The Eduard Roland is done. The last recorded pics are of the model when all of the painting was done. After that was finished, I packed everything up and drove 2000 miles to Minneapolis. It took a while to get back to the kit, but I did spend a lot of time on it. I don't anyone is quite up to par right now at least not in Minneapolis where the French Revolution recently started. That's my excuse anyway because I did a lot of weathering none of which I took a picture of. Must say, I had a lot to think about finishing the kit. Biplanes are not my medium and my build strategy is not up to accustomed to the terrain. If you're not used to rigging, it's easy to do things in a sequence which makes difficulties. Anyway, I think I was thinking too much. It didn't help that this was one of Eduard's earliest biplanes kits new tool 2000. I've done several Eduard kits before they remind me of Dragon things go along very nicely and then
. ouch
it's not Tamiya. As I understand it, Eduard kits of the last five years are much better. Mind, the kit had good fit by and large, and things like flash and thick sprue gates are no problem. However there were holes and no pegs. And there were no holes for rigging something present in past few bipe kits.
Anyway, since the last round, I put on the decals over a clear coat. (Some people don't see the need I still find it worth the bother.) As I recall Eduard now uses Cartograph these weren't. They were very fine which is good but fragile which isn't. And the bits on the tail were simply not cut correctly. Do note that the photo from the WNW Roland that I'm using as a template had the national marking on the side over painted and moved behind the windows and laid down without a white background. After the decals were down, I applied an acrylic matte varnish matte is needed for oil filters of which I used three. I then faded all of the colors with oils this was done in an uneven application. I wanted the surface blotchy, but not overdone. After that, I applied a very light dusting of Com.Art transparent smoke paint to soil the whole bird just a little. (Should have done a pic on that it's very subtle but there.)
Then I rigged the plane. I used EZ Line and I'm not happy with the results. First, I used Fine EZ if the Eduard instructions are correct, I really wanted something closer to 2lb mono. I've never used EZ line for anything beyond an antenna and I was worried that the thicker variety might have more pull, and perhaps pop out of the holes. I did not find it easy to stick very thin line into very small holes and apply CA to keep things in place. Fortunately, I rigged between the build steps it would have been very hard to have attached the wings and then rigged from there. The instructions from WNW had details of the Roland's rigging and it appears that the attachment points are pretty well hidden what I didn't see was turnbuckles, so I guess EZ did fit in that regard. The next 1/48 I do, I think I'm going to use Bob's and Maxim 1lb line I've found that easier. Or maybe not. I used Com.Art Transparent smoke by hand and stippled down scuffs that I'd think would have come from people crawling all over the plane. Last, I took Com.Art transparent smoke via airbrush and applied a good dose of exhaust to the engine and points just to the rear. I was inspired to do this by a very neat episode in Jay Leno's Garage. (Search 1921 Benz-Mercedes Rabbit-the-First). It's a custom made car that raced at Brooklands in 1921 and did 121 mph. It's based on a prewar Benz roadster (before the Mercedes moniker was added according to Leno) and powered with a WWI Benz Aero Engine no doubt very similar to what was carried by the Roland. Half the show illustrates how they rebuilt the engine and how the thing operates. To put things mildly, it threw oil all over the place with an open oil system servicing all cylinders. Leno claims that's why old racing car drivers looked like racoons when the race was done. Watch it in person if you like. Anyway, the engine is quite the sight. It's huge and puts out 200 hp at 1800 RPM. (The Roland engine was 160 hp good for over 100 mph). Leno dispensed with the hood so the engine fires away for all to see.
Here are some pics of the completed bird. I'll post more on the finished builds board.
Eric
7right by
Eric Bergerud, on Flickr
4lft-r-ab by
Eric Bergerud, on Flickr
3lft-ft by
Eric Bergerud, on Flickr
