Multi-Seat 2026 GB - Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter 1/72

[DaddyO]

Thank you chaps 

Yesterday's task was priming everything which is a bit dull, but revealed a couple of small areas that needed some more work (As it usually does) Sorted them out so next up is getting the last couple of details on the fuselage and then we're onto sticking some bits together

No problem Tim - I'll take a photo of the profiles and post it later.
One small thing I did notice looking closely at the photograph of the PC10 version in back of the Datafile is the fin covering appears quite patchy and isn't a solid colour which is something I'll incorporate if I choose the later option

[DaddyO]

Here you go Tim and everyone else 

Stutter profiles , on Flickr

[NigelR]

Early early early!! 

[DaddyO]

Early early early!! 

LOL Nigel  Okay you've convinced me (I think) Just need to have a think about making the white circle markings . . .

[PrzemoL]

And my vote goes to the late version. Probably because I have built one from Toko kit some time ago.

[Dirigible-Al]

I would go for the early version. I have seen a few of the late ones done and I even have one myself but I am yet to see one finished in the early scheme.
Alan.

[Tim Mixon]

Thanks Paul. I definitely vote for the early version as I?ve never seen it before. 

[Alexis]

Early version for sure .....


Alexis

[DaddyO]

Cheers Prze, Alan, Tim and Alexis  early version it is.

Love your late version Prze which sets the bar pretty high 

As mentioned I've never seen the early version done so hopefully will make a nice change and the bit of CDL should break it up a bit. Not sure if the tailplane top surface should be CDL or PC10 and whether it has the red/white markings on it so will need to do a bit more digging . . .

Paul

[PrzemoL]

Cheers Prze, Alan, Tim and Alexis  early version it is.

Love your late version Prze which sets the bar pretty high 

As mentioned I've never seen the early version done so hopefully will make a nice change and the bit of CDL should break it up a bit. Not sure if the tailplane top surface should be CDL or PC10 and whether it has the red/white markings on it so will need to do a bit more digging . . .

Paul

OK, Paul, you have my support for the early version, too. And I am sure yours will be fantastic,.

[Flamingo]

Hi Paul,
sad to hear about Austin Stack, we met several times at Southern Expo and Nationals last century. The conversations with him and his outstanding models were always a highlight of the events. Still have a number of paper prints of his models.

Interesting description of your strut method. But filing a 2mm wire down to 0.5mm and holding it with two fingers would not be accepted by my laziness. My idea would be to hold one end in a pin vice and put the other end against one or better two nails or wooden stops secured to a working board.

My preference is Strutz, still have a good supply. Another way is to use copper wire and hammer it flat, if done carefully only a minimum of filing is necessary. Found this method in a 1957 book about solid wood modeling by W. O. Doylend. The strut is much harder than the wire.

Every alternative to PC 10 all over is welcome!

Regards Joachim

[ColonelKrypton]

Interesting description of your strut method. But filing a 2mm wire down to 0.5mm and holding it with two fingers would not be accepted by my laziness. My idea would be to hold one end in a pin vice and put the other end against one or better two nails or wooden stops secured to a working board.

Another way is to use copper wire and hammer it flat, if done carefully only a minimum of filing is necessary. Found this method in a 1957 book about solid wood modeling by W. O. Doylend. The strut is much harder than the wire.

Regards Joachim

My thinkin as well Joachim. In fact that is what basically what I am playing around with at the moment.  I have a bench pin attached to my workbench, much like a jeweller uses.  I have filed a shallow triangular groove into the pin and hold my piece of brass in a pin vise but I am liking the idea of using a couple of pins for stops.

As to the copper wire, of course after hammering flat the copper will be work hardened and approaching the hardness of brass. 

Of course lightly hammering your filed brass, on both sides with a nylon faced hammer, will work harden that too.

cheers, Graham

[DaddyO]

Hi Joachim. 
Yes Austin was indeed a superb modeller. In fact it was only when he turned up at a show with a collection of 1/700 vessels that I realised he also built ships 
All the ones I was able to study were from the 1880 - 1920 period and as you might expect the level of detail was staggering. The rigging on them was done using different thicknesses of stretched sprue. In typical Austin style he didn't just heat a piece and stretch it between he hands in time honoured fashion, but found that by melting the end and tacking it to the kitchen table he could walk across the room stretching much thinner lengths than usual. These were graded according to thickness and then used appropriately on the ships.

Thanks for the detailed information and pictures showing another way of making metal struts. I'll admit I did try experimenting with hammering brass wire and tube early on, but without much success. Looking at your set up I can see a couple of reasons my attempts weren't very encouraging; I used a standard tack hammer with a rounded face and didn't use a flat block to work on. Looks like I need to do some more experimenting when I get the chance.

Morning Graham. 
Good to hear that you're also playing about with a similar method. I'd also forgotten about the work hardening effects of hammering which makes copper a viable alternative especially in smaller scales

[DaddyO]

No real progress this week so far, but I did have a little attempt at adding some detail to the primed fuselages yesterday evening

I wanted to break up the rather plain expanse aft of the gunners cockpit so endeavoured to add a very subtle 'former' effect. Thin tape placed in the positions of the formers acted as a guide for masking off the spaces in between. The guide tapes were then removed and a coat of primer from a Tamiya rattle can added. Once the masking was removed I used a worn piece of wet and dry to sand any sharp edges and sanded most away leaving a very faint raised former line. I might have overdone the rubbing down since it's now barely visible, but we'll see later when I add some paint over the top. 
I think the technique works though so is worth perusing . . .

Stutter ribs , on Flickr

On the other side a similar thing was done with added 'stitching' from some old Archer rivet decals 

Strutter stitching[/url [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/202177392@N05/], on Flickr

[NigelR]

I loke the stitching, very effective. I'm experimenting with watercolour pencils to create subtle rib effects under linen and it seems to work quite well. You could always use something like that to enhance the structure......