forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com
WW1 Aircraft Modeling => Under Construction => Topic started by: Grant on February 20, 2022, 12:06:15 PM
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Starting my first build in almost 20 years, have a lot to relearn but looking forward to the challenge.
The first build for my workshop will be the new MENG Fokker DR1, which will representing the Red Barron's last aircraft, seemed like a good place to start.
(https://i.imgur.com/AZxG0dZl.jpg)
Picked up some study material and a few addons to play with, this should be a pretty fun build.
(https://i.imgur.com/WG69xlil.jpg)
I decided I wanted to enhance the canvas seat backing unit by adding actual lacing and brass tubing to it. I messed up the original kit piece, so I was forced to scratch build it, this was actual a lot of fun creating it. Here is the final result with the lacing and brass tubing added, turned out ok I guess, could have done better but need to hone my skills a bit. This was my first attempt at working with oil paints for adding depth and weathering, lots to learn in how to apply these oils so you can get that realistic effect that so many on here do to perfection.
(https://i.imgur.com/utHtvDAl.jpg)
Starting to work on the cockpit frames.
(https://i.imgur.com/d2XUfYyl.jpg)
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That's a great start Grant! Very well done. You have chosen a good kit to start off with and a very good reference. My one suggestion at this point would be to use a finer thread material next time. Awesome that you could scratch build another part this early in your hobby, your skills will build fast. Regards, Pete in RI
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I don't know what has happened to the photos but they all say unavailable in a black box?
RAGIII
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Once the photo situation is shorted , will be following alone Grant .
Alexis , fingers crossed !
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Hi Grant
Can you advise what the situation is re the missing photos? Is this just a glitch or have they been removed?
I'm sure many of us wanted to see how your Meng Dr.1 build goes so hopefully the absent images issue can be fixed soon.
cheers
Dave Wilson
Gold Coast
Australia
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Sorry about the missing photos, I some how deleted them but they are back up now.
Not sure what I did but I'm all squared now!
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Great to be able to see the Photos Grant! You have made an excellent beginning. I am looking forward to your progress as this is one of My favorite Aircraft and the kit is Excellent!
RAGIII
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Thank you RAGIII
The kit is very well done, hope to work on more this week.
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Europapete,
I decided to redo the lacing around the seat as I agree, the lacing is to thick. I used fishing line on my first attempt, is there a better material to us for this? Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Thanks!
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Europapete,
I decided to redo the lacing around the seat as I agree, the lacing is to thick. I used fishing line on my first attempt, is there a better material to us for this? Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Thanks!
Either thinner fishing line or, even better, heat stretched sprue. Hair from one of these cheap wigs also works...
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I've been looking into polyester threads as they come in many colors and thickness.
All give it a try and see how they work.
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I use polyester sewing thread for this kind of job. I dip it in watered down aliphatic glue to prevent it from fuzzing up and it holds its shape when dry.
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I use polyester sewing thread for this kind of job. I dip it in watered down aliphatic glue to prevent it from fuzzing up and it holds its shape when dry.
I remembered this method last night and it worked out good. Thank you for the information as that is exactly what I did. After 20 years away from the hobby there is a lot to relearn.
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Have not posted in sometime on my progress as I have been reading and practicing building techniques more then building!
I did finally manage to make some progress on the DR1 with cockpit detail, should pull this all together tomorrow night.
Once the cockpit is in place I will glue the fuselage together and then move onto the motor detail.
(https://i.imgur.com/cMm0JlNl.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/12XvtTBl.jpg)
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Sharp detail work!
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Very nice work Grant, I will be following with interest for my future build of this kit.
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What a comeback, your cockpit looks fantastic! Bravo Grant!
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Very nice work Grant, I will be following with interest for my future build of this kit.
Thanks Gutzer for following along, hopefully I can make some better progress moving forward without having to remake things 5 to 6 times due to goofs!
What a comeback, your cockpit looks fantastic! Bravo Grant!
KiwiZac - Thanks for making my day! Being out of the hobby for 20 years, its been a steep re-learning curve but man I'm really enjoying creating these again.
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The cockpit fit the fuselage with very little effort, feels good to finally get this into place.
I think all set this aside and start on the engine work and get it detailed. This has been a very nice kit to build so far, hope the rest goes together as nice.
Thanks for checking on my progress!
(https://i.imgur.com/OBe1IWal.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/2zUJAk7l.jpg)
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Looks excellent!
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Your interior looks awesome! You are progressing well. RAGIII
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KiwiZac - Thanks for making my day! Being out of the hobby for 20 years, its been a steep re-learning curve but man I'm really enjoying creating these again.
Your enthusiasm shows in your results, they're wonderful! More power to you :)
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Hey Grant, Hello from the great PNW!
I just want to you what a great job you're doing on that DR1. I'm going to build one myself so I'll be following along with great interest.
By the way, I have an extra set of brass landing gear and struts if you're interested. The weight of this beast warrants the extra help. I was going to scratch-built brass replacements, then I saw the commercial ones, so why bother.
harry
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Harry,
Great to hear from another modeler form the PNW, looks like your located in the Bremerton aera. I have several crews working at the shipyards and I'm out that way pretty often. I was just looking at the brass gear and struts the other day online and contemplating purchasing them, would be very interested in taking those off your hands if you want to sell the set.
The MENG-NUT DR1 has been a great kit to get back into hobby with, very well designed and a pleasure to construct.
Thank you for the compliment on the build so far, that's very kind of you. Let me know if you want to sell the brass sets, and we can either hookup out in Bremerton for coffee or you can mail them, whichever you're comfortable with, I'm good 👍
Grant
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Hey Grant.
I left Bremerton years ago, we're down in Grays Harbor County
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Ah, that's a little far ;)
Send me a PM on price for the brass sets and we can go from there if you still want to sell them, if not, no worries.
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Really nice work taking place here Grant , fab looking ! :)
Alexis
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Thank you Alexis!
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Just buttoned up the Oberursel URII motor for the triplane.
Now back to the fuselage and wings to get things ready for primer and paint.
I did pick up the Aviattic decal set for DR.1 425/17, think all give it the old college try applying these, they look great!
Any insight to the application would like to hear your experiences and results.
(https://i.imgur.com/gaYd893l.jpg)
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Hey Grant, your engine is a thing of beauty. I am not able to master those Aviattic decals, so good luck with those. BTW. I am offering the brass stuff as a gift.
Harry
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Wow Harry that's very kind of you, I would most gratefully appreciate those brass items!!!
All send you a PM with my address, that work for you?
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That engine looks fab! Keep rocking!
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Grant, yes.that works just fine
Harry
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PM sent Harry
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Looking great Grant, lovely work on the cockpit!
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Your engine is looking great! Your build is tempting Me to look for another Meng DR1 8)
RAGIII
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Thanks everyone for the kind words, been a blast to build.
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Grant, that engine is beautiful! Congratulations - it looks ready to be mounted on a test stand and run in!
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Harry,
Did you get my PM which has my mailing address?
Thanks again for the gift for my Fokker!
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Yes, Grant, 'just mailed it this morning. Retirement has slowed things down. I highly reccomend it to anyone who can afford it. Please enjoy the stuff. I'm looking forward to your progress on this one.
Harry
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WOW! I just re-read this. Are you doing the 1/32 scale Dr1? I am truly losing it here.
Harry
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Yes, 1/32 scale.
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Started working on away to paint on a fabric look instead of using decals. I was out in my shop a I remembered that I had some Sig Koverall fabric left from an RC build and thought, what if I spray through the fabric, would that leave a realistic look on the model?
The next issue was how to get the fabric shrunk tight and be able to hold onto the model for spraying. What I came up with is this setup. I made a balsa frame that I attached the Sig Koverall to using "Sig Stick it" this is a heat activated glue, that once dry you can apply heat with a model covering iron and it will bond the fabric to the balsa. Koverall is a fabric designed for covering scale radio control models and it is made out of the same material that full scale aircraft use but just in a miniature scale. Sig Koverall is pretty cheap at $6.84 for a 60" x 36" piece. Now that the fabric is attached to the frame work I will heat shrink it to a tight condition and this will open up the fabric just enough to allow paint to go through it.
The fabric is heated and shrunk to a tight condition, keeping the weave strait during this process is crucial, otherwise you will end up with the fabric running at angles on your model. As you can see the fabric is bending the balsa once it was shrunk. I will make a jig out of metal to prevent this from happening.
(https://i.imgur.com/tW1p6DKl.jpg)
This is a test piece of plastic painted red that is under the fabric. I will paint on various colors until I find one that looks real, I hope!
I tried multiple colors and achieved the best results with flat black.
(https://i.imgur.com/o6sQFMSl.jpg)
The fabric works pretty well leaving a nice fabric look on the plastic sheet.
I compared this to my Aviattic fabric decal set, looks pretty darn close to the decals. Next will be a test on the actual wing part and see what it looks like after weathering detail is applied.
(https://i.imgur.com/KsPBIeDl.jpg)
Any thoughts on this? Has anyone else tried this and what was your results, would like to know before I move forward with this project.
Thanks!
Grant
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Well now that is different , are you planning on sealing the fabric ? seems to have a ruff texture in this scale . But it is a neat idea .
Alexis
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There is no fabric on the model, I just used the fabric to paint over to give the paint a fabric look.
Hope that makes since.
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Okay , that makes sense now . I thought you were going to cover the wing with fabric ...
This is one of those blond moments !
Alexis
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Totally understand, my wife is blonde 😉
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Yeah , I'm not alone !
Alexis
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Your too funny Alexis 😁
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Harry,
The brass struts appear to be in 1/24 scale.
All send them back to you as I will never build one in that scale. Thank you so much for the offer of the items, very kind of you. All get them in the mail tomorrow.
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Hey Grant, first of all, let me say that is a brilliant idea for the fabric affect. "Will be using that on my 1/24 scale Fokker for sure. Regarding the brass stuff, just remember, the good intention was there.
Your !/32 Fokker is turning into a thing of beauty.
Harry
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Interesting approach to linen effects. Thanks for sharing this idea.
I wonder if the linen sheets are reusable? After several shots, is the paint not deposited on the fibres in such quantity that the gaps are blocked?
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A great idea, Grant. I have some sheer nylon fabric that may be used for the same effect. I'll have to try it some day.
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Hey Grant, first of all, let me say that is a brilliant idea for the fabric affect. "Will be using that on my 1/24 scale Fokker for sure. Regarding the brass stuff, just remember, the good intention was there.
Your !/32 Fokker is turning into a thing of beauty.
Harry
Absolutely Harry, was very thoughtful of you!
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Interesting approach to linen effects. Thanks for sharing this idea. I wonder if the linen sheets are reusable? After several shots, is the paint not deposited on the fibres in such quantity that the gaps are blocked?
So far I have shot paint through the fabric multiple times with no issue. I'm going to make a frame that will allow the fabric to be clamped on rather then glued so changing out the material will be easy as I'm sure the fabric weave will eventually fill.
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A great idea, Grant. I have some sheer nylon fabric that may be used for the same effect. I'll have to try it some day.
let me know your results as I did think about sheer nylon but was concerned the weave would be to tight to let paint through.
The Sig fabric opens up enough once its shrunk to let just enough paint through to give a nice fabric texture to the painted surface.
Grant
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Very nice effect using the fabric to spray through. Probably more work than I would do but good on you for taking the time 8)
RAGIII
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Imgur says photos not available. :(
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Imgur says photos not available. :(
Images have been fixed
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Great idea for the painting of the fabric effect, Grant. Certainly something I'd love to try myself. Thanks for taking the time to post your pics and explain your method.
Cheers,
Gary
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Thanks Gary,
Have been so busy at work I haven't had a chance yet to give it a try. I hope to test the method on some parts tonight, will post pictures of the results.
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I for one am intrigued to see the effect on the model.
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Is it to soon to ask about the results ?
Alexis
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Is it to soon to ask about the results ?
Alexis
I'm hoping to give it a shot today, just have had no bench time at all. I will post my results tonight, really want to try an wrap up the DR1 soon so I can move on to another build.
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Finally had a few hours to work on the DR1 and try this crazy fabric texture idea.
I made a wood frame to attach the fabric to and will use binder clips to hold it in place instead of gluing it.
The wood frame is adjustable in 1" increments so I can adjust the size if needed.
All parts were painted with Tamiya flat red prior to applying the black fabric paint.
I'm going to use black to represent the fabric as it shows up pretty good and then once it's all clear coated and detailed it should look about right for the scale. Overall, I'm happy with the results, when you view the parts normally they look very convincing, the pictures up close make it look over powering but it really is not at all.
Glad I gave it a try.
I cut a piece of the fabric and laid it out flat making note which way the grain fabric grain is running.
(https://i.imgur.com/X8vHxcyl.jpg?1)
After attaching it to the wood frame with the clamps I used my heat gun to tighten up the material
(https://i.imgur.com/CXoKMqEl.jpg)
I placed foam down first, then laid the rudder on this to help push the part up into the fabric weave.
(https://i.imgur.com/LjFaBeKl.jpg)
Then I sprayed one side and let it dry a few seconds before removing the fabric to prevent smearing the black paint.
Its pretty easy to push an form the fabric around the part.
(https://i.imgur.com/Jin1oUvl.jpg)
Here some pics of the other DR1 parts painted with the black fabric added.
(https://i.imgur.com/z6Zng4K.jpg?1)
(https://i.imgur.com/NSDNQAk.jpg?1)
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I do Like the results of your experiment! Looking awesome.
RAGIII
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It's an ingenious idea Grant. I have my own personal reservations about "fabric effect" as you need to get very close to the real deal to see anything like it, but I hope it works out for you :)
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Haven't posted in a long time as work has been insanely busy but I am making some progress on the DR1. Have not added any weathering as of yet, that will be my final step and I'm almost there!
(https://i.imgur.com/2vjC2qdl.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/KkUoEuol.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/vFUFYt6l.jpg)
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And very well done!
Cheers,
Bob ;)
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Beautiful Triplane Grant!
RAGIII
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Nice work!!
Steve
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Looking really great! Well done! Marc.
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Thanks guys, much appreciated. After being away from the hobby so long, it's definitely been a steep learning curve.
I'm making a display case for it now and hope to button this project up in a week or two.