A WNW S.E.5a for Dave

[Vickers]

Thanks for your encouraging comments, gentlemen! I've just finished preparing the parts for paint which mostly involves stufying the instruction booklet and a procedure that I call "optimizing the sprue". I'm sure that lots of modelers do this. For me, it helps to organize the parts such that painting them is efficient, reduces the potential for forgetting parts requiring the same finish on other sprues and having to reload the airbrush with the same color(s) repeatedly, and I wouldn't want to put them all back in the box so it commits me to the build. Reducing the sprues in this fashion also imbues a largely false sense of progress which is good for my morale. There was a great Chinese takeout restaurant where I used to live and since the plastic containers have tops they keep parts and subassemblies safe, dust-free, and tend to starve the carpet monster.

[RAGIII]

Excellent! You are way too organized for Me 
RAGIII

[Vickers]

Excellent! You are way too organized for Me 
RAGIII

That's funny since for every 1/32nd WWI model that I've built you've built a couple dozen. I do this sort of stuff because in the past I had a bad habit of getting way ahead of myself and then thinking "dammit! I should've done this or that before I did that other thing."

[NigelR]

Way too organised for me as well! I start well but then end up with bits and pieces spread all over the place with the carpet monster lurking......

Looking forward to seeing more.

[Vickers]

So, since FAf offered to create some paint masks for the machine that I wish to depict my spirits have been soaring and my modeling mojo appears to have returned. Just about finished with the interior- just needs the flight control cables, a wash, a bit of drybrush highlighting, and flat coat. Since the instrument bezels are flat I'll just hit them with a dab of gloss and then close her up.

Initial test fit seems very promising and I was relieved- thrilled even- to see that the Gaspatch Vickers MG fits in there perfectly both in diameter and length. I might just bring this one over the finish line before the DWMGB ends!

[PrzemoL]

A very neat interior.

[NigelR]

That is looking very nice so far, keep that mojo and crack on with the build!

[macsporran]

Lovely work. Your organizational skills too!
Sandy

[Vickers]

Thank you gentlemen, thank you! I've put the left fuselage half in place and just finished installing the flight control cables. There was some profanity involved, but I think I'll be glad to have done it.

[RAGIII]

Beautiful. Neat and clean interior. Rigging the control cables on this one was a challenge for me. Glad to hear you got it under control!
RAGIII

[Vickers]

Beautiful. Neat and clean interior. Rigging the control cables on this one was a challenge for me. Glad to hear you got it under control!
RAGIII

Thanks, Rick. I had a heck of a time getting light into that area under the back of the seat to pass the rigging through. Then you have to jimmy the other fuselage half into position, which in theory should go smoothly, but from the engine bearers to the seat back there's high potential for conflict. I managed to get it together and expect to post another update tomorrow.

[FAf]

Great work and important steps on the way forward!
The masks are on their way to you, as of this morning.
/Fredrik

[Vickers]

Great work and important steps on the way forward!
The masks are on their way to you, as of this morning.
/Fredrik

Thanks, Fredrik! I truly appreciate your assistance.

[Vickers]

This morning and a pot of coffee later, I installed the final details in the cockpit. Trigger cables for the Vickers and Lewis from the trigger box down either side of the stick and up under the instrument panel to their respective termini, the paired copper wires for the (throttle?) levers on the port sill running from underneath down to the deck thence forward to the firewall, and the two small turnbuckles that extend from near the base of the joystick to points under the seat. Then I fiddled around with the upper cockpit fairing and managed to push it in forward and then laid down the aft part without anything breaking or pinging off. It was a frightfully tight fit, though. If I ever get another opportunity to build this kit, I will shave down the inside of the aft edge of the upper cockpit piece where it meets the seat bulkhead before I paint it.

[NigelR]

Lovely work, the interior looks even better now, and great attention to detail with things like the trigger cables.