forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com
WW1 Aircraft Modeling => Under Construction => Topic started by: Squiffy on November 24, 2014, 06:55:23 AM
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I know my track record for showing builds isn't great. I've started some that have drifted off into the ether (though they will re-appear at some point, I promise) and some where great chunks of the build are missed and the next thing you see is the completed model, and some that are done so fast that if you blinked, you missed them but...
I'm sure this one isn't going to be a fast build and, to be honest, it's scaring the hell out of me... :o
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l5/soddit36/soddit36106/zep-005.jpg) (http://s92.photobucket.com/user/soddit36/media/soddit36106/zep-005.jpg.html)
Here are the sprues. I've made a start but there's not much to show yet. The first thing I've done is to drill 112 holes (so far) in the wings for the rigging. I now have a blister on the palm of my hand from the pin vice and I need a rest.
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l5/soddit36/soddit36114/Zep001.jpg) (http://s92.photobucket.com/user/soddit36/media/soddit36114/Zep001.jpg.html)
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l5/soddit36/soddit36114/Zep002.jpg) (http://s92.photobucket.com/user/soddit36/media/soddit36114/Zep002.jpg.html)
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This will be a very exciting build to watch Squiffy, the parts list looks enormous for a 1:72 scale kit. I'm looking forward to seeing this one come together and the speed of the build matters little.
Des.
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great, a Staaken! I will follow this build with pleasure
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Holy cow, that's a lot of plastic! I'm looking forward to watching you tackle that beasty.
Cheers,
Bud
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That is a lot of plastic !
Terri
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I nearly had a mental breakdown attaching the top wing of mine, even with the help of my wife, but I got there in the end. It is a real beast of a model in terms of the amount of plastic involved. Not to discourage you at all... ;)
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I'm going to get some popcorn and a beverage for this one. ;)
Squiffy, you're a brave lad!
Warren
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Can't wait to see how this goes on, I'm sitting on one myself, so to speak.
Yes, a lot of plastic in that box, but as usual with Roden you'll find you don't need it all. One of the reasons I was most sorry that Roden gave up on WWI was that, if you examine the extra parts closely (or is this only in the first R.VI kit), it does look as if they intended to kit the interesting R.30, the one with the supercharger.
And could this be an ideal demonstrator of the new Aviattic night lozenge?
Tsemppia! Bravo! Bon chance!
Mark
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The new Aviattic night lozenge won't be right for this, the lozenge was much larger than the Gotha's. Still, looking forward to this one!
Ian
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Well Squiffy, like all of the others I am looking forward to this one! I recon it should be at least 2 weeks before you finish it up ::)
RAGIII
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The new Aviattic night lozenge won't be right for this, the lozenge was much larger than the Gotha's. Still, looking forward to this one!
Ian
On this particular Staaken I think the Aviattic lozenge could be right. The earlier version had the large hand painted pattern but this one used printed fabric
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I'm not sure if your comments have given me encouragement, or put fear into me! ;D
I know very little about these monsters, so a few questions to those who do...
Was the fuselage plywood-covered, or fabric on a frame? I suppose this affects how I paint the interior.
The engine nacelles - I've looked around the net and whilst there are a number of original photos of R types, they all have differences and, of course, all are black and white. Photos of other people's models show the nacelles painted black or bare metal.
Which is correct, as far as can be known?
The lozenge (or lack of) - I found a build log on another site and the builder says that Roden's paint scheme is not authentic, that of the few photographs of night-coloured R.VI, the front of the fuselage shows no signs of having lozenge. Would this be correct?
P.S.
The bearers inside the nacelles for the engines - metal or wood?
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I am not an expert. But I have followed the build by a fellow modeller
http://pwm.org.pl/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=73945
and then saw the model in reality at a modelling contest. A show stopper it was!
PS. The text is unfortunately in Polish but photos may be useful.
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Thanks for that. It's useful and superb but it's also a comparison that I can't live up to. I certainly won't be using those tiny loops for the rigging - there lies a road to madness, methinks...
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You are courageous to attack this subject ;)
I will take a seat
Dric
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According to the WS Datafile, Jamo is correct, some of the earlier machines had standard day lozenge, oversprayed for night work, so Aviattic lozenge would work. The engine nacelles were "frequently left unpainted, or perhaps coloured light-grey", struts were "painted dark blue or green". Those areas that appear to be plain coloured, such as forward fuselage and sometimes the nacelles, were probably dark blue or green.
In other words, do what you think looks right!
Ian
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In other words, do what you think looks right!
Ian
I like your thinking, Ian. ;)
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This is a late Staaken and if my memory of references serves me correctly it survived the war. I'll find pics when I get home from work but I am sure they show printed lozenge fabric just like on the kit. Certainly this was true of the floatplane version which gave joy rides from a lake near Berlin after the war.
(http://flyingmachines.ru/Images7/Putnam/German_Giants/145-2.jpg)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/6313293886/
(http://www.filmothek.bundesarchiv.de/device_barchext/dev1/2014/09-04/30/90/file6gw8semxfky491fchff.jpg)
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Thanks for posting those photos, James.
Yesterday I made a start on the interior.
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l5/soddit36/soddit36116/Staaken-001.jpg) (http://s92.photobucket.com/user/soddit36/media/soddit36116/Staaken-001.jpg.html)
Which didn't get off to the best of starts as I glued the bulkhead in the wrong place. I only noticed it today but managed to remove and relocate it without too much fuss.
So... The interior is done. I don't think much of this will be seen once it's inside the fuselage but hey ho...
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l5/soddit36/soddit36116/Staaken-006.jpg) (http://s92.photobucket.com/user/soddit36/media/soddit36116/Staaken-006.jpg.html)
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l5/soddit36/soddit36116/Staaken-005.jpg) (http://s92.photobucket.com/user/soddit36/media/soddit36116/Staaken-005.jpg.html)
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What? Not finished yet??? ;)
Ian
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Really nice work on the interior! Love the wood tones!
RAGIII
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You are moving along quite well with this build Squiffy, what you have achieved with the interior is excellent with great wood colours.
Des.
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If you wanted to see a *bit* more of the interior you could model the windows in an open position. Just an idea . . .
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This is an intersting thread. Happy you do a build log about this Monster.
If have one of these in my stash but not the courage to start it yet. Hopefully your build log will encourage me.
Great start.
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Nice wood tones :)
Terri
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As others have said, really nice wood tones, and you're off to a great start!
Warren
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A great start but I think this is the easy part. ???
Today's progress - the fuselage is closed up around the interior...
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l5/soddit36/soddit36117/Staaken-003.jpg) (http://s92.photobucket.com/user/soddit36/media/soddit36117/Staaken-003.jpg.html)
...and the Maybach engines are ready to be installed. They'll be given some weathering once fitted to the bearers.
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l5/soddit36/soddit36117/Staaken-006.jpg) (http://s92.photobucket.com/user/soddit36/media/soddit36117/Staaken-006.jpg.html)
The propellors don't fit straight onto the engines but are supposed to fit to shafts on gearboxes. These shafts are very flimsy and, if my experience with other Roden kits is anything to go by, won't turn easily in the gearbox mouldings. I may have to replace the shafts with some home-made metal replacements if I want the props to turn (and not snap off at the shafts!).
Thinking ahead, I'm wondering if I should use something other than my usual 0.13mm nylon for rigging this beast?
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Interesting looking kit.
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The Maybachs are now fitted to the bearers, which are now complete with oil tanks, engineer's seat and gearboxes.
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l5/soddit36/soddit36120/Staaken-007.jpg) (http://s92.photobucket.com/user/soddit36/media/soddit36120/Staaken-007.jpg.html)
I've left the silly little plastic shafts out of the gearboxes. My plan is to drill right though the propellor bosses and sleeve them with brass tube. A dressmaker's pin will then go through the tube and will be glued into the gearbox holes, thus allowing the props to spin freely. That's the theory, anyway...
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Excellent work, Squiffy. You're really moving along on this one.
Cheers,
Bud
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Squiffy, You really are an amazing builder! Looking great!
RAGIII
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Great work on the engines Squiffy, and they look excellent sitting on the engine bearers. What a horrible place for the engineer to be seated, hot, oily and noisy plus having to contend with the slip stream.
Des.
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What? Not finished yet??? ;)
Ian
I was going to use that line,after all Squiffy is the Flash Gordan of modelling ;) ;)
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Great progress on a brute of a model, Squiffy...even in 1/72 scale!
The engines look great on their engine bearers. I look forward to
the next update, flash. ;) ;D
Cheers,
Ernie :)
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You're off to a brilliant start, Squiffy! I'm amazed at how far along you've come. This is going to be a really impressive model when finished. A friend of mine brought one of these to a local model show a couple years ago and aside from some 1/32 scale jets and bombers, it was the largest aircraft model on display.
Cheers,
Bud
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Very good job on that monster.
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Super, Squiffy. I love that plane. Be still my heart.
Looks incredible so far.
Dan
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Hey squiffy,
nice start.
I didn't even know that this was available as a kit.
what material are you going to use as rigging
Roy
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Very great work to this build.
Martin
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what material are you going to use as rigging
Roy
Hi, Roy.
For scouts, two-seaters etc. I normally use nylon 'invisible thread', which, even though it's called invisible is actually black (no, I don't get it either :-\ ). It's 0.13mm thick, which, I suppose, is a over-scale but it looks alright.
However, I suspect something as big as this may have used thicker stuff than you're average scout, so the question is do I use something thicker to illustrate the difference, or do I just use the same and have it to scale (or underscale, whichever 0.13mm may be)?
At the moment I'm leaning toward using the same because I'm used to working with it, it's strong and it's cheap.
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I also use 0.15mm wire for my WWI biplanes. Times 72, it would make 9mm wires at actual scale. Sure it's overscaled, but not ridiculous. If I saw a 1/1 scale replica of a Zeppelin-Staaken with 9mm wires, considering the size of the beast, it wouldn't look out of proportions.
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Squiffy, once you get down to our scale, you're really splitting hairs (pun intended) when it comes to measuring your rigging wire material. As long as it looks close, I'd call it "good enuf". I'd stick with what you're used to working with, but that's just my opinion.
Warren
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I just took a look at the post Bo made on another thread re rigging wires. The sizes given on the tables for BE2 and SE5 equate to .06mm to .09mm in 1:72. I also use .13mm at the moment and it looks fine. I may well switch to the smaller mono in future, but as you say, I think I'd use the .13 on something this size, it certainly won't look wrong.
Ian
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I did say it wouldn't be a quick build...
I counted the number of parts in each engine and there are more in one engine than in some complete kits that I've built. Nevertheless, I have been plodding on with the beast today and have almost finished one engine nacelle. I can't believe that it's taken the best part of 4 hours to assemble this and give it a coat of paint.
The radiators still reqire painting and coolant pipes adding. Then, of course, the props are next to be fitted. And then do it all over again for the other nacelle.
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l5/soddit36/soddit36126/nacelle1.jpg) (http://s92.photobucket.com/user/soddit36/media/soddit36126/nacelle1.jpg.html)
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Exellent!! ;D
Martin
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Excellent work on the engine nacelle Squiffy.
Des.
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Continuing to be an excellent build Squiffy! Funny thing about that part count ;D
RAGIII
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I've been off work, sick, since last Wednesday, so I decided to get this one out and do some more...
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l5/soddit36/soddit36165/Staaken.jpg) (http://s92.photobucket.com/user/soddit36/media/soddit36165/Staaken.jpg.html)
The kit comes with tracing paper that has templates of the parts to which the lozenge has to be applied. After cutting out and applying all that lot I've seen enough night lozenge to last a lifetime! My next build is definitely going to be something painted PC10!
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Very great work.
Martin
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Sorry to hear that you were not well, hope you are on the mend now. That is a lot of lozenge decal but looks like you did a great job fitting it, very dazzling to the eye 8)
Des.
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It looks very good, Squiffy, but yes, bring on some PC 10!
I hope your soon back to full health.
Best wishes
Nigel
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For 1/72 scale, that is one large model.
Nice work with the decals, now go and rest in a dark room with some soothing music and your favourite tipple ;D
Roy
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Looks stunning Squiffy!
RAGIII