Aviatik 30.40, 1/48, update 22.11.21 Finish

[DaveB]

Lost for words on the amazing quality of your work on the metal cowling and wood tailskid ............

Regards

Dave

[lone modeller]

I too have been away and in the meantime more of your magic has been posted. I still find it difficult to grasp just how small many of these parts are - which make them all the more incredible.

Stephen.

[Bughunter]

Thank you Ken, Alan, Lance, Andreas, Giuseppe, Dave and Stephen for your more then kind words!

I notice another type of fuel you use is beer, the bottle top gives it away.

Yes Alan, but I drink in moderation, not every day.

I would agree that the two bands are white and red judging by the surrounding colours which we know. Red is of course dark in B&W and the lighter band is so light it could be missed.

Thank you for the confirmation!

I will try and copy what you did with the axle.

.. which is mounted now with suspension on the undercarriage

You take this concept to the ultimate level

Without just a gleam of a doubt it will be a Bf-109. come on, be honest to us, you know it and I know it…   

You can tease all you want, it's not going to happen.
I have to admit I have a 109 kit in my stash, but it's a rare Royal kit for investment only, not for building.

I still find it difficult to grasp just how small many of these parts are

Not only the parts Stephen, the whole bird is small. If I remember I will a picture on my hand the next days.

Cheers,
Frank

[Manni]

Outstanding Frank! This looks so beautiful. As you mentioned, I think the colors are red and white as the flag of the k.u.k. Luftfahrttruppen used to be.
Bye,
Manni

[Bughunter]

Thank you for the confirmation Manni!


Filler caps


After painting the axle I mounted it with the suspension to the undercarriage.



Now the bird can really stand on his wheels for test, the "rubber lines" can hold it.



I finalized the length of the outer struts, ...



... tinned and primed them, ...



... and painted dark grey.



I wanted to mount the wing, but it is always a good idea to check the references again. And yes, I discovered more forgotten details!

So I made two filler caps from brass.



This makes sense, as I added there the fuel tank. The second one seems to a the oil cap.



Another detail I noticed was a rope around the upper part of the cowling, starting in cut outs I already made before.
On the model it is a 0.15mm wire, hold by two Gaspatch anchor points. I hope you see it!



Since the wing is already lying flat, I glued on a lacing right away. Here I used a piece of Eduard 1/72 lacing PE, which I bend to the shape of the engraving in the wing.



And finally I painted the bands on the airscrew. I primed a light coat of white before, but the read comes out darker as I wanted. For the white I used "Insignia white" which is a off white, but looks very bright in real. The Jaray logos are also applied.
I think I will add a layer of clear coat.



Cheers,
Frank

[ColonelKrypton]

Frank,

Bravo, it just keeps getting better and better.  I don't know how you will do better on your next project but I am sure you will find a way.

cheers, Graham

[FAf]

Just beautiful! The only problem is of course that you keep upping our expectations... 

I was just looking at the filler caps, or rather the stumps where they should have been, on my Camel, wondering how to better the details. Your caps are just gorgeous!

Cheers
Fredrik

[lone modeller]

More magnificent modelling from the master...!

Stephen.

[Bughunter]

Thank you Graham, Fredrik and Stephen!

I don't know how you will do better on your next project but I am sure you will find a way.

Sometimes I try to build out of the box, but I often fail to do so.

I was just looking at the filler caps, or rather the stumps where they should have been, on my Camel, wondering how to better the details. Your caps are just gorgeous!

That idea is stolen from many other of my projects. On one of my first planes, the Fokker E.V there was a oversized PE so this forced my to do new ones. So also many of the others later wants to have the brass too.


In mean time I got the answer regarding the bands:
- white band means that the factory is the owner, only for test flights. To be changes before delivery.
- red band means experimental one, not to used in series production

Both makes sense, as this was a prototype only, equipped with a new engine type.

Cheers,
Frank

[gbrivio]

Gorgeous details.
Ciao
Giuseppe

[RAGIII]

Simply Stunning Frank! The colored bands do indeed make sense.
RAGIII

[Ernie]

The cowling and filler caps are absolutely sublime Frank. I am
running out of adjectives seeing your talents.  Such a pleasure
to follow this build.

Cheers,
Ernie

[Borsos]

I have to admit I have a 109 kit in my stash, …

I Got ya! 

[PrzemoL]

What you show here, Frank, is amazing. I am especially in awe with your metal work, starting from the machined alu sheets ending with the replacement struts. Just great!

[Bughunter]

It is always a pleasure to read your wonderful comments Giuseppe, Rick, Ernie, Andreas and Przemek! Thanks!

Rigging


As during the last update I wanted to mount the wing - but stop: There was also a windshield!
I had to guess the shape because it was visible only in the side view. The drawing do not show it. So I cut a thing piece of clear foil, bent it in shape with heat and glued it in place with CA.



A very small stripe cut from a PE frame has to act as frame to improve the adhesion, as the glue is not very strong on the foil and aluminium.
Unfortunately, some of the CA fume settled on the windscreen, but it was also on the real picture not very clean.



But then I mounted the wing and started to do the rigging with Gaspatch turnbuckles type C, anchor points and wire loops.



The rigging of the inner struts was more tricky.



I found no confirmation in my references, but in my eyes it makes sense and I added a aluminium panel to the lower surface, up to the point where the side panels ends.
In opposite to that the cross on the back of the undercarriage is visible on the side picture of the real one.



There is also a cross in the front of the undercarriage. Both crosses uses Gaspatch turnbuckles type One End.



These are photos from below, so I'll also show the open construction of the side panels. You can see the cylinders of the engine with the naked eye. So oil and cooling air can go out on the back and lower side.



On the back side of the airscrew you can see the bolt heads on the hub.



On the front I added 0.2mm bolts.



In case anyone was wondering about the high-legged undercarriage: this picture clearly shows why it was necessary. The powerful 11-cylinder with its 160 hp needed a large airscrew to get this power into the air.



I straightened the warped wing at the beginning with hot water, but it had bent again a bit and left the outer wings hanging. So I had adjusted the outer struts to push the wing up. Inserting the struts was not so easy.
But now I am super happy with the result!



So that is the actual state. I used some grey ground to show the rigging.



Another important steps done.

Cheers,
Frank