The Tommy

[kensar]

Thanks for looking in and commenting Richie and Terri.
The Silhouette cutter and paint masks have been working well.  I am using photo frisket film for masking, which is a bit stiff and can lift up off of curved surfaces in spots, making it necessary for some touch ups.
I'm currently working on the wing details around the strut mounting points.  Soon I'll be test fitting the wings.

[RichieW]

Ken  I had problems with Friskett masking film too, I've had more success with Greenstik materials stencil masking film. It is a green colour, gery similar to Montex masks so much easier to see what you are doing.

[kensar]

A small update...

A couple of details for the wings.  I have made the torsion bars that protrude from the wings, primered.  The lower half will be glued into the top wing before mounting.



I had these PE turnbuckles and wanted to find a way to improve them for use.  I applied thick CA to the middle part that is supposed to be round.  Later colored them with permanent markers.  I think they will work out fine in less visible places.  The Gaspatch resin turnbuckles are more consistently shaped and have sharper detail, so they will be used in very visible places.



Mounted some fittings for rigging later.



Mounted the lower wings.  The front end will be put on after mounting the top wing and connecting the pushrods that activate the ailerons.



I'm beginning to see the end of this build now.  One crucial test remains - fitting the upper wing.  That's when I see if the struts and cabanes are the right length.

Thanks for looking in on this build.

[rhallinger]

That looks fantastic Ken!  I really am enjoying your build of this historic aircraft and tribute to your father.  Very nice.  The color and markings look very good, and your improvement of the PE turnbuckles is brilliant.  You just taught me a new trick! 

Coming along very nicely and nearing the finish line.  Well Done!

Best regards,

Bob

[Bughunter]

The Gaspatch resin turnbuckles are more consistently shaped and have sharper detail, so they will be used in very visible places.

Have you ever used the metal ones, so can you compare both?
In 1/48 I will stay as far as possible with the metal ones (appart from the new RAF wire terminals) because of robustness.

Now we can rig our biplanes in a race

Cheers,
Frank

[kensar]

Thanks for commenting, Bob.

Frank, no, I have never used the metal turnbuckles.  I have seen closeup pictures of them and it appears the surface finish is very rough.  Pictures can deceive, however.  When I need more turnbuckles, I will likely order some metal ones to try out.

Prop is almost ready to go.

[jeroen_R90S]

Awesome work!

[lone modeller]

Very good work on this Ken. The propellor is super indeed.

[Alexis]

She is really shaping up now Ken , neat idea on the use of PE turn buckles .


Terri

[kensar]

I forgot to take a picture of the PE turnbuckles to show how they look.  Without magnification, its very difficult to tell they are PE.  I used them around the cabanes.

Got the wing rigging done.  I guess you finished before me, Frank.  In my defense, both the flying wires and landing wires are doubles!







Numerous small details to install yet (like the engine).  Hopefully will be finished in a week.

Thanks for stopping by Terri, Stephen, and Jeroen.

[Bughunter]

The securing if the control wires on the tail plane is crazy
I have to add a securing rope to the back on the Dolpin, but this triangle solution here is very safe. But they didn't want to leave anything to chance!

I Just checked the Windsock Datafile 166, the turnbuckles on the tail plane looks a bit oversized. Here you could take advance of your big scale and use the smaller 1/48 turnbuckles. I thought about that today: The new RAF terminals would be nice in smaller size on the Dolphin tail, but there is no 1/72 solution. For a 1/32 Dolphin I would use the 1/32 ones for the wings and the 1/48 size for the tail.

Cheers,
Frank

[RAGIII]

WOW! That is really incredible Modeling and rigging! For Nostalgia sake I would love to see one of these in Errol Flynns 1931 Dawn Patrol Markings! Maybe someday someone will do a kit    Until then I will use yours to enjoy My Memories of the Movie that got Me hooked on WW1!
RAGIII

[smperry]

That Tommy is looking Great!. If someone ever makes markings for a Dawn Patrol Tommy, then someone will need to do a David Niven in his PJs figure to go with it.
sp

[RLWP]

The 'torsion bars' - aren't they just levers like the Nieuports have? They're weird shape because there is a hole in them to pass around a spar. I think...

Richard

[kensar]

Thanks for the comments.

I had planned to use Gaspatch metal 1/48 turnbuckles on the tail, but the eyelets in the turnbuckles were too small for my rigging line.  I tried to drill them out, but my drill bits kept breaking!  I broke about 3 of them.  I then resorted to using what I had.  It seems manufacturers still make things oversize for some reason.

Yes, Richard.  There are curved rods going above and below  the rear wing spar.  The rods were not installed in these pictures.  I wanted to rig before installing them.  They are installed now allowing the firewall, engine, and cowling to be installed next.