Therapy build

[Andy Robbins]

So, here goes...

A while ago I posted about mental health and its impact on my life in general and the hobby in particular. Having failed in every attempt at finishing anything at all because of the beastie in my head, and because we find our hero off work owing to it trying to wreck things,  I’m going to use you all as an incentive. This is my first WIP, and I’m no photographer, so please bear with me. 

We are going to hopefully finish this little beauty: 

 

 

which arrived yesterday.

It really is nice, sadly I couldn’t get any sprue pics, ‘cos I’ve already started, but there are enough bits to make an early or late OAW, as well as an Austro-Hungarian MAG version if you can sort out colour schemes. Unusually for Eduard the 5-colour lozenge looks quite close to accuracy too. So let’s see where we go....

Edited May 3, 2019 by Andy Robbins

[Andy Robbins]

After an hour with MR Paint and the airbrush, we are at this point: 

 

 

Interior painted in RLM 02, engine area painted Dark Aluminium and lozenge applied to the inside walls and rear bulkhead. Unlike every other Fokker kit in the world, the seat supports have a nice robust attachment to the frame (not really visible here, I’ll see if I can show it better), and the seat sits on a little tab, so when I fit it in a while I won’t need to swear. I’ve also painted other bits on the sprues in various colours ready to do a bit more work later. I’m not going to muck about with wood grain on the cockpit floor, because you can’t really see it. I’m thinking about adding some framework in the cockpit, but again, visibility might influence what I add. I also sprayed the top wing in RLM 02, and gloss varnished it as a base for the lozenge decals. I applied the main decal and it fitted beautifully. No trimming at all. Just a bit of Microsol to deal with the odd air bubble. Eduard provide all the edge strips (pre- shaped) as well as 1000000 rib tapes, which I think will take up the major part of the build time. 

 

 

More instalments to come...

[Ted]

That's quite a nice kit, and tidy work you're doing.

[Andy Robbins]

Harrumph! Progress has stalled a little. Eduard’s rib tapes didn’t quite fit, being a little short. After some language that turned the air blue, made the vicar faint, scared the horses in the field and woke the neighbour’s baby, the whole lot came off. I’ve had to wait til pay day, but now I’ve ordered some new lozenge from Aviattic. The seat is fitted to the rear bulkhead, some oil paint is on the floor and the engine has been painted. It’s all over black, there really isn’t any point in painting any other parts of it because all you can see is one side of the upper cylinders and the rocker arms. The concrete cap has now been removed from the safety pit I put it in and work will now continue. Pics to follow...

[Marklo]

I love the DVII I have the 1/48 version in my stash. Nice work so far.

[Andy Robbins]

So...

Cockpit is done. I didn’t bother with any framing, as it’s not really visible, and I didn’t want to crowd things.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fuselage halves together. It’s not the best pic, but it does illustrate the pointlessness of painting any engine detail. When I do the next one, I think I might paint the inlet pipes pale cream to represent lagging, just to break the monotony of the black, as they are just visible. 

 

 

The lower wing is on now, and I’m sorting out the seams. Only the top ones need close attention, along with the lower cowl, because there is a lovely stitching strip along the belly joint that hides the belly join.

[Andy Robbins]

Looking closely at the sprues, assuming it was an OAW built airframe, you can do the MAG one at pretty much any point in its career. There are guns and ammo boxes for both the Schwartlose and Vickers armament (the sheer daftness of a Fokker fitted with Vickers guns really appeals). The MAG engine and two types of exhausts are there. The only thing I can’t find is the blanking piece for an unarmed aircraft. It’s probably there but I just haven’t found it.

[Bigglesworth]

Hard to believe that's a 1/72 cockpit.  I had to go back and check the scale on the box!  Nice work.

[clive_t]

Nice job so far, that instrument panel alone is a mini work of art!

[Andy Robbins]

Ah, I must confess, the panel is part of the printed etch. The rest is mine, though.

[Andy Robbins]

Oh knickers! I’ve just realised I’ve used the wrong fuselage halves. There is a ‘mid’ and ‘late’ fuselage included, and I’ve used the ‘mid’ halves. The difference is in the louvres. So I have a quandary. Do I 

a) give up in despair;

b) frantically search for a decal set for mid production DVII’s;

or c) live with it and carry on?

 

 I’m choosing ‘c’...

Edited May 27, 2019 by Andy Robbins

[Andy Robbins]

Late (correct ones):

 

Mid (wrong ones that I’ve used):

 

 

 

Edited May 27, 2019 by Andy Robbins

[Marklo]

Of course there is D. Carefully scrape off the louvers and replace them with strip.

Or E carefully cut out the offending panel;/section from the late fuselage and replace it with the (also carefully removed) panel from the other fuselage .

 

Although I must admit I'd probably run with C too . Then eventually after wrestling with my modelling conscience go for E after all. (or knowing me go for F which would be to mold a completely new front end)

Edited May 27, 2019 by Marklo

[rob85]

I say go with C. It’s looking really nice so far and will still look great when finished 👍🏻

 

Rob

[Andy Robbins]

That is my thinking. Options D, E and F will lead to option A, I fear...

Edited May 28, 2019 by Andy Robbins

[Marklo]

They're all good choices (except A) TBH  if you choose C noone but you and any passing rivet counters will know (BTW Having done it in real life on JT8D-200 engine cases , in my hobby I'm not a rivet counter   )

Edited May 28, 2019 by Marklo

[Andy Robbins]

Ah well... Brain beasties worked their usual magic. I’m off for another 4 weeks, and the Fokker got as far as Aviattic’d and decalled upper wing, assembled and yellow nosed, white tailed and yellow undercart before the demons arrived...

[Andy Robbins]

Ah well... Brain beasties worked their usual magic. I’m off for another 4 weeks, and the Fokker got as far as Aviattic’d and decalled upper wing, assembled and yellow nosed, white tailed and yellow undercart before the demons arrived...