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[Finished] Two Sopwiths and a Funeral...


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After fiddling around this and comparing it with pictures of the real thing, I'd say I skip the little feat with the pulleys.

 

I'm sure it could be done, and may try this on another one, but here it would be a bit to much fuzz for only little effect.

 

I think I concentrate on something that would be more visible and try to paint a proper frame around the window, this might make more an impact.

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3 hours ago, Chief Cohiba said:

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

 

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.  😉 

 

Did you know that one of the minor French Aces, Henri 'le Pew' Plumedematante preferred the stable smells of his youth to the fussy castor oil, brylcream and lacquer paints of the Aerodrome Militaire. Every morning before he shaved he ordered his batmen to liberally hose his Hanriot down with liquid farmyard 'fertiliser' and lots of it.

Mmm, this was the stuff of his joy filled childhood growing up outside Issy-les-Moulineaux, fourth arondissement to your right. They (the boche) didn't see him coming but the smell disturbed even the Kaiser, who might have actually preferred hanging.

 

We salute you, Henri.

 

More seriously, there are what seems like copper and bronze hues aplenty in your photography. It is just really attractive. o7

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21 hours ago, Chief Cohiba said:

I think I concentrate on something that would be more visible and try to paint a proper frame around the window, this might make more an impact.

I think that's a very good decision, the pulleys are a very minor detail. 

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10 hours ago, RichieW said:

I think that's a very good decision, the pulleys are a very minor detail. 

Jupp, I guess it's just like that. Just a nice little trick or, do I dare to say, "showing off"? How modest I am today...

Just bit of drybrushing and the frame is done, installed, on to the next...

41606469vb.jpg

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After finally having closed the body, and finished the upper and lower wings, including the inspection windows and drilling the rigging holes (but minus the levers - to high the risk in breaking these before moving on) I have to justifiy this as a double build.

 

But here''s a few impressions from the state so far:

 

41648229av.jpg


41648234uy.jpg

 

41648236ix.jpg

 

41648237fl.jpg

 

41648238uk.jpg

 

41648239pq.jpg

 

Now, on for something completely different, as someone once said - Strutter!

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18 minutes ago, RichieW said:

That's looking excellent Chief, really neat work. Looking forward to seeing the 1 1/2 Strutter too.

 

Many thanks, to be honest this is an Eduard kit, so asking for much less of madness modellers skills than the strutter.

 

I thought a nice little entry in working on the strutter again could be, well, like working on the engine. I mean, it's the engine, what could go wrong...

 

Well, how's that for a start:

41648359be.jpg

 

But hey, there's a PE-part included, so off with the rods and on with the brass:

 

41648362or.jpg

 

Well, you bet: the hole in the middle of the brass piece is to narrow, so it sits to high on the crankcase:

 

41648380lx.jpg

 

41648381jv.jpg

 

Opening up the hole? You see it after my attempts to do so.

 

But I have an idea...

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...and perfect pushrod material is the 6th/high e-string of an electric guitar.

 

The string has the perfect diameter I'd say, thinner than the plastic piece and not flat, like the PE part, but round. And one needs some of them:

 

41649869hm.jpg

 

The grand pushrod cutting jig (a hole in a plank, if it can't be seen properly),...

 

41650001ti.jpg

 

Making those was rather easy, a bit of a ty and error on the length, but the third hole did work.

 

Mounting them will require some work, too, I guess.

 

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3 hours ago, Chief Cohiba said:

After finally having closed the body, and finished the upper and lower wings, including the inspection windows and drilling the rigging holes (but minus the levers - to high the risk in breaking these before moving on) I have to justifiy this as a double build.

 

But here''s a few impressions from the state so far:

 

41648229av.jpg

 

Now, on for something completely different, as someone once said - Strutter!

 

There it is again: unsure whether its your lighting or paint proximity or the metal Muse or any combination of same but there's that bronze patina hue coloration thing again around the engine area and its rather splendid. Dunno, but I fell in love with bronze, real bronze alloys many years ago and look out for its sultry burnished charms everywhere as a matter of course today. To me gold and silver are lesser metals, probably because I am a weirdo.

 

Keep up the beautiful work on Tommy's best!

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6 hours ago, Major Flannel said:

There it is again: unsure whether its your lighting or paint proximity or the metal Muse or any combination of same but there's that bronze patina hue coloration thing again around the engine area and its rather splendid. Dunno, but I fell in love with bronze, real bronze alloys many years ago and look out for its sultry burnished charms everywhere as a matter of course today.

Well, thanks again, but apart from my sleazyness when it comes to treat paint and brushes properly, I have no clue. Cheapest paint (Revell Tar and silver for drybrushing), dirty, not-taken-care-of brushes, and a dirty workbench - the secret recipe for this. 😉

 

Honestly, I'd try some time to get a proper burnt exhaust effect or copper wire, but I'm not there yet. (Yes, I could go for Alclad, but that would be easy.)

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And, here's the engine.

 

41653759km.jpg

 

Not perfect, but it doesn't fall off to the Camel's engine. In fact the engine part itself is more delicate on the Roden than on the Eduard. Interesting.

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Been of for a few days, and back to the workbench with some new enthusiasm I tried to do some dry-fitting. Well, it took me some time of sanding down all the flash - which at some parts look like it is meant to be a positioning edge - I'm at this stage:

41688951zc.jpg

 

This looks rough, and there is something left to sand down, but the plastic is rather soft and bends easily into shape. But the overall look of an overall linen Strutter is already be there. Funny, how this quite rough lumps of styrene plastic parts are turning into a beautiful shape. 

😎

So, it's sanding and not to forget - again - to mount the wires before glueing it together.

I think I'll mount the base plate with the seat after closing the halves, before the upper part, for positioning reasons - based on the dryfitting it can be done and is easier to find the right place. Will be a bit different procedure frm what the manual suggests.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Those endless days of dryfitting and nights of absence from the bench, but, alas, some minor progress of ye wee little Strutter...

 

41801274ha.jpg

 

41801275os.jpg

 

41801276ik.jpg

 

41801277ja.jpg

 

And, you might have guessed: some dryfitting...

 

41801278nb.jpg

 

(It's the interiour, the seat, the dash, all there. Still looks a bit empty, I know)

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Sanding, Dryfitting, more sanding...

 

Progress is slow, which is mostly due to my summer-heat inducted laziness. But here's a picture of another dryfitting session, slowly the lower wing starts to fit in.

 

41840291kt.jpg

 

Before closing the fuselage I have to decide about the theme; it will not be a specific plane, so I have some freedom here, I opt for either an all CDL machine or linen with upper surfaces in a PC12-ish brown. I lack some pictures for the second option in top view , so I can't really decide. Might be the heat as well. 

 

Anyway, I'd be grateful for any ideas on these schemes! POint me in a direction...

 

Thanks, Guenther

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Hello Chief.

 

As a curious aside, are you using the semi-mythical Humbrol 155 as your PC10 for your Camel? 

 

These Sopwiths look very beautiful already, it has to be said. o7 Just finished "Pure Luck", Sir T.O.M. Sopwith's biography. Did you know that of all his WW1 designs the Strutter was his favourite? This particular Belgian babe is on my todo list. Note duck's bottom so typical of the design, but the fin looks wonky here.

 

 

NQKOow.jpg

 

Duck's ... bottom. Ok. lol.

Edited by Major Flannel
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  • 2 weeks later...

@Major Flannel

 

Hello Major,

 

no, not Humbrol 155, just simple Revell Olive Drab. I think it's a good enough approximation, even more so given the circumstances that it would alter in the perils of field service and could look almost whatever you want. 😉

 

Also, I'm much too lazy to use enamels, so waterbased acrylics have to do it for me. 

 

The strutter scheme looks good, interesting anemometer.

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And, guys, a few more catastrophes to talk about after some time if not off the bench, at least off this forum (sorry)...

 

But first: I decided for a scheme. It will be brown on top and linen the rest. Here's the state:

 

41961491mk.jpg

 

The top part isn't fully in place, as I want to mount the wires from the inside, but hope to do later today.

 

What did consume most of my time (and led to the expansion of my vocabulary with some rather nasty expressions, which of course I won't post here) was the wee attempt to blaster the joint between top part and the rest of the fuselage into something that doesn't look like nailed by a totally drunk, but looks at least a bit like cloth over a sparr.

 

I won't comment on the result, but fit was, well...

 

But apart from mishaps we consider as overcome, the scheme looks, well, "Quite Strutter", so to say... (But the BE2 will be all linen)

 

Oh, and for the rigging wire - this is Uschi's uber-thin rig-the thing. I really love Axel's stuff, but this is just too thin. Might be my eyes as well...

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I promised some catastrophes? Here we go...

 

I wanted to work on the fin, but it makes sense to but on the decals first. Here's what happened:

 

41961528jy.jpg

 

They totally disintegrated, to an extend I've never seen before. Not only one or two decals, but the entire sheet. Just like these have been dipped into some acid....

 

41961530mx.jpg

 

I managed to paint the fin by hand, but do not want to do without the Sopwith logo. So, dried some self print decals:

 

41961533or.jpg

 

The sheet looks good, but I couldn't manage to teach my printer to print in colour, nor install another printer driver, nor set the coarseness of the round logo correct... yup, talking catastropes.

 

But at least want to put on the logos and some phantasy numbers (12 is my month of birth and 69 the year).

 

Wish me luck, folks...

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