forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com
WW1 Aircraft Modeling => Under Construction => Topic started by: Early Bird Fan on September 03, 2021, 07:53:14 AM
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A kit that had been on my birthday pressie radar for a while is this oldie from Airfix, i finally got to unwrap one last month. Spurred on by Brads rather excellent looking build and while building up the courage to fit the top wing on the S.E.5a i decided to make a start on it. I won't be making as many changes as Brad but i do love building interior framework so here's where i'm at so far...
Here's the box and sprue shots
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51408335308_0566dc4240.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mjMa3L)
Interior detail is sparse to say the least, some quite nice detail on the outer surfaces though
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51408066606_d800ed9b6a.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mjKMaY)
ejector pin marks on the flying surfaces are a bit annoying and will need some careful removal
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51408823119_236bf0725b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mjPE4i)
First job was to remove the ejector pin marks and seat mount points from the interior. Then i could set about knocking up some framework which is based on the interior from the 1/48 roden kit. There's a couple of small things to add but it's pretty much done
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51419170056_788d643c30.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mkJFQL)
I added some ledges for the floor to sit on and they should help with keeping it located during final fitment. Also added a small rear bulkhead and some 'axles' which go through the fuselage for the elevator control horn to fix on to, i'm going to have to make the horn as there isn't one in the kit.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51418430572_0396cce337.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mkEU23)
The kit seat on the right is a bit oversize so i'll use a spare roden seat i have which is a better looking mold and size, i also have a spare IP which seems to be a near perfect fit so i can use that. Thought i'd do the floor in one piece from .75mm evergreen, i just need to make a couple of bulkheads and furnish the floor with some control sticks and pedals.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51409044705_f067b6275f.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mjQMVK)
Took a bit of time pondering on how best to fit the front seat when i stumbled upon a seat frame in my spares stash for a Camel. Turns out it was pretty much a perfect fit for both the seat and the width of the fuselage. I've opted to fix it to the floor rather than the fuselage side.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51420156580_b94f75066d.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mkPK6N)
It looks a little low like this
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51420156560_abcaab752d.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mkPK6s)
but with a figure in the seat the height is in the right ball park so i'm calling that bit sorted, the fuselage halves also still meet in all the right places. You can see the .5mm rod sticking through the fuselage for the elevator control
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51419170036_3f8172cd2f.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mkJFQq)
A few more bits to add then it should be ready for primer
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Hi Stephen,
Nostalgia!
I did this one back in the 80's, with brush paint, crumpled decals and no refererences. I remember I was very proud of the result. Sadley, it didn't survive the many moves and wanderings.
I like the enhancements you did on the interior, and I will follow this build closely!
Will you be doing a special colour-scheme?
Willem
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Good work on the interior! Looks very promising!
I'm guessing that the elevator control rod from the observers pit is the same kind of solution that the Brisfit and my current FK8 had. I find it very fascinating that the observer had a lever to control the elevation, but that he was supposed to control the rudder by simply grabbing the rudder cables running through his pit - at least that was the idea in the FK8.
/Fredrik
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Hi Stephen,
Nostalgia!
I did this one back in the 80's, with brush paint, crumpled decals and no refererences. I remember I was very proud of the result. Sadley, it didn't survive the many moves and wanderings.
I like the enhancements you did on the interior, and I will follow this build closely!
Will you be doing a special colour-scheme?
Willem
thanks for the comment (my names Dave BTW ;)), i've got no plans for a special colour scheme, it'll be going grey/green
Good work on the interior! Looks very promising!
I'm guessing that the elevator control rod from the observers pit is the same kind of solution that the Brisfit and my current FK8 had. I find it very fascinating that the observer had a lever to control the elevation, but that he was supposed to control the rudder by simply grabbing the rudder cables running through his pit - at least that was the idea in the FK8.
/Fredrik
thanks for the comment, as far as i can make out from photos i've looked at the DH4 had proper controls for the observer with rudder pedals and a control stick and even a throttle control.
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I don't know where I got that from...
Sorry Dave :-[
Willem
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thanks for the comment, as far as i can make out from photos i've looked at the DH4 had proper controls for the observer with rudder pedals and a control stick and even a throttle control.
Pure luxury! 😁
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I dreamed of owning this kit as a kid, but it never seemed to reach the shops round here. Really nice to see it come together now ;)
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That is one of Airfix's classic kits. I remember building this when it was released and making a conversion to a DH 9 based on an Airfix Magazine article. The extra details that you are adding are super.
Stephen.
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Looking outstanding!
RAGIII
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Dave,
So cool! Nice to see one of the moldy oldies being done. I recall having a Dickens of a time with those struts, even when I got older. It'll be fun watching your build! Thanks for sharing.
Stuart
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I like the detail you added to the side walls !
Alexis
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Nice work Dave, i'll race you to the finish :P (I am guessing you'll win, my build has become glacially slow, sadly).
I like what you've done in the cockpit. This isn't a bad kit, all said and done, especially dimensionally. Yep there's a little bit of work to refine the details but the kit provides a solid start point to build upon.
Looking forward to seeing more!
BC
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I love seeing these old kits getting treated with the reverence modellers like you give them. Following with great interest.
Richie
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I love seeing these old kits getting treated with the reverence modellers like you give them. Following with great interest.
Richie
Hear hear. I love building old kits (with some exceptions) and it's wonderful to see a favourite type like the DH.4 get this attention.
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many thanks to all for your comments and for following me on this build, tis very much appreciated
it's highly possible i've gone too far with the interior on this one, but hey, the fun is in the doing ;D
a rudder cable fell off while taking the pics...shoddy workmanship :o
and it seems the floor has taken a slight warp but it should sort itself out once i glue it in place
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51454609729_2268919208.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2moSjPB)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51454825920_c5f77a7584.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2moTr63)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51453105087_6b789262f7.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2moJBxv)
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Great work! And who knows what will be seen of the interior later, maybe you've done just enough?!
/Fredrik
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It doesn't matter if you did too much to the interior or not. The best thing is that you enjoyed doing it. It would be a shame to not take all the fun out of a model that you can. Can't go leaving any of the fun in the box!
It looks great BTW!
Richie
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Your interior work looks even better with paint applied! Really excellent progress on this Old Classic!
RAGIII
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It doesn't matter if you did too much to the interior or not. The best thing is that you enjoyed doing it. It would be a shame to not take all the fun out of a model that you can. Can't go leaving any of the fun in the box!
It looks great BTW!
Richie
yup, it was fun building it up and i'm not really bothered if most of it can't be seen.
thanks for the comments and continued support on this one, i've made a bit more progress recently. The fuselage halves are now joined and although there was no gaps in the seems it had the telltale dip in the middle which a lot of these square bodied kits seem to have. I applied some sprue goo down each seem then used a craft knife to slice the top off to try and leave a straight edge. That was followed by copius amounts of sanding to smooth things out, once done i re-primered it before starting the paint.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51503415131_ae42e3ba61.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mtbsY4)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51503415101_46ec35ee94.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mtbsXx)
The light grey is almost there, one more coat should do it
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51503644433_84e84c2de8.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mtcD8x)
I've also been doing some work on the wings, namely attempting to add the pulley covers for the wires that run along the leading edge of the wings and end up operating the ailerons. I got busy (and messy) with some milliput and created some blobs on the wings where they need to be.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51502617157_e98dc88c33.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mt7nKT)
Once dried I prised them off and cut them down to a more eye pleasing size and shape, they are supposed to be a teardrop shape but being only about 5mm long i just can't hold them to sand that kinda shape. The final size is 1.5mm tall, 3mm wide and 5mm long so although they may look a bit overscale it's about as small as i can get them, i also need to leave enough meat on them so i can drill a hole through for the rigging. You can also see in this pick i've removed the bomb racks as Stephen pointed out to me they should run fore/aft, i've drilled some new holes and just need to make up some new racks.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51502617127_0dea7db5d0.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mt7nKn)
This is how they look after some final fettling
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51504345120_2f36609441.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mtgeqm)
As this is the lower wing this is pretty much all that will be seen, once it's all painted they should look a bit smaller...maybe
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51504131329_fd4db47036.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mtf8Si)
I aim to get the other wing sorted tonight then i get them both in primer and think about painting them
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Progress is progress as they say... That was a lot of very fiddly work but it will add much to a better looking model.
Stephen.
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Moving along nicely on this Old Beast! Looking forward to your next update!
RAGIII
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Nothing wrong with a mini update, little by little this old classic is being brought up to date.
Richie
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I think it's coming along wonderfully.
Warren
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thanks for the comments on this build, they are very much appreciated.
Feels like it's time for a bit of an update...the lower wing and undercarriage are now firmly fixed to the fuselage. The lower wing fit was generally good but i did do a bit of fettling prior to paint to try and ensure no filler was needed.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51605511151_e5bd0336fe.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mCcJyg)
I've also managed to get a bit of character on the undersides, not quite airbrush quality but with a bit of finishing it should look decent.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51606172819_c6a6737f7a.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mCg8fk)
I've kept the cabanes and interplane struts a bit simpler this time, just 2 coats of desert yellow and 1 coat of clear orange. I've also decided to not modify the struts and fix them in place as they are, they are a bit unconventional but it shouldn't really notice once in place. For the rigging of these i've drilled holes in each corner and i'll glue the rigging in place prior to fitting the struts so those joins shouldn't be visible.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51606390385_d38ac69e3e.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mCheVt)
if all goes well it should be looking like a biplane in the next update...
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I like your idea for the rigging - always a problem in the True Scale. It sounds very promising - looking forward to seeing how it works out.
Stephen.
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The colors look great and I am looking forward to the rigging update! Sounds like a good plan!
RAGIII
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I like your idea for the rigging - always a problem in the True Scale. It sounds very promising - looking forward to seeing how it works out.
Stephen.
thanks, in theory it should work ok
The colors look great and I am looking forward to the rigging update! Sounds like a good plan!
RAGIII
thanks, i hope to get the wings joined and make a start on the rigging this weekend...at least that's the plan :D
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Hi Dave,
I've just been catching up with your build of this venerable kit. Excellent progress so far and the interior work is especially impressive.
Looking forward to seeing the next installment.
Kind regards,
Mark
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This build is now officially a biplane, i thought it would be easier to set the cabanes in place first as the fixing for them is fairly straight forward and gives a positive location for the upper wing. I also added some 1mm long standoffs to represent the rudder control rods. It also got a quick coat of pledge so i could add some decals before the rudder rigging is added.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51622763330_6ba00a9bb2.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mDJa2C)
All the interplanes glued in place, a quick lick of paint and it should look ok, the pre rigging idea seems to have worked well.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51622121888_cd6775f5bc.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mDESmh)
And with the top deck fitted, it pretty much went according to plan and was a fairly straightforward job, next up is a riggathon session :grin:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51621898631_71141ae0d9.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mDDHZ2)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51622121828_85d0176092.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mDESkf)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51621065677_c4fc9280f7.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mDzsnK)
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Really looking Fantastic! It is amazing to see yet another Beautiful DH4 being made out of this Old Kit!
RAGIII
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I agree with Rick: this is a classic kit which can be made into something special with some care and patience as we are seeing ably demonstrated on this forum. The rigging looks as if it will be straightforward from here.
Stephen.
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Looking really great with the top plane on and the rigging in progress!
Cheers,
Mark
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This is coming together nicely, EBF. Looking terrific.
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thanks for the feedback and comments they're very much appreciated. Most of the main rigging is now done, i'd forgotten to paint the tank that sits on the underside of the top wing so i'll get that done and fitted then pull the last thread tight.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51630676176_364bf5de64.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mEqHf1)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51631528685_e41128a182.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mEv5Er)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51629853512_87f03efbd0.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mEmuG9)
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Awesome looking Bird! The rigging looks outstanding!!
RAGIII
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You are really doing justice to this old kit - the rigging is first class and the rest of the finish excellent.
Stephen.
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You are really doing justice to this old kit - the rigging is first class and the rest of the finish excellent.
Stephen.
My thoughts as well!
Cheers,
Ernie :)
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this is a few more steps closer to completion, last coat of paint has been applied to the top deck and decals added. Also given the fuselage a brown oil wash to dirty it up a bit and tone down the white in the decals. The next update might even see this one finished...
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51640724522_02fc6058b0.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mFjdgm)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51642402895_ed7b4baeba.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mFsPbP)
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Really looks terrific, especially if one clicks on the photos and enlarges them on Flickr. I am looking forward to the final product!
RAGIII
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Looking great!
WD
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thanks all for the comments, it's been a while since i've touched either the s.e.5 or the DH4. I wangled myself a promotion at work mid October which has meant a shift change and some training courses, add to that it was our busiest time of year and i've been lacking the mental capacity to deal with fiddly stuff. Things have settled down a bit and over the last couple of weeks i have been back at it and my build juices have started flowing again.
so excuses out of the way, i'm happy to say that this build is now finished, the rigging seemed to take forever and it felt like i was getting nowhere for a while but here she is...
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51811283877_a530ae8853.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mWonBT)
more pics are available in the completed models (https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=12795.0)section
Now, excuse me while i spend the next 6 months catching up on all the builds going on in here... ;D
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That looks really good EBF - all the effort to rig it has paid off handsomely.
Stephen.
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Stunning results!
RAGIII
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Fantastic!