After finishing the LVG recently I bimbled around the workroom wondering what to have a go at next. I'm sue it's not just me, but when a build is completed I'm always a bit 'flat' (which is part of the reason my workbench usually has half a dozen different projects on the go at once)
Anyway after a few days looking through various kit boxes and narrowing the field down to a more acceptable number I still couldn't decide which one to commit to and so went away to do other things. My current collection leans heavily into Nieuport variations and German types so really I wanted something British (or at least allied) reasonably large and ideally a bit 'different' to stand out on the display table. It was then I remembered some of the 'one day' projects - you know the ones that you promise yourself you'll have a go at some day
(We all have them; projects that are just ideas for 'really' nice models - multi aircraft diorama's, dramatic vignettes etc.) Well in my 'one day' projects were 3 suitable triplanes
So on Good Friday I decided I wasn't getting any younger and the only way to get one of these models is to break out the plastic and have a go
FK12 by
Paul S, on Flickr
Starting with the tail surfaces the first problem was encountered -
Having cut to shape and sanded to section I added the ribs using my usual 'scored' method and unfortunately the rather floppy piece of plastic took on an unfortunate bow
Now I'm sure others would press on and find an alternative solution, but my thought was I've used the scoring method for the last few years without issue on 'normal' kits so why not just make the tail the same way. Rummaging on the shelf I found a suitable wing from a box and tried again. The lower surface was sanded flat (ish) and all detail sanded off and then the section reduced in thickness before the elevators were separated. Although taking a good deal longer to make the result is something much more rigid that looks the part.
FK12 tail plane by
Paul S, on Flickr
Encouraged by these I slapped some plastic card together to form the main bits of the fuselage. The intention is to add the rounded top sections and nose from carved thicker sheet tacked in place for carving and then removed to allow any details to be added. One of the advantages of the layout is that both lower wings attach to the fuselage directly which should make setting up easier. To reinforce the attachment points I've added a couple of extra thcknesses of card which should allow the wings to be pinned in place with wire.
FK12 fuselage by
Paul S, on Flickr
That's all for the moment, but I'll cover a bit of history of this interesting beastie in a later post
Paul
