1/32 Roden Airco DH2

[Epeeman]

Dear all,

Completed today, my take on Roden's DH2 kit.   

Built mostly OOB with some detailing to cockpit, which included amongst other things:

Barracuda resin wicker seat;
3D decal seat harness;
carving away the large ejector pin marks and alse removing the molded internal wire bracing;
addional pipe work missing from fuel pump;
rudder bar foot straps and cables

Also added the missing pulleys for control cables and posed control surfaces.  I used the spare decal in the set for creating the illusion of the cockcade on the top wing when viewed from the underside.

Being a brush painter, using pre shading techniques do not work so well so I use post shading for highlighting the internal structure.   Lone Modeller (Stephen) very kindly lent me (many thanks, mate!) the Datafile profile for this aircraft which was invaluable reference during the build.   I was also able to use the internal structure diagrams to help me draw out the various spars and ribs on the wings.   To try and achieve a more realistic look to the structure shading, I drew out with pencil and ruler on the white base coated wings all the spars and ribs structure.   I could then paint over (lightly) the main top coat.  Once this had dried, I could paint over the show through pencil lines with a darker shade of the beige (for CDL) then a lighter shade once dry.   This has hopefully created the highlighting/shading of all the structure?  Certainly the best I can do with a brush anyway ...........

Weathered (lightly) using artist oil paint and pastels.   

Rigged with Oschi fine elastic thread (for engine ignition leads); Oschi standard thread for control cables and tail boom rigging; Pryme flat elastic thread (to simulate RAF aerodynamic wires) and to add some structural strength to the tail booms, smoke coloured 'invisible' mending thread.  A good rigging diagram is a must for this kit - I used the WNW DH2 rigging guide from thier instructions from this kit.

On the whole, I thought this a very decent kit from Roden.  The only fiddly bit being attaching the tailplane to the tail booms.   I ended up drilling and pinning with wire to get a good joint in the end. 


Completed markings of DH2 6015, flown by CO of No. 32 squadron, RFC, Major Lionel W.B. Rees, France, Treizennes, July  1916.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Regards

 

Dave

[Serkan Sen]

Although not my era she looks fantastic. Wonderful build Dave.

Serkan

[bigbadbadge]

What a absolute cracker Dave. This is gorgeous,  I do love the type and have one in the stash to do too  the WNW kit. You have done a splendid job on this , the post shading looks good and as a fellow brushpainter know where you are coming from.  Great model.

Thanks for sharing fella. 

Chris

[Epeeman]

22 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said:

What a absolute cracker Dave. This is gorgeous,  I do love the type and have one in the stash to do too  the WNW kit. You have done a splendid job on this , the post shading looks good and as a fellow brushpainter know where you are coming from.  Great model.

Thanks for sharing fella. 

Chris

Very kind of you, Serkan - thank you!

 

Chris - 

 

Many thanks, mate - I'm pleased you like it!   I look forward to seeing your rendition of WNW DH2 in the future which will feature more detail than the Roden offering.

 

Regards

 

Dave

[bigbadbadge]

1 hour ago, Epeeman said:

Very kind of you, Serkan - thank you!

 

Chris - 

 

Many thanks, mate - I'm pleased you like it!   I look forward to seeing your rendition of WNW DH2 in the future which will feature more detail than the Roden offering.

 

Regards

 

Dave

Thanks Dave, that's if I don't muck it up!!!

[Spitfire31]

Museum quality piece! And with a lot of built-in headwind – the rigging must've taken ages, but is very effective.

 

Kind regards,

 

Joachim

[pheonix]

Got to agree with Joachim - that is museum quality Dave and given that it is painted properly, (ie with a brush), you have achieved a most realistic finish. I am a fan of pushers (real aeroplanes) and this one is a brilliant example.

 

Many congratulations.

 

P

[tonyot]

Lovely that Dave,.... simply lovely,......

Cheers

         Tony

[SAT69]

All I can say is Wow! That's great work and I might add that I really like the way you have it displayed.

[galgos]

Nice one Dave, that’s quite a rigging challenge. Many congrats on a fine build.

Max 

[Viking]

Wow Dave, what a beautiful result from a complicated looking kit. I'm always amazed at your brush painting skills, the structural effect on the wings is fantastic, really looks the part. The rigging looks good to, using elastic thread was a good move. I did the WnW DH.2 and used fishing line, but the trouble was that putting tension in the lines kept pulling the booms out of shape. Your technique looks to have avoided that.

 

Cheers

 

John

[Epeeman]

2 hours ago, Viking said:

Wow Dave, what a beautiful result from a complicated looking kit. I'm always amazed at your brush painting skills, the structural effect on the wings is fantastic, really looks the part. The rigging looks good to, using elastic thread was a good move. I did the WnW DH.2 and used fishing line, but the trouble was that putting tension in the lines kept pulling the booms out of shape. Your technique looks to have avoided that.

 

Cheers

 

John

Thanks, John -

 

Yes, the tail booms are very thin (and flexible) so I decided to use elastic thread to avoid distortion.   I did however use some coloured (nylon monofilament) for the four cables that support the general tail structure and that helped to avoid the bowing when at rest.

 

Regards

 

Dave

[dov]

Well done!

Done this biest twice 32 & 48 and Fe2b too.

Once more a Dh2 in 32 from WNW ahead.

Like your build! Remarkable for brush!!!!!!

Happy modelling

[Toryu]

Superb. A wired wonder!

One of my favourite British WWI fighters (together with the S.E.5) so well displayed.

[RichieW]

Wow Dave that is BEAUTIFUL! The translucent effect is superb, it really does give the illusion of being fabric over a wooden frame. You must be so pleased with it, that is immaculate work!

 

 

Richie

[stevej60]

Top quality work Dave as has been said museum standard all round.

[Big Dave S]

One of my favourite aircraft rendered very nicely.

Lovely job 

[Duncan B]

That's a beauty.

 

Duncan B

[cduckworth]

Museum quality workmanship.  You’re going to bump up my 1/48 Eduard kit to the top of the pile. 

Edited September 8, 2021 by cduckworth

[Cellarfrog]

fantastic....excellent work. I have one in the stash but frankly the rigging scares me onto other subjects.

 

[Epeeman]

5 hours ago, Cellarfrog said:

fantastic....excellent work. I have one in the stash but frankly the rigging scares me onto other subjects.

 

Thank you, kindly!

 

I understand what you mean by the rigging - this put me off from doing this one for a while and I have a method to do this.   With this one, it was essential to locate a clear and concise rigging diagram.    I used WNW's two part diagram for thier version of this kit and as well as constantly looking at images on the web.

The kit itself is fairly straightforward so don't let it put you off from having a go.

 

Regards

 

Dave