1:72 Roden SE5a

[IanB]

I'll book my spot with this one.
I'm sure most are familiar with the kit but here are some basic pics to prove it's not yet started!













Some very nicely moulded parts there, I may even be able to do this OOB!

See you all soon!

Ian

[Dirigible-Al]

That's a really nice kit. Look forward to seeing the build.
Alan.

[NigelR]

Another excellent choice, a good tribute to Dave.

[RAGIII]

You can't go wrong with an SE5a for the Memorial build. Looking forward to your Models completion.
RAGIII

[Brad Cancian]

Great choice! I am looking forward to seeing how this one builds up. I have one in my stash that I have been flirting with for some time now... 

Cheers,

BC

[IanB]

Sorry I've been quiet here, I haven't been idle though.

Although I had hoped to build this OOB, I knew the chances were slim! Having said that, modifications will be minimal.
I will use MiniWorld guns, and have made a new seat back, as the kit item was not accurate. I've also thinned the area inside the semi-circular cutout under the nose and, using a sharp blade, moved the front edge of the plastic behind the cutout back a little to give the correct "lip" all the way around.

So here's what I've got done so far.

A little interior paintwork to start with



and I found a spare instrument panel that I'd designed for the DH9. It just so happened that it fitted nicely after filing off the windscreen mount!



Some of the detail was removed and the gap at the left was widened....



Not perfect, but it will do the job!



The seat back was not correct, as mentioned, so I made a new one from stock Evergreen.



The seat bottom is the kit part and will be fitted separately.
It should look something like this



I also ran out of PC10, so more has been ordered from Misterkit. I have some misgivings here though. I love their paints, but too many of them have gone off before I even opened them. If the same happens again, I will find another supplier....

Thanks for looking in,


Ian

[RAGIII]

That is excellent work ! I thought I was good for having done that seat back/bulkhead in 1/32nd scale. Thanks for the reality check  Your 1/72nd version is awesome!
RAGIII

[NigelR]

A very fitting choice of subject and a great start. It's just so hard to do an OOB build......

[PrzemoL]

Great start. Those Roden kits are still fine, and when amended, more or less, build into fantastic models. Yours will surely be one!

[IanB]

Just a small update from the weekend as the fuselage assembly requires patience!
It has to be put together in stages, especially as my kit fuselage halves are slightly warped at the front.

First step - glue the halves together.



Once dry, step 2 is to attach the fuselage to the wings. I also added the lower nose section at this time. Pic eaten by hungry camera.
Stage 3, attach the cockpit coaming.



Step 4 will be to add the radiator and upper cowling, maybe even in 2 steps, we'll see! However, it's worth being patient since I don't want a badly fitting or warped nose!

Hopefully my paints are on their way....

Thanks for looking in,



Ian

[RAGIII]

Terrific progress! It is amazing how closely this little one is in assembly to the 1/48th and 1/32nd! Looking forward to your next update.
RAGIII

[KiwiZac]

Lovely work Ian! I don't think I've ever seen a WIP of this kit, so I'm really enjoying it. Great thinking with the DH.9 panel, that adds so much to your model.

[IanB]

Thanks guys! The fuselage assembly is pretty tricky and needs to be tackled in small stages. Maybe this is a result of it having been designed as a larger scale kit?

Apologies for the long delay in updating this, but to be honest there's been a bit of a mojo shortage.

A little more has been done though. I had to refit the lower wings as they weren't level for some reason. That was taken care of, and a lot of general tidying up has been done. The only major work really has been the removal, pinning, and refitting of the control surfaces and I think everything is now ready for me to mask off the underside rib tapes. That may also explain the lack of mojo!

Anyway, here's a white SE5a



Hopefully the next update will not be a month from now, and will show far more progress!

Thanks for looking in,


Ian

[DaddyO]

Looking good so far Ian. 

Bit of pain putting those multi part fuselages together and I think you're wise taking them in stages (I've stalled on the Pfalz build at the moment so picked something easy (!) to get the old mojo back up)

Cheers for now
Paul

[RAGIII]

Glad to see you are progressing on your SE5a Ian! That multi part fuselage was difficult in 1/48th and 1/32nd so I can only imagine how that is (magnified) in 1/72nd!
RAGIII