The Fokker DrI, the red paint, and the rabbit hole...

[ProfSparks]

Hi All

 

I realize I haven't posted anything for a while, and that's mostly due to not being enthused by anything in my stash.

I'd get a box out, bring it into The Lab, look at it gloomily, then put it back.

 

However, while looking at schemes for the Meng Dr1, I stumbled into quite a few 'discussions' about the overall colour scheme (particularly this one from The Aerodrome https://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25896, all 38 pages of it...!) and I was hooked.

 

 

My take-away is that you can paint it how you want and no-one can prove that it's wrong.

 

So.

 

There are many online reviews and builds so I won't go into specifics, suffice to say that my cockpit coaming was broken

 

My wings were bent with a tricky leading edge seam

 

Some obvious ejector pins

 

And less than stellar moulding

 

The kit is a most odd mix of lovely detail

 

And missed opportunity (sidewall could have had separate parts for controls?)

 

But it could probably be summed up simply with this

 

Has the feel of a Roden kit in need of an Eduard BigEd etch set.

 

Anyhoo, it's not like I'm going to screw up genuine Wingnut Wings offering, so onward.

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve

 

Edited February 19 by ProfSparks

[psdavidson]

I'll be in the lurky corner

 

/P

[ProfSparks]

Hi All

 

On 1/27/2024 at 5:11 PM, psdavidson said:

I'll be in the lurky corner

 

/P

My favorite place too

 

I've made a start on the internals, just dry fitted at the moment

 

It's a bit slow going as EVERY part has a seam line, and most have to be shaved to fit snugly

 

I've opened up the hole in the backing cloth and drilled 0,3mm holes in the control rods as I fancy doing some internal rigging.

As you can see in the above pic there are already locating loops in the corners for cross bracing 👍

 

 

More scraping, drilling and dry fitting soon.

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve

 

[ProfSparks]

Hi All

 

After a couple of hours session of writhing in monocular visioned angst marveling at Albion Alloys 0,3mm ID Brass Tube I had some cross bracing

 

Don't talk to me about taking the line back through for a double run.

 

Just.

 

Don't.

 

Also, the Port sidewall still irked me so I replaced some parts with wire

 

And the "plywood" was started with an unlikely candidate and the worst brush I could find

 

The harness was Tamiya Brown Panel Liner dabbed over.

 

And that's about it so far.

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve

 

[GREG DESTEC]

Great work so far. Anyone who can rig biplanes has my admiration. I had no clue there is internal rigging as well! 

 

Looking forward to more progress.

 

Cheers Greg 👍

[corsaircorp]

Impressive detailling Steve !!

Congrats !!

Sincerely.

CC

[ProfSparks]

Hi All

 

Harness located and secured

 

 

Actual seat not fixed yes as there's some lateral leeway. I'll save it for when the sides are set.

 

So far it's all gone together quite well, plenty of sturdy locating lugs. Just dry fitted to assess the dry fit...

 

 

 

A couple of narks with parts, but more of that later.

 

Anyhoo, the engine is simple enough

 

 

Ignition wiring added from a phone charger cable, but probably won't be that obvious eventually.

 

Hey Ho.

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve

 

[GREG DESTEC]

Very nice work. I love the look you have achieved with engine. A lifesize object in the photos would serve well to provide a sense of scale. 

Well done 👍

[ProfSparks]

 

On 2/3/2024 at 12:58 PM, GREG DESTEC said:

Very nice work. I love the look you have achieved with engine. A lifesize object in the photos would serve well to provide a sense of scale. 

Well done 👍

Something like this?

 

I've added cables to the rudder pedals and control column

 

 

 

Although, again, probably not much will be seen once the sides are nailed on

 

 

There are a couple of holes to drill for the rear grab handles, then it'll be closure time.

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve

 

[GREG DESTEC]

Again, great detailing added to an already detailed kit. The tamiya bottle does provide perspective with the engine looking bigger than I imagined. 

 

Lovely work. Looking forward to the next update.

 

Cheers Greg 

[ProfSparks]

Hi All

 

On 2/5/2024 at 4:03 PM, GREG DESTEC said:

... the engine looking bigger than I imagined.

Hi Greg, as there are so many great modellers on here making teeny tiny things look bigger and easier than they actually are, I thought I'd redress the balance by making something of a decent size look smaller and harder than it is

 

Anyhoo, some holes for the control cables to be drilled in the tail end to account for the pre production F1 vs Dr1

 

The lifting handle (beside the large pin mark) is in a slightly different position for the Dr1, but not enough to worry me.

 

The re-enforcing loops where the cables exit are supplied as PE and will be added when the tail plane is located, just to get the angles right

 

And so the body halves can be joined together.

I did the top seam first as I'd read there were some difficulties with getting the oversized underside stitching in place

 

The final finish was pleasingly smooth after some work with various Flory sanding sponges

 

I then attended to the lower seam.

This didn't go quite as well.

I followed (crashed around) in the footsteps of others, and safe to say the result will probably never be posted publicly.

 

However, here is that pic of the top seam again

 

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve

 

[GREG DESTEC]

All looks good to me. Seams always present a challenge but your top one at least looks flawless. 

 

Keep up the good work. 👍

[ProfSparks]

Hi All

 

The moulded side surrounds match well with the underwing locations

 

However, the upper ones are quite a way rearward (lower pin at trailing edge point, upper pin at leading edge point)

 

This meant drilling quite a steep angle between top and bottom to allow the cable to pas cleanly through

 

You'll notice I knocked off the control horn while drilling, and then there's this...

 

So anyway, I'll put id down for a little while before I redrill the hole somewhere else.

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve

 

[ProfSparks]

Hi All

 

Lust popping in to update you on the Lab results regarding drilling out the cable pass-throughs on the tailplane.

 

Don't bother, four short lengths of line will be fine and save you reaching for your Profanisaurus.

 

Anyhoo, just to prove that I haven't launched her against the wall (yet), here she is dry fitted

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve

 

[ProfSparks]

Hi All

 

Spurred on by the progress of @Anders E I attempted the guns.

 

To make a short story shorter, the first PE jacket turned out fine, but the other one didn't.

 

Taking the advice of Kenny Rogers I put the front PE pieces on the solid parts and am at peace with that

 

I thought about drilling out the ends, but even as I thought about it the ends bent themselves and threatened to snap off, so I didn't.

 

The rear fuselage cable exits and forward inspection plates were added with a couple of drops of Pledge

 

(There's an odd smooth patch and hole on the Port Side, is that one of the many Elephants in this Meng room?)

 

I put her wings in with the washing-up and manipulated them straight(ish), and that's nearly about it before paint!

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve

 

[javlin]

4 hours ago, ProfSparks said:

There's an odd smooth patch and hole on the Port Side,

I leave it looks like it was intentional Nice looking kit though I have thought several times of picking one up.....you pushed me next time on sale I am getting one.

Edited March 2 by javlin

[GREG DESTEC]

Nice work on the machine guns which are looking good under paint. Looking forward to the next update. 

 

Cheers Greg 👍

[gingerbob]

On 2/5/2024 at 10:45 AM, ProfSparks said:

Something like this?

 

 

That must be an enormous bottle of Extra Thin! 

 

I finally broke down and bought myself a 1/48 Eduard Dr.I, but I'm probably going to (assuming I ever even get that far) paint it as "my" Flugzeug.  Probably no red- there are enough of those!

 

Love what you've done so far,

 

bob

[ProfSparks]

Hi All

 

Spot the difference?

(No prizes, just taking the easy way out...)

 

Anyhoo, been on a bit of a Rabbit hunt for the Red.

Depending on when and how you choose to depict, there are a couple of ways you could go with the scheme.

I didn't want the 'cartoon' red, nor did I want too dark and orange/brownish, and it had to come from my limited selection of Vallejo/Tamiya shades.

 

After some mules were sacrificed I decided on a base of Vallejo Game Extra Opaque 72.141 Rojo Denso Heavy Red with a thinned layer of 71.003 Red RLM23.

 

The Rojo Denso (love that name, could be one of my mates from school) is quite pinkish/plumby

 

So the RLM23 helps to yellow it out a bit without being too bright.

 

As usual, the final effect was slightly similar to the test pieces without being exactly what I was after

And obviously the pic is not representative. The XF-1 XF-2 and XF-7 are there as colour references should you be so inclined.

 

She's had a coat of Pledge to lessen the impact of my fumbling, hoping the Matt coat will bring her back into line, but if you half close your eyes and squint at her in a dimly lit room, she's actually quite close to the colour you think.

 

Decals next...

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

Cheers

Steve

 

[ProfSparks]

Hi All

 

Decals not quite next, but first the joining of the middle wing with the fuselage.

 

Several events took place, starting with:-

 

a) clamping of said middle wing to said fuselage resulting in a slight twist to the upper deck.

 

This was rectified by taking off mid wing and re-seating (and in the process snapping off the already broken cockpit side, and also the cockpit framing that supports the guns...)

 

Cockpit side located first, then wings.

 

Gun framing dropped into the nose of the cockpit and I feared we had parted ways forever.

 

However, I later found it amongst some paint bottles.

 

Reunited with their motherpart at a later date, let us continue

 

b) decals duly applied, and although thin and pliable, and applications of Micro Sol initially conformed them to the surface, they were stubbornly doing their own thing.

 

 

Not to worry, close enough.

 

Here's where the build transforms from irksome to tiresome.

 

b) while fitting the lower wing a strut snapped.

 

It's the only bent one in the kit, have I been unlucky with a deformed part?

 

Glued and disguised.

 

Moving on.

 

And another thing

 

Prop has separate boss making it easier to paint, but only on the rear where it attaches to the engine; wheels have separate inserts for the outer, but detail is on inner?

 

Regardless of all that, and with a falling interest in rabbit holes (including the failed application of wood grain on the prop), I pressed on and put all her parts together.

 

Finished as far as I am concerned

 

 

 

 

 

All in all a decent Curates Egg of a kit, curdled by pilot ineptitude.

 

Still, a good trial of "The Red" if I was ever to build another one.

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve

 

[Klaasdebouwer]

Interesting build. I am a bit surprised seeing damaged parts and what seems to be quite the seamline at the leading edge of one of the wings emerging from the box. I know Meng as one of the better manufacturers. But, you managed to make it all look very easy. I'd say, it's a Fokker Dr1. And that paint scheme just has to be right. 

 

Well done.