Completed: Vickers F.B.5 Gunbus, Bluemax 1/48

[RichieW]

This is just brilliant, your jig has certainly done the job you designed it to do. It's sobuifting and refreshing to see someone having great fun battling with a difficult kit. That is proper old fashioned modelling!

I must add, it's great fun to follow too!

Richie

[Dutch522]

Arnaud, I'm just reading through your posts as well and would like to congratulate you on having turned that old Blue Max kit into a work of art. The fabric, metal, and wood effects, and especially the booms, it's all amazing!

Cordialement,

 Dave V.

[KiwiZac]

Well done Arnaud, she’s shaping up very very nicely!

[Tim Mixon]

Superb work Arnaud.  Your attention to detail is amazing. 

[Rookie]

Very beautiful work Arnaud.

This is coming close to a complete scratch build. I absolutely love it!

Willem

[Naimbs]

Hi everyone,

Oh!! Thank you so much for your encouraging messages! 
I'm very happy with the work I've done with this model so far. I feel a progression compared to my previous models! But I can see how much work I still have to do to achieve mastery like some of you. And you're all very motivating with your respective WIPs and finished models. 

This is all the more the case as I make models for pleasure and to have fun alongside my work. So I have time to have fun trying to make progress, without pressure. 

The Gunbus has made good progress, with what is surely the most important stage of this assembly!

Assembly of CSM's Gnome 9B2 went smoothly. It's a little jewel, with no nasty surprises.

The tank behind the pilot was made from scraps of resin castings and aluminum foil from a yogurt pot.

The photos are in very close-up. I hope you will forgive any visible defects.

















And I couldn't resist gluing it all together! And what a beautiful bird the Vickers Gunbus is!
 I don't regret having started this project!








There are problems with the axes, which I can see on the model, but I couldn't do any better. A lot of things had to be redone on this model, and that has consequences.

There's still a lot of work to be done to declare it finished!

See you soon

Arnaud 

[Dutch522]

Il est superbe, Arnaud! I have to keep reminding myself that this is a 1:48 kit and not 1:32.

Dave V.

[lone modeller]

Arnaud,

I have built one of these in God's Own Scale (my first pusher conversion), and in 1/32 (my first large scale scratch build), so I think that I know something about getting alignments right. Your alignments look just right to me - and I know how they can be difficult to get right! There are almost certainly minor mis-alignments on almost every model of a pusher, no matter how well the kit is engineered and how skillful the modeller. The secret is to keep them as invisible as possible and you have managed to do just that. This is a truly first class model in the making, in particular the finish, which is very realistic. I really think that most people who look at this when it is finished will be concentrating on the finish and overall impression rather than worrying about whether the wings are a mm or so out of true.... This is going to be a model to be proud of - I know that I would be if it were mine.

Stephen.

[Naimbs]

Thanks so much Dave, really!

Stephen, your 1/32 scale Gunbus was a great source of inspiration for my model. Particularly the cockpit
I don't know how you manage to get such a beautiful result with half the model without the fabric. It must be hell for alignment and strength!!!!


I've never made a 1/32 scale model before. Yet I have 3 in stock: a Nieuport XXI CSM, a Morane Saulnier type N SH and an AMC DH.2 WNW. Very tempting. Maybe soon, with a preference for the Nieuport.

[Tim Mixon]

I certainly don’t see any problems!  Looking really nice. 

[RAGIII]

Lovely work on the engine and like the others I see no alignment issues. The whole model is looking awesome!
RAGIII

[Flamingo]

Very nice Gunbus with outstanding paint job.

The builder knows about all the tiny flaws and imperfections and is wondering why all the other guys,
even modelers, don't see them. Because they don't know them!

Put the model into the cabinet and wait a couple of months till you forget the flaws,
and you will not see them anymore!
Greetings Joe

[Naimbs]

Thank you very much for your messages.

 It's mainly the tail that's not perfectly horizontal. If I have the courage, I'll unstick one of the beams under the tailplane and glue it back in place to force the squareness.

The Gunbus received most of the rigging, in EZ line for the tail. I hate it, but it's still practical...  There are some left, but they'll be placed once it's on its wheels. Otherwise, it's going to be complicated to handle afterwards.














I think we're all happy when we finish this step. It's been so long... And it immediately gives another dimension to the model.

Arnaud

[Borsos]

Fantastic!

Andreas

[RAGIII]

All of the Commonly used superlatives seem to fall short on this one! The Union Jack Markings set off the beautifully painted and shaded wings perfectly. The rigging just makes it even better! I really can't say enough about how striking this Model is!!!
RAGIII