Author Topic: A different FEE: 1/72 FE 2d (Read 7647 times)

lone modeller · « **on:** January 22, 2020, 08:58:05 AM »

Evening All,

I seem to have lost my mojo of late - if anyone finds it can you please pm me and I will send you my address so that you can send it back. Winter is never a good time for me and I seem to be suffering a bit from seasonal lack of energy. I have ideas for several possible projects but frankly I cannot get the motivation to start one. Instead I am going to try to pick up on a long term project which I have been tinkering with for too long - not quite a shelf queen but a stop-start affair which I have decided to bring to a conclusion sooner rather than later. Unfortunately I have temporarily mislaid some of the photos of the stages which I have already completed, so I am having to trawl through my photographic library to find them. (I had no idea about how many photos until I started to look for photos relevant to this project. Normally I create albums straight away but for some reason I failed to do so for this model). Updates will be a little sporadic as I

a. find the photos of the stages completed thus far,

and b. hopefully continue with the model until it is finished.

Many modellers have an FE2b in their collection - WingnutWings have produced two variants in 1/32 scale and Aeroclub produced a 1/48 scale kit many years ago. There is a vacuform kit, (rare I believe), in God's Own Scale, but I chose to convert an old Veeday BE2c and some parts from the Airfix DH 4 into an early FE 2b. If I had waited for a couple of years I could have used the Airfix BE 2c as the basis for the conversion. (The FE 2b and BE 2c had common wing components which meant that I only had to make the centre section of the wings for the FE 2b: alternatively wing parts from two kits could have been used). This was made shortly after I had returned to modelling after a 30+ year break about 7 years ago. The result of my efforts look like this:

This will be the subject of this scratch build:

The FE 2d differed from the 2b by having a Rolls Royce Eagle engine in place of the Beardmore, a different radiator, modified nacelle, four bladed propellor and in the case of the subject I have chosen the Trafford Jones undercarriage (as shown on the cover above).

I have made the wings and flying surfaces, (and found the photos), in the usual way: 30 thou plastic card which had been immersed in boiling water in a 4 inch diameter pipe was the basis for the wings. These were cut to plan shape and the ribs added by cementing Evergreen 10 x 20 thou strip. This was lightly sanded to smooth the edges. The tail surfaces were also cut form flat 30 thou card.

I have also made the nacelle parts using the push mould technique. I had hoped that I might be able to use an FE 2b nacele and modify it but that was not practical so I made a new set of moulds. This image shows how I had started to cut out the observer's cockpit:

More updates will follow in due course.

Thanks for looking.

Stephen.

Alexis · « **Reply #1 on:** January 22, 2020, 11:03:40 AM »

Got my chair and fresh supply of pepsi , I'm ready !

Terri

bobs_buckles · « **Reply #2 on:** January 22, 2020, 05:47:57 PM »

You had me at 'Evening all'

Popcorn at the ready.
Go man, GO!

vB

lcarroll · « **Reply #3 on:** January 23, 2020, 01:02:31 AM »

You are a brave man Stephen, most Modellers are challenged by a Kit version of the Fee let alone a Scratch Built one! I'll join the others in settling in to follow your progress on this one, great choice for your next work.
Cheers,
Lance

RAGIII · « **Reply #4 on:** January 24, 2020, 02:31:23 AM »

Your usual brilliant start Stephen! I will of course follow along!
RAGIII

lone modeller · « **Reply #5 on:** February 06, 2020, 07:30:16 AM »

Evening All,

Did I write that my mojo had gone on a wander? Well it does not seem to have returned so some of you may need rather a lot of popcorn and beer - just a warning so that you can get stocks in. On a more positive note, thanks to you all for the very encouraging comments - they are very much appreciated and have certainly given me a much needed boost.

I have pottered around a bit and now have something new to show. The cockpit assembly is finished - it is simplified from the original as I do not have the patience to fiddle any more with cut-out windows for the pilot and holes in the pilot's seat. Anyway most of that kind of detail is lost in this scale when everything is assembled and besides I do want to finish this before the turn of the next millenium. (Andreas, please note that although I wanted to follow your brillianrt example, I was unable to do so at the moment - just do not have the required patience).

Here is the cockpit - the wood effect was obtained with oils (mix of burnt and raw sienna). All of the parts are made from 20 or 30 thou card bent and filed/sanded to shape.

The engine has been a headache. I also forgot to take photos of the assembly sequence (I am having problems remembering even more important things at the moment), but what matters is that it represents an early Rolls Royce Eagle, which was a 12 cylinder V with lots of pipes and paraphernalia on the top. Fortunately the DataFile on the FE 2d provides a drawing and there are good photos of kit Eagle engines from WingnutWings, so I did my best to replicate most of the details from those sources. This is again simplified - it could not be otherwise in this scale, and given that it will be largely hidden under the top wing and few people know what it is supposed to look like, I am satisfied with what I have achieved.

I built the sump block from laminated card, the cylinders from rod and the pipework from stretched sprue and wire from a telephone cable.

I completely forgot to put in a scale for both, but the engine is approximately 5/8 inch (1.5cm) and the cockpit assembly is 7/8 inch (2cm), which means that they are a bit small. To help I have photographed the cockpit against the fuselage moulds and you can see that I have also added the engine air louvre panels on the sides of the fuselage.

More when I have joined the fuselage halves and done a good deal more filling and sanding.

Thanks for looking.

Stephen.

Alexis · « **Reply #6 on:** February 06, 2020, 10:56:39 AM »

I got lots of pepsi so I'm good to go Stephen

If it takes you a bit longer that is okay , we will all still be following along . I go through spells like that where I lose my modeling mojo and won't touch the bench for along time . You are not alone

I really like what you have done so far and the engine is an excellent . Shaping up wonderful so far

Terri

Borsos · « **Reply #7 on:** February 06, 2020, 03:46:14 PM »

Absolutely amazing scratch build work on one of the prettiest planes of WWI. A brave attempt to build an Fe2d from scratch but I am sure you will manage it with your admirable skills.
Andreas

kensar · « **Reply #8 on:** February 06, 2020, 10:27:36 PM »

In this scale it would be extremely difficult to create a lot of detail, so what you have put together is very appropriate. And it yields results relatively quickly - a tonic for a slumping mojo, I think. Besides, builds are best enjoyed when going at your own pace. I'll be following along, Stephen.

RAGIII · « **Reply #9 on:** February 07, 2020, 02:04:22 AM »

In spite of your "Lost" Mojo you have made terrific progress! The pit looks great! I am in for the Long Haul

RAGIII

Bughunter · « **Reply #10 on:** February 08, 2020, 10:18:13 AM »

Stephen, what you are showing here looks really fantastic - the parts are so damn small in God's Own Scale!
This is again a great scratch project, and I hope you will find enough energy to continue on it.

From the pusher layout it reminds me on one of my latest shopping results - I was able to catch a 1/48 Vickers Gun Bus from Blue Max

I will keep an eye on whether your mojo is bouncing around here, if so I will catch it and send it back to you safely packed!

Cheers,
Frank

Bolman · « **Reply #11 on:** February 11, 2020, 03:14:17 AM »

This seems somewhat familiar! Great job so far, and best of luck with the completion! Can't wait to see the finished gem

John

lone modeller · « **Reply #12 on:** February 18, 2020, 09:07:38 AM »

Evening All,

Thanks Terri, Andreas, Ken, Rick, Frank and John for the encouraging comments which are much appreciated as always. This is particularly true at the moment as you will find when you read on - this model seems to have hidden problems which are just testing my patience more than somewhat!

Frank - does this mean that you are going to show us how to really make a pusher with one of your super- builds of the Gunbus? If so I am booking a front seat now!

I made the radiator from 30 thou card. I scribed two pieces of 20 thou card to represent the shutters.

The cockpit sub-assembly was added to the fuselage parts which were joined and the radiator added behind the cockpit. The lower edges of the nacelle moulds are rounded whereas on the original machines these were square. I used a method which I learned from another modeller who made vacuforms, (and whose name I cannot remember), which was to glue a piece of stretched sprue along the corner which I wanted to modify.

Filler was then plastered into the gaps formed between the sprue and the side and bottom of the nacelle: when this was dry I could sand the filler back to form a square corner. Unfortunately when I did this I found that the bottom of the nacelle was slightly assymetric so I have had to add more filler to the bottom to try to build up one side to balance the other. This has now been completed and the nacelle is complete. The lower wings were glued to the nacelle sides and a gravity tank which had been made from laminated card and sanded to shape was added to the top wing. I have also drilled holes for the struts in both wings.

I have also made the wheels from two discs of 60 thou card and tyres from 40 thou rod. I wound the rod around a paintbrush handle and held the rod in boiling water for about 10 seconds, drew it out and waited for it to cool. The diameter of the coiled rod is smaller than the discs so that when a piece of rod is cut off it will clamp firmly to the disc and hopefully not leave any large gaps.

The wheels are ready to have axle holes drilled in them:

The next stage will be to use the end of a round file to make grooves in the trailing surfaces of the wings so that I can epoxy the booms to them. I will make the booms from florists wire. More on that next time.

Thanks for looking.

Stephen.

RAGIII · « **Reply #13 on:** February 19, 2020, 01:50:11 AM »

All is looking spectacular in spite of your issue with the underside of the tub. Your processes always amaze Me! Nothing fancy, just solid Modeling skills!
RAGIII

Bughunter · « **Reply #14 on:** February 19, 2020, 03:24:10 AM »

To see a plane growing up from nothing like a Phoenix is again very nice, please continue your great work!
But crazy, 12 wing struts?

That means a lot of rigging!

Quote from: lone modeller on February 18, 2020, 09:07:38 AM

Frank - does this mean that you are going to show us how to really make a pusher with one of your super- builds of the Gunbus? If so I am booking a front seat now!

Stephen, I have to say sorry about that. There are many other kits in the stash with higher priority. I don't need to buy kits because I already have work for years, but if I'm able to catch a limited numbered edition of a rare BlueMax kit, I have to buy it

Cheers,
Frank