Author Topic: Meng 1:32 Fokker DR.1 Triplane - A Family Affair (Read 12879 times)

fixman · « **Reply #15 on:** November 06, 2020, 05:22:22 AM »

good job...nice

RAGIII · « **Reply #16 on:** November 06, 2020, 05:37:31 AM »

Excellent work on the interior Lance! I wish mine was as neat and clean

RAGIII

Alexis · « **Reply #17 on:** November 06, 2020, 11:42:46 PM »

Pit looks awesome so far Lance , really like how the back panel turned out behind the seat , nice work on picking out the details

Terri

lcarroll · « **Reply #18 on:** November 07, 2020, 11:43:43 PM »

Thanks for the nice comments All. Some touch ups and a couple of scratch built instruments completed as I finish up the cockpit before closing it up. I've spent far too much time puzzling out the cockpit layout, every source seems to have a different layout and photos are incomplete at best. According to one very credible reference "were not sure ........." so this will be a "WAG" version. (Wild Assed Guess!) with only 3 interior dials plus the compass. Photos will follow before I close it up.
Cheers,
Lance

pepperman42 · « **Reply #19 on:** November 09, 2020, 01:25:50 AM »

Another Dr1 master at work. Very nice!!

Steve

Monty · « **Reply #20 on:** November 09, 2020, 02:16:55 AM »

Nice interior with lots of detail - and it looks like it fits well! The Roden kit is not nearly as detailed and has it's challenges! But lets face it, not much can be seen when the model is complete! Your modelling is precise and neat - a pleasure to follow! Regards, Marc.

lcarroll · « **Reply #21 on:** November 09, 2020, 12:56:40 PM »

Thanks Guys, much appreciated!
I've run into a minor "glitch", the fuselage is not closing well as, like Guy's (Gisbod's) Build the seam along the bottom doesn't mate well at all, and if I force it to join properly the top seam has a pretty decent gap. I believe the fault is that the fus. halves are a bit deformed with the bottom surface being out of "true" on one side or the other.
As an aside I needed some stretched sprue and tried a sprue from the Kit; I've never seen this before as the heated plastic would not stretch, rather it shattered into "globs" of porous material. I immediately tried a couple of Wingnut sprue pieces and got excellent results. Has anyone else encountered this? I've been stretching sprue for almost 70 years and never seen this before!
So, I've "walked away" until tomorrow, hopefully it will be a "brighter" day!
Cheers,
Lance

bobs_buckles · « **Reply #22 on:** November 09, 2020, 10:35:01 PM »

Walking away is best, Lance.
Chin up! You will get there in the end.

When WNW announced the DR.1 I was filled with warm fuzzy feelings, but on seeing the builds, my own kit and the pitfalls, I'm beginning to wish Meng never took on the project. Clearly they were more concerned with maximising profits than they were with delivering a kit worthy of WNW.

We live and learn.

vB

kensar · « **Reply #23 on:** November 09, 2020, 10:36:34 PM »

Great looking detail, Lance. I hope you can get the fitting of the fuse halves resolved.

Alexis · « **Reply #24 on:** November 10, 2020, 12:49:38 AM »

I know that feeling all to well Lance . Meng's plastic is very different from other kit makers . The few WW 2 subject I built by them . Had the same issue with the plastic , doesn't stretch well at all . It's like the plastic is part wax . You aren't the first to have issue with the fit of the fuselage .

Leaving it for a few days and when your ready it will be like looking at it with a new set of eyes

Terri

RAGIII · « **Reply #25 on:** November 10, 2020, 01:18:31 AM »

Quote from: lcarroll on November 09, 2020, 12:56:40 PM

Thanks Guys, much appreciated!
I've run into a minor "glitch", the fuselage is not closing well as, like Guy's (Gisbod's) Build the seam along the bottom doesn't mate well at all, and if I force it to join properly the top seam has a pretty decent gap. I believe the fault is that the fus. halves are a bit deformed with the bottom surface being out of "true" on one side or the other.
As an aside I needed some stretched sprue and tried a sprue from the Kit; I've never seen this before as the heated plastic would not stretch, rather it shattered into "globs" of porous material. I immediately tried a couple of Wingnut sprue pieces and got excellent results. Has anyone else encountered this? I've been stretching sprue for almost 70 years and never seen this before!
So, I've "walked away" until tomorrow, hopefully it will be a "brighter" day!
Cheers,
Lance

That bottom Seam and stitching is a PITA for sure. As you may know I ended up sanding mine down and replacing it with Archer Resin details. As for the sprue strtching I have only encountered a similar problem once but don't remember whose plastic it was

RAGIII

lcarroll · « **Reply #26 on:** November 11, 2020, 04:32:21 AM »

Thanks for checking in and for the comments Folks, much appreciated! Terri, good to hear I'm not the only one who finds Meng's plastic a bit "different".
Sleeping on that fuselage fit problem worked out in the end, I got it done yesterday and things look a lot brighter! Before closing it I added the internal frame cross bracing and the gun cables from the control column.

(The dust particles were removed from the cockpit as well!)

I believe the fit problems I've encountered are caused by the fact that the fuselage halves don't match very well, at least on the Kit I have. I read somewhere that parts can warp if the sprues are removed from the mold before cooling sufficiently and since my wings are warped I reason the fuselage halves could suffer the same problems. That's my theory anyway.
Despite the trimming of the frame at the back end in the 10 and 2 o'clock positions I still had to solidly glue the top seam and let it cure overnight, then use a bit of force to align and glue the bottom seam and considerably trim the stitching insert to get it to fit the channel. Filling required is now minimal.

I'll have to run a bead of thin CA down the sides before painting the bottom.

I'll seal the putty areas with Mr. Surfacer and once cleaned up I can spray on the base coat for the "streaked" decals. I'm happy with the results thus far but I'll feel much better once the wings are straightened!
Cheers,
Lance

RAGIII · « **Reply #27 on:** November 11, 2020, 05:22:31 AM »

In the end you ended up with a better fit on the stitching panel than I did Lance. Looking forward to your progress!
RAGIII

gbrivio · « **Reply #28 on:** November 11, 2020, 07:24:47 AM »

Very nice interior work, the cockpit looks busy as it's expected on these planes.
Ciao
Giuseppe

gedmundson · « **Reply #29 on:** November 11, 2020, 07:46:00 AM »

Very nice to follow your build Lance - great work so far, and some keen observations. Correcting that fuselage for a "seemless" look will take some graft.
Cheers,
Gary