Jump to content

WW1 newbie


AndyK2479

Recommended Posts

Hello all, 

After cutting my teeth on a variety of Airfix 1/72 WW2 and early jet age kits (Vampire which the grandsons love) and a few Tamiya 1/35 armour kits (older and basic) I’ve decided to concentrate on WW1 in 1/48. 

 

I’ve picked up the Revell Nieuport and Eduard Eindekker Weekend addition to cut my Great War teeth on. Any other kits you would recommend or avoid for a relative novice who is learning all the time?

 

Regards, 

Andy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Eduard Roland C.II, any boxing. No centre section struts and fairly simple rigging. Eduard Fokker D.VIIs. Very little rigging,  Revell/Eduard Albatros D.V, Eduard D.III - like the Nieuports the top wing is fairly easy to get on due to the interplane vee struts, plus the centre section struts come as one piece per side. Rigging is fairly simple, comparable to Nieuports- none in the centre section, although you need to juggle a couple of radiator pipes into place.

 

Unfortunately most allied types for which there are good kits have fairly complex rigging, so I'd wait a bit before venturing on to Camels, F2bs, or SE5as. If you can find one the Eduard Hanriots are good.

 

Personally, I really like almost all Roden kits, and they do a lot in 1/48th, but they're much harder to build than Eduard and tend to have bad decals. Some people don't like them, but if you get on okay with the Eduard stuff in my opinion they're a good direction to move in. Once mastered, you'll be able to tackle any of the other kits available.

 

One other slight warning - Copper State Models produce very good kits, but the subjects are not for beginners (Caudron G.IV and AW FK8 for example). They are excellent, but you may be fooled by their presentation into expecting Wingnut Wings ease of construction, and they're not quite there yet (it's a question of moulding tolerances affecting things like mounting of struts in wings - Wingnuts kits are mostly good enough you can get this right without much attention, but Copper State kits fit a bit looser). And the rigging is quite difficult.

 

Good luck,

 

  • Like 4
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Paul Thompson said:

Eduard Roland C.II, any boxing. No centre section struts and fairly simple rigging. Eduard Fokker D.VIIs. Very little rigging,  Revell/Eduard Albatros D.V, Eduard D.III - like the Nieuports the top wing is fairly easy to get on due to the interplane vee struts, plus the centre section struts come as one piece per side. Rigging is fairly simple, comparable to Nieuports- none in the centre section, although you need to juggle a couple of radiator pipes into place.

 

Unfortunately most allied types for which there are good kits have fairly complex rigging, so I'd wait a bit before venturing on to Camels, F2bs, or SE5as. If you can find one the Eduard Hanriots are good.

 

Personally, I really like almost all Roden kits, and they do a lot in 1/48th, but they're much harder to build than Eduard and tend to have bad decals. Some people don't like them, but if you get on okay with the Eduard stuff in my opinion they're a good direction to move in. Once mastered, you'll be able to tackle any of the other kits available.

 

One other slight warning - Copper State Models produce very good kits, but the subjects are not for beginners (Caudron G.IV and AW FK8 for example). They are excellent, but you may be fooled by their presentation into expecting Wingnut Wings ease of construction, and they're not quite there yet (it's a question of moulding tolerances affecting things like mounting of struts in wings - Wingnuts kits are mostly good enough you can get this right without much attention, but Copper State kits fit a bit looser). And the rigging is quite difficult.

 

Good luck,

 

 

Totally agree with all of this. RFC/RNAS is usually simple to paint but tough to rig, while German are more complex to paint but usually easier to build. The Roland CII Walfisch is a great place to start, you can go to town with interior detail and fish-scale paint jobs, or just not bother. The 1/72 Airfix is a great little kit for practice.

 

The key secret with biplanes is to build and paint the fuselage, tail and lower wing, then add the top wing and complete the rigging. Then fill, sand, paint and decal the top surface.

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

       A teensey weeny tip or two if you do an Eduard Roland and want to improve it at all. Not imperative, it's a good kit apart from the wing rib treatment, (but the rolling wave effect was in vogue at the time and is common to all Eduard kits of the period. Looks unnatural if you're finnicky like me, but TBH fine under a coat or two of paint). No, my tip is for something satisfyingly very hard to see once the kit has become a model, and that is to drill out some parts of the internal bulkheads. Any photo easily found on the internet will show how Eduard have (understandably) simplified here, and chain drilling and filing out the structure is good fun if you like that sort of thing. Actually, I lied, it is visible and worth doing, but a bit tedious. The other thing is to check the markings supplied against the details of the fuselage exterior, exhaust type, rollover cabane, and the aileron controls (external pushrods between the wings next to the fuselage). Again, a perfectly good model can result if it doesn't bother you, but if you have the Windsock Datafile then a quick read through will point out what you could improve if you wish. I've forgotten the details since I last built one, but at the time remember finding two or three of the decal options (out of several boxings) needed minor attention.  If you can't find or don't fancy forking out for the Datafile (and there's one for many WW1 subjects) an invaluable free source currently still available is the Wingnut Wings website. All the manuals for their kits are online and they show very well what a model should look like both inside and out, with many period photos and colour information that is better than other kit manufacturers efforts. Each type also has an archive of period photos attached. The instruction sheets can be downloaded as PDFs, and I'd suggest doing that because I don't expect they'll be there forever. There's a paucity of Italian and French types, but the more important British and German produced aircraft are catered for.

 

        I mention all that simply as something you may find worth doing once you get comfortable with the genre. There's a lot of variation between individual aircraft of a given type, often caught on photos, and with the best will in the world all kit manufacturers have been known to trip up occassionaly, some more than others.

 

Paul.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to the dark world of WWI aircraft modelling!

I can't help with kit recommendations as I only build in 1:72 but remember you won't improve if you don't challenge yourself. Start with something simple such as a Fokker Eindekker, Triplane, or D.VII which have minimal or basic rigging. The key areas are:

1) learning how to fit the upper wing

2) pre planning the rigging

3) pre painting everything 

My preferred method for rigging is to drill and thread, but you could use stretched sprue, wire, or other options. Try them and decide which suits you best. Drilling and threading will add structural strength but means you will have to leave one wing unfinished until the rigging is done. If you decide to drill and thread, use the thinnest monofilament you can find. Thicker thread will make fitting it harder and leave bends at the ends. You may also have to add decals before rigging if the rigging passes through them, such as on an Eindekker.

Different aircraft require different approaches.

If there is anything I can do to help, feel free to ask.

 

The main thing is, have fun!

 

Ian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to the wonders of WW1 aircraft Andy.

As a newbie myself all I can say is that all of the advice given so far makes good sense and is really all you need to get started. For what it's worth I started with a DR1 (Lots of nice schemes and the Eduard kits are well engineered so it's pretty solid once built) This only has a few rigging lines so you can get a bit of a feel of things. Since then I've added a couple of Nieuports again from Eduard so they go together well and have a few more lines of rigging.

 

If you've not got a copy then rush out and buy Dave Hooper's book 'Modelling WW1 German Aircraft' which is current, excellent value and well illustrated and will explain a lot of the techniques garnered fro years of experience - There's a build of the Eindekker as a beginners model in there as well which was one of your choices 🙂

 

Have fun and post some images as you go along - plenty of good advice and encouragement to be found here

 

Paul

 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Once again,thanks all for the advice and encouragement.

I've just ordered the Revell 1/48 Roland C II to add to my WW1 stash.

Made a start on the Eindekker yesterday after work, just sanding and cleaning up some of the cockpit and engine parts. 

Rigging does seem daunting but I do this hobby for relaxation rather than perfection so I'll not get to wound up about it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The rigging is just practice and pre-planning.

Here's where I was when I got back into the hobby

 

40928335215_0f111cd92b_c.jpg

 

and here's where I am now

 

50746883596_f7e08506ee_c.jpg

 

As I said, it's only practice and pre-planning, plus using the right materials. I use 0.06mm monofilament fishing line (1.5lbs test). For 1:48 you could go to 2lb test at 0.10mm quite easily.


Ian

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cheers, Ian, 

I'm a bit of a part time angler so have some line in the tackle shed. 

I did dig out some flourocarbon which has less 'memory' than mono, I'll see how that is to work with. 

That rigging on those aircraft is fantastic. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unless I missed it, nobody has recommended the Eduard Dr. I kits, which IMHO are very well engineered and feature a minimum amount of rigging. The Fokker streaked paint can be challenging, but not impossible; and there are (still?) decals available to replicate it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Seawinder said:

Unless I missed it, nobody has recommended the Eduard Dr. I kits, which IMHO are very well engineered and feature a minimum amount of rigging. The Fokker streaked paint can be challenging, but not impossible; and there are (still?) decals available to replicate it.

DaddyO did, 4 posts up from yours. Aviattic sell streaky camo decals in all major scales.

 

Paul.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Using 'invisible thread' (which is not invisible!) is my preferred method om 1/48 scale biplanes. I've also developed a method of aligning all the struts using a strip of clear plastic, All detailed here on an Eduard Bristol F.2B, one of the more complex subjects but still applicable to simpler ones.

 

Everyone else has also suggested good methods, just try a few and see which ones suit you best. Good luck!

 

Cheers

 

John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 weeks later...

Welcome Andy,

 

I am also a newbie to all this WW1. There are some true masters to learn from in these hallowed forums.

 

My own route lead me to some cheap kits I had built as a kid in the 60's-70's and had hanging from my ceiling.

Now retired and armed with my AMS, (Advanced Modelers Syndrome) I can take my masochistic building approach to new found heights.

 

Monogram DVII

thumbnail_(149).jpeg?width=undefined&hei

 

Monogram SE5a

(edited)_P1010007(6).png?width=undefined

 

Monogram Sopwith Camel.

P1010015_tQc3cEoCQtnsWzddzdFFhJ.jpg?widt

 

SMER Nieuport.

thumbnail_-_2022-10-31T134640.034.jpeg?w

 

The above are all repops of the old Aurora and Merit kits and can be found for a song on Evilbay. I have a stash of better kits awaiting my improved WW1 skills.

 

I use EZ-Line and stretch it into holes in wings painted but NOT drilled all the way through, much easier. The thought of painting the top wing AFTER the rest is already painted and rigged gives me chills and sweats......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

33 minutes ago, Allan31 said:

 The thought of painting the top wing AFTER the rest is already painted and rigged gives me chills and sweats......

 

Which is why I still use a brush where I can, or pre-sprayed decal film - which is a viable option in some cases where there are actual capping or access patches above the struts. Then again, that's for rigging with fishing line. I agree that with EZ line you can get away with blind holes, but I also build in 1/72nd and find it too thick in that scale (whereas I find Uschii elastic thread too hard to poke into holes, so in 1/72nd either use through the wing fishing thread or various forms of wire or stretched sprue, dependant on subject and my laziness level at the time).

 

Paul.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...