1:32 scale Ansaldo A.1 'Balilla'

[HOUSTON]

Mike 

EXQUISITE   EXCEPTIONAL  workmanship. 

also the figure is coming along.

 

 

(MY Likes ran out ).

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
All of the photo-etch rigging anchors (pre-rigged) have been fitted to the upper and lower wings.
Now comes the tricky part - fitting the upper wing onto its struts through the rigging anchors,

 

Mike

 

 

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
Well a bit of a disaster tonight.
Whilst preparing to fit the upper wing I found real problems with the photo-etch rigging points.
Most detached from the model surface, despite cleaning up the contact surfaces.
More importantly, several actually broke apart with the side members breaking away from the main body.
This was without apply any undue stress to them.
In fact several very thin parts had already broken off during pre-rigging, but I though I might get away with it.
It could be that as usual with photo-etch, I annealed the parts before assembly so maybe that weakened them.
I must admit I had my doubts as to how durable these parts would be and I'm glad I found out now before fitting the upper wing.
Anyway I'm too far into the build now, so I've removed and disposed of all but four of the rigging points and will go back to 'Gaspatch' turnbuckle rigging.
Hey-Ho,

Mike

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
Pre-rigging Part 2.
All of the photo-etch rigging plates, except four, have been removed and replaced with 'GasPatch' pre-rigged lines.
So, now onto fitting the upper wing,

 

Mike

 

 

 

 

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
Upper wing fitted.
The kit has two exposed fuel pipes between the underside of the fuel tank in the upper wing and the top of the rear engine cowl panel.
However, this particular aircraft, like many 'Balilla's', had these pipes covered by a fairing.
So, before starting the final rigging I'll need to make this pipe fairing.

 

Mike

 

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
When I test fitted the propeller to the model, it seemed to me that the propeller looked as though its diameter was a bit small.
When I scaled a photograph of the model and its propeller to the illustration in the data file, it seemed to bear this out.
Also photographs of the aircraft indicate that the propeller tips were more or less aligned with the landing gear axle (propeller vertical).

 

Anyway right or wrong, I decide to modify the propeller.
I cut off the two blades, then used 1.0 mm diameter rod to re-join them to the hub, but with a gap in each.
This gap was filled with 'Green Stuff' putty and once cured, filed and sanded to restore the blades profiles.
The overlay below shows the difference before and after modification,

 

Mike

 

 

 

 

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
There were two fuel lines between the fuel tank in the upper wing and the engine bay.
Some ‘Balilla’ aircraft had these fuel pipes exposed, however, this particular aircraft being modelled had the fuel pipes covered with a fairing.

This was made from 1.0 mm thick plastic card, cut and shaped to fit between the underside of the upper wing and engine cowl.
The edges were rounded and indications of fasteners added.
It was then covered with the 'Aviattic' CDL decal and secured in position under the fuel tank in the upper wing.

 

Mike

 

 

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
I've now fully rigged the wings.
This includes 'twin' flying and landing wires, cabane and interplane incidence wires and two bracing wires from the upper wing into the engine bay.
The only wires not fully connected are the two drift wires from the rear spar of the upper wing.
To avoid damaging them, they will be connected to the radiator area later in the build.
For the same reason, the moveable aileron control levers in the upper wing will be connected to their control rods later in the build.

 

Now it's onto completing the tail unit before tackling the inserts between the flying and landing wires,

 

Mike

 

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
The tail unit is rigged now.
Twin bracing wires, rudder control line and elevator hinges.
Also added the 'metal' retaining strap at the rear of the fuselage at the tail plane leading edge,

 

Mike

 

 

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
My last model was the Nieuport 28C.1, which has twin flying wires fitted with full length inserts.
On that model I was able to represent the inserts strips between the flying wires with plastic card strips, decaled and secured between the pairs of wires.
However on this build, the length and spread of the flying and landing wires meant that I wasn't able to hold the strips in position, as the lines were too flexible.
Therefore I'm cutting the full length insert strips, cut from 0.2 mm thick plastic card, in half and using 1.0 mm wide strips of kitchen baking foil to suspend the insert on the wires.
In this way I'm able to pinch the suspended insert between the two wires (using flat ended tweezers) and apply thin CA adhesive to track along and secure it between the wires.
The foil strips are then folded around the wires/insert and secured in position using the CA adhesive, as these will be the base for the linen wrappings.

 

 

Later I'll paint the foil strips to blend with the inserts then use thin white decal strips over the foils to represent the linen wrappings. 
I think this is going to take a while as there are 16 half insert strips to fit,

 

Mike 

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
Just a quick note to say I've re-rigged the forward flying and landing wires as I'm trying something easier and quicker to add these infills strips.
Although my previous method worked on the Nieuport 28C.1, I had problems on this 'Balilla'.
I think it's because the twin wires on the 'Balilla' are longer and wider apart.
That and the curl on the cut plastic card strips made it extremely difficult to hold in place and secure.

 

I'll post on the revised method once I've moved on with it,

 

Mike

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
After experimenting with thin plastic card, decal, card, metal foil etc, I finally decided on this approach to represent the full length inserts between twin flying and landing wires.



Basically I used kitchen baking parchment paper.
The reasons being it's very thin and is easily positioned and secured to the rigging lines using PVA adhesive, which also gives you time to reposition if necessary.

With the model fully rigged and the lines as taut:

Strips of baking parchment paper were cut to length and width (span) of the twin rigging wires.
PVA adhesive was brushed onto the rigging wires and one face of the strip.
The strip was laid onto the rigging wires and positioned to span and align with the wires.
More PVA adhesive was brushed over both sides of the applied strip and lines.

The thin paper self-grips onto the wires and adhesive.
The PVA adhesive not only secures the 'inserts' in position, but also seals the paper, ready for painting.
This method gives a smoother and flatter surface than other methods I tried.

The shots below show the strips that still need painting etc to finish them off

The next step will be to brush paint the rigging with the appropriate and thinned acrylic paint.
Lastly will be to apply thin white decal strips to represent the wrapping bands around the lines.

Having spent three day on this, I'm hoping the end result justifies the time spent - we'll see,

Mike

 

 

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
The flying and landing wire inserts are finished - brush painted 'Tamiya' Sky Grey (XF19) and dusted with Earth pigments.
The ailerons are fitted and at the correct angles to match the control column position.
Aileron control rods fitted to the the operating levers in the upper wing, which again are at the correct angles to match the ailerons.
Windscreen fitted. I discarded the supplied acetate transparencies and used 'Microscale' Krystal Clear solution (basically refined PVA adhesive).
I also noticed many 'Balilla's' were fitted with a forward facing pipe in the fuel tank in the upper wing, so that's been fitted also.

 

So now it's onto the last two jobs - landing gear and propeller,

 

Mike

 

 

[shortCummins]

On 29/01/2021 at 20:20, Sandbagger said:

Hi all,
After experimenting with thin plastic card, decal, card, metal foil etc, I finally decided on this approach to represent the full length inserts between twin flying and landing wires.



Basically I used kitchen baking parchment paper.
The reasons being it's very thin and is easily positioned and secured to the rigging lines using PVA adhesive, which also gives you time to reposition if necessary.

With the model fully rigged and the lines as taut:

Strips of baking parchment paper were cut to length and width (span) of the twin rigging wires.
PVA adhesive was brushed onto the rigging wires and one face of the strip.
The strip was laid onto the rigging wires and positioned to span and align with the wires.
More PVA adhesive was brushed over both sides of the applied strip and lines.

The thin paper self-grips onto the wires and adhesive.
The PVA adhesive not only secures the 'inserts' in position, but also seals the paper, ready for painting.
This method gives a smoother and flatter surface than other methods I tried.

The shots below show the strips that still need painting etc to finish them off

The next step will be to brush paint the rigging with the appropriate and thinned acrylic paint.
Lastly will be to apply thin white decal strips to represent the wrapping bands around the lines.

Having spent three day on this, I'm hoping the end result justifies the time spent - we'll see,

Mike

 

 

I know that necessity is the mother of invention and all that but using baking parchment is a touch of genius!

I'm storing that away in case it comes in handy at a later date

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
Landing gear fitted.
Bracing wires are 0.12 mm diameter mono-filament with 1:48th scale 'GasPatch' turnbuckles.
Rigging tubes are 0.4 mm and 0.5 mm diameter blackened brass.
Weathering is 'Flory Models' pigment and 'Tamiya' Weathering Master Set A (Mud).

 

Now onto the propeller,

 

Mike

 

 

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,
The final part of the aircraft build is the propeller.
Airbrushed with a 70/30 mix of 'Tamiya' Flat Red (XF7) and Hull Red (XF9) to represent the dark finish needed.
A sealing coat of 'Alclad' Light Sheen (ALC-311) was airbrushed over the propeller.
Propeller bosses brush painted with 'Mr. Colour' Stainless Steel (213), then washed with 'AK Interactive' Kerosene (3029).
Finally the edges were lightly sponged with 'Tamiya' Weathering Master Set D (Oil Stain).

 

So, now onto the figures,

 

Mike

 

[Sandbagger]

Hi all,

The 'Balilla' is finished now and up in the Ready for Inspection Aircraft page.

Thanks for your comments and support throughout this build,

 

Mike