Hello, Everyone,
As the last post on this thread was over six months ago, I thought that I'd place just one more posting on the thread to close it off.
You may recall that I said some time ago that I would like to place the Albi into competition some time in the fall to see what might happen. Well that regional competition took place yesterday, September 28th. Fortunately, I had had the time to make a few "amendments" to the model as it was pictured back in early March.
For example, here is an image posted back in March:
The error made here was so massively obvious that I never even saw it. I had been so fixated on getting the rigging correct that I completely missed the fact that I had not fitted the radiator hose from the wing rad to the front of the engine. Don't believe me?? Check back to the images on page 1 of this thread and you can see for yourself! It was only when Lance Carroll posted the images of his Memorial Build that the truth thundered over me like a herd of elephants. The hose got fitted as soon as I could find it, still in the kit box and stored in my cache. This incident is a prime example of "dodging a bullet!"
So here are two images showing the Albi as it stood ready for competition. All appeared to be in place, and ready for the fray:
Now came the question of a display base. I cobbled together a bit of wood, stained and varnished, then added a "Muddy" surface to replicate ground the Albi might have occupied in December, 1917. An RFC pilot took his place as a reference to aircraft size and scale, an engraved brass plate arrived as the method of description, and some decals added a bit of interest as a roundel overshadowed the Black Cross:
I was able to attend and to place the Albi into "Class A-11, Multi-Wing Aircraft and/or Rigged." Needless to say, with two wings and a bunch of rigging, the Albatros felt right at home.
The final count of competitors was eighteen, mostly 1/32nd scale and all of those Wingnut /wings offerings. The judges split the Class into multi- and single-engined a/c, but that still left 12 to 1 odds for the Albi. Nothing to do but to help in the competition judging (
not Class A-11, of course!), get the odd coffee and snack, and await the awards ceremonies.
Crunch time: the awards started and (wouldn't you know it?) my Class was announced quite early in the schedule. And, while I had stated many times that the aim of the build was to be a Memorial to Des, I was absolutely gob-smacked (gee, I
do like that term!) when it was announced that "Captured!" had come second out of thirteen and had won Silver in the competition!
And then it was over, and my Memorial Build had a very, very nice accent point for Des and all that he had done for the website, the Forum and all of our members. I felt quite satisfied, quite happy and quite honoured. Blue Skies, Des. This one is for you as well!
Best regards to all Forumites, thanks for visiting, and good fortune to you in all with your current and future builds.
