1:32 scale Ansaldo 'Baby'

[Ted]

Very tidy work, I would have been nervous gluing those on such lovely linen and plywood surfaces.

[Sandbagger]

Hi Ted,

The model surfaces are clear of the turnbuckles as for each, I drilled two 0.4 mm holes and inserted anchor points.

Then added a 'turnbuckle' across those anchor points.

As the 'eye' ends of the turnbuckle needed to be in the same orientation, I couldn't use a normal turnbuckle, as the 'eye' ends are at 90 degrees to each other.

Instead I used a 'GasPatch' anchor point as supplied, as they are joined at the centre but have the 'eye' ends orientated the same.

Instead of separating (as intended) to create two separate anchor points, I them I left them intact as one 'turnbuckle'.

That way the 'eye' ends are both orientated the same and and can be secured onto the two separate anchor points already fitted into the fuselage,

 

Mike

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
I'm working on preparing the wings for the linen decals etc.
This is the upper wing (top surface).
First primed white then masked for the wing ribs and front and rear spars.
Airbrushed with 'Tamiya' Smoke (X19).
Then the outer five wing rib areas airbrushed to represent the Italian red and green under wing colours 'ghosting' through.
Finally airbrushed with 'Tamiya' XF78 and XF57 to give the base colour for the linen effect decals.
I lightly polished across the wing to smooth the surface and to highlight the wing ribs.

 

Next is to gloss coat the surface then cut and apply the linen effect decals and roundels before a touch of weathering is applied,

 

Mike

 

 

 

 

 

  

[Courageous]

Nice job there Mike. What did you use to polish the wings to reveal the ribs?

 

Stuart

[Sandbagger]

Hi Stuart,

I used 'Flory Model' green/white polishing sticks - flexible and in different sizes.

Good for polishing canopies etc as well.

Green side first then polish with white side,

 

https://www.florymodels.org/store/weatheringpolishing-greenwhite-skinny-12-pack-fms014

 

 

Mike

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
Upper wing top surface finished off.
Gloss coated then 'Aviattic' linen effect decals applied, using paper templates to create the shapes.
'Flory Models' Dark Dirt and Grime clay washes applied.
Smoke oil paint applied behind the location holes for the lifting points and aileron control wire guides.
Roundel wing ribs slightly polished to highlight them,

 

Mike

 

 

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
Working on the undersides of the wings.
As the undersides would show the wing ribs ans spars as darker shadows, due to daylight from above the wings, the pre-shading is darker.
The wings were primed with white, as before and then pre-shading was airbrushed between masking for the spars and free hand for the wing ribs (thinned 'Tamiya' Flat Earth (XF52).  
 Then over sprayed lightly with thinned ‘Tamiya’ Wood Deck Tan (XF78) mixed with Buff (XF57) to 2:1 ration.
Outer right wing outer sections were airbrushed with ‘Tamiya’ Green (X5} mixed with approximately 15% of ‘Tamiya’ Grey Green (XF76).
The left wing outer sections 'Tamiya' Red (XF7).

 

Next is to gloss coat, apply the 'Aviattic' linen effect decals and weather,

 

Mike

 

 

[John Masters]

First rate!  Real artistry.  I cannot wait for more!

[Courageous]

10 hours ago, John Masters said:

First rate!  Real artistry.  I cannot wait for more!

Couldn't have put it better myself.

 

Stuart

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
While I'm waiting for decals I thought I'd work on the pilot.
As this model is a float plane I thought I'd use the ‘Kellerkind’ Gotha bomber pilot (54095), as he is inflating his life jacket.
Painted with 'AK Interactive' and 'Tamiya' acrylics.
Dirt weathering is thinned 'AK Interactive' Kerosene (AK3029).

 

Mike  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
As I'm still waiting for decals to arrive I've worked on the trestles and beaching trolley.
The side guard rails of the beaching trolley were broken, so I used tubing to repair and reinforce the rails,

 

Mike

 

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
The main and tail floats had wood panels nailed to the internal structure.
Inside each float were canvass ’bulk heads to separate the float compartments.
Each of the three compartments in the  main floats were accessed through a circular cover on the top surface of the floats.
At the front and rear edges of the main floats were reinforced with Spruce end caps.
Across each main float were recesses to locate the float cross beams and these recesses were covered with panels.

 

These details are not reproduced on the kit supplied floats.

 

The floats panel and nailing lines were created with a scriber and a 'Rosie the Riveter'.
Base coated with  'Tamiya Dark Yellow (XF60) then overcoated with 'DecoArt' Burnt Umber.
The edge beading was created by lightly sanding through the Burnt Umber to reveal the base colour.
Sealed with 'Alclad' Light Sheen (ALC311) mixed with 'Tamiya' Clear Yellow (X24).
Photo-etch access panels and strut plates black based then oversprayed woth 'Alclad' Steel.
Weathered using 'Flory Models' Dark Dirt wash then final seal with ALC311.

 

Mike.

  

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
The linen effect decals I was waiting for arrived so I've now finished applying them to the fuselage, wings, tail plane and control surfaces.
The Ansaldo built 'Baby's' were primarily used for training and probably flown multiple times daily.
It's probable they were not kept as clean as maybe the operational aircraft were.
Therefore I've intentionally applied heavier weathering than I normally would,
Ansaldo built aircraft tended not to have the white vertical rudder stripe painted, but instead left it as clear doped linen.
Also, it was common for the upper surfaces of the lower wings to be doped with a drab olive colour, as the glare from a clear doped linen surface could affect the pilot's vision.

Mike

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
The lower wing, the wing ailerons, tail plane assembly and rudder fitted.
Now it's onto pre-rigging, the struts and then start assembly.

 

Mike

 

 

 

 

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
I'm now working on the tail unit, starting with the rear float.
First is to pre-rig the eight bracing wires between the four support struts.
The mono-filament used is 0.08 mm diameter with 0.4 Nickel-Silver tube and 1:48th scale turnbuckles from 'GasPatch'.
Next step is to fit the float and struts then complete the rigging from the fuselage to the float,

 

Mike

 

 

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
The bracing for the tail float is now done, apart from painting the tubing.
I'm now working on the tail float rudder and aircraft rudder/brace bar (which is not included in the kit).
There are several problems with the tail float rudder, which required modification using micro-tube, drilling of location hole and reprofiling the rear face of the tail float.
Also the creation of the aircraft rudder/brace bar, which also required a hole drilling,

 

Mike

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
The tail unit is complete now.
Rigging is 0.08 mm mono-filament for the control lines and float bracing wires - Fin bracing is 0.12 mm.
Tubing is Nickel-Silver 0.4 mm diameter.
I replaced the float rudder operating bar with tubing and had to create the rudder/fin bracing bar (not included in the kit).
The tail plane support struts in the kit is just brass rod, so I made aerofoil struts from tube with internal support rod.

 

Mike

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
I've completed pre-rigging the fuselage and wings, apart from the main floats and ailerons.
The rigging is 0.12 mm diameter mono-filament with 'Gaspatch' 1:48th scale turnbuckles and anchor points.
The next step is the fitting of the upper wing before final rigging,

 

Mike

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DMC]

This is some serious modelling, Mike.

 

Dennis

 

[Roberto]

Beautiful worl, I love it.

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
Just as a heads up.
Last night I posted photos for this build in the same way I have for years, linked from my hosting provider to the forum.
Later last night I went to the forum and found that every build photo, of any of my builds, had disappeared.
Not only from this forum but also from others I post in.
I could see everyone else's photo, just not mine.
A couple of various forum members have experienced this problem over the past couple of weeks.

When I checked on my android mobile and Apple IPad devices, I found my Ipad showed the photos, but my mobile did not.
I then tried Microsoft Edge as the browser on my PC and the photos showed.
Judging by comments made by forum members after I'd posted the photos', they obviously could see them, even though I could not.

The only common factor stopping my photos from showing was Google Chrome, my default browser on my PC and mobile.
I've checked all of the known problem settings, but still no joy.
Therefore I've switched browsers to Edge and everything is OK now.

Just thought I'd mention this in case others run into the same problem,

Mike

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
I think I know what the problem is.
Browsers, such as Google Chrome, are migrating to more secure browsing.
Traditionally, images or web sites linked with a URL address with http:// are being superseded with https://.
This entails someone like me having to purchased and install an SSL certificate for my hosting server, so my web sites and images will show using the various web browsers.

I've started the process of SSL certification and once that's sorted I'll probably need to arrange re-direction of images previously linked to the http:// URL.
Hopefully then me and others won't have the problem of my posted photo's not showing.
We'll see,

 

Mike

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
The windscreen has been fitted using the kit supplied photo-etch frame and template cut out acetate transparency.
The upper wing has also been fitted.
I had the usual tricky problem of locating all of the struts and at the same time making sure the wings are correctly positioned and aligned.
So now it's onto final rigging for the wings,

 

Mike

 

 

 

 

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
The rigging for the wings has been done, apart from weathering and sealing.
Rigging line is 0.12 mm diameter mono-filament with 0.5 mm diameter tubing.
The crossed bracing wires from the top of the front cabane struts to the top of the fuselage are not shown correctly in the kit instructions.
In reality, the two lines crossed through an 'acorn', similar to that for the Sopwith Camel.
The acorn was made from plastic rod and drilled through with a 0.3 mm diameter hole.

 

Next is to fit and rig the main floats and after that, fit and rig the ailerons,

 

Mike

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
I've now completed the bracing wires for the main floats.
Now I'm finishing off the ailerons and their control cables.
The cable pulleys for the upper wing are resin and I don't think are strong enough to take the tension on the rigging line.
Therefore I disregarded them and instead made pulleys from 0.2 mm thick plastic card and 0.8 mm brass rod.

 

Once the ailerons are sorted I only have a few items to do, such as the pitot tubes, pilots step, float keel etc.
Also I'm waiting for the display case and propeller to be delivered, so I can complete this model.

 

This will be the last update for this model.
I'll post photographs of the complete build once it's done.

 

Thanks for everyone's comments and support during this build - much appreciated,

A special thanks to 'Roberto' for his knowledge and guidance throughout this build.

 

Mike   

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 5, 2020 by Sandbagger