forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com
WW1 Aircraft Modeling => Under Construction => Topic started by: Brad Cancian on September 04, 2022, 06:35:55 PM
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Hi all - well, it certainly is the season for Albatrii!
Bertl's amazing 1/32 triple build continues to dazzle - https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=13288.0
Chad's fantastic 1/48 build of the classic Eduard DVa is looking wonderful - https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=13307.0
And i'm making a hack of the new 1/48 8113 re-release of the classic 1/48 Eduard kit - https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=13255.0
This just tells me... who doesn't love an Albatros?
(https://i.imgur.com/gG6W1qJ.jpg)
As I have found with my recent Fokker Dr1 builds, I am more productive when I do dual builds... accordingly, I have decided to start another 1/48 DVa. This time, I have gone with the Revell boxing, which is a re-box of the Eduard kit. Revell have moulded this kit in a very light grey and slightly brittle plastic.
Reflecting upon the fact that a tightly cowled Albie hides all of its secrets, I decided to bite the bullet and tackle something that i've wanted to do for a while; an un-cowled DVa.
The first thing to do, unsurprisingly, was cut off the kit cowls, and thin down the fuselage sidewalls. I sanded off all of the interior detail, and thinned down the interior of the nose section with a dremel:
(https://i.imgur.com/oJpWMtA.jpg)
Now, the real challenge... how do deal with those curves, and build all of the distinctive formers? Having sanded the fuselage, it was now not simply a round symmetrical section that I could use. I also really didn't want to make up each frame painstakingly by hand. I decided that I would use my Silhouette Portrait cutter to cut the formers from thin plastic. That would also allow me to design the lightening holes and have them cut out cleanly.
To do this, the first thing I did was roughly get the shape of each frame using thin plastic. Some of the shapes were going to be a bit 'odd', due to the way that the plastic had been sanded, creating shapes / contours that weren't quite oval (mainly at the point of the firewall, as you can see I needed a slightly odd shape here):
(https://i.imgur.com/fgyU4st.jpg)
This then allowed me to scan the shapes into the Silhouette drawing program, and trace out each shape. The appropriate details were then added:
(https://i.imgur.com/FCaPaAp.jpg)
I then used the Shilhouette Portrait cutter to cut the shapes from 0.010" plastic. I had to use this plastic thickness as anything thicker would have been too hard to cut. This plastic was too thin in and of itself for each frame, so in order to provide some rigidity I cut two pieces for each frame and glued them together:
(https://i.imgur.com/QdbufUX.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/HDFesVk.jpg)
I then had the frames I needed to create the main structural elements:
(https://i.imgur.com/adkmqnd.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/0hacS51.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/tB2RqiH.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/J2Bkwac.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/3dTUEdK.jpg)
Next was re-adding the structural detail in the fuselage halves:
(https://i.imgur.com/JdI4KLk.jpg)
And here it all is, VERY roughly placed within the fuselage. It may need a couple of adjustments here and there, but I think it will all work.
(https://i.imgur.com/VmdveUH.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/7DGZ77M.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/4AvxiBy.jpg)
And proof the fuselage halves still come together... ;D
(https://i.imgur.com/b4hzxh2.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/dqR7lvu.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/5wxIwqx.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/4I5KgYq.jpg)
I now have the basis to commence the rest of the interior. Phew...! :o
Happy to take comments, tips and feedback.
Cheers again!
BC
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Wow Brad, this 1/48 kit looks more like a 1/32 WnW. Always amazed by your modeling.
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Happy to take comments, tips and feedback.
- I'm enjoying this build
- you could offer the frame templates for sale
- more photos and soon! ;D
Beautiful work Brad, what a terrific start!
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What an excellent start so far, Brad! Very cool idea with using the cutting machine to make the framing. I should invest in one of those as it sure would come in handy for things like this and making custom paint masks. Will be tagging along on this one too.
Chad
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Beautiful work Brad. Great idea with the framework !
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Thumbs up Brad !
Alexis
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Incredible detail work, Brad
Regards
Dave
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Tips ? :o
Err perhaps take up microsurgery as a bit of relaxation from this sort of detail work ;D
Just fabulous so far, can hardly wait for the next update
Paul
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Many thanks all! :D
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Always an interesting build when Brads in town.I have to admit that I gave a slight yawn hearing another DVa build but this ones bit me!
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Fascinating Brad! Very, very well done so far, and the rest too I expect.
The results using the Silhuette are inspiring. Could you perhaps say something more about the settings you used when cutting the plastic and did you use the cutting mat?
/Fredrik
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Fascinating Brad! Very, very well done so far, and the rest too I expect.
The results using the Silhuette are inspiring. Could you perhaps say something more about the settings you used when cutting the plastic and did you use the cutting mat?
/Fredrik
Hi Fredrik - many thanks! I set up my own settings after some testing and adjusting to cut through the 10 thou plastic, as below:
(https://i.imgur.com/nB2J4J2.jpg)
3 or 4 passes will work, depending on how fine and how clean you want the detail. And yes, I used the hard plastic cutting matt that came with the Silhouette.
Thanks!
BC
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Great! Thanks!
I did experiment with this when I first got my Silhouette, but this is good to know for future tries.
/Fredrik
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Stunning work Brad and I'm already pretty stunned :o I didn't know these cutters had this ability. I had eyed a Cricut for cutting stencils but this adds a whole new dimension.
Steve
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Thanks for sharing your Silhouette cutter settings, Brad.
How did you create the interior cutout shapes? Drew them by hand using the software?
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Maybe in my old age I'm getting slow,but with these 3D printers and cutters,cads,AI Mr Spock on Zoom...Maybe,just hoping that a new cottage vac form type industry will come out of it,I think Brads doing the doing type work. Great stuff!!!
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@Brad Cancian
The "innards" on your Albatros look very good.
Really very nice work, I look forward to more updates, Brad :D
Servus
Bertl
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Proper Albatros scourge here at the Forum! And what lovely work you are showing us!
/Fredrik
EDIT Not often one can write the exact same thing in three different threads at once. 😀
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Damn Brad! You are killing Me with Your Skills :( Seriously this has to be one of the best builds of this kit I have seen by Anyone!! Outstanding and Brilliant fall Short!
RAGIII
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Thanks folks, you are too kind!
Progress has ground to a bit of a halt; I am working on a solution for the Mercedes D.IIIa engine, which is tricky as there are no aftermarket engines available.
I also have a new puppy, which is also a time consuming project :)
Thanks again!
Brad
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Hoping you find an expedient and economical solution for the engine. Unfortunately the puppy will be neither! My lab is already two years old with no sign of slowing down.
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Hi all - some (very) slow progress due to work and the aforementioned puppy....
The engine will be a focus of any model with the cowls off. The lack of a readily available aftermarket Mercedes D.IIIa forced me to adopt an approach that Chad took with his 1/48 build; i.e. looking to utilise a D.IIIa from the old Roden Fokker D.VII kit. One snag; I didn't have an old Roden Fokker D.VII kit and didn't want to go out and buy one just for this. What I did have, however, was a previously built engine from an old (and now long gone) Roden Fokker D.VII that I built circa 2007. I had added some detail at the time but after years of banging around in the spares box, it was in this state:
(https://i.imgur.com/mvB46co.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/QCfVh48.jpg)
Some clean up and help would be needed to bring this motor back to life. Like the Eduard kit engine, one of the annoyances (for me) is the moulded in ignition wire tube, running front to back along each cylinder. This is unrealistic and needs to be removed. So, pulling everything apart and starting to trim these pieces off was step 1:
(https://i.imgur.com/4fw0LTu.jpg)
I then needed to strip the paint, and smooth out the cylinders; this was the most time consuming part. After much sanding, checking, and more sanding, I had an engine that was good enough (not great, but good enough) as a basis for the rest of the engine:
(https://i.imgur.com/mGvgTZj.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/DL0PsRT.jpg)
Details were then added, including rocker arm springs and rocker arms, distributor cap details, spark plugs, ignition wires, and some other gismology here and there. I didn't add anything at the rear or under the engine bearers as these areas won't be visible on the finished model. The results, though far from perfect, are good enough to stand on its own:
(https://i.imgur.com/sLMJBPP.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/QYgUWh8.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/UwOiwYi.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/2SgM2cz.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/YpN5uSD.jpg)
And in its future home:
(https://i.imgur.com/P1rG6kB.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/Knpobzv.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ZEtnITY.jpg)
The close up photos show a few things I still need to address... sigh... but the hard work is done. Next up i'll scratch build the fuel tanks, which sit behind the engine.
Cheers,
Brad C
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Brad
That resurrected engine is looking great! It even looked really good still before you started fixing it up. Can't wait to see it with some paint on it.
Chad
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Simply fantastic detail, Brad.
I learn a lot from every build you share with us.
Kevin
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Nice salvage job on the old motor!!
Steve
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Thanks Chad, Kevin and Steve!
Work slowly continues. This afternoon I built the fuel tanks from laminates of plastic sheet, cut and sanded to shape. Details were from plastic, wire and solder:
(https://i.imgur.com/5MySL4S.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/8WsifcF.jpg)
In its future home:
(https://i.imgur.com/7S92lkw.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ZgTF18l.jpg)
I also scratch built an oil tank. Here's the whole set up sitting in place. I think the engine bay should now look adequately 'busy' once it's all painted up. I'll add more detail once the main engine bay painting is done.
(https://i.imgur.com/PjBnsH7.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/PjBnsH7.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/v5PjN0I.jpg)
Next, with the key elements of the engine bay constructed, i'll probably shift my attention back to the cockpit.
Cheers!
BC
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Wow, everything is falling into place. Looks great!!
Steve
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I think the engine bay should now look adequately 'busy' once it's all painted up. I'll add more detail once the main engine bay painting is done.
I'd say so! Lovely work Brad, she's looking terrific!
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Wow! This is incredibly detailed! I’ll stick with 1/72 so I can hide my lack of detail better!
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Excellent work Brad! Your structural parts look really great and seem to fit very well. As always, I await your next update to see how she progresses and what neat things you've added.
Chad
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Hi all - some slow progress, but progress none the less. Sadly, work has been kicking my butt lately so I haven't had alot of time to spend at the bench. All I have really managed in the last few weeks is to get some paint onto the engine. Sharing pictures helps motivate me to do more, so, bad luck everyone but here are some pics ;D
(https://i.imgur.com/K65r8Ix.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/RnONchO.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ojH6FEf.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/FxbHDUm.jpg)
Next, onto some more interior details and hopefully more paint!
Cheers,
BC
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Amazing work Brad !!!
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Simply amazing Brad!
RAGIII
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That looks great, well done! What did you use for the spark plug wires tubing that they all sprout from?
Chad
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I thought that this was much larger than 1/48 when I first looked - that is an amazing piece of super-detailing and painting.
Stephen.
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Great paint on that amazing engine! All acrylic?
Steve