Jeannin Stahltaube - a scratchbuild in 1/144 scale

[William Adair]

Whatever you do, don't cough or sneeze, they will be gone forever..... Amazing teeny tiny work!

Funny you should say that.  While I was making them and trimming them to length; I found if I put a drop of water on my bench and rested the parts in it, they were easier to hold and did not fly away while I was cutting! 👍


Test fitting the undercariage atm. I needed to get the main undercarriage legs and spreader bar soldered together, so that I could dry fit the landing gear and make sure the finished taube had the correct "sit". I cut a wedge of styrene that mimicked the height of the tail skid and temporarily tacked it into place with some PVA. Then I broke out the test wheel that I made earlier this year and slid the axle through.

I had fussed around with the measurements for the undercarriage for quite some time. As it only takes a small discrepancy in 1/144 scale to leave the whole thing looking either too squat or as if it is standing on tiptoes. The propeller shaft would need to sit exactly 13.5mm off the ground on the completed model. I nervously placed the fuselage on a flat surface and checked the height with my calipers... Yesss!!!! Bloody nailed it.😁 I just need to put a tiny flat spot on the bottom of each tyre to simulate the weight and it will have the prop sitting at exactly 13.5. Happy days!

[WD]

Absolutely wonderful work. I can only imagine the tolerances you're working with on this.

I must remember that tip about the water drop.

Warren

[NigelR]

Excellent work on the undercarriage. And where did the wheel come from? I quickly scanned back through the thread and didn't see mention of wheels, but maybe I missed it. Did you scratch it....?

[WD]

Nigel, I'm sure he did, and I want to say he covered making those on a previous construction thread, but I could be wrong.

Warren

[William Adair]

Hi Nigel, sorry about that!  Here's the link for the making of the wheels.  I made the test one from 0.02mm copper wire, but I've since managed to source a roll of tungsten instead. It's even stronger and has a nice dark colour, so it won't need painting  👍

https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=14248.0

[NigelR]

Hi Nigel, sorry about that!  Here's the link for the making of the wheels.  I made the test one from 0.02mm copper wire, but I've since managed to source a roll of tungsten instead. It's even stronger and has a nice dark colour, so it won't need painting  👍

Thanks, I remember this now (I even commented on that thread). Superb work as always, I simply don't have the fine motor skills to do anything like this so I am totally in awe.

[macsporran]

I continue to be stunned - I don't know what the right verb is, stun implies a single blow, but this is ongoing assault and battery on the viewers comprehension and appreciation.
Sandy

[Dutch522]

Absolutely brilliant work. This has "masterpiece" written all over it, Lord knows how you're ever going to top it.

Dutch

[RAGIII]

Looks amazing! Your "Test" wheels are incredible so the production version should really be outstanding!!
RAGIII

[William Adair]

Absolutely brilliant work. This has "masterpiece" written all over it, Lord knows how you're ever going to top it.

Hmm. A BE2c and BE2E double build would be nice. Or possibly a couple of Morane Type Ns.  I try not to think about it too much. Otherwise, I suffer an "excess of enthusiasm" and skip onto the next project and don't finish what I started. 

The louvres on the Taube worked out pretty well. These were a bit of a saga which played out over several weeks. They started out as plastic strip and I scraped the angled profile into a length of styrene and trimmed each one to size. However, they were very difficult to cut consistently. In the end I gave up on that and chose the best looking one, then made the world’s tiniest resin mould.

Below are a few pics of the progress. I found it helpful to use a tiny bit of water to position each part and hold it there until you have time to apply the liquid glue with the tip of a fine brush. The following day I came back and gave the surface a coat of well-thinned primer to blend them in. That's another scratchbuilding bogeyman out of the way. I'll put that aside for a few days and start thinking about the tail. 

[William Adair]

I continue to be stunned - I don't know what the right verb is, stun implies a single blow, but this is ongoing assault and battery on the viewers comprehension and appreciation.
Sandy

I need to land faster blows. I hoped to be finished by the end of July, in time for the release of the book. Now I'm just hoping it will be all over by Christmas!

Looks amazing! Your "Test" wheels are incredible so the production version should really be outstanding!!
RAGIII

I'm hoping! The tungsten is awfully strong. When I tried to snap it with my fingers it cut me 

[RAGIII]

I failed to mention that the Louvres are also amazing 
RAGIII

[NigelR]

I couldn't do those louvres in 1/32, let alone in this scale. Amazing work again!

[Rookie]

I can only join the others in their praise William.

All the details are stunning!

Willem

[Thumbs up]

This is truly a David to a WNW Goliath! Miraculous work!