No. 1 Squadron RCAF Sopwith Dolphin and Fokker DVII

[Marklo]

Ok now I’m committed. Warm soapy water seems to make a big difference with the decal. Started out with cold water on the first piece and it just broke up into pieces. Using warm water with a good squeeze of washing up liquid in it and it’s like they’re different decals.

[Marklo]

Tried a bit of the decals with the same water gone cold. Worked ok but not as well as the combination of warm water and washing up liquid.

 

I may tackle the undersurface tomorrow. Then again I may get a bit of the interior done first. I’m not going to decal the fuselage or lower wings until I have them all assembled as I want to minimise handling once the decals go on.

[Marklo]

Base coats on all the bits.

A bit more detail painting and micro sol. Should be able to assemble the fuselage tomorrow.

[Marklo]

Some assembly completed. I find Roden kits a bit weird with great engineering side by side with terrible engineering. E.g. the fuselage is really finely detailed but there are no location pins and either the fuselage is about 1mm too wide or the lower wing cutout is too narrow ( I went for the latter as it’s easier to fix)

 

The engine and nose assembly again lovely fine detail no locating features. I’ve sanded the sides flush as the louvres on the Canadian machine are totally different from the kit.

Overall the models coming together nicely, I think the biggest surprise being that the lozenge decals are going on well.

 

Edited August 12, 2022 by Marklo

[JackG]

Good spot of the louvers on the cowl.  Each aircraft manufacturer had their own pattern, and there were some changes depending on early and late production.   One detail that has been missed by Eduard and others (Wingnut Wings & Aviattic PE set) for the OAW built Fokker, is the louver on the starboard side located underneath a pipe hole should be shorter.

 

 

I also found this set of correction notes for Eduard (can't remember where I lifted this):

 

There are a couple of things to fix on the eduard kit.  The landing gear legs are a bit too long.   The axle wing (PP A 6, 7, B 13 ) and wheel (PP B 9 X 2) assemblies. Sand off the details on the underside of the axle wing ( PP A 7 ). With the wing axle mid section (PP B 13) I routed out the plastic axle and replaced it with a brass rod of appropriate diameter. Next before adding the landing gear legs (PP C 15, 20 37 & 41 ) to the wing axle (PP A 6, 7, B 13 ) cut the legs down approx 1/16 of an inch on all four legs.

The clear inspection window in the top wing needs to be drastically relocated to a point where it would actually be represented as being over the wing spar. No raise edge either. How they got this wrong is still a mystery to most WWI aviation kit builders.

Also the “Bosch” staring magneto (PE 4) should not be added to this build. Since you have the Weekend kit this won't matter but anyone that has the Photoetch in their kits - heads up. The rotary engine starting magneto is represented by the rounded plate at the pilot’s left already molded to the fuselage.

[Marklo]

Tipping along nicely, I’m quite enjoying the build so far.

[Marklo]

Undersurface of the upper wing.

[Andwil]

15 hours ago, Marklo said:

the fuselage is really finely detailed but there are no location pins and either the fuselage is about 1mm too wide or the lower wing cutout is too narrow ( I went for the latter as it’s easier to fix)

Obviously Roden have upscaled their 1/72 kit which has the same fit problem. Watch the strut geometry too, you’ll probably have to make adjustments or scratch your own replacements to get it right.

 

AW

[Marklo]

Tipping away at the lozenge patterns. I have most of the decals done but I’m having to revisit a lot of areas to get them to sit down fully. The masking tape is to make a template for the fuselage lozenge sections btw.

 

 

[Marklo]

And a little bit more progress.

[zebra]

It's coming together nicely. Getting those lozenge decals right looks a bit tricky!

[Marklo]

8 hours ago, zebra said:

Getting those lozenge decals right looks a bit tricky!

Most definitely, they are drying quite brittle and are fairly subject to handling damage so I’ve had to do a quite a bit of patching. I’ll be glad when they’re done.

[Marklo]

A bit more progress. I’ll probably do the wing tapes next and leave the sides of the fuselage till last.

[Marklo]

Rib tapes on the lower wing. That was painful. I’ll paint the cowling then decal the sides.

 

Upperwing tapes next, although I may leave the upper tapes until after I’ve attached the wing to minimise handling.

 

I’ve also replaced the undercarriage struts with brass rod after dropping a bottle of glue on the assembly  

[Marklo]

Even more pain but the end result looks so good. Could even have this one finished by the weekend. I think I’ll add the tail skid and wheels next.

 

[Marklo]

Wheels and tail skid fitted. Interplane struts attached to the upper wing ( once I found the holes) and the upper wing and tail plane dry fitted. Not too bad. I’ll attach the cabane struts next then any rigging that needs doing then decal the sides of the fuselage. That just leaves the rudder, the upper wing upper rib tapes and the national and squadron markings. 

[zebra]

Looking very good indeed. The lozenge decals have worked out very well.

[Marklo]

1 hour ago, zebra said:

The lozenge decals have worked out very well.

Yes, but very fiddly and susceptible to handling damage. 

Edited August 31, 2022 by Marklo

[Marklo]

Last of the lozenge decals applied.

[Marklo]

Small progress found the missing pieces. Tail attached.

[Marklo]

Death by a thousand posts.  Rudder added, quite a bit of fitting needed and I’ve had to resort to hand painted lozenge as I’ve run out of upper side decals.

[JackG]

Looks good, and you get to further practice hand painted lozenges on the metal sections around the engine.  😉

[Marklo]

1 hour ago, JackG said:

you get to further practice hand painted lozenges on the metal sections around the engine.  😉

Have to do the louvres first. Simple job but I find myself dragging my heels on it  .

[Marklo]

Finally tackled the louvres.

And some more decals. The fuselage crosses were the second attempt as the first set broke up into about a dozen pieces. And of course because of the massive tidy up and reorg I’m just finishing off I can’t find the maple leaf decals I printed off, if they don’t surface tomorrow I’ll just print them off again, I think the eves for the F100 were in the same sheet  

 

Not a lot left in the build, attach the upperwing a little rigging and (the bit I’m dreading) a few more decals.  I’m hopeful that I’ll get this and the three SEA scheme builds done by the wedding/early next week.

 

Edited September 7, 2022 by Marklo

[Marklo]

Squadron emblem and cowl lozenges added. Just the guns to add then the upper wing.