1/32 Gotha G.I Scratchbuild

[guitarlute101]

Thanks for the input guys! I really appreciate it.
 
  I've been working on how to finish off the fuselage top and there are some issues I will have to deal with.
 
Here is the drawing that I am working from. The problem is that large center gun ring.



None of the pictures of the real aircraft show this arrangement. The drawing seems to be fictional (or based on a factory drawing that was modified at a later time?). All of the pictures I've seen have an offset to port center gun ring/station. Not sure, but again, I'll be going with the pictures as best as I can. Here is an early G.I version with a seat but no gun ring.



I've decided to do G.I 42/15 "Feodora". Here is its gun ring arrangement.



It looks to be offset with a modified section that hangs a little over the fuselage side to accommodate the gun ring like this picture.



And a side view, maybe not the same aircraft..



A little more thinking and experimenting and I'll be back with an update.
 
Thanks,
Mark

[guitarlute101]

Hey guys,

Well, you know, somedays it's just one step forward and two steps back. While working out the arrangement of the center section I noticed that it was too far forward and the cockpit was too far back on the drawings when compared to the pictures of the real thing. So I had to do some internal rearranging of the supports.







I feel confident that everything is in it's correct spot now (although I should have caught that much sooner).
 
BTW, the sectioned off area on the starboard side of the center section was where the fuel tank was located.
 
So if anything else, today was just a side step instead of a step ahead with my project although I did have time to make the top area for the front gun ring.
 
Little by little,
 
Mark

[lcarroll]

Great work and looking very fine so far Mark. This is a very challenging project and to this point is going extremely well due to your skills and particularly your attention to the research effort. I'm really enjoying following your progress!
Cheers,
Lance

[Manni]

Great work. So accurate and clean.
Bye,
Manni

[guitarlute101]

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement Lance and Manni!

Mark

[Borsos]

Fantastic work on the fuselage. accurate and clean like Manni said. My deepest respect!
Best regards
Andreas

[rhwinter]

Wow, Mark, true artistic craftmanship! And I really like this ugly bird.

[guitarlute101]

Thanks guys! I appreciate it. Slowly but surely I'm making progress.

I adjusted the scale drawing to the best of my ability to reflect the upper top fuselage more accurately in regards to period photographs. I moved the cockpit forward and drew in the center section.



Mark

[guitarlute101]

A little update, not much time to work on it this week and I still need to order some .02 and .03 styrene sheet.
 
The rectangle and triangle shapes to the rear are the bases for the balsa wood to vacu-form over and the half circle near the front will be built up with a small piece of balsa and vacu-formed too.





You can see the areas near the back of the cockpit that I need to fill back in because I opened up the entire cockpit area but this is not a problem..
 
Mark

[RAGIII]

Mark,
You are truly producing a first class scratch build here! I am Gob Smacked 
RAGIII

[guitarlute101]

Thank you Rick, I appreciate it!

Mark

[guitarlute101]

Some progress on the cockpit covered area. Still a little shaping to do around the cockpit opening.



It was definitely some work for me but I'm very happy with the result so far.
 
Thanks for looking in, I appreciate it,
 
Mark

[jeroen_R90S]

I can imagine that, that looks really good! In fact, my non-scratchbuild model kits look messy-er in this stage...!

[ermeio]

You are making a great model
I will continue to follow this build with interest
er me

[Juan]

Looks fantastic Mark, enjoying your scratch building immensely.