forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com
WW1 Aircraft Modeling => Under Construction => Topic started by: gedmundson on February 17, 2025, 05:00:16 AM
-
I often finish a project and mope around for a few days deciding which to choose next. After nothing seemed to appeal I was able to decide on a build I'd planned a while back, saving two old articles by a friend Haris Ali who had built two Sopwith Pups for the now defunct Military In Scale Magazine. I had a couple of the WnW RNAS kits in my stash, and pulled one from the shelf onto the bench. The ship-board scheme of N6453 appealed to me, as it had the well-weathered CDL on the fuselage. I've made a little progress on some of the interior sub-assemblies and wanted to share a few pictures.
Cheers,
Gary
(https://i.imgur.com/yVWHGFT.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/mWcspXn.jpg)
The instrument panel got a wood grain finish using ochre, burnt sienna and raw umber oil paints.
(https://i.imgur.com/YELXkOr.jpg)
After airbrushing the engine Alclad II Duraluminum, it was detailed with Copper printer's ink and a wash of dark oil paint.
(https://i.imgur.com/6A15UIu.jpg)
I added a clear glass and impulse line to the pulsometer, and actuation rod to the throttle (?)
(https://i.imgur.com/BVpmz1h.jpg)
The seat was weathered with acrylics and oils , along with the etched metal seat belts.
(https://i.imgur.com/GGHv6kW.jpg)
Based on Haris Ali's article, I made a "Brock Sheild" anti-flash device for the upper mounted Lewis gun
-
Nice start...the engine looks great. I look forward to following your build.
Kreston
-
Great start! Looks very nice already! ;D
-
Lovely work so far. The glass is another level. :o
(I've wanted to model the Brock shield on a Lewis ever since reading that article)
Paul
-
Nice subject and an excellent start. That engine looks great, as does the instrument panel. Nice use of printer's ink..... ;)
-
That instrument panel is a work of art!
Alan.
-
Oh boy, another Pup!!
-
Thanks to everyone who took the time to comment - and not to point out that there were no turnbuckles on my interior rigging! I just didn't want to faff about with those things on this build. I'm still trying to figure out the best way of adding the control cables with no rear panel. Previous builds on this Forum are a great help, along with the previous mentioned articles by Haris Ali.
Nice subject and an excellent start. That engine looks great, as does the instrument panel. Nice use of printer's ink..... ;)
Those printer's inks are great, Nigel. You & David shared a great tip there. I'm using them as much as possible instead of enamel now. Just a small blob onto my disposable pallet (top of a yogurt container) mixed with a touch of white spirit and it makes a great fine paint. And El Greco did a very fast job of getting them to me in Canada!
(https://i.imgur.com/K6djbD4.jpg)
-
Those printer's inks are great, Nigel. You & David shared a great tip there.
Glad you've cracked how to use them, they are great. Like all my best ideas, it was stolen from someone else........ ;) Although in my defence, I did used to use these for figure painting in 70s, it's just that I had completely forgotten about them!
-
I decided to use both thin stretched sprue sections and elastic rigging line from QW Model for my control cables in the cockpit. I ended the lines at the rear of the floor, so if an over-zealous judge were to look into the back of the cockpit with a bright light - this one would be laughed out of the competition room.
I would usually paint the wings & fuselage separately, but this one of course has the lower wing complete with lower forward fuselage attached, so it was glued into place beforehand. I found that stretched sprue (or "runner") works well for filling small gaps better than putty, so showed a picture of the piece glued into the bottom with plenty of Tamiya thin cement, to dry thoroughly then be trimmed and sanded smooth. Then there'll be the small spaces to deal with near the back of the wing root. It's finally starting to look like an aeroplane.
Cheers!
(https://i.imgur.com/skbzFt9.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/66WASR6.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/rHU8rQj.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/X8GJ2Jc.jpg)
-
That cockpit looks fantastic Gary, great work. Thanks for the stretched sprue gap filling tip. That's a really good idea.
-
Impressive interior on the Sopwith Pup. Be careful with the interplane struts. When I built mine, they cried every time I touched the model <<break me!>>. . .
-
So glad mine is done and gone before I saw this, great stuff.
-
I have been following your build and must say I am impressed by the detail and especially the Paint work!
RAGIII
-
Thanks Rick, Nigel, Andreas and Allan.
I followed Haris Ali's suggestion of pre-shading the fuselage structure of the Pup. By airbrushing over the shading and rigging lines, the effects are quite subtle in these photos, but adequate for what I was trying to achieve. It's possible that this was all a complete waste of time & effort once I've added the eventual weathering...but one is not certain until the end of the process ;)
(https://i.imgur.com/1vqrHM4.jpg)
Internal structure was sprayed with XF-15 Flesh, then masked.
(https://i.imgur.com/bRZFfTR.jpg)
The tapes were lightly sprayed over with NATO Black XF-69
(https://i.imgur.com/hMhZbgE.jpg)
Removing the tape revealed the pre-shade pattern
(https://i.imgur.com/cx0HMzq.jpg)
Airbrushing XF-55 Deck Tan (for CDL) muted the pre-shade
(https://i.imgur.com/634BojG.jpg)
pencil lines were drawn onto the fuselage to mimic the internal rigging (not quite that well as it looks)
(https://i.imgur.com/qTQVTCn.jpg)
The internal rigging pencil lines were muted with more over-spray of XF-55
-
Very fine progress on your Pup, Gary.
I always look with interest how people try to imitatie the see-through-linen effect. Yours looks very promising.
-
Very nice work, hopefully it won't all disappear........
-
Thanks for checking in - Prze & Nigel. And yes Andreas...those struts sticking out of the fuselage are really something to be careful around.
I wasn't quite happy with the engine and so brushed on some Uschi polishing powder (steel type) to brighten the front plate. I also brushed on some oils over the cockpit combing to make it look like wood.
I've decided to paint on the national markings on this one. Decals on a rudder (and elevators in this case) have always given me problems, and painting them on seems easiest. Cheers!
(https://i.imgur.com/oFpdigu.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/rronxoJ.jpg)
The ochre, burnt sienna a raw umber oils were mixed with white spirit
(https://i.imgur.com/7wAKEWU.jpg)
I left the rudder on the runner for ease of handling
-
That wood looks really realistic, lovely work. I also like to pick out details on the engine with silver printers ink - that helps bring it to life a little.
Those markings look great, and I must get me some of those crocodile clips with covers on the ends.....
-
That wood looks really realistic, lovely work. I also like to pick out details on the engine with silver printers ink - that helps bring it to life a little.
Those markings look great, and I must get me some of those crocodile clips with covers on the ends.....
Thanks Nigel - those clips are actually part of a tool used for holding circuit boards while working on them - adapted for modelling. Made by Kotto, they are an ideal mount for model aircraft work, especially when rigging (when you need three or four hands!). Got mine on Amazon a while ago. Cheers!
(https://i.imgur.com/O2nKFwC.jpg)
-
Beautiful wood grain and painting in general!
RAGIII
-
Thanks Nigel - those clips are actually part of a tool used for holding circuit boards while working on them - adapted for modelling. Made by Kotto, they are an ideal mount for model aircraft work, especially when rigging (when you need three or four hands!). Got mine on Amazon a while ago. Cheers!
Thanks, just ordered one :)
-
That is coming along just fine. Love your little tweak to the engine.
Lacing on the port side?
-
Stunning work as always Gary!
-
That is coming along just fine. Love your little tweak to the engine.
Lacing on the port side?
Thanks Alan - and yes - the ship board aircraft had fuselage lacing on both sides. The WnW wings kit provides two fuselage options (plus an optional upper wing) so that either version can be built.
Cheers,
Gary
-
I had a chance to try out my new DSPIAE circle cutter and was generally happy with the way it worked to make the masks to paint my roundels - although I need a bit of practice to get the thing to start off without a small glitch (noticeable on the white part of the roundel in my photo) which needed carefully brush painting to correct.
Inspired by period photos and the replica Pup at Yeovilton (which used to fly), I'm starting to add some oil & muck to the fuselage and lower parts of the fabric.
Cheers,
Gary
(https://i.imgur.com/28epADz.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/xEb9Ur8.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/CRjNyeN.jpg)
The replica Pup at Yeovilton
(https://i.imgur.com/ZgBXEPE.jpg)
-
THAT...looks fantastic.
-
Great work on the fuselage. The metal dotting and the weathering are especially convincing.
-
Outstanding work on the roundels, weathering, and the Engine cover/cowling!
RAGIII
-
Thank you Alan, Andreas & Rick!
I'm also trying to muck-up the lower parts, but taking my time to add some airbrushed Tamiya smoke, and then later some very dilute oil paints. A long work in progress...
(https://i.imgur.com/OwrABlE.jpg)
-
The cowling looks fantastic!
Kreston
-
That's looking really good. I too like the cowling, very realistic. It's worth spending time on the weathering IMO and this is looking good so far.
-
Kreston & Nigel - thanks for that!
It's worth spending time on the weathering IMO and this is looking good so far.
Nigel - I certainly agree. I spend more time weathering a model than I do the overall painting, and always feel like I've never done enough when finished.
After placing some tiny copper loops into the struts and fixing in the MG mount & windscreen, I'm ready to glue on the upper wing and rig this puppy ;)
Cheers!
(https://i.imgur.com/BMhzDa0.jpg)
-
Brilliant work on this one so far. Just loving following along with your progress 8)
Paul
-
Always learn something following your work , just fantastic !
Alexis
-
Awesome!
RAGIII
-
That close up looks fantastic, lovely work.
-
That close up looks fantastic, lovely work.
Totally agree
-
Always learn something following your work , just fantastic !
Alexis
Thanks for that Alexis - glad to see you back here. Thanks also to Nigel, Paul, Rick & andonio64 for the kind remarks.
No pics yet - but the top wing went on OK and the rigging is going slowly and all the cursing in the world doesn't help. I'm using a new brand from Japan called QW Model becasue I could not source either EZ-Line or ModelKasten at the time.
Cheers,
Gary
-
Nice job Gary, weathering looks perfect, you can't go too heavy with the castor...
-
Thanks Allan!
As I continued with the rigging I realized that although this model seemed simple & straightforward, it was not that easy to manage - or I am getting sloppy in my old age. I never did master the art of adding "flat RFC bracing wires", and have just used the elastic line for everything...except for the couple of tricky parts of the rear flying wires and tail skid control wires. Captions have been added to each photo.
Cheers!
(https://i.imgur.com/xFeR0Ep.jpg)
After adding 1.5mm sections of 0.4mm diameter brass tubing, the lines were taped with tension after passing them through the copper loops, and then secured with tiny drops of cyano glue.
(https://i.imgur.com/JkRL6mH.jpg)
The wings were done first before continuing with the tail & landing gear. With all of the handling, I was glad to have painted on most of the markings and sealed all the surface with Future floor acrylic.
(https://i.imgur.com/4pIYvkR.jpg)
The instruction sheet has 10 control wires leading back from the cockpit, so there ends up being two pairs attached to the rudder control horn. I also added the tail skid wires from stretched sprue, which had to be repaired countless times as I manhandled the model during the process.
(https://i.imgur.com/CYXKjwg.jpg)
The rigging fasteners were painted dark grey and then highlighted with toned-down silver printers ink.
(https://i.imgur.com/mAUDWz5.jpg)
The rear flying wires pass through the lower wing and attach to the top of the landing gear legs. I made small ends from stretched sprue and brass tubing to emulate this, and made sure they lined up with the lines above the wing before gluing them in position and painting them.
(https://i.imgur.com/OrRBmeN.jpg)
The fairing behind the cowling has to be added AFTER the landing gear assembly is glued into position and can easily be forgotten later in the building stages (from what I have seen from WnW "Customers Models").
-
That's looking really good Gary, I love the way you have handled the rib tapes on the underside, they look really effective. Very nice work indeed!
-
This is looking splendid Gary. The way you handled the rib tapes both bottom and top is subtle and very realistic.
Great job on the engine turning sheet metal.
I for one would vote for more weathering as these little Pups were inherently incontinent but I guess this is the beginning of 6453s career.
-
The rigging looks Fantastic! Glad to see/hear that I am not the only one that falls back on Stretched sprue for some things that are difficult to rig otherwise!
RAGIII
PS: I have never bothered with the "Flat" RAF wires either. Not a lot of difference in scale. IMHO.
-
Thanks Rick, Alan & Nigel!
I love the way you have handled the rib tapes on the underside, they look really effective. Very nice work indeed!
Nigel - I stole a page from a couple of Haris Ali articles and painted those lower rib tapes with a pass of Tamiya X-19 smoke. Lots of masking there but I wanted to try it. Haris also suggested a pass of lighter PC10 for the upper rib tapes which I also did, and I was happy with the effect. Always looking for new tricks ;)
-
I for one would vote for more weathering as these little Pups were inherently incontinent but I guess this is the beginning of 6453s career.
I have to agree with you, Allan - the more mucky oil stains the better. Although I'm always a bit cautious...perhaps too much ;) The stains look a lot darker in real life than my photos, since the lighting I use tends to wash them out a bit.
Cheers,
Gary
(https://i.imgur.com/eyAciRl.jpg)
-
Lovely looking Stains! I tend to go way overboard.
RAGIII
-
Lovely looking Stains! I tend to go way overboard.
RAGIII
Thanks Rick!
The modified gun with flash suppressor was a tricky fit under the wing, but there was no way to test fit the thing before all had been assembled. One of the final stages of the build was to add the cables to the upper wing that helped lift the aircraft on board the ship. I tried to get the lines to stand up in their holes while waiting forever for the tiny drops of cyano to set up for the right look. I also took off about 2.5mm from the propeller shaft since the propeller seemed to sit well forward of the cowling compared to where period photos suggested.
What I thought would be a straightforward build fought me all the way, but since I hadn't built a WnW kit in over a year perhaps it did not take long for me to fall out of practice. I'll hopefully get some pics uploaded for the "completed" section soon.
Cheers and thanks for following!
(https://i.imgur.com/t3eVEws.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/PWKNnIn.jpg)
-
Lovely! Effusive comments will be saved for the completed pics...... ;)
-
Excellent build!
RAGIII
-
Excellent build!
RAGIII
Agree with my Amigo !
Ed
-
That is another fantastic build from you, Gary. But I would not have expected anything else.
-
Sweet, will be looking over on "Completed"...
-
That's a real beauty Gary - well built sir 8)
Paul
-
Lookig forward to those complete pic's !
Alexis
-
Beautiful work Gary :)