Still plodding along- nearly finished

[Dal Gavan]

Pete, thanks.  It's getting there.

Lance, sorry about that long-winded post.  I shouldn't post when I'm reviewing documentation at work- it brings out old habits.  Looking at an Albie is not a bad idea- here's a blown up photo' of the tail of the D.Va at the Australian War Memorial that took a few years ago.  From this shot you can see Jim's correct about them splicing the eye in (though that may be from a restoration , but they're usually pretty good).  How to replicate that on the kit?

Jim, well spotted.  I was over-thinking their solution.

Cheers.

Dal.

[lcarroll]

Dal, (et al)
   The Albatros elevator control wire in the preceeding is exactly where I'm trying to get to................. neat loop, backwrapped on itself (crude but apparently effective) and coincidentally exactly (as I recall) as seen on the TVAL Repros.
    So, whose got the info on the technique in the photo? Sharing is like Sainthood don't you know!
Cheers,
Lance

[uncletony]

@Lance, there's several pages on standard aircraft cable eyelet splicing techniques in WWI Aero #110 (July 1986), with results that look exactly like the picture above to me. Basically the cable is looped over a stamped "thimble" (the metal part that gives the eyelet it's shape) and woven back into itself using one of several specific patterns depending on the number of strands, and then wrapped with a thinner "harness wire".

Here's a small sample -- I don't wish to infringe on their copyrights, back issues are still avail in PDf...


Edit: It occurs to me that you might have meant who has info on how to replicate this in scale -- in that case, you got me :-)

[lcarroll]

Tony,
    That's what I really meant to ask, how can this be replicated in scale? I assumed the photo was a model view, or is it a shot of a real aircraft? Sorry to drag us down this "bunny trail" Dal, don't mean to hijack or detour your excellent thread.
Cheers,
Lance

[uncletony]

Lance, Dal's photo is indeed of a real a/c--  it's the AWM D.Va, i guess post most-recent restoration. (~2009?)

[lcarroll]

Lance, Dal's photo is indeed of a real a/c--  it's the AWM D.Va, i guess post most-recent restoration. (~2009?)

No wonder it looked so real?! I have a very simple plan for the same flight control cables on my DV (using some of the stuff I didn't install and/or removed a few days back. Hope to have an update out soon.
Cheers,
Lance

[Dal Gavan]

Tony, that's brilliant, many thanks.  Now to work out a way to replicate it, or give the impression of doing so. 

Lance, I might put some of these shots up on the aircraft folder.  I'm not much of a photographer, but someone may find them useful.  And no need to apologise for the thread wandering- let it go where it will. 

Dal.

[Dal Gavan]

G'day,  today I decided to experiment with dot filters.  This poor kit's seen more experiments on it than any Igor.   So I broke out the oils and read as much as I could on the net, in particular Chuck W's excellent build on an Me 410 at http://s362974870.onlinehome.us/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=180322&st=500 (about 1/2 way down the page).  I wanted to try it on both gloss and matt surfaces, so when I put One Go onto the fuselage, I deliberately left the wings. 

I'm trying to give the impression of the staining caused by mud and dirt being thrown up by the wheels and skid.  Even though photo's show this aircraft looking freshly painted, there's a few dings seen in closeups.  No matter how they scrubbed, I think they'd have trouble getting all the stains out of the painted and doped cloth that covered the wings and fuselage.

So grabbing Raw and Burnt Umber, Raw and Burnt Sienna, Naples Yellow, Mixing White and Payne's Grey, I proceeded to give my kit a case of the measles.  I had to concentrate on NOT making the dots even in spacing or amount of paint.

An hour of brushing and re-applying gave me an effect close to what I wanted.  It's very easier to wipe off too much paint on the gloss surface, but conversely it's harder to remove enough on the matt surface.  I deliberately left the outer wings clear for the mo', as I still have to mask and spray the missing cross.

Dal.
   

[GAJouette]

  Dal,
Excellent results with your experiment my old friend.
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette

[lcarroll]

Dal,
   Very impressive technique and one I'll be trying. Thanks for the link, veeeery interesting!
Cheers,
Lance

[Dal Gavan]

G'day, Gents.

Things have been very busy lately- I've barely had time to browse the builds on this board for inspiration.  But thanks to a visit to the dentist yesterday I had an afternoon off (so a broken tooth and root-canal has some good points) and got some more work done.  Things haven't gone quite the way I planned- I've been a bit heavy handed with the dot filter, so the old Pfalz' top wing looks a little weather-beaten compared to existing photo's.  The flash reduces the look a bit, but you'll see what I mean:



Then I tried the pastels technique that Lance, Bud and others have done so well.  It was difficult, but I managed to restrain myself and the weathering here is much more subtle.  Again my old Olympus C750 has washed the colours out, but you can get a bit of a hint:



I masked the lower wing, to paint on the missing cross, a week or so ago.  Tonight I painted it on, using well-thinned Vallejo Black.  I'm happy with the way this turned out, though the paint is greyer than the decals.  So I over-painted the decal on the lower starboard wing to make them more of a match.  I'll touch up a couple of things and then finish weathering the bottom wings (yes, it would have been smarter to do the cross then weather......). 





Then it's an overall spray matt varnish on the crosses, add the older style crosses over the top to simulate the older, more gloss paint that shows in the photo's, and lastly a light, all-over coat of semi-gloss to blend it all together (the matt on the crosses shouldn't be too effected) before weathering the radiator and engine panels.

Finally it will be on to the rigging   I'm still trying to find a way to represent the splicing on the eyes that Tony showed us.  No luck yet, but I'll keep at it when I have the time.

Cheers.

Dal.

[Whiteknuckles]

Great progress Dal, looking good.

Andrew

[Dal Gavan]

G'day, All.

Work and life have been interfering with my modeling, but I've been plugging away at this after work.  Apart from some detail painting (weathering the tyres and undercarriage cords, and modifying the crosses to show the over-painting that occurred), all that's left is the rigging.  It's turned out more weathered than I wanted, but I've learned a lot from this build.  I like the dot filter technique, I just have to learn some restraint with it.  It even works on Mr Metal Color metallics  You need to let the paint sit on some printer paper for a couple of minutes to soak up excess oil and use a dry brush to spread the oil paint- any thinner lifts the metallic straight off.  What I like is that the oil paint tints the metal, but allows the metallic sheen to show through.  I had less luck using the pastels, but I think they'd probably work better on a less glossy surface than I had.  Again it's something else to experiment with. 

Rigging has begun, after I found Keith's description of how he simulates the way the eyes are done (and the photo's of his brilliant Rumpler).  I removed the rigging I'd done and tried again using  the twist technique Keith described.  After a few false starts I have the last five cables drying, then I'll use a little PVA glue to simulate the cloth wrapping.  Then it's fit the struts and top wing before finishing the rigging. 

Here's two shots of progress to date.  The poor old model looks like it's undergoing some drastic emergency surgery with tweezers and pin vices hanging off it.  You can see what I mean by the weathering, too. 

Cheers.

Dal.

[kornbeef]

Looking good,

I'm glad you tried my newish way of doing the cables.  It can be a bit hit and miss but easy to recycle the eyelets if they mess up.  I Just hope I didnt cause you too much extra work Dai.

Keith

[uncletony]

Looks great Dal!