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[Finished] Two Sopwiths and a Funeral...


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On 19/04/2021 at 21:48, Chief Cohiba said:

Ah, another one; I'm thinking of anything I could use for the trimming/bracing wheels in the wing windows. Someone has any idea what I could use here?

Do you have a picture of them Chief? I had minor success using miniature washers for pulleys before. 

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22 hours ago, RichieW said:

Do you have a picture of them Chief? I had minor success using miniature washers for pulleys before. 

I don't know where I found them initially, but here's the one from a Pup's inpection window, which could give the idea: http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/showthread.php?t=49459

 

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Working on the body halves of the strutter.

 

First I can confirm, I laid the first steps of the scheme, and found the right colour of the base theme of what I want to build. It's "inspired" by two profiles I found in Ronny Bar's book from two seater strutters, 9376 and 9378 and adopt this into a non-specific scheme of this single set bomber. (I'm pretty sure I would do a copyright violation in posting here, so I just can suggest to buy the book. You should anyway, it's great).

 

41032214rf.jpg

Also, as you can see, I started with the riggin of the outside rudder and elevator cables. I used Uschi vdR's UvdR-3Fine rigging wire, which is too fine for most applications, but here it looks quite good to me. I drilled the holes before painting, and working with a 0,3mm drillbit on clear plastic is not the best experience. Didn't turn out to precise, but hey, here's what it is...

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14 hours ago, Chief Cohiba said:

I don't know where I found them initially, but here's the one from a Pup's inpection window, which could give the idea: http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/showthread.php?t=49459

 

 

I had a go at making them out of micro washers and bits of brass fret for a (stalled) 1/32 Roden SE5a build. They're a little over sized as you can see here. I would probably use a punch and die set and make the pulley wheels from styrene if I were ever to pick this project up again.

 

49879853793_bf57be5e37_c.jpg20200510_223939 by Richard Williams, on Flickr

 

 

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1 hour ago, RichieW said:

 

I had a go at making them out of micro washers and bits of brass fret for a (stalled) 1/32 Roden SE5a build. They're a little over sized as you can see here. I would probably use a punch and die set and make the pulley wheels from styrene if I were ever to pick this project up again.

 

 

I guess it would be hard to find even smaller washers, as mine is 1/48. I think I'd rather go into something Styrene. Maybesmall tubes and sanding them to correct thickness.

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oh heck, in 1/48 these would be dreadful! A punch and die set would be a good investment if you were going to be doing a lot of kit bashing. Mine can make discs from 0.5-2mm. Failing that, your idea of slices from styrene rod is all I can think of. 

On 19/04/2021 at 21:48, Chief Cohiba said:

Ah, another one; I'm thinking of anything I could use for the trimming/bracing wheels in the wing windows. Someone has any idea what I could use here?

Do you have a picture of them Chief? I had minor success using miniature washers for pulleys before. 

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5 hours ago, RichieW said:

oh heck, in 1/48 these would be dreadful! A punch and die set would be a good investment if you were going to be doing a lot of kit bashing. Mine can make discs from 0.5-2mm. Failing that, your idea of slices from styrene rod is all I can think of.

My guess, you have the punch and die set from RPTools, or something similar? These really look great, but are rather pricey. Not that I would say these aren't worth it, but for something that I might not use on a regular basis - I don't know. I bought some cheaper ones, around 12,- online, let's see if they do the job. Might as well be that I try some styrene-sanding over the weekend.

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I didn't post a picture from the scheme I want to base my strutter on due to not wanting to raise any copyright issues. But, in the meantime a did get an official permission to post a lowres copy from the respective page to share my thoughts with you, my fellow modellers. It's these two I want to base my scheme on:

 

41038459gv.jpg

 

But may I guide your attention not only to the interesting scheme, but the great presentation - it's a true gem for any aviation library and a great source of inspiration for friends of these early flying machines. 

And, not only the book itself is really wonderful, I can also confirm that the author himself is not just a talented artist, but also a very nice guy and true gentleman. I just had a brief chat with him over at FB and he himself granted to show a picture here. Thanks, Ronny. 😉

 

(I guess it's not that big of a thing, but on one hand I don't want to start any issues, as some other media probably would not give permission and maybe start actions. On the other hand it's just a matter of respect towards an artist's work not to do without permission, and in return a nice token from the artist, to give the permission.)

 

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I kinda managed to fix-ish the broken wicker seat for the Strutter...

 

41086091ag.jpg


If one says this is kind of a battle scar, or - as I like to think of this as a demonstrator/pre-production model - a test flight damage, it would be ok hidden deep in the body. 

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I have high hopes for the weekend, to close the body halves for the Strutter (and mount the lower wings to the Camel) so I have to work on further on the body parts.

 

Here you see the upper panel:

 

41086106sh.jpg

 

41086108ft.jpg

 

For the wooden cockpit cover I used HGW decals for the first time instead of Uschi VDR's, which I'm familiar with. Maybe I received a set which was overly aged, but I can tell you - man, these are brittle and cumbersome to work with. Not only it is impossible to create a template with masking tape, and place it on the decal sheet, as the masking tape will pull the decal from the ground. It also did break a few times when applied, which I tried to fix, but a few spots did left.

 

The pattern is great, though, and the effect when applied is rather good. But I think this was my third attempt, which at least worked out to the lowest standards, so this really was a surprise after the rather simple handling of Uschis decals. ( I got me a full set of Albatros decals from them for my next project as well, so: yay! I expect to get inspired for some new creative curses then!)

😉

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Here's another still life of the Strutter's body parts, you notice that the roundels are applied before applying the rear elevator rigging, as I expect this is easier before that.

 

41086254qi.jpg

 

Must not forget to drill the holes for the rudder cables, before closing it.

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  • 2 months later...

Guys, after finishing the Duck it's time to go on with the Sopwiths, I guess. After the rather modern Duck I really feel like moving on with something thats my usual homeground, and enjoy strings and rotaries.

 

Meditating to find the swing of it again, logical next step would be to finally close the Camels body, before I go on with the wings and then work on the Strutters interiour.

 

So, here's the parts, to remember:

 

41551593io.jpg

 

In my memory fit was good, but when looking at this in detail, there's quite an edge standin over, which definitely can't be sanded down:

 

41551597vc.jpg

 

I think the work needs to be done on the inside. So, grabbing the sanding sticks and more abrasive weapons of choice - wondering how man of our jolly little community spend their nights inhaling plastic dust...

 

That's why they call it the "Sandman" - should be "Sanding Man",, that's what we do in these late hours.

 

I'm off for the bench, folks...

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Many thanks, Guys! Good to be in Sopwith Skies again with friendly company, so to say.  😎🌤️

 

Completion of the Camels body, still lingers on, as the oil tank, the one right behind the firewall, don't align with the vent in the top cowling. Aaaargh...

 

Plan is to separate it again and mount it directly on the cowling, maybe reduce it a bit in size (means; sanding it down) to avoid any further fit issues.

 

Tune in again on this station for a new episode of "A modellers attempt to fix his own mistakes"... 🤕

 

*Swinging the sanding stick again"

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Scraping, sanding, breaking...

 

I removed some considerable amount of plastic from the bulkhead on one side:

 

41554319ou.jpg

 

All the positioning edge on the portside has been removed, as well as the mounting struts for the oil tank, but it sits flush now.

 

Just don't now if I can mount the top cowling if I mount it there. Looks a bit narrow in dryfitting.

41554329od.jpg

 

Back to the bench...

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Wonderful stuff.

 

1915-Sopwith-Schneider-deli.jpg

 

In 1912 The Kaiser allowed the export of the fast-growing Gotterdamerung strain of hardy garden ivy. By 1913, most of England's granite walls were over-run.

 

Sopwith was a name of the era, with a proud heritage and a lasting legacy. These will look stunning.

Edited by Major Flannel
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Well, the imperial armies might have stuck to gardening, that would have kept some troubles. But wouldn't that be always the case, and I think the only benefit of armed conflicts is the development of stuff us nerdy modellers could glue together...

(But what an inspiration for a Diorama, if not the supply of 1/48 vehicles would be that limited.)

 

Talking mere acts of cruelty, I managed to cut the oil tank to sizes:

 

41555867od.jpg

 

Seems to fit. So, nothing than my laziness keeps me from nailing the camels fuselage together...

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Indeed, yes. Roden's FWD flatbed truck is perfect for such a diorama but sadly in the one true believers' scale. It's a gem of a kit as well, except for Roden's shorted molds on the tailgate in some cases. No idea why 48th is so poor a source for vehicles. 

Also, the Tabloid. Have you ever made this baby or the Lebed clone? Heck even the 33rd scale card model is a stunner. Such a graceful aircraft.

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On 04/07/2021 at 18:32, Chief Cohiba said:

... So, nothing than my laziness keeps me from nailing the camels fuselage together...

Not laziness, dread.  I usually call it "not calm enough". 😂

 

Fingers crossed, can't wait to see the result! 

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On 7/4/2021 at 9:28 PM, Major Flannel said:

....Also, the Tabloid. Have you ever made this baby or the Lebed clone? Heck even the 33rd scale card model is a stunner. Such a graceful aircraft.

There's the SH kit - I thought about it, but then I saw the build from a german bloke. He scratchbuild almost everything from wood, white metal, a true masterbuild. He ruined it forever for ordinary modellers like me... 😉

19 minutes ago, Johnny Tip said:

Not laziness, dread.  I usually call it "not calm enough". 😂

 

Fingers crossed, can't wait to see the result! 

I gonna channel my inner Zen Monk and still look a bit on it, and not yield the temptation to do something actual. 

 

Ooom *looking at parts in state of inner peace* 🙏

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I *almost* got it together...

 

A few impressions, before I leave the workbench for a few days in an attempt of something people usually call "holidays"...

 

41564361ys.jpg

 

41564362fh.jpg

 

41564364aq.jpg

 

41564366fz.jpg

 

I'm getting close...

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It's looking 'steampunky' by virtue of the photography. Believe me, this is high praise. Artisanal finishes impress in preference to a pristine finished WW1 bird; after all, sometimes ad hoc repairs and personal markings and legends were applied crudely with a latrine bucket and big old mop, unlike today's rather drab polished-with-a-chamois Dassault Mirage or F35 with uniformly uniform low-vis schemes, say. Boring.

 

Love the look of your Sopwiths, in short 💟

Edited by Major Flannel
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Aah, back from a few days abroad, in a little hideway with no intention to look at anything internet. Well, it *almost* did work... 😄

 

On 7/6/2021 at 1:34 PM, Major Flannel said:

It's looking 'steampunky' by virtue of the photography. Believe me, this is high praise. Artisanal finishes impress in preference to a pristine finished WW1 bird; after all, sometimes ad hoc repairs and personal markings and legends were applied crudely with a latrine bucket and big old mop, unlike today's rather drab polished-with-a-chamois Dassault Mirage or F35 with uniformly uniform low-vis schemes, say. Boring.

 

Love the look of your Sopwiths, in short 💟

Well, thank you! Of course "steampunky" could only be understood in no way other than highest praise, and by all means I feel that this is not justified for this build. Nor the photographic skills, just a mobile cam and a shaky finger, randomly pressing the shutter button.

But maybe that's my secret modelling super power, working the finest brush and most delicate colours like a dirty old mop splashing mud and dirt out of a latrine bucket over the model.

Quite spot-on, I'd say.  😉 

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And, right after the holiday, while still waiting for a proper kick in the backside the right stellar constellation for finally closing the fuselage, I thought I'd do a bit about the rudder wire pulleys in the inspection windows.

 

First part of it went rather fine, the punch set I got for say 10,- € from somewhere round the web worked fine, and apart from I don't really know what diameter I used, as the lettering can't be seen (my guess 1.5mm) it worked fine.

 

Here's a test pulley, dry fitted in the window recess:

 

41595611bq.jpg

 

Yes, it's tiny! But apart from the the size, which hurts my wee eyes, no real problem.


But, Eduard/Revell did modell the window glass as one part, fitting from the upper surface into the hole in the bottom.

 

41595621ea.jpg

 

So placing the pulley piece between the upper and lower part is no option, simply because there is no upper or lower part. Of course the part fitting into the lower window could be sanded away, the pulley could be placed below the remaining upper half, the lower could be filled by some transparent resin, but I'm not sure. This was the part where the last build went bananas, and I'm extremely slow on this anyway. 

 

But otherwise, I don't know; would it add to the model? Or is this something that wouldn't be seen anyway?

What do you think, guys?

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