The D.VII prop was made with some layers of wood all together giving them that laminated look.
Thanks!
Thanks also, everyone, for the wholly undeserved compliments.
Here's where I am right now:
As you can see, there's some superglue-induced weathering from when I attached the landing gear...as near as I can tell, only two of the four contact points on the fuselage actually had holes, so I had to drill two more and then hang on for dear life, and...whoops. Maybe Der Dicke hit a clod of earth that spattered against his fuselage on landing. I also have to figure out some way of fixing the unsightly gap on the front cowling.
I tried to rig the tailplane, but all the holes I drilled were straight, rather than angled, and the resulting effect looks quite wrong. Also, my pin vice set is a cheap one, and the bits keep bending, thwarting my efforts at drilling neat little holes. I was going to try and rig the gear legs, too, but I have only one rule of modelling: if you find spittle cascading down your chin while you mutter threats to an inanimate piece of plastic, you need to not do whatever you're doing. Perhaps I'll rig gear in the future, but the D.VII's gear is too fragile (as is my psyche) for that right now.
As for the upper wing: I've cleverly made it impossible to rush into it by forgetting to paint and decal it at any time. However, a quick look at the inner struts (cabanes?) lead me to conclude that what appears to be the recommended method of assembly (inner to outer) wouldn't work for this kit, which seems to expect me to butt join tiny pieces of plastic slenderer than a snowball's chance in hell and then have them somehow support the upper wing. So I'm going to do this my way, AKA "the idiot's way", and do the outer ones, put the wing on, and THEN somehow sneak the cabanes (I'm going with that, hope it's the right term) into place.
A very gentle test fit concluded I will probably have to sand a little bit off the top of the gauge that projects up just aft the engine. At this point, each new hilarious fit problem I encounter with the kit barely elicits a reaction, perhaps a jaded shrug, or a bitter laugh.
Most discouraging so far has been my troubles with rigging. I had hoped it would prove fairly easy, but the material I'm using (monofilament thread run through a cut in a permanent marker to turn it black) has proved stiff and uncooperative, and my weak pin vice seems to be exacerbating the situation. I'm dreading working on some of the more complex biplanes.
