1/32 Gotha G.I Scratchbuild

[guitarlute101]

New year, new project.

I've scaled up the plans, it'll be a big one for sure...…………..I'll put some "thinking time" into the fuselage construction.   
 
Mark

[guitarlute101]

I am using Image Shack, can someone tell me how to make the pictures show up in the thread?

Thanks in advance.

Mark

[krow113]

Not sure about Ishack.
 I use this one , not without figuring out how to post pics from it first. It seems all hosting sites have their own peculiarity's:
https://imgbb.com/
Good luck on the G I , canya get engines to suit from WNW?

[rhwinter]

Ah, that Gotha Ursunus? Great! I always liked this strange but interesting bird! I am afraid that, as soon as you're ready with your scratch-build of it, Wingnut Wings or Copper State Models will come up with a Gotha G1... Good luck! I will follow your project eagerly, Mark!
Richard

[guitarlute101]

Thanks guys, I figured out the problem I was having with posting pictures, all is fine now.


OK, I've had to spend some time thinking about how to make the fuselage. I'm going to make it in two halves so I'll start with the rear of the fuselage.
 
There are some VERY complex shapes to deal with on the fuselage so I started out measuring and marking places to put formers in the top, side and bottom profiles at certain distances, I put more formers in areas that had more twist to the shape to give the outer shell more to hold on to when I glued it together.



I cut out the bottom shape of the fuselage and made the formers making sure to number and mark the center line on each of them.



Once I had the formers glued and supported to the bottom, I turned it over to make sure the center lines on the tops of the formers matched up with the top profile



I used a piece of paper to make the sides at first because it could easily bend around the shapes, then I just traced it onto card stock and cut it out and glued to the sides.



After a little wait for the glue to dry, I flipped it over onto card stock and traced the top, cut it out, glued it and sanded the edges smooth.








This took pretty much the whole day to complete. I need to do a little more shaping but that pretty much took care of the rear of the fuselage.
 
The front of the fuselage presents entirely different challenges in respect to the shapes involved. More than likely I'll be making a wooden buck in the shape of the front fuselage to glue the card stock around it. We'll see...……..
 
Mark

[lcarroll]

Great progress already Mark, and a very ambitious and impressive project! We have some incredible projects on the go here on the Forum and your Gotha, along with Steve's "Super Build" of the WNW Version are stellar examples of the Modeller's art! A real pleasure to follow along!
Cheers,
Lance

[jeroen_R90S]

Very cool -as Lance already wrote, very nice! Although WNW like to release offbeat aircraft, I can't really imagine them releasing a kit of this monster!

[guitarlute101]

Great progress already Mark, and a very ambitious and impressive project! We have some incredible projects on the go here on the Forum and your Gotha, along with Steve's "Super Build" of the WNW Version are stellar examples of the Modeller's art! A real pleasure to follow along!
Cheers,
Lance

Thanks Lance, I've really been wanting to build this one for a while now. I remember seeing a picture of three G.Is in a row on an airfield in a book many moons ago when I first started getting into WW1 aircraft and I have been fascinated with it since then. There is just something about the G.I design that speaks to me, I can't really put it into words. It saw service early on in the war but was not a particularly successful airframe but it did lead to the very successful subsequent Gotha bomber designs.

Very cool -as Lance already wrote, very nice! Although WNW like to release offbeat aircraft, I can't really imagine them releasing a kit of this monster!

Thanks Jeroen, that's what I was thinking too. There are a few different airframe versions and several cockpit variations so I figured that those facts might cut down on the chance WnW would release it but you never know. If they release one then I will build it too but beyond that I like a challenge to strengthen my building techniques and this is certainly proving to provide them.


Mark

[Manni]

You are a brave man to start this beautiful and interesting bomber. I will sit down and watch carefully to learn from your techniques. Thanks for showing.
Bye,
Manni

[coyotemagic]

I agree with Manni 100%, Mark!  I'll be following closely, as this is my favorite Gotha type.
Cheers,
Bud

[Juan]

Great start Mark, really looking forward to how this beauty progresses.

[lone modeller]

That is a really ambitious project, but if you have managed to make the basic fuselage shape in a day you are going to finish this relatively quickly. The standard that you have set is very high indeed, which means that this is going to be a truly impressive monster when it is finished.

I am looking forward to seeing more of this build, not least because I will be looking out for ideas to use on my own project.

Stephen.

[Edo]

wow! this is a great project for sure!
i’m in for the show!
ciao
edo

[guitarlute101]

Thanks guys! I appreciate you looking in on the build and your kind comments!

I had time today to take out the scroll saw and work on the bottom of the front fuselage. Draw it and saw it.



Sand everything mice and even...............



This is just the buck to form the plastic around so it has to be .030 smaller so that the plastic card on the outside of the buck will be the same width as the rear fuselage.
 
My plan is to make the bottom of the fuselage out of 3 pieces of plastic card, the bottom and two sides. I've never tried it this way before so we'll see. The difficult area will be the front of the fuselage. If all else fails then I'll vacuform it.






Here you can gauge the size that it will be in it's final form.



That's it for now, little by little. Thanks for looking in.

Mark

[guitarlute101]

Hello everyone,
 
  I was able to finish the bottom half of the front fuselage. I shaped the plastic around the wooden buck and added formers to the inside. Sorry for the dark picture, learning as I go.



I need to do a little more work around the nose to smooth is out but it's nothing a little elbow grease won't fix.
 
And here it is mated to the rear fuselage, starting to look like a G.I now.





Here it is with the scale drawing, the fuselage doesn't match the drawing length because of how I'm standing and taking the picture but it is spot on with the drawing....



I am really enjoying this build.
 
Thanks for looking in,
Mark