Seamus Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Evening all With the Harbin nearing completion, I thought I'd start my SCW build thread. As the title suggests, I'll be knocking together the Airfix HS 123 kit, in 1/72 of course. This subject matter is far from my comfort zone, and will also be the first bi-plane I've built 'properly' Nnot a bad little starter kit for it though as there is only minimal rigging, for which I will try my hand using some Aeroclub lycra thread, once I get my hands on some. On with the obligatories: Should be able to start cutting some plastic tomorrow evening. I do however have a question for the experts regarding the colour scheme. The instructions call out for the follwing: Underside- Hu 65 Light blue (should this be RLM 65?) Splinter camo- Hu- 31 Slate Grey (RLM 02?) Hu- 87 Steel Grey Hu 173 (is that even in production anymore?) I've put my own assumptions of some of the colours in brackets, but I'm only really guessing, so any input would be much appreciated Cheers Shaun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousFO98 Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Hi Shaun is a lovely little kit in my opinion fairly basic but iirc goes together well. need to check my refs for colours, but the RLM65 sounds right will get back asap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stebos Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Looks like a good pick for a 1st biplane. Seems nicely detailed on the sprues as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyverns4 Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Hi Shaun, IIRC the top surface is RLM 61, 62, 63. Undersurface RLM 65 HTH! Christian the Married Evening all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousFO98 Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Christian has nailed it Shaun! according to Urban's colour charts there are no Humbrol equivalents without mixing Tamiya seem to have the colours without mixing except RLM 61 which black is added there is a note suggesting that RLM63 = RLM 02 BTW urban's chart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 When I built my Do17 in early RLM colours, the Humbrol paints I used were: 86 Light Olive for the green 10 Service Brown for the brown 50/50 86 Light Olive and 90 beige Green for the grey 65 for 65! I don't keep large quanitities of Luftwaffe paint to hand but these seemed pretty close. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamus Posted April 3, 2009 Author Share Posted April 3, 2009 Thanks for the help guys Christian, that's spot on chap. Xtracolor do all the colours in their range, which is ideal, so hopefully I'll be able to bag me them at Cosford on Sunday. Some progress to report, and I began by assembling and painting the engine. I mixed a bit of silver into black for the basecoat, then gave it a light drybrushing with some silver just to bring out the detail. I then slapped a bit of paint on the inside of the fuselage and cowling (by hand for speed) before building up the fuselage and cleaning up the seams. There's not a great amount of detail in the office, but very little can be seen once it's closed up, so I'll leave it as is. Couldn't resist a quick dryfit of everything. There are a few areas that will need some attention, but nothing too taxing I hope. The main area of concern will be getting the fit of the struts and upper wing perfect so that I can pop them on after painting, could be a bit tricky Should get the bulk of the construction done fairly soon so there'll be an update in due course Comments welcome Cheers Shaun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Takamota Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 Little bit different from your norm Shaun. Sure you'll cope though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamus Posted April 6, 2009 Author Share Posted April 6, 2009 Cheers Tom, she's a little bit different, but so far so good, I think More progress, and the construction has been completed. Most joins needed a touch of filler, but they've been sanded back, so she's pretty much ready for paint. I'm still not overly happy with the join between the forward upper nose section, so will probaby do some more sanding here. Annoyingly, I seem to have misplaced the windshield, so once I find it, I'll mask it, and the cockpit, before whipping out the airbrush. I stocked up on the correct RLM paint at Cosford so she's good to go As always, comments welcomed Cheers Shaun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blimp Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 certainly getting there shaun , how about the engine / cowling ? - three bracing rods are very noticable on the real thing . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perry Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 Starting to look a lovely little build Shaun and I'm sure you'll cope with fitting the top wing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousFO98 Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 sweet looking bird Shaun! the speed you get thing done i expect to see this one finished by tea time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamus Posted April 8, 2009 Author Share Posted April 8, 2009 Thanks very much guys certainly getting there shaun , how about the engine / cowling ? - three bracing rods are very noticable on the real thing . You mean the rods shown on the box art, but not supplied in the kit? Thanks for flagging them up, I've now stretched some sprue and glued them in place. I've also made a bash at the rigging. I used nylon fishing wire, which has been superglued in place, then held over a heat source (the cooker!) to allow the nylon to stretch tight. This has only partially worked, so I may have to repeat this a few times, though I don't want to run the risk of over doing it (which just after writing this I've done ) Before I buggered it up, I was relatively happy with it for a first attempt, though I must say I've not overly enjoyed doing this. Think I'll stick to monoplanes I'm really struggling to find the windshield, despite sticking it inside a sticky label. I fear it may have been hoovered up Still, I'll crack on with the build, hopefully it'll turn up when I'm not looking for it Comments welcomed as ever Cheers Shaun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blimp Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 sorry to hear about the rigging shaun , i never liked the idea of using fishing line , all that pre-stretching et al . i stick to the 'ol stretched sprue . (old school , me ) as for the windshield , cut a new one from some clear packaging ! it'll b much better than the kit item anyway . tip - to tension loose rigging , heat a wooden handled screwdriver , or similar , and hold near the piece that's slack . (not too hot or close ) and watch it ' ping ' taut ! easy peasy . or try lycra . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeew Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Neat work so far Shaun . This is one of my favourite looking aerolpanes. Lovely piece of machinery. Here is my 1/48 Revell Hs123 from a couple of years ago for some (hopefully) inspiration to you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Touvdal Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 Nice to se an old Airfix set, still can be turned into something nice. For tightning of the fishing line, heat a metal objekt, old tweezer or simular over a candel, when hot hold it close to the fishing line and it will tighten, that what i normaly do. cheers Jes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamus Posted April 14, 2009 Author Share Posted April 14, 2009 (edited) Thanks again for the tips and suggestions guys, I think I've cracked it now once the upper wing is on, the rigging wires should be nice and taught. Mike, lovely build as ever matey, certainly sets the bar I've been plugging away with the Henschel over the last few days and have got the paintwork done. I've used Xtracolor for all colours except the white, which was Humbrol, and due to the long drying times, I've not been able to spray her up as quickly as I'd have liked. Still, here's where she's at now. The colours look a bit 'full' in the pics, but they're somewhat softer to the naked eye. They should tone down quite nicely once the matt coat is on too. There's a few areas that will require a touch up, but overall I'm fairly happy with it- certainly had fun masking what has been my first proper attempt at a splinter scheme Hope to get the touch ups sprayed tomorrow, then it'll be onto the minimal ammount of decalling Comments welcomed as ever Cheers Shaun Edited April 14, 2009 by Seamus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Ogilvie Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Looking good Shaun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamus Posted April 16, 2009 Author Share Posted April 16, 2009 Thanks very much chap More progress and the decals are on- all 10 of them I've also sprayed some light exhaust staining and attempted to lightly weather her with some oil paints, though this still requires some work. Nearly there now, just a bit more weathering before matt coating and final asembly Thanks for looking, comments welcomed as always Cheers Shaun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blimp Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 it's gonna be one nice 'angelito' shaun p.s. - before you glue the top wing on ! - photo's show the cabane struts were camo'd for the first 6" or so at the bottom . rivet , rivet ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousFO98 Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Hi Shaun looking good is fun masking splinter patterns isn't it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Touvdal Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 Nice progress cheers Jes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamus Posted April 17, 2009 Author Share Posted April 17, 2009 Thanks very much chaps Well, she's now complete. I sprayed the matt coat early this evening before completing the assembly. The windshield has been scratched from acetate (just noticed the frames need painting ) and, despite being dipped in klear, has fogged a bit due to the CA.....ho hum. The aerial lines were added from fishing line, but annoyingly the longer of the two has bent the aerial atop the wing when I tightened it, something I'll have to fix Here's a quick pic of the finished article. I notice there isn't a gallery, so I'll pop a bunch more into an RFI thread for critique. Many thanks to all those who posted kind words and encouragement during the build, much appreciated Special thanks goes to the two Pauls for running this excellent GB and presenting the opportunity to build something a little bit different Cheers Shaun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blimp Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 the first one of the gb done , great guns shaun ! you've taken an old classic and done a stirling job of it . anything else up your sleeve ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousFO98 Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 Well done Shaun apologies to all for being slow off the mark- no excuses - i know how quickly this guy finishes kits! have now created a gallery for finished GB piccies great little debut build for the GB nice one Shaun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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