Airco DH.2 in 1:33 from a pre-printed kit.

[smperry]

This is the first already printed paper card kit I have attempted.

My out of service back has kept me away from the modeling bench for well over a week. The pharmacy finally called to say the prescription I was given the other day by the doctor was ready. Fortunately what was prescribed is not one of those opioids, yet is still reasonably effective. I am able to tolerate time at the bench again. Good thing too as I was getting quite twitchy. Still a month before I have the procedure the doc wants to do, but I should be able to make it just fine. I am holding off on trying to assemble the Small Stuff engine for the Nie. IV as I believe I am up for a bit of tedious, but not quite ready for watchmaker standard work yet.

The engine on a DH.2 leaves little hidden and the kit designer chose to make the finned jugs by stacking discs of alternating diameter. I have a nice punch set, so cutting out the discs goes from insane using a blade to merely tedious using the punch. It is still a bit of a trick to position the punch directly over the printed disc before striking it, often leaving little crescent moon slivers of white if the alignment isn't perfect. That isn't a problem in this case because  the engine will need to be painted. It is however, excellent practice in using the punch accurately which will pay off down the road on future models.



sp

[smperry]

Since I did mention this was a pre-printed kit, I suppose an image of the "Box" art is in order. The burning Eindekker in the background kind of reminds me of old Aurora box art.



sp

[NinetythirdLiberator]

Alright, SP!  Great to see you back in the saddle again.  Love the DH-2 and you punch set looks like the bee's knees.  Can't wait for more progress...Dan

[Alexis]

Following along SP , I use the same punches as well . You will get a cleaner cut if punch them on a harder surface then a cutting mat . I punch items out on a piece of 2x4 and the punches will stay sharpened longer .


Terri

[RAGIII]

This one should be fun to watch SP. The punch will take it from Insanity to just a little crazy on those cylinders 
RAGIII

[smperry]

Thanks Dan. I over did it a bit yesterday, but I will eventually get it done. BTW, my I'lya Muromets arrived safely from Russia yesterday. What a kit. The coloring is much better than the DH.2, but still nowhere near Matt77 quality. (What else is???)

Terri, I got the punch set idea from one of your posts a while back. These are really good tools. Thanks for the tip on the punching surface. I will switch over. It had been taking 2 strikes to punch on the mat, I bet it will only take 1 now.

Rick, the first model I ever entered in a contest was a corrected and improved SMER DH.2. Now that was insanity. It was the only 1:48 biplane warbird, so there was no split and it took first place beating out a bunch of One-Oh-Thingies and Horsey Thingies. (No offense intended Terri :-)

Since I will be painting the engine on the DH.2, I probably should have punched the discs out of 5 thou plasticard, too late now though. I will go back and do that if the paper ones end up too "fuzzy" for the fins to show well after painting.

Speaking of painting engines, I heard somewhere that Testors is no longer producing their Model Master buffing metallic paints.  I have used them since the '90s. Can anyone give me a recommendation on another brand of metallic paints for engines and exhausts that won't spank my wallet too hard?

Thx
sp

[smperry]

It would seem paper card and plasticard punch very differently. I got a nice block of wood and attempted to punch come discs. It seems the punch goes too far into the wood forming a dome shape which the paper does not like. It rips up the printing as can be seen in the photo above. I find myself out of plasticard and will need to re-stock and when I get some more 5 thou, I will compare punched on the wood to punched on the cutting mat. I expect plasticard will work better that way as Terri said. Dry paper has a limited amount of stretch and just doesn't work well when punched on wood.

While the tip turned out to work just the opposite, it is very much appreciated because it led to a greater understanding of the materials involved, which is something St. Harry preached frequently.

Thanks again Terri.

sp

[John Marco]

Hi SP, I have built paper before The Ford Tri-Motor that book one in about 32 scale this here https://www.amazon.com/Ford-Trimotor-5-AT-Build-Yourself/dp/0517546523, what I did for things like this was to make my own razor sharp brass tube cutters on a grinding wheel then stone and kinder twist back and forth my way through, it worked good for paper.

John 

[smperry]

John
Thanks
I have that Tri motor kit in an e-file. When I was a kid, American Airlines restored one for some anniversary or another and it made the tour of air shows. My Stepfather took me to see it and they let people go inside, but didn't give rides. 15 yrs later I treated Robo to a ride on the Stinson TriMotor at the Sun N Fun fly In one year. Still remember the restored Ford better than the Stinson. Just need to improve my paper card skills some before I start.
sp

[Alexis]

Sorry that it didn't work for you SP , but I don't use paper and figured it should work the same .


Terri

[smperry]

Terri
I thought so too, but the wife sez that's what I get for thinking. Anyways, a good  lesson in materials properties.
Thanks again
sp

[John Marco]

When I was a kid, American Airlines restored one for some anniversary or another and it made the tour of air shows. My Stepfather took me to see it and they let people go inside, but didn't give rides.

That plane that you are talking about I have many photos of from my dad inside and out and it flying in and out of a few airports, I was all around that plane as a kid in 1966 and that is the one that is now hanging at the Air & Space.

[smperry]

1966 would have been about right.
sp

[smperry]

I have been spending limited time at the bench and getting, (Surprise, surprise! as Gomer would say), limited success.

I have punched out well over 100 discs of three diameters. I need to think about how I will stack and glue them to make sure I don't make myself more work than necessary. Worth a little time considering the sheer number of discs to stack and glue accurately.



The nacelle has been a bit of a challenge, but that was mainly due to the very sketchy instructions, and I mean sketchy in all meanings of the word, neglected to mention and or label a former.



The problem is with the unsupported transition between the flat, vertical side to the curved top. You can see in the photo where I made an effort to score the line, but without the internal support of a former the cross section is not square on the sides nor correctly curved at the top.

Admin Alert, Rant mode ON:
I have found one of the charms of paper card modeling is the puzzle that comes with trying to figure what goes where. So far the information has always been there. It may only be there once, it may only be in the form of a tiny diagram or you may have to put 2 or more related pieces of information together for your answer, but the needed information has always been there. This is the first card model I have run across where there is no indication of either part number or location. That's cheating in my book. Unfortunately it is nearly impossible to tell at first glance if all parts are accounted for in the assembly diagrams. So, I guess it's, "You pays your Zlotys and you takes your chances."
Rant mode OFF



I found the missing, (and unmentioned), former. Here is the missing piece glued in place. I have found that you need to make several glue/hold/dry evolutions to glue a former fully in place.  This is especially true when the former goes from straight edges to curved. In spite of rolling the curved part of the skin it still exerts some force and where it transitions from straight to curved, it needs to have a cured glue joint so that force doesn't distort the structure. Takes longer, works  better.

sp

[Radarman]

SP,
I hope the 100 disks you punched are the last of the tedious jobs with this build. I'm sure you'll
make quick progress with the rest of the build. I also hope your back doesn't hold you back.

                                                                                                                    Kevin