Author Topic: Caudron G.IV, CSM 1/48  (Read 8445 times)

Offline FAf

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Caudron G.IV, CSM 1/48
« on: July 19, 2022, 04:20:47 AM »
I have had sort of a break from modelling for a while. There has been some very little activity from me here at the forum and even less activity at the desk, but a couple of weeks into the summer holidays there is a will/urge again to sit down and model. Feels good!

In April I attended the only modelling show there is close to me - 08 Open, hosted by IPMS Stockholm. Not a lot of WWI models there, but I managed to win a couple of classes and also the national title for aircraft models with my CSM Armstrong-Whitworth F.K.8. (https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=12539.msg234411#msg234411) So, I thought I'd stick to a winning concept and start building CSM's Caudron G.IV.



I think this model is slightly older than the F.K.8 and it's definitely a different kind of model with its gondola and enormous wingspan. And probably three times the rigging of the F.K.8.

I must confess to being a bit confused at the beginning of the build and that might have caused me some extra work when it comes to painting. I have painted a lot of wooden struts and the central gondola, but unfortunately no pictures of this. The instructions only give generic colour callouts and they say yellow for metal parts and "ecru" for the linen. Not really thinking alot about the ecru bit and probably ignoring what it says in the Windsock Datafile about the colouring, I ended up with nice yellow (Humbrol H74 linen) wooden and metal parts and nice looking, but very drab looking wings... Reading through Bertl's Morane-Saulnier build (Thank you for your very informative posts!) I then decided to repaint all things fabric with a colour mix based on Gunze H318 Radome. That stage still lies before me.

On the way I did manage to test some things and feel more confident now that I can achieve the desired result again. The wings of the Caudron are quite thick towards the front and very thin, just a layer of linen really, towards the rear and this would suggest that light would shine through differently. I've never painted a wing before where light would shine through from above so I reread Mike Norris' posts on the BE2c,  (Thank you for you very informative and clear posts and PDF's!)  including his PDF, on how to achieve the see through effect. Based on that I painted the bottom wings brown and then masked ribs (I ignored the wing spars, but as I'm doing this again now... if anyone thinks they should be visible too, just say so), painted white and then sprayed the different CDL colours I used in order to achieve different levels of see through. I was pleased with that. Now I just have to do it again...






There is of course no light shining through when I'm holding it against the lamp. It's all paint! But interestingly enough one gets the feeling of light shining through a lot more if one holds it up against a light source. I suppose it tricks the brain somehow.

Cheers
Fredrik
« Last Edit: July 31, 2022, 06:07:02 PM by FAf »

Offline lone modeller

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Re: Caudron G.IV, CSM 1/48
« Reply #1 on: July 19, 2022, 04:29:15 AM »
Congratulations on your prizes - very well deserved.

You are correct that the trailing edges of the Caudron G II and IV were a single sheet of linen: the forward sections were double as per a "normal" wing but the upper sheet on these machines was tucked under the rear spar of the wings. I assume that was intended to make the ailerons more responsive/lighter to handle?

Looking forward to seeing this one progress.

Stephen.

Offline KiwiZac

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Re: Caudron G.IV, CSM 1/48
« Reply #2 on: July 19, 2022, 08:26:20 AM »


There is of course no light shining through when I'm holding it against the lamp. It's all paint! But interestingly enough one gets the feeling of light shining through a lot more if one holds it up against a light source. I suppose it tricks the brain somehow.

Cheers
Fredrik
Quite frankly you had me convinced, Fredrik! Wow!!

Offline RAGIII

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Re: Caudron G.IV, CSM 1/48
« Reply #3 on: July 20, 2022, 12:39:40 AM »
Fredrik, Your painting is Gorgeous. The booms are awesome and the Light shining through effect looks perfect!
RAGIII
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"Don't slop it on" Lynda Geisler

Offline Rookie

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Re: Caudron G.IV, CSM 1/48
« Reply #4 on: July 20, 2022, 02:24:34 AM »
Smoke & mirrors or not, the wings look awesome Fredrik!

Willem

Offline Edo

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Re: Caudron G.IV, CSM 1/48
« Reply #5 on: July 20, 2022, 03:19:02 PM »
yes, the wing is really awesome!
it had fooled me completely!
well done!
ciao
edo

Offline DaddyO

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Re: Caudron G.IV, CSM 1/48
« Reply #6 on: July 20, 2022, 05:31:29 PM »
Love where this one is going Fredrick, glad to see you've got your mojo back
Getting the popcorn out and settling in . . . . ;D

Paul
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Offline Alexis

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Re: Caudron G.IV, CSM 1/48
« Reply #7 on: July 25, 2022, 03:02:55 PM »
Thumbs up ! :)


Alexis
Hurra ! , Ich Leben Noch
Body and life is a vessel we use to travel the planet . Femininity is the gift , The miracle comes from what we do with it .

Offline FAf

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Re: Caudron G.IV, CSM 1/48
« Reply #8 on: August 03, 2022, 09:16:06 PM »
Hi again!

Thank you for your interest and supportive comments Stephen, Zac, Rick, Edo, Paul and Alexis!

So, I wasn't really happy with the colour of the wings even if I did like the effect I had managed to achieve. To make a long story short, I repainted all of the fabric areas in a yellow beige tone and redid all of the masking to make the ribs show and the light effect again. It came out ok, but at some point in the build I had decided to glue the observers hatch (a nice little hole in the upper wing) shut, but despite several attempts to fill the seams and make it invisible it kept cracking to reveal the joins.


So yesterday I decided to strip all of the paint from the upper wing and make a proper attempt to close the hatch once and for all. That exercise ended with the top wing breaking into four (!) parts, i.e. one more than it was originally. It simply split along the joins and also in the middle where there is fairly little plastic to begin with. And the two parts for the observers hatch also fell out. So after having drilled and pinned the wing I now have a sturdy top wing and the option of leaving the obervers hatch open - which I'm leaning towards.


There would be two clear benefits with leaving the hatch open. First I wouldn't have to work hard to get a good fit and second there would be more visible of the interior of the crew compartment. In the two pictures below you can especially note the triangular wooden area towards the front. Instead of filling the seam and sanding, I made a solid piece out of plastic card. Much easier I think. There are other additions made to the interior - some wiring between the radio and telegraph key and the battery(?), seat belts are made from Tamiya tape and thin wire, the pilot's seat is built up with magic-sculp.



Apart from trying to get the top wing right I've also spent some time on the engine nacelles. The engine covers are quite thick, so I thinned the edges quite a bit.


The nacelles are fabric covered with metal covers/hatches covering the front end. There are photo etch pieces included apart from the bottom part. So I made two of those using tin from a food tray. Last picture shows the present state. Next will be some clear coat and a bit of weathering.




I also made a couple of things - a fail to come up with a term here - that will be added to the engines. I suppose they show that there is petrol flowing?! Made out of Albion Alloys brass tubing, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0 mm bits, a piece of copper wire and some stretched clear sprue.


Last for this report. There are aluminium sheets under the engines and on top of the bottom wing. They also come as photo etch parts but they lacking a bit of detail. There should be a number of nails or bolts holding them to the wing and I added them by pressing a needle from the back to make a protusion that could pass for a nail head. You can see the painted version to the right, the unpainted nail heads on the left plate and the lack of them on the bottom of the left plate.


Moving forward I think... :)
/F


Offline lone modeller

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Re: Caudron G.IV, CSM 1/48
« Reply #9 on: August 04, 2022, 06:30:51 AM »
The parts which you could not come up with a name for were oil drains from the nacelles. The engines were rotaries and continuously shed oil as they ran. This oil was sprayed into the cowlings and would have been pushed to the front and bottom of the cowlings - the pipes drained this oil away and dumped it below the wing so that it did not soak into the fabric. For the same reason the lower wing under the engines were covered in aluminium sheet - to protect the wing from the oil exhausted from the engines.

This is looking very convincing - I had no idea that there was an observer's hole in the upper wing when I made my model! Good recovery on the damaged wing though.

Stephen.

Offline RAGIII

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Re: Caudron G.IV, CSM 1/48
« Reply #10 on: August 04, 2022, 07:30:43 AM »
Really Amazing work overall! I am glad you were able to fix the wing disaster...That would probably resulted in a Binned Model for Me  :-[ The weathering on the engine pods is terrific as is your Interior work! Lovely added details and again, Terrific overall!
RAGIII
"A man has to know his limitations": Harry Callahan

"Don't slop it on" Lynda Geisler

Offline Edo

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Re: Caudron G.IV, CSM 1/48
« Reply #11 on: August 04, 2022, 03:31:39 PM »
I have to agree that you made a great work indeed!
the alu foil cover is a very nice addition too!
ciao
edo

Offline Stuart Malone

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Re: Caudron G.IV, CSM 1/48
« Reply #12 on: August 05, 2022, 12:26:07 AM »
Bravo Fredrik!  I'm quite astonished at the extra detail you're adding to this kit.

I highly recommend quitting the hobby.  You're making some, if not most, of us look bad.  Me for sure anyways. ;)

Stuart

Offline Alexis

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Re: Caudron G.IV, CSM 1/48
« Reply #13 on: August 07, 2022, 01:02:04 PM »
The devil is in the details ,  :)


Alexis

Hurra ! , Ich Leben Noch
Body and life is a vessel we use to travel the planet . Femininity is the gift , The miracle comes from what we do with it .

Offline Umlaufmotor

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Re: Caudron G.IV, CSM 1/48
« Reply #14 on: August 09, 2022, 07:42:34 AM »
The devil is in the details ,  :)


Alexis



True words.
I can absolutely confirm that.