Well... it's been a while, and while I haven't spent a lot of time on modelling, I still managed to get some of those little things done that finally seem to come together. Hopefully I'll be able to participate some more in here too, I had to dig the thread from page 3 so I have a lot of reading to do!
Little stuff:
Wheels (obviously), 2 flare guns modified from Roden Parebellum type MGs, probably wholly inaccurate, but both machines had them fitted on the top wing. I also made a mirror for the Albatros (not pictured), and the grey tube with rods will be an Oigee sight. The final little black thing that I hope is recognizable is the anemometer for the Fokker. It still needs to have the dial painted, but is so tiny it'll probably be easier to paint when it is attached!
This is how the Fokker currently looks. Not much different from before, but I added a host of small details, like fixing the radiator filler cap, replaced the broken control horns on the top wing (of course they're not aligned top to bottom... :-( ), added the forgotten tail skid, touched up the green where it had flaked off somewhat (due to the handling) with both carefully mixed paint and decals, and so on... When the paints and glue have dried I can slowly start thinking about final rigging and assembly.
(I really should have dusted the model off...)
Then there's troublesome Albatros. I finally fixed up the struts and managed to glue to top wing on. I'll spare the details and language, but it is on, and one of the cabane struts snapped out of it's locating hole, which I missed, so it's slightly crooked. Or, as Bo pointed out, it should be crooked, but on the right side is perfectly aligned now. I also managed to put a drop of CA glue straigt on the engine cowling panel :-( Just my luck with this model!
Before that, I fitted the new machine gun I got from Malaula (Mathias) and the panel that goes in between. I have also painted the access panels on the lower wing, and noticed that one of the aileron actuator arms is gone. I don't know how, since it's almost buried in the wing cutout, but it's gone nonetheless. Should be easy to fashion a new one, though.
Some detail painting and touch ups on the struts later, I got this on my bench:
Even though my perfectionist self doens't like the crooked strut, my other perfectionist half is happy that the wing now has the proper height as far as I can tell, and also sits square and straight. Sometimes it helps to think at how it looked first, with the too-high engine requiring surgery and the mess with the struts.
After a few weeks it's easy to forget that :-)
Anyway, rant over, I had fun doing the detailing stuff, feels nice to be able to move on instead of constantly needing to fiddle with unwilling stuff that only worsens the result. They'll never be IPMS contest winners, but I'm happy with them anyway. Comments and critique welcome!
Jeroen
