"Schweinhund III" - Captain Duncan William Grinnell-Milne's SE5a - +++++FINISHED+++++

[TheBaron]

Read that update over the morning cuppa on a rainy autumn morning here and that Bird of Paradise was a hot flash of plumage amidst the grey Mark. 'Stunning' is a word that gets over-used but perfectly apt in this case. Wonderful.

 

2 hours ago, mark.au said:

Have you ever thought about writing a book?

Not sure the world is ready for another 'True Confessions of...' 😁

 

[AliGauld]

Absolutely splendid.

I constantly in awe of the incredible work that you put on show here.

Fantastic.

 

 

Cheers,

Alistair

[bigbadbadge]

Oh Mark that looks absolutely lovely,  what a cracking job  on those markings , the fuselage looks awesome too, wow.

It might be worth checking references as on these the PC10 came down around the edges of the wings to form a border around the edges of the undersides of the wings and horizontal tail plane, although I am not sure if all did it.

Looks awesome. 

Chris

[mark.au]

23 hours ago, Fritag said:

Darn it, that caveat raises the bar too high for me….. Does extreme irony have to be funny as well?

 

Extreme irony is difficult to achieve so I'll allow it, if you can pull it off...

 

23 hours ago, Ngantek said:

Yikes I thought you'd only just started this one! Lovely work on the markings, they've come out really well.

 

Andy

 

Many thanks Andy.  Yes, this has been a quick one up till now, today is day six.  It's just been a really easy build so far but the nature of biplanes is that while they give you a good head start, the details come in waves and the pace really slows after that.  It might take me three or four ore days to finish it! 😄

 

On 9/9/2022 at 3:24 PM, Dunny said:

Looking lovely Mark. I'm really torn between what investment to make next - mask cutter or 3D printer . This work is certainly making a strong case for the former...

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

 

The mask cutter is a far useful tool for a modeller like me who is interested in unusual subjects, not usually decalled.  It also allows for far better results in the markings, IMO as I'm not forced to weather or otherwise adjust the decal to match the overall look I'm going for because I can paint it how I want it to look.  It's cheaper than a 3D setup (this last point not normally of concern for lawyers, just sayin' you-know-who-you-are... 😉 ).  Finally, I'm not as interested in the finer details and definition to the small parts as the 3D allows, my thing is the overall appearance so 3D is less attractive to me than the mask cutter.  Not to say I won't eventually go that route too, but if I had to make a choice Roger, I'd recommend to go with the one that suits your preference in the modelling outcome.

 

23 hours ago, Fritag said:

Does it have to be a choice?  (says the man who hasn’t had the courage to even mention the possibility of a mask cutter type toy to his wife….)

 

Try this approach; "darling, I suspect the cutter costs less than two or three of your haircuts."  You're welcome for the free sales advice, let us know how you make out.  I also do marriage counselling.

 

23 hours ago, TheBaron said:

Not sure the world is ready for another 'True Confessions of...' 😁

 

 

"True Confessions of a Compound Curves Addict" ?

 

22 hours ago, AliGauld said:

Absolutely splendid.

I constantly in awe of the incredible work that you put on show here.

Fantastic.

 

 

Cheers,

Alistair

 

Very kind, Alistair.

 

17 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Oh Mark that looks absolutely lovely,  what a cracking job  on those markings , the fuselage looks awesome too, wow.

It might be worth checking references as on these the PC10 came down around the edges of the wings to form a border around the edges of the undersides of the wings and horizontal tail plane, although I am not sure if all did it.

Looks awesome. 

Chris

 

Thanks Chris. you may be right, but I am determined this is an out of the box build without my usual obsessiveness about details like that.  However, I did weaken and do a simple image search and found a few without the wrap around PC10 so I'm leaving it as-is. This is just a rigging exercise, this is just a rigging exercise, this is just a rigging exercise....

 

And that segues nicely to the topic of the day, there has been rigging.  And undercarriage.  And exhausts. And tail feathers.

 

 

I used some CMK RAF Late Turnbuckles and EZ Line for the rigging in this case.  Macro is exposing the clunkiness of the attachment but with the naked eye they look really quite convincing and I'm pretty happy with them.  Not nearly as fiddly as I thought, the process of attaching these two lines took no more than 15 minutes.  The rest of the assembly was the kit parts, nothing remarkable there.

 

And then weathering - running around on grass airfield in France during the winter of 1918/1919 must have thrown some mud around so I threw some mud-coloured paint at the undercarriage assembly...

 

 

In a morning of bits and pieces, I painted, weathered and attached the exhausts.

 

 

 

Ugh, looked at this close they look unfinished...  Anyway, I graduated the colour from an enamel black at the engine end to a very flat rusty brown at the exhaust end.  After the finishing coats I'll apply some pastels to the back end to further enhance the finish.  It seams there's a little paint damage from the glue on the starboard side, it should disappear under the finish coats.  Hopefully.

 

Other tasks completed were a few more holes drilled in the fuselage for rigging (which would have been a lot easier had I done that waaaayy back in the process before paint and such...).  

 

Next I attached the tail feathers and sat my little red bird on its feet.  

 

 

 

There are a few more tasks left before I can move to the main event.  The tail rigging and control lines, the gun sight, the windshield, a couple of decals for the inspection ports on the wings and tail, the "Schweinehund" decals themselves, the instrument panel inspection window and some detail painting around the engine area.  I bet if I put my mind to it, I can come up with a list as long as the one @Fritag used to avoid painting his Hawks.  But like he did in the end, eventually you have to face the demons...

 

Cheers.

 

[bigbadbadge]

Certainly does look lovely  with the colour combination.   Starting to look like an SE5a now.  Great work 

Chris

[Dunny]

1 hour ago, mark.au said:

Finally, I'm not as interested in the finer details and definition to the small parts as the 3D allows

Interesting point - I do use CAD in a professional capacity so it's a natural extension really. However I think as you say the cutter may give me more 'bang for buck'

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

[Bughunter]

Great work so far!

But I hope I'm not too late with my hint:

4 hours ago, mark.au said:

the "Schweinehund" decals themselves,

The correct German word is Schweinehund, as you stated.

But be careful, on the real aircraft the "e" was missing and "SCHWEINHUND" was written on it!

 

See IWM collection https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205227630 they mention also Schweinhund in text.

The strut covers the HU, but there is no space for an additional E.

 

On day I will build this bird too, in 1/48.

Cheers,

Frank

Edited September 10, 2022 by Bughunter
Typo corrected

[mark.au]

1 hour ago, Bughunter said:

Great work so far!

But I hope I'm not too late with my hint:

The correct German word is Schweinehund, as you stated.

But be careful, on the real aircraft the "e" was missing and "SCHWEINHUND" was written on it!

 

See IWM collection https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205227630 they mention also Schweinhund in text.

The strut covers the HU, but there is no space for an additional E.

 

On day I will build this bird too, in 1/48.

Cheers,

Frank

Thanks for that info Frank, luckily, the kit decal has it right so no decal surgery required.

 

As I was doing this one just by the kit instructions (for a change) I hadn’t looked for a pic of the real thing to avoid my usual OCD in recreating every last finish and weathering detail I could spot.  Now I’ve seen a pic, I can see three things I could have done differently or are just plain wrong with mine immediately…  🤦‍♂️🤯😂   Stick to the plan, Mark….

 

Cheers.

[hendie]

dammit man. You're going far too quick on this build.  I'm really enjoying seeing this come together and I have to say you are making a fantastic job of it so far.  That paint job is top notch and the markings really set it off.

[Fastcat]

Hi Mark,

                        From what I can gather reading "Wind in the Wires", D G-M's book, he cut off the red plywood panel of his SE5 before it was scrapped after the war. By then, it bore the name "Schweinhund III" the first aircraft bearing the name having been wrecked. He flew "Schweinhund III" in the closing stages of WWI and early on in the peace that followed until it was scrapped. He was in command of 56 Squadron during this period. 

 

Dave

[mark.au]

19 hours ago, Dunny said:

Interesting point - I do use CAD in a professional capacity so it's a natural extension really. However I think as you say the cutter may give me more 'bang for buck'

Something else came to mind as I was riding this morning; it’s clear that one would have to enjoy the virtual modelling as much as the actual to get value out of the 3D printer.  Reading those WIPs belonging to @TheBaron, @hendie, @Fritag it’s clear their ability is matched by their enjoyment of the design process.  As it’s part of your day job that may not be the case? For me - at the moment at least - it would seem like a chore.

 

14 hours ago, hendie said:

dammit man. You're going far too quick on this build.  I'm really enjoying seeing this come together and I have to say you are making a fantastic job of it so far.  That paint job is top notch and the markings really set it off.

 

Thank you my friend, but it’s all going pear shaped now I’ve seen a photo! 😂.  I’m going to have to fix the fuselage roundel because the red is too small and it bugs me.  Ok, maybe not a disaster….

 

14 hours ago, Fastcat said:

Hi Mark,

                        From what I can gather reading "Wind in the Wires", D G-M's book, he cut off the red plywood panel of his SE5 before it was scrapped after the war. By then, it bore the name "Schweinhund III" the first aircraft bearing the name having been wrecked. He flew "Schweinhund III" in the closing stages of WWI and early on in the peace that followed until it was scrapped. He was in command of 56 Squadron during this period. 

 

Dave

 

Many thanks Dave, great info  Now I have a conundrum though; the photo above doesn’t show any numeral after the name and one would think the “III” would have been added at the time the rest of the name was painted.  Puzzling.

[Dunny]

2 hours ago, mark.au said:

As it’s part of your day job that may not be the case

Not at all - I very much enjoy the process of creative design whether it be products or models!

[heloman1]

Excellent progress Mark, the red fuselage is really striking. The Easy-line and turnbuckles look very convincing.

 

Colin

[mark.au]

2 hours ago, Dunny said:

Not at all - I very much enjoy the process of creative design whether it be products or models!

Easy choice then.  Both. 😉

 

30 minutes ago, heloman1 said:

Excellent progress Mark, the red fuselage is really striking. The Easy-line and turnbuckles look very convincing.

 

Colin

 

Thanks Collin, the red is pretty cool looking isn’t it.  If it were mine back in the day I’d paint mine red too.

[Fastcat]

Hi Mark,

                        It's possible that the photo is of an earlier SE5. From his narrative, I think DG-M had two earlier SE5s and that the first just bore the name "Schweinhund" D G-M not thinking that he would ever be shot down in it. I'm reasonably certain that only the later aircraft were differentiated with a number. It's possible too that D G-M wrote in good faith but that his memory was faulty. But "Schweinhund III" is definitely referred to in the last pages of the book. Only by comparing the serial numbers of the aircraft could their identity be confirmed. 

As an aside, throughout the book, D G-M spells "Schweinhund" without the extra "e" after the "n" so at least the spelling is confirmed. It's a pity that it's nigh on impossible to tell the colours from the photo. I think the full red was only applied in the latter year of the war when full British air superiority was guaranteed.

Incidentally, "Wind in the Wires" is a great read - a true classic of the first war in the air.

 

Dave

[Macsporran]

Nice progress, Dave, on a fine looking Schweinhund.

Do you mind me asking what make and model of mask cutter you use, as I'm thinking of investing in one and need a bit of user feedback. Many thanks.

Sandy

 

PS if you haven't attached the top wing as yet, you might wish to add the distinctive 'wraparound' to the PC10 that was characteristic of SE's. Just an inch or two along LE and TE and tips of both wings and tailplane undersurfaces. Not a biggy but something we WWI types get wrapped up in our anoraks about!

PPS I think the Roden box art is rather misleading as C1149 acquired its full red fuselage after the armistice when restrictions were relaxed and many squadrons hanging about in France or Italy waiting to be repatriated were allowed to keep busy painting all sorts of wild colours - like the fabulous chequered Camel D8239! 😀

Edited September 11, 2022 by Macsporran

[mark.au]

21 hours ago, Fastcat said:

Hi Mark,

                        It's possible that the photo is of an earlier SE5. From his narrative, I think DG-M had two earlier SE5s and that the first just bore the name "Schweinhund" D G-M not thinking that he would ever be shot down in it. I'm reasonably certain that only the later aircraft were differentiated with a number. It's possible too that D G-M wrote in good faith but that his memory was faulty. But "Schweinhund III" is definitely referred to in the last pages of the book. Only by comparing the serial numbers of the aircraft could their identity be confirmed. 

[snip]

Incidentally, "Wind in the Wires" is a great read - a true classic of the first war in the air.

 

Dave

 

Thanks Dave, I think that's very plausible, so much so that... see below.  I'll try and find a copy of the book, it does sound interesting - I must confess (I suppose it's quite obvious to anyone who has read this WIP) to knowing very little about WW1 air operations.  

 

20 hours ago, Macsporran said:

Nice progress, Dave, on a fine looking Schweinhund.

Do you mind me asking what make and model of mask cutter you use, as I'm thinking of investing in one and need a bit of user feedback. Many thanks.

Sandy

 

Thanks Sandy, I use the Silhouette Portrait 3 and have found it to be worth every penny - highly recommended.  Read on, for one of the many reasons why...  

 

So, in my last post on the model itself, my Schweinhund was sitting proudly on its wheels.  I needed to add the the name decals which proved quite tricky because they disintegrated upon release from the backing paper.  I hadn't made masks to paint them as I thought the decals would be simple enough and looked nice.  Anyhow, I got them on, they looked ok, and seemed to be well attached.  I turns out I didn't take any pics at this stage.

 

20 hours ago, Macsporran said:

PS if you haven't attached the top wing as yet, you might wish to add the distinctive 'wraparound' to the PC10 that was characteristic of SE's. Just an inch or two along LE and TE and tips of both wings and tailplane undersurfaces. Not a biggy but something we WWI types get wrapped up in our anoraks about!

 

In the mean time I came back to this; Sandy, you're not the first to mention the wrap around PC10 - you know who you are @bigbadbadge.  I originally intended to ignore it and just plow on chalking that omission up to experience but dammit, I just can't, I have to fix this stuff, if for no other reason than to avoid anoraking!  I set to with the masking, mixed up some PC10 and relatively soon arrived at this.  I needed to do a little clean up and the difficulty of masking on the model at this stage in its build meant the lines aren't perfect.  It's done though.  But not without incident...

 

 

Particularly observant readers will notice there's something array with the name on the port side; what is a "heinhund" you might ask?  As it happens, while masking for the PC10 wraparound I got the merest touch of tape on the decal and it pulled away - remember I said they were a bear to apply?  Dammit! again!  If you saw a pic of the other side you'd see... oh, here's a pic of the other side as well.

 

 

One step forward, two back.  

 

Now there's no choice, I've got to paint the name.

 

@Macsporran - to answer your question properly on the cutter's value, this is where it proves its worth.  I pushed my wife out of the way sat down at the computer and quickly designed and cut the mask.  It took less time than fiddling around with the decal had, as it turned out.  I also added a little je n'sais pas to make my "Schweinhund" a little different to all the others on the interwebs, and this is where Dave @Fastcat's info comes in to the picture again, thanks!

 

First, I removed the old decal.  I could have used my finger, it was so loosely applied...

 

 

...and then placed the mask with little anti-overspray protection...

 

 

...and you see where this is going...

 

 

...my "Schweinhund" is now my "Schweinhund III" and looking very proud of itself too.

 

If you look closely at the artsy blurred depth of field you'll also notice that I fixed the fuselage roundel's red centre as well.  I tried the kit decal first but it a) wasn't the right size and b) wasn't opaque.  I actually used my circle cutter for that mask rather than break out the Silhouette for a couple of small circles.

 

So that's the state of play.  Still plenty to do before the upper wing and rigging begins in earnest.  

 

Cheers.

 

 

[bigbadbadge]

Sorry about thay,😉 but the wrap around PC10 looks great Mark, as does your new painted Schweinhund III script.  Awesome work and well worth all your hard work. 

Chris

[Macsporran]

Many thanks for reply re cutter - and I see how quick and useful it is for replacing crappie decals or creating new ones. It's on the to-do list.

 

Congratulations on adding the wraparound: (sorry for causing the associated repairs though.) Looks great - every bit an SE.

Cheers

Sandy

[AliGauld]

Much goodness on show.

Fantastic masking and what a save on the decal.

Gobsmacked again.

 

 

Cheers,

Alistair

[Fastcat]

Hi Mark,

                    No, I'm not a WWI "expert" either.

I first came across "Wind in the Wires" many years ago and I've read it through many times. It's not aimed at modellers, it's just a good read. Trying to get finite details from it requires much interpretation and not a little intuition but it's worth it because it deals with a young pilot's impressions rather than just facts. I intended to make a model of the same aircraft but like many such projects it fell on the heap of "to-dos". I don't usually do aircraft and even warplanes so this would have been an exception.

 

I don't feel cheated because yours turned out beautifully and looks just right, a difficult look to achieve but lovely if you get it right and you have. It has all the look of a well used machine, painted by a field crew.

Great model.

 

Dave

[mark.au]

Moving inextricably closer to rigging…

 

Tonight I added the cabane(sp?) struts.  Their placement is quite unsupported on the model; it’s clear where they go but there’s no assistance as to their lateral or longitudinal angle.  To try and get them right I measured the locating holes on the upper wing and made some simple templates.  First I attached the front pair which photos of 1:1 scale SE5a’s show as at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the fuselage.  Using gel CA glue because it cures slower, I set them in place vertically and then used the template to space them laterally.  I used my eye to set them symmetrically.  I then followed the same process for the rear pair using the front pair as datums for the lateral spacing and a new template for longitudinal.  Here’s a pic of the latter to show what I mean.

 

 

It’s also clear I have a slight twist in the port rear strut.  Oh well.

 

As can be seen, I’d previously wrapped these struts with tape to represent wrapping I’d seen on these struts in some contemporary photos.  It’s impossible to know whether the wrapping was on my SE5a but it adds visual interest so it’s there.

 

I also added the last bits and pieces to the fuselage such the windshield, machine gun and its sight.

 

 

 

With those attached I applied the finishing coats of clear flat/semi-flat to the airframe.  I made the metal and plywood sections a little glossier than the fabric and varied the finish on the wings a little to represent uneven weathering.

 

 

 

Aside from the tail control wires and rigging, plus some chalks I plan to apply on the exhaust and the wheels, and a little glossing to the leather surround on the cockpit, the lower fuselage is finished bar the wing struts.  When those are in place I shall begin rigging.

 

Cheers.

 

 

[bigbadbadge]

Looks lively Mark, I like the tape wrapping on the struts too, a great touch. Cracking work fella.

Chris

[hendie]

A striking looking aircraft Mark. That paint job is excellent

[John Masters]

Really first rate modelling, from the Stearman onwards.  That SE.5 is superb.  And, I am amazed that you were able to get a Roden kit to come together seemingly without any blue language.  That in itself is a worthy feat.  Beautiful.  Did you notice, btw, how the aircraft looks as a low-wing monoplane?  Interesting concept...