Albatros Dr.I, Eduard 1/48, Upd 28.6.2020 Suspension

[lone modeller]

Frank I feel for you. You are such a perfectionist and those transfers are giving you hell! I am not sure that I can offer any constructive advice as I do not have much experience with these media. Instead you must make do with my compliments on the wheels - they are first class as usual.

I am sure that you will get the transfers sorted out eventually - give yourself some time to calm down.

Stephen.

[RichieW]

Oh no Frank, what a cruel reward for so much hard work. The modelling gods have been most unkind to you, the post started out so promisingly too. Like others have said you will prevail in the end, you're too fine a modeller to be overcome by this setback

[RAGIII]

Like the others I can feel your pain but I know you are an excellent modeler and can succeed!
RAGIII

[gbrivio]

Sorry to see this, it's a pity such an incovenience after all the beautiful work and so close to completion. But I'm sure you will fix it perfectly.
Wish you good luck!
Ciao
Giuseppe

[GazzaS]

Frank,
   I feel for you, Buddy!  Masking and painting are fraught with potential difficulties.  One color is no problem, two colors greatly multiply potential issues.  I notice on your fuselage cross, some of your white paint lifted, possibly when you lifted your mask.  One thing you can do, is before you peel away the mask, lightly trace the edges with a sharp blade.

Another helpful thing is to peel away the mask as parallel to the model surface as possible, instead of lifting straight up, perpendicularly.  Though this changes the direction of pull, reducing the chance of paint liftup, it's no guarantee against pulling up decals.  Decals are strange animals.  When you want them to come up, they are as stubborn as can be.  But when you want them to stay in place when touched as lightly as a feather, they'll act like scared birds.


Good Luck! 

Gaz

[Early Bird Fan]

sorry to see your troubles, i really hope you can find a fix as it's a beautiful looking model

[Alexis]

Been there and done that before many times and I learn't to lesson the frustration before masking over decals apply a few clear coats and let this FULLY dry for a few days sometimes up to week . Then mask over . Not 100% solution but it really reduces the risk of the decals lifting . I know you will pull through 


Terri

[Bughunter]

Thank you Stephen, Richie, Rick, Giuseppe, Gaz, Early Bird Fan and Terri for your supportive comments! That means a lot for me!


Landing gear

After all the trouble I like to go back to my comfort zone. A rainy Sunday on the bench.

I masked a lot and painted the engine area, the wheels and the prepared small parts with the Gray Green of Drooling Bulldog.



After unmask it looks nice beside the engine.



The wheels looks nice. The tire is unpainted. It looks nice, but the four sprue gates are still visible so I should paint the tires too.



Then I glued the small PE parts in place. Here the right side.



Some more on left side, also two lids underneath. Please note the bend lids.



I need a preview for motivation



The kit struts of the landing gear are already to short in side view.  Not to mention the tilted position!



The plastic is also very brittle, and also a little bit to wide. So I formed new brass struts.
The copper wires prevent kinking and are relatively easy to remove after bending.



Both are done. A shaft of the drill helps with the inner diameter of the arc.


8 additional fittings added from bigger diameter. The lower ones soldered in place, some pins to hold the suspension rubber lines in place too. Axle and distance tube are nickel silver.



The tube will be soldered later. After mounting of the lower wings the legs will be shortened to the final size and get some brass pins.
I think it looks like a Albatros landing gear!



Such scratch work is always fun for me!

Cheers,
Frank

[RAGIII]

Phenomenal Work on the gear and wheels Frank! You are a Master of details!! The short gear legs were/are a problem with all of their DV variants.
RAGIII

[RichieW]

Beautiful scratch work Frank, good response to the recent torment.

[gbrivio]

Great work on undercarriage and fuselage painting-detailing. Well done.
Ciao
Giuseppe

[lcarroll]

Frank,
    I somehow missed this change of fortune earlier, I am very sorry for your problems with the masking and decal damage. You are doing the right thing by putting that aside while you work on another part of the Build. It will put a more positive impression on the project and give you time to work out a solution or two, which I know you'll do! So take it slow, have another of those Bitburgers, and do your usual "Bug hunting" and all will be good!!
Cheers,
Lance

[kensar]

 
Up to your usual standard.  Good work!

[GazzaS]

Those landing gear struts look great!  Especially given the scale.

[Bughunter]

Thank you Rick, Richie, Giuseppe, Lance, Ken and Gaz! Your feedback motivates me a lot in this tough project!

So take it slow, have another of those Bitburgers, and do your usual "Bug hunting" and all will be good!!

Lance, thank you for such long and encouraging answer!
We have so many good beers in Germany that I prefer others I posted the Bit because Gaz's sample was just too good!

I want to say thank you also to Jamo/James Fahey! Without his fantastic picture documentation of a Albatros I would not be able to scratch the landing gear in that level. Really pitty that some of those documentation threads are dead due to the dump photobucket issue

Cheers,
Frank