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1/72 scratch build Hansa Brandenburg W 13


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9 hours ago, Courageous said:

Great work Mr P.

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Purely an observation but is the cockpit shape a bit out or is it my eyes?

 

Stuart

I wondered if anyone would notice the asymetrical cockpit opening. It has been cut according to the plan and a photo in the DataFile also shows that it was asymetrical in shape. The pilot sat on the left. The windscreen is also asymetrical but that will not be made until much later.

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1 minute ago, Courageous said:

And here you are. Maybe you've 'floater' in your stash waiting to be built for this GB.

 

Stuart

I have plenty of floaters in the stash, most of them vacs, but I already have too many on the go and need to clear the backlog!

 

Ian

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  • 2 weeks later...

Evening All,

 

Thanks Chris and Adrian for dropping by - glad to have you along. Ian I suggest that you leave some of your backlog and have a go at a floater: the GB deadline would give you the necessary push to finish it!

 

It has been a little while since the last post and I do not seem to have achieved a great deal in the interval - as usual life has got in the way. There are also times when in the course of scratch building a model a great deal of time seems to be required to achieve not very much, and then a great deal can be achieved in a short time. I am hoping that I might be moving from the former to the latter....

 

I have fixed the wings and horizontal tail surfaces to the hull - they are butt joined with liquid cement, (bog standard Humbrol liquid poly). Given enough time to dry properly, and supported while they dry this gives a good clean and firm joint. I then primed the fuselage with Revell acrylic ocker (88). Later I will apply oils to represent the wood of the hull:

 

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The dark areas on the top of the mid-hull are filler but these will not show through the oil paints.

 

Next were the floats. Originally I thought that I would make them from card and started with sides from 30 thou card with bulkheads between. I had intended to bend some 20 thou card to make the top and bottom surfaces but because the front ends of the floats are slightly tapered this was going to cause gaps to appear and I could see disaster looming:

 

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So I adopted instead the method which I had used on previous flying boats (Phoenix A and Hansa-Brandenburg CC) by making them from laminated card. The procedure is simple: glue together sheets of thick card with thick styrene cement from a tube and place under some books for at least 12 hours. Mark out the plan of the float:

 

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Cut away excess plastic with a razor saw:

 

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Shape the remaining plastic with a file and glasspaper and

 

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there is a float with the second block of laminated card ready to be treated in the same way: and here is the pile of dust that is generated by the process:

 

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(For those who do not know the above picture shows the corner of the old tray that I use as a "bench" on which I make my models. I have had it since I started modelling when I was 10-11 years old and it is still the main surface on which I work).

 

The hull and floats have now been painted with oils and are currently drying in my airing cupboard: I expect them to be there for 2-3 days depending on the temperature inside the cupboard. Because watching and waiting for paint to dry is a bit tedious I started on the engine: when I laminated the plastic for the floats I also made up a piece for an engine block. This was filed and sanded to shape and the cylinders added from 80 thou rod. The insides of the "cylinders" were drilled so that I can add the inlet manifolds from 20 thou rod, one of which has been inserted (but not cemented):

 

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More to follow in due course.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

P

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Well, that was plenty to report I’d say - very respectable when every little bit is scratchbuilt!

 

The assembled form is very clean & elegant in plan, well done.

 

And what a patina on that work bench!  I don’t think I have a single relic from my formative childhood model-making days - too long an interval from then to now.  That tray of yours is a treasure, and great to see it still in use!

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Just found this - great stuff, as usual, and a typically unusual and interesting subject! Although I’m taking a break from modelling at the moment, I’ll keep popping in to see how this is progressing.

Jon

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I would be seriously tempted to do so, P, but I'll be heading home for Telford from 5th to 14th Nov, then my brother is coming over to Abu Dhabi for the GP for 10 days, so I will lose a lot of the time that this GB has left. I also want to get back onto the Muromets after the Heinkel 111 and Battle are finished so nothing new in the offing for a while.

However, after that....

 

The H-B is coming on nicely too, as expected!

 

Ian

 

 

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Evening All,

 

Many thanks to all who have dropped by and especially to Greg, Dennis, Stuart, Jon and Ian for leaving your positive comments.

 

Painting and decorating is almost complete now: there is more to do as I add pieces here and there but they will be done when the correct time arises - in the meantime the main components are finished. The hull was painted with oils - burnt siennsa with a small amount of raw sienna, and the whole dried for three days in a warm airing cupboard. Then two thin coats of Revell clear orange varnish completed that part. The wings were painted with many coats of Revell white with a small amount of Humbrol 103 linen. I mix the paints with water until they have the consistency of milk and draw the brush in alternate directions across the wing and along the wing with each coat. This ensures an even coating each time - the last coat is always in the direction of airflow - ie from front to back. The red/white wing, tail and rudder bands were matt Humbrol enamels (34 and 60). The transfers were printed for me by Arctic Decals: I could have printed the crosses but not the numerals so I gave an order for both and can say that I am very pleased indeed with both the quality of the transfers and the very prompt service. I will definitely be using them again:

 

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So the model parts now look like this from the top:

 

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and this from under:

 

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From the sides:

 

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The cross on the nose was hand painted as I could not think of a way of making a transfer(s) that would fit.

 

I have also been working on the engine while paint has been drying and this is now nearly complete - I may add a couple of small items to the sides when it is fixed to the platform on the model as they are difficult to fit and there is a real risk that they will be knocked off:

 

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That is all for now. More updates when I have the engine assembly on the fuselage.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

P

Edited by pheonix
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Fantastic job as usual P! She's looking great! I do like the detail you've got on the engine and know how awkward it can be to get that in this scale.

 

Ian

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Looking good, P. Good idea with the nose cross. I've got a Vac Wings Lohner L which is a similar, smaller design. It's partially built but too far gone to enter here but it has a couple of decals for the nose cross. Will let you know whether they survive the inevitable rough handling. Can I ask what type of engine you have scratched??

 

Regards, Steve

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The engine is a 350 hp Austro-Damlier, 12 cylinder. There are photos of the same in the DataFile which I am using for reference, plus some photos in the engines section of ww1aircraftmodels.com

 

I am becoming a little more interested in these A-H flying boats. They are largely new to me but very interesting and some of them were very graceful indeed. I have added a couple to my to-do list!

 

P

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Evening All,

 

Many thanks to all of you who have dropped by and left a comment - they are much appreciated as always. Steve I can usually turn out a True Scale model in a few weeks provided that it is not too large/complicated, as this one. Larger or more complex models tend to take a little longer....as you know from experience!

 

I have been working on several small units this week, starting with the bomb racks which were fixed to frames which ran along the top side of the hull. I made the frames from 10 x 20 thou strip and added the crutches with pieces of rod. They are difficult to simulate accurately so my rather crude representation will have to do. The I pressed on with the engine platform: This was a simple structure on the original aircraft which was fabricated from steel tube which had thin sheet steel wrapped around it to make it appear like a conventional wood strut. These were painted to look like wood. The arms were shaped from 30 x 40 thou strip and cut to length. The forward pair were glued into place with Revell Contacta Professional and allowed to set for about 30 seconds. Then I added the front cross piece from a piece of 30 thou scrap and the tops glued. The length of the front bar was taken from the width of the engine sump which has to sit in the gap between two horizontal bars which run between the tops of the front and rear pairs of supports. While the glue was still not set I aligned the front struts so that they were vertical. When these had set (after 30 minutes) I repeated the operation for the rear struts, but this time I added the longitudinal bar between the front and rear pairs while the glue was setting: the horizontal bars had to be parallel. This was then set aside to dry overnight. The next day I could add the curved bar between the rear struts - this was made from 30 thou rod. The two angled struts on the side of the frame were fitted last:

 

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The engine was then test fitted:

 

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I had also done some work on the engine including adding some more pipes on the sides, a couple of small units which I could see in photos, (all from rod), and small supports on the sides of the sump which would stop the engine falling through the gap between the horizontal bars. I also drilled holes for the exhaust stubs which will be fixed later. The engine frame was painted and the small steps added to the vertical struts.

 

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Fixing the engine was now a simple matter of applying glue and after fitting, allowing the assembly to set:

 

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Before i fix the top wing I decided to put the wing floats on otherwise I have to invert and support the model while some fiddly work is done. On reflection I should have fitted the floats before I attached the engine but I did manage to avoid knocking  it off. First the 4 vertical struts were located and cemented into holes drilled into the tops of the floats and while the cement was still not set I placed the other ends of the struts into holes drilled in the wing. The cement on the floats was allowed to set for half an hour before I cemented the struts to the holes in the wings. This was again left to dry out thoroughly, before I added the side, front and rear cross struts:

 

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Now I am ready, (well almost), to fit the top wing. The wing will need support while struts are added and dry out because the wing struts form an open V and this will collapse easily. So a pair of jigs were cut from card:

 

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The centre pieces were measured from the plans - they will fill the gap between the wings. The side pieces are there to keep the spacers upright and stable while the struts are inserted and dry out:

 

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These were tested before use and found to be wholly satisfactory:

 

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Jigs do not need to be complex or expensive - I regularly make use of everyday items on or near my desk and find that with a little ingenuity much can be achieved at minimal cost.

 

Next step is to fix the main struts which I hope to show in the next update.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

P

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