WNW Tripehound 2nd ever build log

[RichieW]

Thanks Terri, I did a bit of the pencil crayon thing you recommended on the cabanes, definitely will be doing more of that.

[FAf]

Great work! I especially like your seatbelt colours! 👍
/Fredrik

[RichieW]

Thanks Faf, much appreciated, I used Vallejo model colour acrylics from their wood and leather set. Love those paints.

Great work! I especially like your seatbelt colours! 👍
/Fredrik

[lone modeller]

This is only your second build log and you are showing us details and interiors that look like they have come from someone who has been making and painting kits for years. Wonderful modelling.

Stephen.

[RichieW]

Thanks Stephen, that's very kind of you. I feel I have improved a lot recently thanks to all the help and encouragement people like your good self have passed on. Before joining this forum I'd never even heard of many of the techniques I'm now using. This is like being in a modelling club with some of the best modellers around. It's been a massive boost for me.

[Bughunter]

You have done a nice job on this Triplane so far!

I have only one problem: Andreas/Borsos question about PC12, a discussion with Stephen about triplanes and the Sopwith Triplane and now your build invites me to pull my Triplane kit out of the stash and start it! But I have already so many started builds, I need no finish some birds first. But the Tripe will not have to wait long!

Cheers,
Frank

[RichieW]

You have done a nice job on this Triplane so far!

I have only one problem: Andreas/Borsos question about PC12, a discussion with Stephen about triplanes and the Sopwith Triplane and now your build invites me to pull my Triplane kit out of the stash and start it! But I have already so many started builds, I need no finish some birds first. But the Tripe will not have to wait long!

Cheers,
Frank

Haha, thanks Frank, I'm enjoying more than any other model I've made/started so far.

Would love to see you dig yours out of the stash too when you've got a few over the line. It's just so tempting to start lots of projects at the same time, I'm fighting the urge, must be strong, must focus, must finish at least one kit this year! 

[RichieW]

I had some good advice from Rick,SM and Terri in the hints and tips section on how to cut out this foothole that the Shutleworth's Dixie II replica has.

Dixie II foothold. by Richard Williams, on Flickr

I then realised it is a much more complicated task than I first thought due to the design of the kit and the way the internal framework extends back.

Foot hole puzzle. by Richard Williams, on Flickr

Leaving the framework in tact would result in the cut out starting too high up which would look plain silly, cutting a section of the framework out is not without it's compromises either but will look far better from the outside. The upper pencil line shows where the cut out would start if I leave the framework intact, the lower shows where it should begin.

Foot hole puzzle. by Richard Williams, on Flickr

Ignoring the foothole completely is the safe option so it's a toss up between that and chopping a chunk out of the framework which would only look silly if someone had a good peer inside which isn't going to happen. I'll have a think about it and start cleaning up the wings and mount the machine gun.

Any further advice/opinions are very welcome.

Richie

[smperry]

You seem to have found the best approach to deciding whether or not to embark in a modification to a kit, especially an expensive one. Go work on something else for a while. Let your mind chew on the problem while your fingers do something else that needs doing. You will either hit on a way to do it you are comfortable trying, or you will decide it is best left alone. Either one is the correct when you arrive at it this way. If the answer doesn't come to you, try doing the mod to a cheaper kit you don't care so much about.
sp

[RichieW]

Barely any progress for a while, I scratched my head and contemplated creating the foot hole but in the end decided it was a bit too complicated for me at the moment, maybe a cheaper kit would be a better subject to practice surgery on. More on that later.

I got the fuselage together, practice fittings suggested it would be very straightforward but somehow it wasn't. I must have got the framework twisted but I was able to get a good fit in the end. I managed to make a bit of gluey mess but have rectified that now.

20200424_153757 by Richard Williams, on Flickr

I had a delivery from Proper Plane, this prop is so beautiful it seems almost a shame to stick one of my models on the end of it, I will have to up my game a bit!

20200424_153837 by Richard Williams, on Flickr

This was so inspiring that I decided to have a go at carving a prop too so I spent a pleasant couple of days sitting in the sunshine whittling away at some veneers I superglued together and ended up with this.

20200424_154606 by Richard Williams, on Flickr

I'm waiting for the coating of extra thin CA glue to dry before giving it a final polish but I'm pretty chuffed with the result. This will be going a Roden SE5a I picked up for under £30. This will be the ideal candidate for a bit of surgical practice. I will be treating it purely as a learning build and will start a new thread on it soon.

Thanks for reading, happy modelling.

Richie

[RAGIII]

Excellent progress Richie. The proper Plane Prop is beautiful and I Must say yours is also! I am Impressed by all of the New things you are trying. Well Done!
RAGIII

[RichieW]

Thanks Rick, I was so pleased with what I managed to do with the prop. It's not as symmetrical and beautiful as the one Alex carved for me but for a first attempt I couldn't be more pleased.

I decided to embrace every aspect of modelling involved in this great period of aviation. As much I loved building my usual Spitfires and Hurricanes I wasn't improving as a modeller at all. I wasn't learning anything new about the history of flight either. However it is the 80th anniversary of The Few's finest hour this year so I suspect a return to my old subjects is due.

[smperry]

Nicely done prop Richie. The more curved blades make it harder for the bands of light and dark wood to come out symmetrical. You can be proud to have that prop on any model.
sp

[RichieW]

Thanks for the kind words SP. I'm definitely sticking it on the SE5a. Got to cherish your first!

[Alexis]

For your first prop , turned out really well !



Terri