Max Immelmann's Fokker E.I 13/15 scratch 1/144

[Des]

Quite a project you have taken on Ondra but one I will be following closely, I have only ever built one 1:144 scale model and it was certainly a challenge.

Des.

[RAGIII]

Nice work on the wound wire for the cylinders! I am looking forward to your progress as always!
RAGIII

[Pgtaylorart]

Many thanks, Juans and Stephen!

How do you intend to mark off the crankcase so that you get the correct angle for each of the cylinders?

I am a very lazy person, actually, so I use a simple method. I make a table in Excel containing number one 7 times and then I make a graph of it.


Cheers

Ondra

That's not lazy, that's smart!

George

[ondra]

Thanks for following the build and for your support, Rick, Des and George!

As I was not satisfied with the previous result, I kept experimenting. This time I chose a steel wire 0,9 mm and to keep a better overview of the winding, I painted one of the two copper wires with red marker. To make winding more precise, I created this little jig:

IMG_1841 by Ondřej Mokrý, on Flickr

The result looks like this (sorry for the photo quality, was not able to make a better one). The problem is the copper wire has a strong tendency to "slide" over the steel wire, so not the whole length will be usable. The winding has been fixed with ultrathin CA, now the intention is to cast it in resin, which should be easier to cut. Hopefully I will be able to select some segments with satisfactory ribs.

IMG_1844 by Ondřej Mokrý, on Flickr

Cheers

Ondra

[RAGIII]

Amazing Ondra, but you are the King of Amazing Tiny Models!
RAGIII

[Borsos]

Some days ago I took a closer look at the VALOM 1/144 kits. And I do own some SRAM resin kits in 1/144. None of them reaches the level of your scratch builds. none.
Borsos

[ondra]

Thanks for your generous comments, Rick and Borsos, they are highly appreciated!

@Borsos: Well, in this respect scratchbuilding is actually advantegeous - while creating the parts and details, I do not have to limit myself thinking of how the parts will be reproducable in resin or styrene.

While waiting for the cast copies of the wound wire for the cylinder heads, I started working on further parts this weekend, I made the wings (I already drilled the holes for the brass pins and glued them in place, as I want to make the wing as thin as possible).

IMG_1845 by Ondřej Mokrý, on Flickr

And to have some fun, I started working on the machine gun, this is the first try. On the photos I noticed the misalignment of the barrel, fixed now.

IMG_1852 by Ondřej Mokrý, on Flickr
IMG_1854 by Ondřej Mokrý, on Flickr

Cheers

Ondra

[KiwiZac]

Ondra, your use of a pie graph to align the cylinders is a stroke of genius! I have a short-run modern subject with separate prop blades and hubs so this will be a major help!

The wing already looks gorgeous, I can't wait to see what you do next.

[RAGIII]

As always Ondra you are doing Magic!
RAGIII

[Manni]

  Wow! I will be watching with high interest.
Bye,
Manni

[ondra]

Many thanks for your support, KiwiZac, Rick and Manni!

As I am waiting for the cast cylinders, I decided to move on slightly with the tailplanes and the fuselage.

IMG_1856 by Ondřej Mokrý, on Flickr

The construction of the fuselage was giving me nightmares, as I had big difficulties to find out how to build it sturdy enough to avoid warping.

Eventually I took the "lazy man's solution" meaning the rear part will be solid to give proper support and sturdy base for the front part with cockpit.

If you are wondering about the stripe of white styrene in the longitudal axis, the explanation is simple - I made a sandwich of blue and white plastic, whereas the white plastic helps me keep symetry while sanding.

IMG_1859 by Ondřej Mokrý, on Flickr
IMG_1858 by Ondřej Mokrý, on Flickr
IMG_1861 by Ondřej Mokrý, on Flickr
IMG_1864 by Ondřej Mokrý, on Flickr

Cheers

Ondra

[KrzysiekK]

I am so impressed with this tiny work!
this little gun on your finger..I can hardly belive that it is what I am thinking of
regards
K

[Juan]

Amazing progress Ondra, you are the master of tiny scale.

[lone modeller]

Clever use of a solid lump of plastic for the fuselage - makes life so much more straightforward. The m/g is very impressive - just amazing what you do i this tiny scale.

Stephen.

[RAGIII]

Exceptional work Ondra!
RAGIII