Bristol Scout C 1/32 First scratch build attempt FINISHED!

[RichieW]

After all modelling is frequently about deceiving the eye, not necessarily representing the world as it would be at scale.

Stephen.

Many thanks Stephen, that is something I have a tendency to forget. I remember my art teacher encouraging me to paint what I see instead of what I know to be there. your sage advice is very much the same thing, I shall remember it from now on!

The painting and weathering are Fantastic Richie! The fuselage now looks gorgeous with the stitching, oil stains, etc. ! I am as I think I have said Really Impressed with your work!
RAGIII

That is very kind of you Rick, just don't go zooming in too closely on the pictures though!

Well it was like a late October day here with low temperatures, high winds and  rain. Lots and lots of rain. The good news is that I had time for our great hobby again.

The Union Jacks were proving to be a pain, probably due to user error my cutter struggled to produce useable masks so I had to resort to decals from ebay. The blue was the wrong colour match for my roundels so I just masked and airbrushed them;

Modified Union Jack blue. by Richard Williams, on Flickr

Once on the model they were masked again and a white border sprayed round them, bit of waste of time as it doesn't show up at all.

Bristol Scout scratch build by Richard Williams, on Flickr

The little leather reinforcement patches for the rigging were made from masking film, as were the underwing pulley inspection hatches. Unfortunately I painted the roundels slightly out of place with the result that these are slightly too far towards the wing tips. I quite like them though and can live with the small error. The little catches are just thin strips of lead foil I wound round a 0.5mm brass rod.

Bristol Scout scratch build by Richard Williams, on Flickr

Bristol Scout scratch build by Richard Williams, on Flickr

I had another little play with oil washes round the stitching and spattered a little onto the fuselage for good measure. If I don't like it tomorrow it will be easily removed. Oh the joy of oil paints!

Bristol Scout scratch build by Richard Williams, on Flickr

Not a lot to show for the many hours I spent but I enjoyed it and didn't get cold and wet. I'm hoping to finish this project by the end of the month so hopefully a new project can start by August.

Many thanks for reading, as ever all tips, advice or criticisms are gratefully received.

Richie

[Rookie]

I think it looks grand, and I love the colours and the weathering Richie.

Very nice to see this bird with the Union Jack.

Willem

[DaveB]

Now that really is looking the part now, Richie -

I like your weathered fabric look

Regards

Dave

[Early Bird Fan]

i like it a lot, the colours and weathering look spot on and nice job on spraying the blue on the decals.

[RichieW]

Thanks for taking the time to drop in and comment Rookie, Dave and EBF. Although I'm having a lot of fun with this project I am suffering from serious doubts about every stage of the process so your kind words are much appreciated!

After spending many hours just fiddling around test fitting the top wing, I think for the sake of my sanity the next project might have to be an Airfix 1/72 Spitfire!

 

As said the fit of the top wing is proving awkward to say the least, probably all the more so because I haven't tried it with the cabane struts. The truth is that fitting them scares the living daylights out of me. The locating holes need to be absolutely precisely placed, I will figure it out I'm sure but any advice would be very welcome.

 

Having said that the alignment looks promising but a lot of fettling is my immediate future.

Wings test fit without cabanes by Richard Williams, on Flickr

Wings test fit without cabanes by Richard Williams, on Flickr

Wings test fit without cabanes by Richard Williams, on Flickr

Best wishes
Richie

[IanB]

Most modellers of biplanes (myself included) fit the upper wing to the cabane struts first, then add the wing struts when it's all secure. The pins on the wing struts need to be short enough to allow them to pop into place with minimal bending of the strut. Trying to fit them all at the same time is a recipe for frustration!
Lovely work though, she's going to be a cracker!

Ian

[Rookie]

Hi Richie,

I agree with Ian.

Besides that, I was thinking of making transparent paper templates for the location holes of the cabane struts, and then test and dry-fit with dummy struts made bamboo snack sticks?

Bamboo is easy to shape and sand.

Willem

[RichieW]

Thanks chaps, that is all very good advice, I'm going to stop for the day and come back to it tomorrow. Thank you so much for your help, it's been a day of much head scratching and staring into space!

Richie

[Bughunter]

OMG! That bird is soooo nice
You created your own WNW kit

Good luck for the remaining tasks!

Cheers,
Frank

[RLWP]

This is what scratchbuilding is all about. When you build a kit, all the constructional details have been decided for you - you don't have to think about them

Now you are learning about model construction AND how the full size aeroplane worked. Cabane struts are very important, you might notice I now try to make them part of the fuselage sides if I can

And - you'll come up with a solution. I have every confidence in you

Richard

It's got to be better than many of Airfix's 1/72 biplanes

[lone modeller]

"I am suffering from serious doubts about every stage of the process..." as do most of the rest of us regardless of whether we are scratch building or making a kit. We imagine the perfect and make the possible. Just keep going - you are doing very well indeed.

One word of advice which might be helpful. I make card jigs to support the top wing while I am dry fitting struts and later when I am putting the struts into place. These help to keep the wing in place in the vertical plane - paint pots or other suitable items close to hand support the leading and/or trailing edges while it all sets. I would certainly fix the cabanes before the wing struts because the latter can be slipped into place more easily on a single bay biplane.

The colours you have on the model are very realistic - the CDL and the staining are clearly based on observation of a real aeroplane and you have captured the look very well indeed.

Stephen.

[RichieW]

OMG! That bird is soooo nice
You created your own WNW kit

Good luck for the remaining tasks!

Cheers,
Frank

Thanks Frank,  I must make sure I don't butcher it in these last few steps!

This is what scratchbuilding is all about. When you build a kit, all the constructional details have been decided for you - you don't have to think about them

Now you are learning about model construction AND how the full size aeroplane worked. Cabane struts are very important, you might notice I now try to make them part of the fuselage sides if I can

And - you'll come up with a solution. I have every confidence in you

Richard

It's got to be better than many of Airfix's 1/72 biplanes

You're so right there Richard!!!! I was thinking that I'm like a learner driver who doesn't look far enough down the road and anticipate problems. I have been realising that I should have made the cabanes part of the frame.  Hopefully I can get this step right, I'm going to make a jig to help keep everything in line. The Cricut cutter should make that an easy task.

I stamped on an Airfix biplane as a child after losing my temper at this exact stage. Folks on this forum now turn them into masterpieces!

Richie

[RLWP]

I've just checked. The only 1/32 aeroplanes I've built with four simple upright cabane struts are the Tabloid and a Roden DH.2

The DH.2 has a very curved top to the fuselage so I could seat the cabanes nicely. And by the time I got to the Tabloid I had learned to attach them to the fuselage sides!

Richard

[RichieW]

"I am suffering from serious doubts about every stage of the process..." as do most of the rest of us regardless of whether we are scratch building or making a kit. We imagine the perfect and make the possible. Just keep going - you are doing very well indeed.

One word of advice which might be helpful. I make card jigs to support the top wing while I am dry fitting struts and later when I am putting the struts into place. These help to keep the wing in place in the vertical plane - paint pots or other suitable items close to hand support the leading and/or trailing edges while it all sets. I would certainly fix the cabanes before the wing struts because the latter can be slipped into place more easily on a single bay biplane.

The colours you have on the model are very realistic - the CDL and the staining are clearly based on observation of a real aeroplane and you have captured the look very well indeed.

Stephen.

Many thanks Stephen, I shall certainly be following your advice and making a card jig to help with alignment, the learning curve just got a lot steeper but with the priceless advice of you and the good folks on this forum I will scramble my way up it yet!

Richie

[kensar]

Excellent progress, Ritchie.  Fitting the upper wing has been a significant and frustrating step in my builds, but with some patience, I got things worked out.  I'm sure you will too, after coming so far.
Sounds like I take the difficult way to fit the wing, making all the struts and cabanes and test fitting everything at once, making adjustments to whatever struts need it. 

Just realize you are probably at the most difficult step.  It will take some time and patience. You definitely can do this!

Best of luck - we're all behind you.
(The serious doubts near the end of a build is normal for me - I don't want to screw up all the work I've done already.)