1/32 BE2c

[lone modeller]

Catching up as usual Richie. I agree with Dave that this could easily be one of those expensive kits that you see in large boxes in shops (and are way beyond my budget).

The interior has come together extremely well and it is a shame that so much will be obscured.

I am really looking forward to seeing more when you are ready to post.

Stephen.

[Rookie]

The interior has come together extremely well and it is a shame that so much will be obscured.

Have you considered leaving it (partly) open?

I agree with Stephen, it would be a shame to hide all that beautiful detailing!

Cheers,

Willem

[RichieW]

Thanks so much Tim, Rick, Willem and Stephen for taking the time to leave some very generous comments. Real world issues have conspired to keep me away from the bench for much of the year so far. 2023 has been challenging to say the least but things are brightening up, noticeably so when I find time to have a play with modelling bits and bobs.

There has been a little bit of progress since my last update. I made and added the inspection windows.

Be2c inspection windows added by Richard Williams, on Flickr

The frames are from 0.15mm aluminium sheet that I sanded down even thinner, holes were drilled in each corner and the aluminium was thin enough to slice with a new scalpel blade to create the apertures. The glazing came from the custard tart packet in the picture. It's super thin and clear so the windows were easy to get to make fit the curves of the fuselage.

Windshields were formed from PETG sheet, I made them using the same former but I notice now that they aren't symmetrical. Not sure I can be bothered to try to remedy that, they'll do for now.

Internal rigging started by Richard Williams, on Flickr

The cockpit coaming is glued into place now and I have started to add the internal bracing wires. Hopefully I will have another update by the end of the week.

Thanks for reading!

Richie

[KiwiZac]

Thank you for sharing your updates Richie, this is such a magnificent and inspirational build.

[RichieW]

Thank you for sharing your updates Richie, this is such a magnificent and inspirational build.

That's very kind of you Zac, I'm doing my best to avoid too many blunders but I'm having having a lot of fun with it again.

I couldn't live with my first horrible attempt at making the windshields so I had another bash. This time I used my cheap Chinese dental vac form machine. I used 1mm thick PETG sheet which was too thick but with a bit of sanding and polishing around the edges I think I can put up with that. I simulated the frame with Mr. Surface and paint and added punched rivets. A bit rough in close up but good enough to the naked eye I hope. Far from perfect but a massive improvement on my first effort.

20230217_180128 by Richard Williams, on Flickr

Here they are sat in place, I will glue them later in the build. I just noticed I might need to bend the frame edges a little to avoid a gap. I'll see how I feel about that another day. For now they are put away in a zip lock bag and hopefully won't be lost.

20230217_184436 by Richard Williams, on Flickr

I made another strip of stitches and skinned the fuselage frame. The strips of stitches were glued to the frame first, sheets of 0.13mm styrene were slid under the lip and cellulose thinners wicked under the overlap with a paint brush. The excess was trimmed off the bottom and the lower edge joined to the frame with super glue.

Be2c fuselage skinned by Richard Williams, on Flickr

I was unable to cut short lengths of stitching strip for the short vertical sections because the stitches overlap slightly so I used Tamiya tape and stitches made of thin wire.

With both sides skinned the frame is still translucent enough to show the bracing wires although they don't show up very well in the photograph.

Be2c fuselage skinned by Richard Williams, on Flickr

That's all for now, many thanks for reading.

Richie

[lone modeller]

Super stitching and the translucent effect on the fuselage has worked very well indeed. The frames for the windscreens look super too.

Stephen.

[Tim Mixon]

I agree with Lone Modeller and will add:  Excellent work on the turtle deck as well!

Tim

[RichieW]

Thanks Stephen and Tim, I'm glad it is finally skinned so I don't keep breaking the rigging although I do miss seeing the frame. You were so right Stephen!

Richie

[DaveB]

Amazing, Richie -

Wow!

Regards

Dave

[Borsos]

What an impressive project! This is real modelling.
Andreas

[Rookie]

Really outstanding work Richie!

The windshield has come out very well and I'm glad the translucency is still present too.

I am impressed how well the stitching looks.

Excellent results again, and I am looking very much forward to the next installment!

Willem

[RichieW]

Amazing, Richie -

Wow!

Regards

Dave

Thanks Dave, I'm hoping to be at the next club meeting so I can show you what I have so far.

What an impressive project! This is real modelling.
Andreas

Thanks Andreas, always good to hear from you. I hope you are keeping well. I'm getting there slowly but 'real modelling' is not something I have done a lot of so I tend to struggle a bit!

Really outstanding work Richie!

The windshield has come out very well and I'm glad the translucency is still present too.

I am impressed how well the stitching looks.

Excellent results again, and I am looking very much forward to the next installment!

Willem

Thanks Willem, the stitching worked out quite well entirely thanks to the precision ruler you recommended some time ago. It has become one of my most used tools. There is a little more stitching to add but I have already cut the strips and drilled the holes so hopefully it won't be too tedious.

Unfortunately I don't have any progress to show you but I did spend what felt like an eternity trying to make new frames for the inspection windows. I have started work on the last section of the fuselage frame that holds the engine and fuel tank.  Although there are no progress photos I do have a couple of archive photos of 16 squadron BE2s taken in the Great War.

16 squadron Be2c by Richard Williams, on Flickr

Here is one I found of the aircraft I am modelling.

Be2c 2612 by Richard Williams, on Flickr

The TVAL replica of 2612 has two mounts for Lewis guns which do not seem to be present, this pleases me no end as it gives me the option of not making them. I can save the Lewis gun I scratched for another project. The original also has a camera mount which is not present on the TVAL aircraft.

The dedication "St Catherines Ontario" on the TVAL replica seems to be a spelling error. St Catharines is the town in Ontario which presented this aircraft to 16 squadron. I will choose to believe that it was only present on the starboard side but I will spell it correctly.

I hope to have a proper progress update for you next week.

Best wishes all
Richie

[RichieW]

Hi everybody,

It's been a while since I updated this. Despite supposedly having plenty of free time I have had much less modelling time than I had hoped.

 

I had to remake the inspection windows due to the originals being desperately out of square and generally messy. At first I didn't mind but I find myself shaking my head in disgust whenever I saw them. Well I spent two evenings trying to be more precise and after many failed attempts I ended up with two slightly better but still a little messy windows. Here they are still attached to the custard tart box clear film.

 

20230306_205231 by Richard Williams, on Flickr

 

I wish I could do better but the sad truth is I can't so these will do. Apart from the 1st class stamps you may notice little control horns, these mount to the side of the fuselage and attach to the elevators. These were whittled down from a propeller in the spares box, I'm quite pleased with these, especially as they didn't take long.

 

The undercarriage is underway, the front legs attach to bits sticking out from the sides of the fuselage. I don't know what these bits are called but I made them  from bits of styrene profile and strip as a single length to help with the symmetry and cut a couple of slices off. A length of copper tube was inserted in the cavity and mounting holes drilled (drilling copper is much easier than brass) so I could attach the legs. The cross piece onto which the wheels will attach was made in a similar way, the discs are just sequins I bought off ebay.

 

20230306_204625 by Richard Williams, on Flickr

 

The main structure of the legs is just brass tube, I superglued 2 pieces together and bent them to get both sides equal. The outer part of the legs are slide fit bits that I made a few months ago. They are sitting on a crude assembly jig made by drilling a few holes, carefully measure, in a drill bit box.

 

The tail fin is held in place by metal brackets  at the top and bottom of the fuselage. These caused me much chin rubbing and head scratching while I pondered how to make them symmetrical. In the end I just stuck a piece of Tamiya tape where the top bracket goes, drew the shape, stuck it to aluminium sheet and cut it out.

 

This was then CA'd to more aluminium

20230306_201901 by Richard Williams, on Flickr

 

A bit of cutting out and filing later;

 

20230306_203355 by Richard Williams, on Flickr

 

Sitting in place;


 
20230306_203820 by Richard Williams, on Flickr


 

It's all been about symmetry and perseverance for a week or two, there hasn't been much progress but I've learned a few new tricks and not lost any parts for a while.
There is a little fettling to do for a perfect fit and some untidyness to clean up on the inner part of the V shape, this will be hidden by the tail fin on the top one so I will only fix up up one of them.

 
,
Hopefully I will have another update soon and have a completed fuselage to show you. Do feel free to offer any criticisms or advice. I'm still scrambling up the scratch building learning curve.

 

Thanks for dropping by

Richie

 

[lone modeller]

"I'm still scrambling up the scratch building learning curve."

We are all doing that Richie - it is part of the scratch building experience!

The undercarriage looks good - especially the little sequin discs. The small rudder brackets look good too - an important detail but one that is easily missed.

Progress may be slow but it is steady and a first class model is in the making: they are not made in a day....

Stephen.

[RichieW]

Many thanks Stephen,

"I'm still scrambling up the scratch building learning curve."

We are all doing that Richie - it is part of the scratch building experience!

In a way that's disconcerting but good news because I want to keep learning and trying new things to keep the hobby interesting for myself!

I finished the fuselage frame and did a bit of painting. The last section of fuselage with the engine bearers is copper tube held with brass pins and styrene strip. The wooden board was cut from a bamboo lolly stick. I actually dropped the model and it held fast so will be sturdy enough to hold the engine.

BE2c Last fuselage frame by Richard Williams, on Flickr

The black fuselage bands were masked and sprayed over the CDL paint.

16 Squadron black bands added by Richard Williams, on Flickr

Clearly not very accurately masked so a bit of correction was needed. I also added all the little studs along the top of the stitching and the two inspection windows.

20230311_112457 by Richard Williams, on Flickr

The model is still translucent after painting

Translucent Fuselage by Richard Williams, on Flickr

Outside in the daylight the effect is much less obvious. Perhaps paper covering would have been better.

Richie