Chief Cohiba Posted September 2, 2021 Author Share Posted September 2, 2021 9 hours ago, Andwil said: You are getting the full Roden “experience” Chief. Hang in there, you are showing it who’s boss. AW 3 hours ago, Brandy said: Aah, Roden decals! Lovely job on the home printed ones though! Ian Thanks guys for the encouragement - so I've learned this is a regular issue with them? Lucky me, I ordered a BE2 and DH9 from them in the meantime, looking forward to more issues 😉 (the kit quality itself with these looks much better, though). Decal Printing is rather easy, as long as it's dark on light with transparent sheets, maybe even better than some kit's decals. But White on dark is an issue, and white lettering on dark background seems almost impossible. With Roden it's about rare subjects, kit engineering at least on this is a bit basic. Yes, it's kind of a battle, but to be honest my conflicts with other things on my schedule is a the bigger enemy... 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichieW Posted September 2, 2021 Share Posted September 2, 2021 Excellent home printed decals, not something I've tried before. These great results are tempting me into having a go. Richie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Cohiba Posted September 3, 2021 Author Share Posted September 3, 2021 8 hours ago, RichieW said: Excellent home printed decals, not something I've tried before. These great results are tempting me into having a go. Richie Honestly, it's rather simple, the process works easily given the limitations I mentioned above. I use a simple colour laser printer from our office, and sheets from Mr. Decal Paper. I'm sure others work as well, but I stumbled across them on Ebay and use them since. Inkjet is said to work as easy as well, but you have to spray an layer of clear coat (and letting it dry) before putting them into water. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Cohiba Posted September 7, 2021 Author Share Posted September 7, 2021 And, managed to get the tail with the wiring together. The super thin wiring might be a bit too thin, notice for the next time. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Cohiba Posted September 7, 2021 Author Share Posted September 7, 2021 Looking on the pictures after posting - well: it doesn't look THAT bad in real life. The camera from my smartphone is unforgiving... 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Cohiba Posted September 7, 2021 Author Share Posted September 7, 2021 And some more work on the wings. Painted the metal structures (or at least which I think are such) and drilled the rigging holes. Has someone ever done those PE-wiring things? I can't think of... Top wing, upper side - the masking of the inspection windows not removed; Top wing, bottom side; and the bottom wing. I placed the holes for the rigging amidst the struts. Might not be 100% according to the rigging diagram - which is a bit on the basic side - but makes sense to me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Cohiba Posted September 7, 2021 Author Share Posted September 7, 2021 Lower wing mounted, rigging wires attached. For the first time the Strutter overtook the Camel in this snail race... 😉 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Cohiba Posted December 30, 2021 Author Share Posted December 30, 2021 So many models, so much laziness in this world, and so little time. Another four months, and little went on. But at least a bit; I managed to put the Strutter on it's feet, put on the engine and the Vickers and mounted one of the half-struts. Is it a quarter strut now? Anyway, here's how it looks: And I managed to put on the decals. I used some leftovers from a future build, Rodens BE2c. Having made not the best experiences with Roden decals, I was a bit hesitant, but taking extra care they went on quite fine. They might have been just in a better shape than the ancient strutter decals, which tore apart in a minute, but it might just be that the Roden decals just need more time? So I left them bathe for about 15 minutes or so, and with very gentle work they applied fine. Interesting. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Cohiba Posted December 30, 2021 Author Share Posted December 30, 2021 With the Camel I am about to mount the lower wing,and for that I prior have to install the stick. Eduard didn't provide a proper hole, so, to avoid a buttjoint I took a small brass tube to create a proper mount. Here's the state: Hope one can see it, it's quite tiny. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Cohiba Posted December 30, 2021 Author Share Posted December 30, 2021 Also I remebered the tail skid has snapped of at some point. Revell sent a replacement, but mounting it would take too much surgery by removing the remainders of the original part, so working with the brass tube I thought I could use it here as well, and scratch build a new skid. So I cut off small piece, bend it into shape and mounted a styrene rod, which I then will cut to correct length. The tailpiece I will just form with some putty, I guess. It's the small pieces, that cost you time. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Tip Posted December 30, 2021 Share Posted December 30, 2021 6 hours ago, Chief Cohiba said: It's the small pieces, that cost you time. Don't they always... Any progress is good progress, this looks great! Especially those decals! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Cohiba Posted January 2, 2022 Author Share Posted January 2, 2022 On 12/30/2021 at 9:04 PM, Johnny Tip said: Don't they always... Well, they do - that part is hardly a centimeter long, and what do I fuss about it... It's so little progress, that I had to work at least a bit on the landing gear parts (which was part of a bigger painting session yesterday), so you see this as well. Oh, and I did mount the lower wings on the Camel, which snapped of again in an incident with one of our cats involved (the one which acquired the suitable name of Cat A.Strophe) and mounted them again. So much work for so little time. And, to add to that, I found a weakness of the Strutters manual, about the main/center struts; the parts for the front and rear struts are the same, so stupid little modeller me thought, these two struts are both mounted straight, as are the front struts. Well, they aren't. They are slanted towards each other, the front slightly bent backwards, and the rear slanted to front. Manual shows only if you look very closely, and stupoid me didn't look. Of course I found out the way you don't want to learn these things; by incorrectly having mount these parts - and seeing it won't fit. Having mounted them with CA doesn't make the repair much easier. I didn't make some pictures, so will post some cat content instead of Emil, the forementioned cat of doom and evil. In this pose, pretending to be a nice little lovely cat, spending it's time by reading books and be a joy for it's owner. Well, he isn't. Trust me! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Tip Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 (edited) Emil probably thought "wot is zat? Are ze Tommies now fielding zeir oalt crep from ze Great Woar? Anyvays, I vill damage it and claim it destroyed beck home" (Sorry, couldn't help it, though you must have heard a variation of it for some hundred times - I love the cat's nickname btw😂) That strut story and the likes are keeping me from starting my SE5a... (besides short time, no days off and a 3year old) but those challenges are what we are looking for isn't it? ...I'm not sure. Is that skid prepared for reinstall? Hope it works😬 Edited January 2, 2022 by Johnny Tip 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 On 30/12/2021 at 13:31, Chief Cohiba said: Hope one can see it, it's quite tiny. Said @general melchettto the drag queen from the trenches! (Fnar, fnar, snurf, snurf) Martian 👽 PS: Don't let the General see this, he's quite touchy about his "Georgina". 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Cohiba Posted January 2, 2022 Author Share Posted January 2, 2022 1 hour ago, Johnny Tip said: love the cat's nickname The nick isn't really a nickname, but a hard-earned, hard-proven title. well, more of a warning. Emil, his "real" name, doesn't come from a 109, but from Kästners famous kid's novel. I loved it when I was a kid and, well, still do. We gave it to him when we believed in his good character, long ago... 1 hour ago, Johnny Tip said: Is that skid prepared for reinstall? Hope it works Hopes are high, dry-fitting looks good. 1 hour ago, Martian said: he's quite touchy about his "Georgina" Touchy about his tiny pieces? I have no idea what you could possible be talking about... 🔍 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Cohiba Posted January 2, 2022 Author Share Posted January 2, 2022 And, some jig-work for the Strutter... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisbob12 Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 52 minutes ago, Chief Cohiba said: The nick isn't really a nickname, but a hard-earned, hard-proven title. well, more of a warning. Emil, his "real" name, doesn't come from a 109, but from Kästners famous kid's novel. I loved it when I was a kid and, well, still do. We gave it to him when we believed in his good character, long ago... Hopes are high, dry-fitting looks good. Touchy about his tiny pieces? I have no idea what you could possible be talking about... 🔍 Emil and the detectives. Loved it too and love that Sopwith. Great results! Thanks for posting this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Cohiba Posted January 5, 2022 Author Share Posted January 5, 2022 And the Camel stands on it's own feet - or is it hooves? Anyway, I did test is, it holds it's weight, but here it is still pictured on the jig: Also the construction with the tail skid seems to hold: It slipped on rather easily and, with a drop if CA, sits tight and strong. The small strut was made with a small piece of string and also glued in with CA. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Cohiba Posted March 12, 2022 Author Share Posted March 12, 2022 The venerable Sopwiths had to rest for a while, until I finished the Junkers DI. But once done, I want to go along with these two birds and hopefully finish it rather earlier than later - I must admit I lost my mojo a bit on these. Even more so, as it come to the most demanding (read: pesty) part of most biplane builds: mounting the upper wing. Sure, there are kits which are so cleverly engineered that this is a walk in the park (how do I look forward to the Gaspatch Salmson in my stash), but make an educated guess, if this is the case with the strutter. Right; not so much. So, this is the battle I'm currently fighting. I'm kneedeep in CA, and having a jig is the absolute minimum in required tools. Although I think of an alternative jig, as the rough balsa wood is not so easy to handle and rather unprecise. Suggestions are welcome. But here's where it's at: It's one connection point after the other: align, drop some CA, drop some accelerator, hope it holds. And just like fastening the cylinder head on an old car: the correct sequence is key to prduce some (more or less) straight result. With the minor difference, that there is no manual available. If it all snaps off, it wasn't the right one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted March 12, 2022 Share Posted March 12, 2022 Looking very good. I’ve tried a few jigs over the last few years and find at the end of the day this ( or occasionally Lego) works best You can of course use the kit box but I find Tupperware more robust. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Cohiba Posted March 12, 2022 Author Share Posted March 12, 2022 I tried to use sort of jig like this with some toolbox I have, but the struts (at least the inner) didn't follow. I think I should have started to mount them in a different order, but now I have to make the best out of it. 🥴 Anyway, painting the outer struts and trying to give them sort of a woodish look. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Cohiba Posted March 13, 2022 Author Share Posted March 13, 2022 Still shying away of glueing it all together - so I did some more tinkering on the struts, here with the air probe. Don't just say it; I know there's a term for it. Procrastination... But then, a modeller's got to do what a modeller's got to do: mounting struts on a biplane... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Cohiba Posted March 13, 2022 Author Share Posted March 13, 2022 And nailed this thing together: It's only slightly tilted and more solid than expected. Rigging shouldn't be that much of a problem. But next is the Camel again... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Cohiba Posted March 13, 2022 Author Share Posted March 13, 2022 Back to the camel, and mounted the Gaspatch Vickers: It required a bit of surgery on both the guns and the Camel, but give and take it went in fine. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Cohiba Posted March 14, 2022 Author Share Posted March 14, 2022 In the meantime; that's what this double build is about. Two Sopwiths in the making, aligned, with some progress visible and clear tasks as a next step ahead. Here: mount the upper wing on the Camel. It's jig building time: The strut missing on the jig can be seen in the front and is waiting until the glue is drying on the small propeller of the anemometer. Holds its weight already, with only three mounted 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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