forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com
WW1 Aircraft Modeling => Under Construction => Topic started by: SimonK on June 07, 2021, 12:04:24 PM
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The Postie brought my packages of the Eduard 1/72 Fokker and Albatros kits: all 19 of them, think I overdid it. Supposed to be reducing the stash not growing it.... but there's something about all those crazy colorful paint schemes that cry out.
First off I choose one of the weekend edition D.VII (OAW) kits just to get going and this being my first D.VII build, I want to see what sort of process I should follow before doing the Profikits. Here's the boxart.
(http://www.stratisonics.net/72scale/2021/DVIIBlume/IMG_8214.jpg)
Number 1 is a kite flown by Blume:
(http://www.stratisonics.net/72scale/2021/DVIIBlume/IMG_8215.jpg)
Thoughts so far are what a wonderful little kit, packed full of detail for this scale, comes with extensive decal sheets and very nice faded lozenge decals that so far have caused me no hassle. So over the past 2 days the interior has been done, the top wings decaled, and most of the schemes white parts painted so. Since the exposed engine has a tricky form to mask, I decided to spray the black and white layers over the nose/metal casing area prior to assembling the fuselage with the engine. When it comes to painting the rest of the airframe (there is gonna be some filler on my nose belly and behind the cockpit) I can easily just place too large pieces of masking on the engine area.
One item oddly missing from the cockpit is the altimeter; the other instruments (and decal dials) are provided.
Temp assembly so I could mark out and paint the black/white demarcation over the engine panels. Behind that and back to the cockpit is freehand airbrushed green/purple blotches. The kits IP decals are really nice. The wood effect is oil paint over acrylic.
(http://www.stratisonics.net/72scale/2021/DVIIBlume/IMG_8202.jpg)
(http://www.stratisonics.net/72scale/2021/DVIIBlume/IMG_8203.jpg)
Seatbelts are provided as decals which I don't care for but this is OOB. The seat cushion now needs a matt varnish
(http://www.stratisonics.net/72scale/2021/DVIIBlume/IMG_8204.jpg)
Overall interior setup sans machine guns and the cross bar & instrument dial... this has 1 instrument centered and should have an altimeter attached. The machine guns look OK for plastic.
(http://www.stratisonics.net/72scale/2021/DVIIBlume/IMG_8205.jpg)
(http://www.stratisonics.net/72scale/2021/DVIIBlume/IMG_8206.jpg)
(http://www.stratisonics.net/72scale/2021/DVIIBlume/IMG_8209.jpg)
And the engine more than adequate if you are modelling this with closed off panels. Some boxes I have come with the resin engines; they will be used for open panel options.
(http://www.stratisonics.net/72scale/2021/DVIIBlume/IMG_8210.jpg)
The "whatever its called" thingy between the wheels comes in 2 colors
(http://www.stratisonics.net/72scale/2021/DVIIBlume/IMG_8211.jpg)
And here the kits lozenge decals. Applied directly to bare plastic using "decal fixer" rather than applying a gloss coat. Seems to work well (at the moment!) Once dry there will be a need to apply some solvent along the edges and the wing tips.
(http://www.stratisonics.net/72scale/2021/DVIIBlume/IMG_8212.jpg)
(http://www.stratisonics.net/72scale/2021/DVIIBlume/IMG_8213.jpg)
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My head is hurting just contemplating such detail at that scale!
Superb work!
Cheers,
Hugh
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Good looking job :-)
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It looks like you got the cowling cover sorted out. The interior, MG's and details are looking great!
RAGIII
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Nice work so far on this little kite , nice work in the pit and getting the lozenge on the wings . :)
Alexis
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Ah, great!
I've just bought the very same kit so very interested to see how this one goes together
Good start, btw.
Regards
Dave
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Nice job Simon. It's a jewel of a kit to build. You shouldn't have any problems.
Stuart
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Looks really good, Simon. Very interesting scheme and great work on the interior.
Bye Manni
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Lovely detailed work going in to this 1/72 model. All looking very impressive!
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Looking great Simon! Nice to see you out and about over here in this neighborhood and glad you stepped into this establishment. I think you'll enjoy it here. :)
WD
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A tumultuous week finally saw the kit finished. Not to my best standard since there are a couple of faults that could be fixed if I had a mind to deal with sanding and repainting; one being a drop of CA fell onto the top of the fuselage after I'd done with painting.... the other really down to how I applied the decals; using Green Stuff's decal fixer a.k.a. white glue. I will NOT be using this again and will just varnish the surface instead. Darn stuff just DID NOT dry and caused a real nuisance adding subsequent decal layers. This stuff congeals into a thick muck in places, notably where decals overlap or there's a drastic change in shape.
After decals, there's a matt coat --- should I be using a satin coat on these aircraft? The fling control wires and rigging is .007' nitinol wire.
Anyway, it was a good test to see how to put it together and I can admit that my patience was tested only with the application of all those blasted rib tapes!
(http://www.stratisonics.net/72scale/2021/DVIIBlume/DSCF2337.jpg)
(http://www.stratisonics.net/72scale/2021/DVIIBlume/DSCF2338.jpg)
(http://www.stratisonics.net/72scale/2021/DVIIBlume/DSCF2339.jpg)
(http://www.stratisonics.net/72scale/2021/DVIIBlume/DSCF2340.jpg)
(http://www.stratisonics.net/72scale/2021/DVIIBlume/DSCF2344.jpg)
(http://www.stratisonics.net/72scale/2021/DVIIBlume/DSCF2346.jpg)
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Really nice job on Eduards kit Simon :)
Alexis
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You did well Simon, and great recovery on the oopsies and splooges sir. I hope to do as well when I tackle mine.
WD
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Problems aside, your model DVII still looks good, Simon.
How about the kit engineering - any build issues to report?
Regards
Dave
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I have enjoyed watching this one. More comments in the completed Models Thread!
RAGIII
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How about the kit engineering - any build issues to report?
...
Dave
The engineering is spot on with the following caveats;
- If you built this unpainted, you could slap it together in a couple hours and need no sanding or filler on any of the joints; it fits together that well and structurally solid as a rock, positive strut locations, it really is well crafted.
- Like other recent Eduard 1/72 kits (Spit, Fw190, Bf110, MiG21, F6F), the tolerance is tight, so excess paint needs to be scrapped away from joints and in general, from my experience, a sloppy approach to alignment or overuse of glue takes these kits into a spiral of problems down the line. Just my experience! I have made a real hash of all of these superb models until I learned to slow down and test fit regardless of how well they are engineering.
- Fitting the machine gun casing tubes, I just could not get the port one to fit without cutting off most of the stem. Would love to know how they fit the gun into position so that there is enough room! Not an issue with the starboard gun.
- The rib taping. I have seen that this was done in the field not just from the factory on a regular basis. I seem to remember that it was not a neat affair with some tape stopping at the leading edge, some over. So I did this too. I don't know if the longitudinal taping along the trailing edge should be right at the edge or inset. In either case, Eduard have these strips printed thin but the carrier film either side is huge! I cut some of this back. These decals are really really thin creating a headache positioning them before they stuck fast.
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Nice little kit and a great scheme. I like wings with half lozenge and half white.
18 more to go
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How about the kit engineering - any build issues to report?
Regards
Dave
Sorry for long delay posting reply, nope, it's easier than their Fokker Dr.1, a hell of a lot easier than their Albatros. Placing all the edged rib tape is tedious and it's not clear at all if that should be on the centerline of the leading edge (I assume it is), but where along the trailing edges?
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Great - thank you Simon
I will look forward to building this in the future in that case
Regards
Dave