Pfalz friends - finished

[RC Boater Bill]

When I built my Roden D-IIIa,  I broke one of the (fragile) landing gear struts trying to get it off the sprue.   It was easier to make a pair of sturdy replacements from brass rod, than to try to fix the broken piece.   

[AdrianMF]

Got further along:

 

I’m not going to use the struts, or the engine pieces (both early and late exhaust versions), which I’ve included here for your amusement. I haven’t decided whether to make my own propeller yet either. The guns need some channeling underneath them and I need to sand down the car filler underneath the wing roots, and we are ready for paint!

[AdrianMF]

Painting done:

 

Guns and cockpit coaming next, then lozenge decals.

….

 

and then I’ll think about struttery.

[AdrianMF]

Currently feeling optimistic about lozenge decalling:

 

Time to grab a cuppa and let Decalfix and Decalsoft do their magic.

[bigbadbadge]

Great job on those decals and the scratch engine and exhaust look fantastic. 

Chris

[AdrianMF]

Tiny bit of touching up to do but…

… that means I’ve got no excuses to not start the struttery!

[stevehnz]

That does look rather smart Adrian, I like your home made engine. Shades of Alan W Hall & his DH9 conversion.

Steve.

[AdrianMF]

21 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

scratch engine

 

2 hours ago, stevehnz said:

home made engine. Shades of Alan W Hall & his DH9 conversion.

Thanks chaps! Talking of which, here’s one I made earlier:

I promised myself I would make it one day and saved the article when I cleared out my childhood home. It only took 43 years or so to get around to it.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[stevehnz]

I remember that, a really nice build & book marked against the day, there still isn't a decent DH.9 as far as I know, no worries though, I've a Airfix DH.4 earmarked against the day. I better not take 43 years though, I'll be 109 & only half way through my stash.   

Steve.

[bigbadbadge]

That DH.9 looks gorgeous,  great job on that, absolutely stunning.

Chris

[Brandy]

Lovely DH9 there. I have an Airfix DH4 plus a Blue Rider conversion for mine, when I get around to it. I also have a Pegasus DH4 kit which will be a US Marine Corps version

 

BTW whose lozenge decals are you using?

 

Ian

[billn53]

This is looking very, very nice!
 

Same question as Ian - Where did you get the lozenge decals?

[AdrianMF]

2 hours ago, Brandy said:

BTW whose lozenge decals are you using?

I bought some Pegasus 4- and 5- colour decals a while ago. I scanned and printed them onto a sheet of clear laser decal paper to try out in case it all went South. The laser decals worked so well I stuck with them for the model. The wings and elevators were painted white before I started.

 

Frankly, I feel a bit bad about copying decals like that, but (a) I can't see them available for sale anywhere (Freightdog are out of stock), (b) it's for personal use without personal gain (and I have bought a set anyway and I can't imagine doing beyond one or two more) and (c) The patterns are freely out there on the web so I could have constructed an equivalent decal without the use of the decals as a source.

 

I think there are other lozenge decals out there. Almark and Aviatik are in stock at Hannants.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[AdrianMF]

Ah. Crosses. I realise now I should have done a bit of design on the computer and added them on there. Searching for suitable decals to cut up…

[AdrianMF]

Ewwww

 

I have two sets of decals from the FROG SB2. They were quartered to allow me to overlap them for a narrower black stripe and trimmed to give a narrower white border. The first lot broke up as soon as I tried to move them, the second lot were pieced together and will be OK after a touch up. The underwing decals went well and I think I will save the fuselage ones for another day…

[The Spadgent]

On 30/01/2022 at 14:15, AdrianMF said:

Well it was a different piece of stretched sprue in the end:

Amazing!!! Who needs a 3D printer when you have the “skillz” 🤛

14 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

 

Thanks chaps! Talking of which, here’s one I made earlier:

I promised myself I would make it one day and saved the article when I cleared out my childhood home. It only took 43 years or so to get around to it.

 

Regards,

Adrian

Wowah!!! That sir is tremendous. 🤝 Bravo.

 

 Johnny

 

ps. The lozenge decals and paint work look great.  Good luck with those crosses mind. 🙀

[AdrianMF]

1 hour ago, The Spadgent said:

Who needs a 3D printer

On the one hand, I would love an airbrush, a silhouette cutter and a 3D printer and really admire all the resulting results that are shown in the forum, but ultimately they all sound like too much hard work and would probably stay in the box! I have turned down the  offer of a 3D printer as a present twice now from Mrs MF.

 

Similarly, I’m having more fun with a really basic kit like this than I ever have with a shake and bake “proper” kit. 

 

Regards,

Adrian
 

 

[Brandy]

3 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

I’m having more fun with a really basic kit like this than I ever have with a shake and bake “proper” kit. 

I totally agree. Much more fun than simply gluing and painting!

 

The crosses are looking good.

 

Ian

[The Spadgent]

5 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

On the one hand, I would love an airbrush, a silhouette cutter and a 3D printer and really admire all the resulting results that are shown in the forum, but ultimately they all sound like too much hard work and would probably stay in the box! I have turned down the  offer of a 3D printer as a present twice now from Mrs MF.

 

Similarly, I’m having more fun with a really basic kit like this than I ever have with a shake and bake “proper” kit. 

 

Regards,

Adrian
 

 

True words. It’s a wonderful hobby that has many levels with common focuses. Find the fun and your set. 😃  I know you hand brush a lot of stuff but didn’t realise you had no airbrush. I’d be lost without mine.  

[AdrianMF]

I had some time before starting work this morning. Top wing is just balanced on, no struts, just crosses:

 

For the fuselage cross, the Airfix red box Albatros had a spare set of crosses which had white surrounds all round so all I had to do was extend the black arms to the edge of the decal. The tail crosses were made from verticals from some spare small code letters.

[The Spadgent]

Looking very nice indeed! 

[AdrianMF]

I actually had a weekend away this weekend, went to Ely:

 

… And the Shuttleworth collection to visit the model show and take another walk around the collection, which now includes this Sopwith Dove in a rather fetching scheme:

When I got back this evening I constructed a jig and built myself six “N” struts that I’m happy with and one that I’m not:

 

I only need four, so hopefully that’s enough.

[bigbadbadge]

Great work on the decals and the struts look good too.  Not seen a Sopwith Dove before, that does look a pleasing scheme.  Hope you had a lovely getaway.  

Chris

[Marklo]

Really lovely job on the DXII so far.

 

While the silouhette or the 3D printer might be a big investment, a fairly workmanlike airbrush and compressor can be had off eBay for comparatively small money, my first airbrush a display4u with a compresser( which is still going strong) cost about €40 I’ve since bought a Kkmoon( another workhorse €15) an iwata neo2 ( great airbrush €80) and a no name clone (€10 not great)

 

Although I still brush paint, airbrushing does give a better finish but more importantly it opens up many paint effects that just can’t be done with a brush.

 

Edited February 14, 2022 by Marklo

[Quiet Mike]

Amazing progress Adrian!

And doesn't that Dove look stunning in  blue? I've not visited Shuttleworth for over a decade, a revisit is long overdue.