Thank you all for your support, kind words and encouragement. It's time for just a quick update to let you know that I haven't been slacking! I must also thank again, Ilya Sobolev, one of the new co-owners of Copper State Models for his superb help where that has been possible. He also warned me that on some of the older CSM offerings, like this one, there were sometimes significant problems of resin mould alignment. Yes.
As you’ll see from the first photo, I’ve attached the horizontal tail surfaces and begun to scratch build the undercarriage and the rigging tower, measuring as precisely as possible from the profile and elevation drawings in the kit. I used graph paper to ensure that parts were joined accurately. Also notice that the nose just had to come off. Why? The succeeding photo shows a cross-section of the back end of what I removed and the awful extent of the asymmetry that would have to be corrected; unless the Taube really was built like that!
IMG_1053 by
nigeljjackson, on Flickr
IMG_1056 by
nigeljjackson, on Flickr
The solution for me was to build up a new nose from layers of thick plastic sheet and then insert three metal pins to keep things in place whilst I subjected it to some heavy duty sanding once attached.
IMG_1055 by
nigeljjackson, on Flickr
Here it is in place and I’ve used strip styrene to begin the process of replacing the external frame.
IMG_1064 by
nigeljjackson, on Flickr
From this angle you’ll notice the copious amount of good old Milliput I had to use to introduce some symmetry to the rest of the fuselage. This mattered because all my careful undercarriage measuring and construction counted for nought when I dry-fitted the parts I'd made.
IMG_1063 by
nigeljjackson, on Flickr
Now all of this early work has proved a greater challenge than had been expected and so to try and retain some sanity I’ve been moonlighting on another project. Surely even all you lozenge, iron cross and fancy paint scheme nuts will recognise and fear the lower wing outline of a truly great aircraft?
IMG_1066 by
nigeljjackson, on Flickr
But back to the Taube and more mould misalignment. The picture might not be very good, but how am I to cope with the misalignment of the engine? Check out the front end rather than Ena’s delicately manicured nails. Looks like it’s the bin then and I’ll have to figure out how to build one from scratch. But with no lathe to use, how I’ll manage the cylinders remains to be seen.
IMG_1061 by
nigeljjackson, on Flickr
By the way, if any of the photos appear stretched wide, my apologies. Windows 10 and my HP monitor are talking but not necessarily sharing an entirely common language yet. I await the updates.
Best wishes
Nigel
