Roden 1/32 Strutter, A1083 45 Squadron

[Davos522]

High nerdery indeed, but it's looking great. And at least this part will be clearly visible when the project gets done... 

Dutch

[Tim Mixon]

Excellent preparation for the Aviattic CDL. I’ve seen a few builds where the pre shading is way overdone and the decal doesn’t cover it well. Your attempt looks killer good though. Beautiful work on the interior. 
Hoping the DSPIAE mask circle cutter worked out as you expected. I’m always nervous about recommending products. Especially expensive ones!

Tim

[kensar]

Really nice work on the interior, Nigel.  I don't think anyone likes masking, but I consider it an art in itself.

[NigelR]

Thanks Dutch, Tim and Ken. I am making good progress, more photos soon.....

Hoping the DSPIAE mask circle cutter worked out as you expected. I’m always nervous about recommending products. Especially expensive ones!

It is brilliant! Took a little bit of working out but it cuts perfect circles easily. I used it on those roundel masks.

[DaveB]

Lovely progress on your Strutter, Nigel -

Good shading effects too.

Regards

Dave

[NigelR]

Well, after life throwing a few curve balls at me, I have made some progress on the Strutter. The fuselage is fully painted, glossed and ready for decalling:



I have several of the smaller components painted, decalled and ready to be fitted. I used a Vector resin Clerget as the the plastic one in the Roden kit had moulding flaws which made it unusable:



Here's the upper wing and stabilizer which are covered with Aviattic decals:





Hopefully the fuselage will be decalled by the end of the week.....

[DaddyO]

Coming along very nicely young fella  (Ready for the Poole show?)

P

[NigelR]

Coming along very nicely young fella  (Ready for the Poole show?)

Thanks! I'm hoping Yeovil, but definitely ready for Poole (he says hoping no more curve balls come his way.... )

[KiwiZac]

It's looking terrific Nigel! That engine is gorgeous.

I hope the other things you alluded to are not causing too much distress.

[Davos522]

Oh, dear, this one just keeps getting better and better... those wings are amazing. Can't wait to see how the fuselage comes out.

Dutch

[NigelR]

Thanks Dutch and Zac, it's going well so far.

I hope the other things you alluded to are not causing too much distress.

Thanks Zac, we are getting through them. I'm fine.

[FAf]

The decals look great on the model! These are large decals, how difficult are they to manoeuvre into place?
/F

[NigelR]

The decals look great on the model! These are large decals, how difficult are they to manoeuvre into place?
/F

They can be a bit challenging because they are thin and quite "sticky", so if you get one bit folded over it can be hard to fold it back. It's quite difficult to slide a large wing decal around, so you need to start off with one part well aligned. I usually pull about 1/2" of the leading edge off the backing paper, get  this aligned correctly on the wing and then gently slide the rest of the backing paper out (while holding the leading edge in place). The decals are very forgiving, so it's quite easy to adjust and stretch them to fit provided you get most of it in (about) the right place.

Like everything, a bit of practice and also planning helps - if you work out a sensible sequence of application it makes things easier.

[KiwiZac]

Thanks Zac, we are getting through them. I'm fine.

I'm glad to hear it. My PMs are always open if you need to chat

[NigelR]

OK, some more progress here, I am heading towards the finishing line. The fuselage is decalled and varnished, all the ancillary parts are assembled and painted, so it's on to final construction and rigging next.

Here's the fuselage with the Lewis temporarily in place:



Here's a closer shot of the Lewis gun. Not great photography but hopefully you can get a sense of the wonderful detail of the GasPatch gun included in the Aviattic bundle. I added some etched Scarff ring details from the HGW set.