Kondor D.2 1/48 SPIN model; 5.8.21 Finished

[Alexis]

Nice work in the pit Frank !

This reminds me of the dark stain on SSW D.III aircraft . Was this a dark varnish or a stain on the Kondor ?


Alexis

[Bughunter]

Hmm, that is a good question Alexis!
There is nobody we can ask anymore and only a handful of pictures survived so this is all pure guess.
I experimented a bit with clear paints and will paint them on, until I like it. If it failed at the end, I can remove all the paint and start from fresh

Cheers,
Frank

[lone modeller]

I have been away for the last few days Frank, and you have scratch built half an aeroplane in that time! And to the very highest standards as usual!

Never heard of this type before so it is all the more interesting. And of course there is plenty of room for different interpretations of colour schemes, interiors, etc.

Another of your brilliantly detailed build with excellent ideas thrown in free.

One day Ken and I might succeed in getting you to scratch build the whole model!

Stephen.

[Bughunter]

Thank you Stephen! And yes, it is a speed build. The are not many parts and all is very small.

Never heard of this type before so it is all the more interesting.

They started with a copy of the Taube, but later developed own types. The Windsock article is about more types and I have also kits of the Kondor D.6 and E.3a   I started with this D.2 because of the available Small Stuff engine.



Struts


As reported the oils are hardening now, but before I worked on the struts and undercarriage.

The upper struts made from wood with metals pins ...



... can hold the wing without glue. The outer struts can be added later.



On the right side you can see the outer struts, the length is not yet final.
The undercarriage struts are plugged to the fuselage but are somehow on the long side. 



After shortening I tried to connect the legs with wires but this fails so I moved to metal inserts glued with CA.



The undercarriage can be plugged to the fuselage. Please note the position of the connection board with straight front ...



... which is in the height of the axle.



I will use some wheels from the spare box.



Here are some tail skids. The socket of the kit part below was very thin, so I made a new one from a beautiful dark wood.



The socket alone:



In full beauty with metal and suspension (without glue).



The beast on its own legs, all just for dry fitting.



Again some small steps, but in the right direction.

Cheers,
Frank

[RichieW]

Wow!!!! Behold the sheer beauty of another awesome update from Frank the Bughunter! Your skills are way off the scale, this is something very special and inspires me to want to be a better modeller. Loving it!

Richie

[Rookie]

Again, exquisite work Frank!

The separation of the ailerons, elevators and rudders works very well. The new hinges look beautiful  and the lozenge and the crosses work much better this way. You are the Master in making cowlings, and the seat belts  are spot on as is the rib tape. I love this little bird!

Willem

[RAGIII]

More Frank Magic! The struts and skid are Awesome!
RAGIII

[Alexis]

Looking good Frank !


Alexis

[Bughunter]

Thank you Richie, Willem, Rick and Alexis!

Loving it!

I love this little bird!

I love this little bird and your comments, so I prepare the next update now

Cheers,
Frank

[Bughunter]

Airscrew


As I said already the oils are hardening, but I have not shown a picture.
After sanding I primed again.



Then I painted acrylic "wood base" in an irregular pattern to have different brightness in the base,



And I painted wood with oils. It is not that red, as on the picture, my cam has some strong red and was not able to manipulate the picture to show correct colors. That is also valid for the next pictures.



The fuselage is not yet touchable, so I continued with other details.
The struts are painted now. I tried a different shade this time, less orange, to have a difference to the other birds in the cabinet.



Same with the undercarriage, then I mounted the axle with the suspension.



Here a view from below showing the bungee cords of the suspension.



Then I detected another detail on a picture, which I had to realize. Really pity I killed one of my smallest drill bits The pin is 0.2mm in a brass bushing, which slides onto the axle.



Now the wheel track matches the drawing.



Now to the title as I was able to finalize the airscrew with final sanding, wood primer, polishing, some clear paints to make it darker, gloss coat for decals and final coat. The final step was bolting PE onto it.

Here the final result from back.



The side view is more nice, after the picture I filed the bolts down a bit.



And the beautiful front view. I know, that the AXIAL logo was normally not in gold shade, but the white ones I have was much to small.



A teaser for the final look.



It was a lot of work, but I now have a result that no one can buy, you have to do it yourself.

Cheers,
Frank

[kensar]

 

Don't know if you wet sanded the cowling, but I have found that will reduce the scratches and give a more satin look.
The fuselage looks fantastic.

[lcarroll]

   That prop assembly is magnificent Frank, and you are correct, you can't buy that quality! Your usually great work, what else can be said?!
Cheers,
Lance

[lone modeller]

Quite right Frank that nobody can buy that quality of model craftsmanship. This is modelling of a quality that I can only dream about.  Magnicient attention to such tiny detail and a super result.

Stephen.

[FAf]

Wow! I know I've been away for a bit but this is amazingly quick (and good)!

Good work with the painted markings and good that the flat layer helped. Masking on top of decals is really scary.
/Fredrik

[Brad Cancian]

Wonderful work!

Question - your lozenge looks great. How do you trim the aviattik lozenge after it's on the model and get it to conform to the curves of the wing? I've had lots of trouble with this in the past, trying to use decal softener etc, but these decals are unique. They stretch (which is interesting), but don't trim like other decals or seem to react like other decals to things like microsol... what tips do you have for working with these decals?

Thanks!

Brad