Aviatik 'Berg' D.I

[Edo]

yeah!
really beautiful!
ciao
edo

[Manni]

Fantastic progress, great weathering and perfect build. Unbelievable in this short time.
Bye,
Manni

[Robin]

Fantastic progress, great weathering and perfect build. Unbelievable in this short time.
Bye,
Manni

I was thinking exactly the same. 

Robin

[Borsos]

Great job on the interior!
I also have this kit in my stash, so: How’s the fitting of the parts?
Andreas

[Mike Norris (UK)]

Great job on the interior!
I also have this kit in my stash, so: How’s the fitting of the parts?
Andreas

Hi Andreas,
Many resin kits are labelled 'short run kits' so you expect problems with finish and fit.
However given 'HPH Models' don't really fall into that category and given the price of the kit, I'm finding fit problems with internal fuselage parts, which is the stage I'm at right now.
Also the lacks some details that were on the actual aircraft.

The assembled engine including its support frames would not allow the front of the fuselage to fully close. I had to scrape the sides of the frames and the nose of the engine quite heavily to get a good fit as well as thinning the fuselage internal surfaces.
Also the two machine guns would not fit on their mounting frame inside the fuselage. That's required heavy scraping of the fuselage internal surfaces, removal of parts of the mounting frame and slight modification of both guns.
 
I've found that the machine gun barrels were located inside blast tubes that spanned the engine sides and into the apertures on the radiator - neither tubes are supplied in the kit.
The ailerons on the actual aircraft had pronounced upward 'wash-out' at the outer edges and although this seems to have been presented on the kit parts, the 'wash-out' is barely noticeable.
There's no wind screen supplied in the kit, which I believe this version of the Aviatik appears to have had.
The kit rigging diagram doesn't specify cross bracing between the rear cabane struts.
I see from other modellers that there could be shape accuracy issue with the fin and rudder.
'Des' noted that he suffered wing sag towards the end of his build of this kit - we'll see.

So to answer your question, yes there seems to be fit issues, at least for me on this kit and the fuselage is not even closed up yet.

However it's a challenge so I'll soldier on,

Mike

[Borsos]

Hello Mike,
thank for your detailed answer which is really valuable. I didn’t find the right ‚mojo‘ to start the Berg yet and your build log is actually worth waiting for and following with great interest instead. I remember Des‘ issues with wing sag, I think he solved the problem with strong structural rigging. I cross my fingers foryour build  although I know you will master any problems that might come.
Best regards
Andreas

[PrzemoL]

Spectacular progress, Mike. And that engine is a jewel in itself. Watching with great interest!

[Mike Norris (UK)]

Hello Mike,
thank for your detailed answer which is really valuable. I didn’t find the right ‚mojo‘ to start the Berg yet and your build log is actually worth waiting for and following with great interest instead. I remember Des‘ issues with wing sag, I think he solved the problem with strong structural rigging. I cross my fingers foryour build  although I know you will master any problems that might come.
Best regards
Andreas

Hi Andreas,
It's a nicely moulded model, it's just the few omissions and fit issues that are a nuisance.
'Des' got over his wing sag I think by heat bending the wing and partly rigging with mono-filament, which is what always use anyway.
So we'll see.

Mike

[Mike Norris (UK)]

Hi all.
I forgot to take shots of the internal fuselage before closing it up.
I still have a few bits to do - windows in the front decking, rear cabane cross bracing, top rear engine pipe, blast tubes for the machine guns and crash padding on the breech blocks.
Also seam filling and checks,

Mike

[kensar]

great interior work, Mike.  The exhausts really finish off the engine nicely.

[RAGIII]

Simply Gorgeous! The exhausts do look fantastic!
RAGIII

[Alexis]

Shaping up nicely so far Mike . Like the others your exhaust really set off the engine .



Terri

[Mike Norris (UK)]

Hi all,
Thanks, much appreciated.
It's strange how the exhausts grab the attention.
I've used this method before and it seems to work:

Brass tubes (in this case 1.8 mm diameter).
Prime the tubes by airbrushing ‘AK Interactive’ Primer and micro-filler (AK-758).
Airbrush the tubes using ’Tamiya’ Rubber Black (XF85).
Lightly dry brush the tubes with ‘Tamiya’ Hull Red Deck Tan (XF9).
Lightly dry brush ‘Tamiya’ NATO Brown (XF68) sporadically along the each tube.
Lightly sponge the pipe open angled end of each tube with ‘Tamiya’ Weathering Master (Set B-Soot).
Lightly sponge the base ends of the tubes with ‘Tamiya’ Weathering Master (Set D-Burnt Blue).
Lightly sponge along the centre areas of each tube with ‘Tamiya’ Weathering Master (Set B-Rust).

Mike

[lone modeller]

This is as ever up to your extremely high standards Mike. I have written before that it would appear from the photos in your log that you are just sailing through this kit, but clearly they do not tell the whole story. Excellent detailing is clearly a serious part of this build.

Stephen.

[Mike Norris (UK)]

Hi all,
The basic fuselage is now completed, with the addition of the blast tubes for the two 'Schwarzlose' machine guns, crash pads and top rear engine pipe.
I also added lead wire to represent the pipes/wires connected at the back of the instrument panel, although its virtually impossible to see them and worse once the upper wing is fitted.
There's a lot of photo-etch detail to be added to the fuselage and another engine pipe, but those will be left until later in the build to prevent the getting damaged,

Now it's time to move onto the wings and tail unit,

Mike