1:32nd scale Halberstadt D.II

[Mike Norris (UK)]

Hi all
Response from 'Lukgraph' about the propeller

Mike



"We found this issue, mirroring was accidentally turned on while printing.

We replaced all propellers in sets. Of course we will send the correct one.

Please contact us.

Best regards

Lukas"

[KiwiZac]

Excellent news, and something I expected to see given Lukasz' track record of assisting folks with broken bits.

[Mike Norris (UK)]

Excellent news, and something I expected to see given Lukasz' track record of assisting folks with broken bits.

Hi Zac,
Yes indeed, good customer service.
However, not needed if the fragile parts had been better protected for transit,

Mike

[KiwiZac]

A very good point.

[AngryJazz]

Excellent progress Mike! There's a lot of work going into this kit 

[Mike Norris (UK)]

Hi all
To reinstate the sanded off wing rib tapes
Strips of 1.0mm wide plastic card of 0.2mm thickness were cut
These were secured onto the wings using thin CA adhesive
They were then sanded to reduce their thickness and to blend them more to the wing surfaces
The wings were grey primed, as this shows any high spots or ridges
Where necessary I sanded again and re-primed until the desired effect was achieved

The wings will be painted later in this build

Mike

[Flik63J]

Good progress Mike. Could you explain a little more how the wing trailing edge droop was added………was that part of the hot water immersion/bending technique?

Looking forward to more,

David

[Mike Norris (UK)]

Good progress Mike. Could you explain a little more how the wing trailing edge droop was added………was that part of the hot water immersion/bending technique?

Looking forward to more,

David

Hi David
The resin used to cast the the wings, is softer than some resins
Also they have metal reinforcing rods inside to help prevent warp
Immersing the wings into hot water for a few minutes makes the resin pliable, so easily reformed by hand
Once your happy, hold in position until the resin cools

Mike

[Flik63J]

Ok thanks Mike……..your results look excellent!

David

[NigelR]

Nice work Mike. One of the things putting me off starting the LukGraph Albatros is sanding off all the overdone rib tapes......

[Mike Norris (UK)]

Nice work Mike. One of the things putting me off starting the LukGraph Albatros is sanding off all the overdone rib tapes......

Hi Nigel,
Yes it seems to be a thing with their rib tapes.
You can carefully scrape or sand away the 'bump stitches' along the rib tapes and reduce the tapes to a more in-scale thickness.
That's what I did on the Hanriot HD.1 build.
A lot easier than this method of re-instating with plastic strips,

Mike

[Mike Norris (UK)]

Hi all,
More preparation before assembly.
The fuselage cabane struts and interplane struts were all drilled and pinned for locating.
The forward 'feet' of the rudder support frame and the tail skid assembly were also drilled and pinned for locating.
The opening in the upper wing was chain drilled and shaped to accept the 3D printed radiator.
The four 'feet' of the landing gear struts were drilled and pinned for location.
The kit supplied  Steel rod was cut to length for the axle.
The kit supplied photo-etch cooling cover and front cover for the 3D printed machine gun were added,

Mike

[AngryJazz]

Really impressive craftsmanship Mike! Appreciate all these build logs and pictures - I've learned so much from them / you - thanks for the hard work 

[NigelR]

Superb work as always Mike. Impressive engineering and craftsmanship on display.

[Dutch522]

Another great Norris build clipping right along... it's important (to me, at least) that you and most of the other folks on the forum take the time to chronicle the bumps and detours on the road. I've learned far more that way than if everything was presented as an already perfect & finished result.

Dutch