Sopwith 5F.1 Dolphin 1/32 Wingnut Wings

[AngryJazz]

Late night update - the Dolphin is finally done! 

Some pictures from the dirty bench because i'm excited to finally have reached this stage!

I want to build a small base for it - nothing fancy just some planks, dirt and grass. Then some proper pictures 

[acewwi]

Great job Ben
Spyros

[Dutch522]

She done come out beautiful, Ben, that paint job is brilliant. Makes me want to build one, which for me is the hallmark of someone having done a truly fine job... not that it's likely I'll find a WnW Dolphin anytime soon, but hope springs eternal in the human breast.

Dutch

[AngryJazz]

Thank you Spyros!

And thank you very much for the kind words Dutch, it means a lot 
I have a 2nd Dolphin, but think you are on the other side of the world from Denmark, so not easy!

To try something new ill try to post a few pictures of my base build also. I don't see many of those shared here.
I have only built 3 bases before, so this is just a case of trying stuff and see how it goes. Maybe i'll learn something 

Base is 10mm AK black carving foam for I had left over.
I cut some popsicle sticks down to somewhat match the size I want. Trying to make them all a little uneven to imitate some leftover planks thrown down for a plane.

I will need to make a few more in varied length so there's space for dirt and grass too.

[KiwiZac]

How's that for dedication? Great work Ben, that should make for a terrific base.

[Tim Mixon]

Wonderful job on the Dolphin. The base looks like it will be a very nice addition. 

[PrzemoL]

Wow, what a gorgeously looking model!

[AngryJazz]

Thank you all very much 

For the base I like to use AK terrain paste. I pretty much just worked slowly and cut the pieces as I went. Thinking the paste would act as glue (worked fine in the past) and filler for in between the planks.

All good! Or so i thought... After i came back after a few hours all planks started to curl up due to the moisture....



Closeup


I tried to cover the base in watered down pva glue and weigh it down.



Worked... but left a ripley texture / residue on all planks from the pva glue. Tried to sand etc.... But figured out i could scrub most off with a toothbrush 

[AngryJazz]

With the base having dried since yesterday gave the planks a acrylic wash for color. Then I added dirt from the garden (baked in the oven to remove unwanted stuff).



Distributed and looking more neat




I added VMS ballast freeze to lock the dirt in place.

Then I set about sanding down each plank to get the grains and texture back...

Having a sore arm from the sanding the base - i will let it dry until tomorrow before adding more dirt or moving on to the next step 
The wet spot is from me wiping down the planks from sanding




I don't know if these pictures is adding any value to you guys or not? Since the forum is more focused on the airplane itself?
Most of this base is just me messing around trying to figure out how stuff works 

[KiwiZac]

I for one quite enjoyed that post! I was skeptical at first but as you progressed it made more sense and is looking great.

[Dutch522]

Ben, that looks amazingly realistic from here

I’ve found that sometimes when I think I’ve wrecked something it actually comes out looking better… the imperfections seem to provide a basis for the kind of random effects that (for me) frequently only occur as “happy accidents”. Really looking forward to seeing the Dolphin sitting on those duckboards!

Dutch

[AngryJazz]

Great Ill keep updating the post / work 

I were definitely also skeptical and ready to start over after it stated to go wrong  A lot of these "happy accidents" tend to happen when I move away from the manual. Lately I've been better at accepting things going wrong and just making the best with what I got. Often it works out better in the end than if I followed the "actual" plan 

However gluing down the boards with pva glue in the very beginning would have saved me a lot of trouble!

Im thinking about airbrushing the ground a more brown tone to create some contrast between the elements (wood vs ground). Another possibility is adding my enamel washes of lighter dust / ground tones (the ones used on the plane).

After the groundwork is done I will add some static grass.

[NigelR]

You finished it! Well done, it looks really good, I hope you are very pleased with your efforts because you should be.

[AngryJazz]

Thank you Nigel 

Last few pictures for the base.

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Edit:
I think the color difference in the wood is due to the amount of daylight. The more brown tones is more accurate IRL - but it was mostly cloudy today.
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Applied some variation in the ground using enamel products (bit hard to see on picture).



Quick check to make sure weathering match the plane 



Trying my christmas gift - the static grass applicator! Using 2 different lengths.
I would really have wanted to paint the grass myself, but i did not see a way of doing so without messing up the wood planks.

Then some adjustments with more enamel products and i'm calling it good!
A figure or some accessories would have been a good fit, but I don't have any in the stash... Only a few things from other WNW sets (ladders etc). Also the whole figure painting is scary...

[AngryJazz]

And just like that the model and small base is complete! 

I just need to take some glamor shots with a white background and hopefully more daylight 

Thank you all for the motivation and encouragement during the build!