Airco DH2, Eduard 1/48, Upd 16.5.22 Finished

[Bughunter]

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[gedmundson]

Absolutely brilliant, Frank!
Cheers,
Gary

[bobs_buckles]

They look superb, Frank! 
Well done 

Bob

[lone modeller]

What a good idea! The only problem Frank is that I do not have the vice and circular saw, but I really do like the principle. Wood is so much better than painted plastic if it can be done.

Stephen.

[Bughunter]

Great that you liked my idea/struts Gary, Bob and Stephen!

To use the little vice was a result of experimenting.
At first I tried to press the wood against a edge by hand, but the cutting wheel develops some forces so it was hard to get a clean result.
Inside the vice you can see some soft lumber, so I closed the vice until the stripes has a tight fit. So the vice provides a guidance on three sides.
Stephen, if you do not own a vice a special U made from wood could also be used. The lower side in the same width as the veneer stripes and left and right a piece of wood for example.
And I forgot: the usage of a vacuum cleaner is strongly recommended!

And regarding the disadvantage of gluing one strut after another:
I use fast drying wood glue and two vices for pressing. After one was dry enough, I put the next one into the vice and sanded a strut into shape. Once the struts was done, the one in the other vice was dry enough. So the workflow was smooth 

The good thing of working with wood: it always brings my mojo back.

Cheers,
Frank

[KiwiZac]

That's brilliant Frank, and the end result looks fantastic!

I daresay there are many like me who are without the requisite tools who would love struts like this - if you wanted, you could likely sell these, perhaps start a "side hustle" as a strut merchant...?

[WD]

That's brilliant Frank, and the end result looks fantastic!

I daresay there are many like me who are without the requisite tools who would love struts like this - if you wanted, you could likely sell these, perhaps start a "side hustle" as a strut merchant...?

Frank,
         What Zac said, you could, if you want, turn this into a great side hustle.  It's a brilliant idea IMHO. Just wish I could make it work for 1/72nd.

WD

[GazzaS]

Brilliant work, Frank!  I can see this being better for larger scales, too.

[PrzemoL]

Magician!

[Bughunter]

Thank you Zac, WD, Gaz and Prze!

I think this method will work also in other scales. The size of the cut/cutting wheel should match.
In 1/72 I would use wood with finer grain like boxwood and 0.2 or 0.3mm brass. In 1/32 may be 0.6 or 0.7mm brass or thinner steel wire.

if you wanted, you could likely sell these, perhaps start a "side hustle" as a strut merchant...?

Some time ago I already thought about selling wooden air screws but I'm to slow with manual work. So nobody would pay that work.
Finally, I decided not to do any commercial model work until the kits in my huge stash are all built.

Cheers,
Frank

[Bughunter]

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[kensar]

Excellent paint work there, Frank.  I like the PC8 color and the different color for the spar shadow vs the rib tapes.

[Berman]

 I am unfamiliar with PC-8. What was the time period and what aircraft were painted with this predecessor of PC-10?

[Rookie]

Where do I begin?

Your work is so tidy and beautifully detailed. What a clever way to make the struts Frank! I am certainly going to try this method. Do you think this would work with bamboo too? I have the same Proxxon tools as you use in your setup in the picture. I only need a longer bed to slide the vice in.

Great idea to use the little tubes in the wings to take the strut pins. A great way to get the struts neatly lined up.

Excelent priming, shading and paint results on the wings, spars and ribs too.

I made notes!

Nice to see the DH2 is such a popular subject here lately (Rick, Alexis, DaveB, William). This is going to be a beauty, I am sure.

Regards,
Willem

[Bughunter]

Excellent paint work there, Frank.  I like the PC8 color and the different color for the spar shadow vs the rib tapes.

Thank you Ken! I really like the MrPaint colors, from the working point of view and the result.
Yes I used different paint for the spar shadow, but it was a bit to dark. Next time better

I am unfamiliar with PC-8. What was the time period and what aircraft were painted with this predecessor of PC-10?

Me too, may be some experts could answer this. I found only the linked WNW manual, according to that this DH2 is from July 1916.
So my guess is also, that it was a predecessor of PC-10.
At least it looks nice and different to the PC10 birds


Thank you Willem for the long answer!

I am certainly going to try this method.

Really? It costs me years to develop this method! I should have patented this!
The license fee is a beer, should we ever meet in person, for example at an exhibition.

Do you think this would work with bamboo too? I have the same Proxxon tools as you use in your setup in the picture. I only need a longer bed to slide the vice in.

As I wrote above you can also use another U-shaped profile or even made one from wood. I have not tried bamboo, may be it works.

Nice to see the DH2 is such a popular subject here lately (Rick, Alexis, DaveB, William).

Oh yes, that invited me to start this one. After my DH2 Stripdown years ago I always wanted to put a normal DH2 aside.
And it is a good training fro the FE8 

Cheers,
Frank