of styrene strip and painted it with oils. Then I put it in a box and tried not to even think about touching it for a few days. After an expectant (impatient) wait, I was able to get a coat of clear gloss on the propeller this morning. I let it dry for a bit then gave it a light sand with some ultra fine emery paper to remove the slight hairiness of the oils. The gloss was a bit overscale, so it got a second coat of Mr Color 182 Flat Clear which is always more of a satin when applied thinly. The hub is a disk of silver painted decal, with a sliver of sprue in the centre and dabs of artist oils for the bolt heads. I bought some Mr Metal Color 219 Brass to do the metal sheaths on the prop tips, but I'm uncertain now if the aircraft I'm trying to represent had them. I'll leave it for now and see if any other info turns up. I also did some more work on the nacelle, picking out some of the fasteners by dipping the end of an appropriately-sized piece of sprue into some oil paint and touching it to the model. Also adding filler caps and whatnot. The little arched plate below the pilot's cockpit was also made from a disk of painted decal. I suspect the plate formed part of a mount for a swivel gun for the pilot, as there was a small wedge shaped bracket that stuck out at the bottom of it. I tried to add this several times but couldn't apply a small enough quantity of glue that didn't dry out before I positioned the wedge. In the end I managed it though, using some UV-setting glue which I bought a while back from a craft store for around $3. I found I could apply a minute amount and have an unlimited amount of time to position the piece under a desk lamp before wandering outside to give it a couple of seconds of direct sunlight. It worked a treat. Still need to paint the styrene bit, but here is a shot of the parts as they stand today. Edited May 5, 2019 by Putty Animal 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonners Posted May 5, 2019 Share Posted May 5, 2019 "Like" - lots! Quite superb, and the prop looks fantastic. Nice one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pheonix Posted May 5, 2019 Share Posted May 5, 2019 I am really beginning to think that really this is a much larger scale and you are leading us on to believing that it is 1/144. The details that you have on that model are truly incredible: your patience muxt be almost limitless. P 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putty Animal Posted May 5, 2019 Author Share Posted May 5, 2019 You think I've got patience... you should meet my wife! 3 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perdu Posted May 5, 2019 Share Posted May 5, 2019 I know scratchbuilding, done a little bit, so I know what it takes But for me the highlight of an amazingly good scratchbuild project That wonderful propeller N I C E ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted May 5, 2019 Share Posted May 5, 2019 Amazing work as usual Putty. Stuart 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putty Animal Posted May 5, 2019 Author Share Posted May 5, 2019 1 hour ago, perdu said: But for me the highlight of an amazingly good scratchbuild project That wonderful propeller N I C E ! I like the bra cupboard! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted May 5, 2019 Share Posted May 5, 2019 There are details on this that I would struggle with in 1:72. It really is stupendous! Ian 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perdu Posted May 6, 2019 Share Posted May 6, 2019 21 hours ago, Putty Animal said: I like the bra cupboard! I perzoom we are discussing your wife still... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevejj Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 That prop! Phenomenal! What we now require is a photographic step by step guide on "here's how you do it." Please please Steve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McNab Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 Never mind the match log... where did you get the ‘one foot to an inch’ ruler from? Fantastic precise work; l salute you sir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putty Animal Posted May 8, 2019 Author Share Posted May 8, 2019 18 hours ago, Stevejj said: That prop! Phenomenal! What we now require is a photographic step by step guide on "here's how you do it." Please please Steve Hi Steve, I'll do my best. I must admit I didn't take any shots while in progress , so I've prepared a sort of "reenactment" below with the first blade I did which was a bit NQR. I've edited the last set of images in photoshop to show how the cuts were made and the pieces assembled. Hopefully it makes sense! The first bit is get the numbers. I scanned my drawings at 1200 dpi and scaled them in photoshop to 1/144 scale. Working by eye against a paper print out is no good. Certainly not at this scale. working from the prop tip you can use the ruler tool to measure the distance to the widest part of the blade and to the edge of the propeller hub. 4.3 and 8.7mm in this instance. Using the edge of your calipers and a fresh scalpel blade, score these lines into a length of styrene strip and give them a rub so they show up visibly on the surface. In practice I'd square the end off properly before doing this, but you get the idea 😅 Next up, start nibbling away at the top of the blade with a fresh scalpel to get the right shape for the pointed tip. Working from the tip inwards ensures there is plenty of material to work with and something to hang onto. Then start doing the same for the inside taper. Keep the prop blade attached to the strip as long as possible. When the frontal shape is correct, start whittling down the aerofoil shape of the blade. Working from the hub to the tip works best at this stage. Scalpels, files and scrapers are all very useful for this. Flip the blade over and do the back at the same time to avoid taking too much off one face. Once you've got the blade shaped right, stick it securely to a piece of sprue that represents the hub. If you need to you can fair it in with putty. I find that putty straight from the tube is not very good. It's best to thin it down and float it on with a brush to get good contours that would otherwise be difficult to create by hand. I prefer Tamiya white putty over other brands. If you want to get a really strong bond, you can thin the putty down with liquid glue before applying it. Once you get going you can quite quickly end up with four of these: Now just to be clear... what you want for this are four individual blades on four individual propeller hubs. The shots below are edited to try and recreate the process. Get two of the prop/hubs and cut their hubs in half like so And stick them together, making sure each one is facing the right way up. If its a two-blade prop you want, you're pretty much done. However if it is a four-blade, get a good sharp scalpel and use the tip to cut a vee into one side of the hub. There should still be enough strength in the joint that you can do this without splitting it. Get prop blade number three and cut its hub to fit. I made my vees fairly loose to give some wriggle room and used gap filling superglue to take up the slack. Once the three blades are assembled do the same with the fourth and that's pretty much it. The pics aren't too well edited, but you get the idea. Finish up with a good coat of primer and a sand with fine wet n dry paper. Thinned down putty can be used to touch up any areas that need it. Cheers! PA 8 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevejj Posted May 9, 2019 Share Posted May 9, 2019 Thanks so much for taking the trouble to post the " how to" picture explanation of prop manufacture. Its much appreciated. Again many thanks Steve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putty Animal Posted May 16, 2019 Author Share Posted May 16, 2019 (edited) The dear old Fee is beginning to look more like itself now. A fellow 1/144 modeller over at http://www.kampfgruppe144.com/phpBB3/index.php (check it out) very kindly sent me the cockades from a Valom kit which fitted the sides of the nacelle perfectly. I also applied the B1 codes for A857 which were taken from an MYK set for the F1M2 Pete. The letter B was a fraction wide, so I carefully cut a tiny section out of the centre and put the pieces back together. I also had some time to wrestle the fuel tank into the pilot's cockpit. For a while there I didn't think it was going to fit. After that the engine-bearers got a coat of paint and the Beardmore was cemented into place. Some of the side detail was added too, although there's still more to go on the other side. However it's starting to look pleasingly busy. Next up I'll probably look at the windscreen and the underwing markings. Edited May 16, 2019 by Putty Animal 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 Looking really beautiful Putty. Even more amazing given the tiny scale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 1 hour ago, Putty Animal said: The dear old Fee is beginning to look more like itself now. I wholeheartedly agree. Nice. Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pheonix Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 I'll add a third approval to that: a real little gem in the making here. P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 And a fourth! The detail is incredible and most importantly, not overscale. Thanjs for the "how to" on the prop too! Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonners Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 Blimey. This looks very smart. Thanks for the propellor tutorial - very interesting, and I hadn't considered the separate hubs bit. Every day a schoolday etc. I'll definitely be trying that method myself. Jon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianthemodeller Posted May 17, 2019 Share Posted May 17, 2019 Been watching from the back for a while and am in awe of your skills! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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