Focke Wulf F19a "Ente", 1/72nd Planet Models resin, with tweaks

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

6 hours ago, Lightpainter said:

I love those wacky designs! I think I had a vacform of that aircraft once?

As mentioned above there was a vac kit of it, that in later years provided even a resin upgrade set.

The quality of the vac wasn't great (as it happens neither was the one of the resin I ended buying, as per their misalignment boo-boo), so I gave it the pass at that time.

But like anything else, it can be built, provided you put the extra time and have the patience of a saint and the good nature of a Buddha.

My friend Sønke from Marzipanland bought one and ended up giving it to Igor for it to be tortured in the dungeons.

 

 

[Silenoz]

I know, I have a few of these ;-). Otherwise there could be an opportunity to cut out a larger part of the sidewall, and cut that one up in vertical pieces (dooropening, windows, spacers...) and re-arrange them like this.  Just a thought. So many builders, so many ideas... bit like I did here (part was just a little short and had to preserve details...):

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

On 11/13/2019 at 7:11 PM, billn53 said:

where do you find these whacky aeroplanes?

If you would see my "planes to build" folders, you will probably run away in horror.

I like to peruse old publications of the golden age of aviation, fortunately you can find many of those online.

I have literally hundreds of folders with stuff that would scare most modelers!

Funny thing is, most wacky ideas have been, and are being, revisited and applied by the aviation industry.

There are many ways to skin a platypus. *

 

*But please don't, they are adorable.

 

[billn53]

I see Avis models will be releasing the Lee-Richards annular monoplane. Another “wacky” design that, reportedly, was pleasant to fly. 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

6 hours ago, Silenoz said:

I know, I have a few of these ;-). Otherwise there could be an opportunity to cut out a larger part of the sidewall, and cut that one up in vertical pieces (dooropening, windows, spacers...) and re-arrange them like this.  Just a thought. So many builders, so many ideas... bit like I did here (part was just a little short and had to preserve details...):

 

 

A tank?

Oh, the horror!

 

Yes, but again, it creates problems of its own, like restoring the stringer effect and other surface detail, and having to be very careful while doing it because of the added weakness due to the "cut and paste".

 

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

3 minutes ago, billn53 said:

I see Avis models will be releasing the Lee-Richards annular monoplane. Another “wacky” design that, reportedly, was pleasant to fly. 

I have posted this recently illustrating the point (I pre-ordered the kit already):

Another wacky design that was pleasant to fly:

any takers?

Avis?

Amodel?

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The instrument panel is a sort of half-circle, but the area it goes in is oblong:

 

The cockpit parts are glued on and the structure for the cabin is made:

 

 I may use spares' bin chairs for this one:

 

The nose wheel well is re-contoured:

 

Engine pods on. Their location is marked on the wing and the fit is very good.
The vertical stabilizer is ready for priming after the minor surgery:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Locations for metal pins are drilled:

 

The door is made:

 

Some base colors are airbrushed. Notice the added ceiling, used to cover the seam between fuselage halves at the top. May be I will put a "light" there too:

 

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Ah, Planet Models cheeky monkeys!

I realized now why the wings have those little inaccuracies!

Remember I wrote that the Ente used the Focke Wulf A16 wings?

Well, so did Planet Models. Thus the wrong position of the fuel tanks filling caps, and the absence of the metal sheeting on the wings in the engine areas.

I mean, good for you if you can recycle a master and make another kit, we all benefit, and we can get a beautiful Ente (wish it had the right windows alignment, though), but may be it would have been wise to spend 10 minutes in the computer looking at photos of the real thing online, and another 30 minutes re-scribing the details, right?

Nothing that can't be corrected in a very short session, though.

Still....

 

[Silenoz]

Looking good. How do you align the holes for the wing with those on the hull? Drilling one hole, mate the two parts as good as possible and then mark and drill in the other part?

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

10 hours ago, Silenoz said:

Looking good. How do you align the holes for the wing with those on the hull? Drilling one hole, mate the two parts as good as possible and then mark and drill in the other part?

Since the fit of the parts is good (i.e. the airfoil is the same in all areas) I just measured length and width and drilled a pilot hole there.

Once the fuselage is glued, I will use the pilot holes to drill a slightly bigger one, which will self align, then try the wings and see how the fit is, and adjust if needed (again using a slightly bigger bit). All this may leave a little play. Then it is 10-minute epoxy while propping all the elements together aligned where you want them as the epoxy sets.

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Some dry-runs with the interior:

 

The windows are added as well as short lengths of structural tube seen in photos.
After making the new nose wheel well box, the fuselage can be glued together:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Building the substitute for the inaccurate wheel well:

 

Nice sunset today

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Whilst I out the inaccuracies of the kit, I should as well praise the good things, and it just happened that I looked closely at the seat and it has the detail of a wicker molded in rather nicely, considering the medium and the scale.

By the way, do not be mislead by models on the Net that have two chord/length black bands; photos and newsreels of the real thing show that there was no such bands, only the fuel tanks in that dark hue (not black either).

 

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Once again the sign of someone sleeping at the wheel at Planet Models.
You need six registrations: one for each fuselage side, one under each wing (right and left) and one over each wing (idem).
The hyphen is missing for the tail lettering, and according to the cited kit build in Jet & Prop, the decal are anyway the wrong size.

 

You will have to fabricate two exhaust pipes in the case you show the engine uncovered.
For the covered engine (the shield is provided) you will need to fabricate a very convoluted exhaust arrangement, not provided or even described in the kit:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The fuselage halves are glued together. The fit is good enough, but not perfect, so a modicum of putty/filler will be needed.

The elegant lines are evident now:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

I recalled three more examples of Canard models I built, here they are for your solace:

 

 

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Since the momentum in respect to the center of gravity was short, the area of the vertical stabilizer had to be comparatively large.
Here that part was added, and the fuselage prepared for the not so amusing puttying/sanding/priming/repeat session:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

If I would have to give a single piece of advise to modelers seeking an accurate model, it would be: "Look at photos, as many as you can". Because plans, 3views, drawings, etc. are very welcome and important, but are seldom accurate.

I have a few plans/3views of the Ente, and all, invariably, either miss or misconstrue details. Again, I highly value and am grateful for them, but it is wise to go the extra mile and compare them with photos.

Planet helped with the location of some of the rigging items, but missed those related to the extra wing fins (and the control leads for the rudder):

 

Planet also missed two small fairings that seem to wrap either instruments or mirrors:

 

Planet also missed two very small cabin cross-ventilation airscoops (one facing the front on the left fuselage side, ahead of the first window, and the other opening to the back on the right-hand fuselage side, after the aft window).

These scoops are present only at certain time of the life of the plane (I am modeling the plane as it flew in England for demonstration):

 

The location for the scissors is unmarked, and surprise! Planet's plan is not to scale. So it's up to you, again:

 

Missing too are the attachment points for two lengths of rigging that unite the front plane to the fuselage:

 

Holes are drilled on the engine area metal plating as per photos, and new fuel caps are added -on the right locations- again as per photos:

 

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

And again, to compensate for the nitpickings, some praise: the elevators on the Ente had a very thin metal trailing edge, which is surprisingly well represented on the kit.

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Two louvers are fabricated for the engine nacelles:

 

The little inaccurate appendixes of the connecting parts are removed, and the remaining U-shaped parts are glued:

 

Four control horns are re-installed:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The kit's raw clear strip provided (I didn't use it, though, preferring my own kind), while it's good for the windows, it's not adequate for the windscreen, being too thick, so one is made from thin clear plastic the scrap (in the photo):

 

The many holes (8) and details needed on the stab are in progress:

 

The absent exhausts are made:

 

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Things you find in your research. A page from Flying, Feb 1932.

This might be titled "What the (blip) do we know" or "Chauvinism and misinformation: one example of bad journalism in the aviation press"

Here we see how the US had built a machine comparable to the Dornier DOX in 1915 (yeah, right), and how a German plane (which clearly wears his D registration adjudicating its Teutonic origin) is described as a British machine.

[Courageous]

Don't know how I missed this. I think I must have seen Focke Wulf...and turned off. Anyway, I'm here now, caught up and used all my 'likes', so nobody else will be getting them today. As usual, your threads are very informative and fascinating to read, great stuff. You obviously must have exquisite resin kit after a little knock to Dujin, I'm still filling my ruddy wings and their pinholes on my Caudron racer! Good work Moa.

 

Stuart 

Edited November 18, 2019 by Courageous

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Some primer to catch blemishes on the fuselage and to build up a "metal plate" on the engine area -missing from the kit- is applied, as well as some paint on engines and door: