Ahem! Jumping the gun with a DH5

[DaddyO]

Well we got there eventually 😎

 

The Roden roundels unfortunately didn't want to stick around the angles of the fuselage (seemed okay on the flat/slightly curved surface though) Rather than try anything too drastic I removed them and resorted to the back up of plan B (plan BB ? Plan C?) Anyway I bought a set of Printscale marking for a camel which performed beautifully as expected (I've used these decals before and never had an issue with them)

 

The stripe is from an old Microscale set of stripes which was nearly the correct width and a quick bit of scalpel work soon sorted it out 🙂

 

That left the 'E's to make up. Nothing suitable in the spares box and I didn't fancy making them from pieces of white strip so I found a suitable typeface and scaled from the photo's in the Datafile printed off a few onto paper. These were then used as patterns to cut them out by hand. The big one on the top of the wing was okay, but the two on the fuz are only 7 1/2mm high so were a little more challenging.

 

Serials on the rudder are jig sawed together from the KP kit decals and needed a swift coat of varnish on top as soon as they had dried since they were already starting to lift!

 

My cunning plan was to matt coat everything apart from the top and bottom wing at this point, build and rig, then apply the wing roundels and apply a matt coat to those surfaces before weathering with oil paints. Sadly I've now ran out of Dullcoat and W&N Galleria doesn't appreciate me scrubbing oil paints onto it very much (Apparently white spirit can be used to remove it)

 

Any suggestions for an alternative to Dullcoat? I'd prefer a rattle can for convenience, but could airbrush if needed

 

 

 

[2996 Victor]

Nice work on the markings - those "E"s look perfect to me - and well done on the rudder serials (I think I might invest in some Printscale decals before I build my DH5).

 

For a flat lacquer, I tend to use Tamiya Flat Clear TS-80 which gives a nice even, very slightly eggshell, finish from the rattle can. Its acrylic, of course. I've no idea how it would react to your existing paint.....

 

Cheers,

Mark

[DaddyO]

25 minutes ago, 2996 Victor said:

Nice work on the markings - those "E"s look perfect to me - and well done on the rudder serials (I think I might invest in some Printscale decals before I build my DH5).

 

For a flat lacquer, I tend to use Tamiya Flat Clear TS-80 which gives a nice even, very slightly eggshell, finish from the rattle can. Its acrylic, of course. I've no idea how it would react to your existing paint.....

 

Cheers,

Mark

Thanks Mark

 

I'm no expert in such things only having the pair of Neiuport 17's and the Dr1 as experience previously, but they all used Print scale decals and all went down really well despite my ham-fistedness and look okay so I'd definitely recommend them (I've also built the V4, but no decals needed for that because it was a prototype) 😉

I've just tested the Galleria and it dries to a nice matt finish (possibly a bit too matt depending on your tastes) I'll leave it to harden off before adding any weathering which I prefer oils for generally, but I may have to stick with water based paints for this one. I suppose the alternative is to weather the components at this stage before adding the varnish coats. I'll certainly get hold of the Tamiya clear and do a few tests to see how that goes.👍

 

Cheers

Paul

 

ps - Just remembered I've got some alkyd paints somewhere which are marketed as 'water based oil paints' so maybe I'll have to dig them out as well . . . .

 

pps - Be glad once I've sorted out the paint/varnish/weathering combo since my poor old heart can't take all this jeopardy with the risks of damaging more and more work with each successive process 😅 

[DaddyO]

Right having got the Eindekker finished at last it was time to concentrate on this little bugger again 🤨

 

First up I decided to build a small jig to get everything squared up and sitting right. This ones from foamboard and I cut the notches for the wings the wrong way because of the backward stagger, but it still wriggles in and out okay. I decided to fit the main struts first and spring in the smaller interplane ones afterwards rather than the other way around which is more usual because it seemed easier. Everything worked okay and it now needs touching up ready for rigging, final decals, details etc etc (I did remember to add the ammunition feed box which is carved from a scrap of sprue before fitting the top wing which saved some frustrating moments I suspect

 

[RichieW]

Nice bit of jiggery there DaddyO. I may be stealing that idea for future use.

 

Richie

[DaddyO]

24 minutes ago, RichieW said:

Nice bit of jiggery there DaddyO. I may be stealing that idea for future use.

 

Richie

Seemed to work okay for the initial stuff Ritchie, but won't be much use for the rigging side of things. Luckily the brass struts mean everything is pretty solid for when I dangle weights off the monofilament 😉 (and I can always pop it back on to check I've not twisted stuff too far from square)

 

Paul

[bigbadbadge]

That is a cracking idea for a jig , absolutely awesome. Great work and on the DH5 too.  Looks lovely, those Es look fantastic.   I remember having a similar issue with the old Roden decals.

Great work

Chris

[DaddyO]

16 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said:

That is a cracking idea for a jig , absolutely awesome. Great work and on the DH5 too.  Looks lovely, those Es look fantastic.   I remember having a similar issue with the old Roden decals.

Great work

Chris

Thanks Chris - appreciate it 😀

[DaddyO]

Thought I'd better bring folks up to date with this one after several hiccups 🥴

 

First up the interplane struts. 

These fitted fine and looked tickity boo apart from one which looked a tad short. Would it be noticeable? Perhaps not, but once spotted I couldn't leave it be so it was carefully removed and the strut lengthened (by less than 1/2mm) with some magic sculpt. re-sanded to shape to blend it in and then re-primed, undercoated and top coated with oil paint again. Being so small it was held during all of this in the end of a pair of self closing tweezers and safely put on the window ledge to dry for a few days. The day came to re-fit it and I carefully picked up the tweezers to hear the ping/click as it shot off somewhere 😭

 

I won't bore you with the frantic search to find it, or the ensuing chaos that occurred when I dropped something I'd moved out of the way into a stack of vinyl tubes needed an uprooting of all the many rolls kept for my day job in the modelling room to find it again. Nor will I mention searching on my hands and knees, carefully wiping up the dust and forgotten items on the floor, putting away everything that was on my table etc, etc, etc. . . .

 

I eventually found the little bugger after about 45 minutes of searching stuck to a cardboard box lid with static electricity👏

 

Once that was safely glued in position rigging commenced using 1lb monofilament. Here's a pic of my high tech tensioning jig in action

 

 

Undercarriage was a bit of a pain (I used the kit parts rather than my preferred brass) Bloody thing kept popping off and needed 3 attempts to get it in place and square. Memo to self - brass pegs mean that once in place you are not just relying on a glue joint to hold it together)

 

Working slowly a few lines at a time over several days this was completed without too much drama (apart from the doubled flying wires the technique for which took a while to sort out, but we got there in the end.

 

Model is currently sitting on the bench with holes filled and paint being touched up ready for the next exciting instalment (Double flying wires are just about visible if you really squint hard)

 

Edited March 4, 2023 by DaddyO
missed comment

[bigbadbadge]

Great job, you have certainly gone through some trials and tribulations there, but it is certainly looking good.

Chris

[RichieW]

I imagine there may have been a little fruity language filling the air when the strut went ping! There's not a modeller alive who can't identify with that situation. Well done for pressing on with the search and getting it safely glued in place. The rigging all looks nice and taught, and I can just about make see the double flying wired. Hope the next installment is more trouble free!

 

Richie

[DaddyO]

1 hour ago, bigbadbadge said:

Great job, you have certainly gone through some trials and tribulations there, but it is certainly looking good.

Chris

Cheers Chris

As a relative newbie at this m'larky I'm still at the discovering new ways to take two steps backwards 🤣

 

25 minutes ago, RichieW said:

I imagine there may have been a little fruity language filling the air when the strut went ping! There's not a modeller alive who can't identify with that situation. Well done for pressing on with the search and getting it safely glued in place. The rigging all looks nice and taught, and I can just about make see the double flying wired. Hope the next installment is more trouble free!

 

Richie

 

Ah yes there were a few choice phrases uttered, but you have to laugh at these things or you'd go mad . . . . 👍

 

I think next time I'd use thicker line instead of the fiddle of putting two in the same hole and trying to stop them twisting together; much less stressful.

[Big Dave S]

It looks grand thus far.

Biplanes scare the BeJesus out of me.

After fudging my way through a DH2 in this scale I told my wife to remind me never to try another.

Even though they're usually gorgeous machines.

[RichieW]

1 hour ago, Big Dave S said:

It looks grand thus far.

Biplanes scare the BeJesus out of me.

After fudging my way through a DH2 in this scale I told my wife to remind me never to try another.

Even though they're usually gorgeous machines.

Biplanes are indeed gorgeous machines from the dawn of the age of flight. If you got through a DH2 you can build anything from that era. Go on, try another. The Sopwith Tripe has far less rigging than the DH2, the Fokker Triplane even less. 

 

Apologies for the slight thread hijack DaddyO. We can't have folks scared of rigging the beautiful aircraft that have spare wings!

 

Richie

[Brandy]

10 hours ago, DaddyO said:

 

I think next time I'd use thicker line instead of the fiddle of putting two in the same hole and trying to stop them twisting together; much less stressful.

The problem with thicker line is that you can't get a tight angle at the end, you will be left with a slight curve to the line where it enters the wing. For flying wires I simply drill two holes.

 

She's looking great, and glad to see you found the strut.

 

Ian

[DaddyO]

9 hours ago, Big Dave S said:

It looks grand thus far.

Biplanes scare the BeJesus out of me.

After fudging my way through a DH2 in this scale I told my wife to remind me never to try another.

Even though they're usually gorgeous machines.

 

Thanks Dave. 

Top man for starting with a DH2!!😎👏 I can't think of many that are trickier to build and rig. Do try another one .

 

For comparison I started with an Eduard Fokker Tripe (Virtually no rigging and lots of colourful versions to choose from) Next up were a couple of Eduard Nieuport 17's (Bit more involved with the rigging, but pretty simple to understand and do) The recently completed Eindekker is fragile, but really it was simple to rig with only a couple of continues lines if planned carefully)

 

I've already got a couple of simpler WW1 designs on the bench which should be easier now that I've got an idea of the painting processes 👍

 

7 hours ago, RichieW said:

Biplanes are indeed gorgeous machines from the dawn of the age of flight. If you got through a DH2 you can build anything from that era. Go on, try another. The Sopwith Tripe has far less rigging than the DH2, the Fokker Triplane even less. 

 

Apologies for the slight thread hijack DaddyO. We can't have folks scared of rigging the beautiful aircraft that have spare wings!

 

Richie

 

Hijack away Ritchie - They're so satisfying when they are completed and really not that hard to do (I rather make life difficult for myself by making struts and learning the ropes as a I go along, but a more experienced modeller would stride through building one without the constant need to try things out and test ideas before committing to the model) 😀

 

47 minutes ago, Brandy said:

The problem with thicker line is that you can't get a tight angle at the end, you will be left with a slight curve to the line where it enters the wing. For flying wires I simply drill two holes.

 

She's looking great, and glad to see you found the strut.

 

Ian

 

Absolutely right Ian - It's a small but noticeable curve that irritates (I picked up the wrong line when rigging one of the Nieuports and the difference in thickness is really only apparent by looking at how the line enters the wing surfaces; one has that slight curve on every line . . . .🤨)

[Big Dave S]

Thanks Gents 

The approach to building the DH2 was one of: this is for fun and it'll turn out how it turns out. It also happens to be one of my absolute favourite planes.

 

 

As you can see, the rigging didn't quite get finished (nylon thread) because I'd really had enough by this point.

I think the kit was Revell and cost £2.99, so whilst basic it was too good to miss.

Anyway, this has maybe interrupted your WIP long enough so I'll say thank you for the suggestions (which I'll bear in mind (Tripehound? Really??)) and get back to the Buccaneer.

DH5 is looking really nice thus far.

Cheers

DS

[DaddyO]

Haha just when you thought this thread was dead along comes another post 😁

 

Apologies for the lack of updates since the last one, but I'm pleased to announce this one as completed now. (I had a couple of issues with the decals; entirely of my own making. I decided to slit them to fit around the ailerons and of course cut them in wrong place 😪 Decided it wasn't worth spoiling the ship etc. so I ordered another set of Camel decals for just the wing roundels (Looks like there'll be several of Sopwith's finest appearing in my future . . . . .)

 

Anyway got it all finished up and added final details and weathering with oil paints so now it's all based up and ready to go on display at Yeovil next weekend (I'll be on the WW1 SIG stand with this and few others if anyone is going stop by and say hello)

 

Thanks for the support and encouragement folks. Without further delay here are a few pictures of the finished beasty

Cheers

Paul

 

[Brandy]

She's turned out very nicely!

I thought about doing my Pegasus one for the DH GB but have opted instead for the Blue Rider DH9 conversion of the Airfix DH4. I may also throw in a Pegasus DH4 as a US machine with Liberty engine....

Shame I can't get to the UK shows, one of the disadvantages of being an expat!

 

Ian 

[DaddyO]

Thanks Ian 👍

 

I'm sure there are advantages to being an expat though . . . .

Having bumbled my way through this one I'd rather have put the effort into a Pegasus model I think 😉 So much so that I bought an old Pegasus Roland DII even though I'd put a lot of work into the KP version simply because it has sharper detail on the fuz and the wings are much better than the KP ones. Look forward to seeing how the Br conversion on the DH4 turns out. 

 

Paul

[RichieW]

Bravo! That's worked out beautifully in the end. Definitely well worth getting an extra decal set for. I'm looking forward to seeing some Camels or perhaps a Pup or two now!

 

Richie

[DaddyO]

55 minutes ago, RichieW said:

Bravo! That's worked out beautifully in the end. Definitely well worth getting an extra decal set for. I'm looking forward to seeing some Camels or perhaps a Pup or two now!

 

Richie

Couple of German ones planned first Ritchie after that who knows. . . .(Okay I've already sorted out a couple of Camels, but haven't yet decided between a twin seat trainer and the comic version) 🙃

 

Paul

[bigbadbadge]

Looks great, turned out very well indeed.  Great work.

Chris

[DaddyO]

39 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said:

Looks great, turned out very well indeed.  Great work.

Chris

 

Thanks Chris 👍

 

(One thing I have noticed is how the PC10 shows up every speck of dust 🙄)

[AdrianMF]

Gorgeous result. And the base really adds to it.

The PC10 looks spot on to me. The AK stuff is definitely too green for my taste - I used it as-is on a Sopwith Swallow in a Blitzbuild, but the next usage saw a load of red being added to brown it up.

 

Regards,

Adrian