Friedrichshafen FF49B (Top Gun, 1/72)

[coyotemagic]

Given the lack of references, Prez, that is an extraordinarily brilliant cockpit, especially in 1/72 scale.  Up to your usual standards, mate.
Cheers,
Bud

[RAGIII]

Lovely work on the cockpit! Your usual Terrific work!

RAGIII

[PrzemoL]

Thanks, gents. I am glad you like my FF49.
So here is more. I have built my traditional cardboard jig to attach the lower wings keeping the geometry from the scale drawings. I have also attached all the tail pieces except for the rudder.




The joints will still require some sanding, they are now filled with CA glue.




I have also started working on float attachment struts. First I prepared the scale projections on a sheet of paper using measurements from the scale drawings.
The inverted V ones between the floats and the wings were built from resin parts from the kit. The M-ones between the floats and the fuselage have too short legs.



I decided to scratch build them in pieces - the central V's are now being built from Contrail profiles and the remaining single legs will come soon, separately.

[Ernie]

Great job, Prze.  Your attention to detail is first-rate. Nice work on the
struts!

Cheers,
Ernie

[Des]

Fantastic work on the interior Przemo, it sure looks very feasible to me, it is a real pity that most of your excellent detail work disappears once the fuselage is closed up. Working in 1:72 scale is a challenge at the best of times but your ingenuity to overcome the lack of reference material is outstanding.

Des.

[PrzemoL]

Thanks, Ernie and Des.

I have started paintwork - the underside is done:



The float struts got pins of wire:

[coyotemagic]

Beautiful finish on the underside, Prez.  The shading is superb.
Cheers,
Bud

[IFF1418]

Your woodwork is as always awesome Przemol. A pleasure to look at.

Kind regards

Patrick

[xmald]

Your CDL is on the dark side  or are the photos so dark? I really admire your approach to this subject Przemo. I think it` s going to be an another beautiful model in your collection!

[PrzemoL]

Thank you, gentlemen.
Filip, this must be a photo. The CDL is my usual approach - Pactra A122 Mid Stone with some Pactra A17 Wood Tan shading.

[RAGIII]

Prez,
This continues to be a most impressive build! Your CDL and Shading are perfect! The work on the struts is fantastic!!
RAGIII

[Zabu]

It's looking very nice Prez. The shading it's perfect. Great job in those struts too.

Cheers

[PrzemoL]

Thank you gents, for your kind words.

Well, this project is going to be even more lengthy, than I thought some time ago. I have already built the float struts to the floats but then, when trying to dry fit them to the wings I came to the conclusion, that everything was so badly aligned, that there was no way to have the floats in proper geometry. After a brief analysis I decided, that the floats themselves were completely unfit, with wrong geometry and what was worse - unequal! I decided, there was no way to save the upper side surface detail, I scraped the upper surfaces flat, so I did with the lower surface, then with the help of caliper achieved that they got identical, rectangular in the cross section and giving hope to have them aligned correctly. The holes for the struts came out to be wrongly placed, too. I have scribed five parallel lines on the upper sides, added the caps made from some spare PE elements and now I am filling those wrongly placed strut holes with CA glue as a putty. And I just wonder what surprises await me with the upper wing...
Here are the guilty ones:




In the meantime, to cure the frustration of wasted time, I have painted, decalled and shaded the fuselage. The upper side of the lower wings will get the shading only when the floats rigging is done and the holes in the wings (4 per wing) are filled.




Being a navy aircraft, the FF49 is marked with a navy flag instead of usual checkerboard on the fuselage.

[RAGIII]

I love the scheme and markings! Really well done as always!
RAGIII

[Des]

Very nice work on the floats Przemol, and the scheme you are using looks excellent.

Des.