1/72 Airfix BE2c

[Rip Van Winkle]

A straight out of the box build. This is really a nice kit.  The only change in this build would be to separate the cabane struts so that the top wing seam isn't so noticeable.

[Rip Van Winkle]

I used Tamiya XF62 for the green and Mister Kit BC05 for the clear doped linen.  Rigging was .005 stainless steel wire.  This was not a fun plane to rig.

[Rip Van Winkle]

Most of these aircraft were in clear doped linen so I must figure out a way to show the transparency of the top wing roundel and ribs. Any suggestions?

[Dutch522]

Love it, it really shows the delicacy of these aeroplanes. And good for you to build it OOB, and resisting the temptation to chop it up into bits in an attempt to add fiddly details (and then never finish it) like I probably would

As I mentioned on Kensar's Zeppelin thread, it must have taken more courage than I can imagine to have gone up against the Kriegsmarine's aerial monsters in something as frail-looking as a B.E.2.

All best,

Dutch

[DaddyO]

Lovely job RVP   
(I'm thinking of a conversion with mine, but good to see one OOB for a change (Hopefully Airfix will come up with a few more WW1 types, hint, hint)

With the PC10 top the  transparency isn't something that would be noticeable. If the whole thing is clear doped then you can use several techniques to reproduce the transparent look (check out a few build threads to get full details) Couple of ideas - spray slightly dark then mask off ribs etc and spray a light top coat or draw ribs onto linen colour with pencil/waterproof pen and then lightly overspray in linen colour. (NigelR has just done a lovely clear linen paint job on his Bristol Scout if you're looking for methods and inspiration)

Paul

ps - I think the main wing panels were designed and fitted as separate items so don't fret about the join on them.

[Flamingo]

Nice model of this classic!

The joint lines at the rear of the center section are the price for ease of assembly.
Here is a nice video of the assembly, it clearly shows the seam problem.

Airfix should at least do a BE 2e.

Greetings Joachim

[Rip Van Winkle]

Thank you all for the tips on clear doped linen issue.

[PrzemoL]

I can only confirm, it is a jewel of the kit. And you got very fine results. Thanks for sharing.

[Tim Mixon]

Very nicely done and rigged.  I agree with the others about not needing to represent the transparent wing roundels on a PC-10 / PC-12 surface. 

[NigelR]

Very nice job, it's good to see this kit built up and looking so good when finished.

Paul (DaddyO) summarised the approach to "ghost" roundels very well. On my Bristol Scout build I sprayed the base CDL, then cut masks for the basic roundel shape which I sprayed in a light grey colour. I then cut separate masks for the blue and red coloured parts and sprayed a very light coat of coloured inks to give a hint of the red and blue colour showing through. This might be overkill in 1/72, you could just go with the single grey colour to represent the whole roundel, up to you.

The trick is to use blu-tak or similar to hold the masks slightly off the surface to get a nice feathered edge. Then do rib tape shadows (so they go over the ghosted roundel), I revesre masked these in 1/32 but using a market pen or pencil like Paul suggested is fine in 1/72. Finally, overspray in CDL to taste to make the whole effect look more transparent.

[Rip Van Winkle]

Thank you for the info.  I will have to experiment a little to see what works for me.