Gotha GVa - Roden 1:72

[uncletony]

Very cool Sasho!

[Alexis]

Nice job on those details 






Terri

[WarrenD]

Keep at it!  I've got one or two Gothas in the stash, so I too am going to be following this closely.

Warren

[lcarroll]

    This Kit is apparently a bit of a problem solving exercise, Sasho, but your efforts are paying off! Nice work on the wing assembly shortfalls and the interior work is looking very good. keep at it!
Cheers,
Lance

[Nanks]

Ill be following this closely as I have Roden's G.IV, I was going to build it before attempting Airfix's HP 0/400 but now im thinking the Airfix kit might be simpler. Anyway you're doing a fantastic job, keep it up!

[stefanbuss]

I am happy, as the problems I encountered when trying to build the GIV now seem not to be self-enduced, but kit-specific. I couldn't get those large wings aligned properly, and in the end I scrapped the complete kit.

I wish you good luck.

Stefan

[Ssasho0]

THank you guys for the comments, they are definately helping me keep my decision to finish this one
Last week I was busy with many putty and sanding sesions followed by layers of Mr. SUrfacer and then again putty/sanding, but now I think it looks they weasy it supposed to be looking . While I'm waiting for Aviattic night Lozenge, I decided to do some preshading. It is a bit dark, but I just don't know how trasnparent the decals are going to be, so my plan is to spray with a bit of gray if the preshading is too strong.
EDIT: Richard, send those decals already, I can't wait to get them!
After the decals I will have to put some surface details and prepare everything for the rigging. I'm already "brainstorming", identifying potential issues and preparing preventive and corrective action plans, but ofcourse its not possible to think of everything. To be honest the part which really scares me is putting the top wing on - this will be the step that willd efine if this build is going to be succesfull or trashed!
As usually any comments, questions, recomendations or constructive criticism are most welcomeQ
Here are the pistures:








Bets regards,
Sasho

[Ssasho0]

a little update, the Aviattic decals are here and I already started laying them Its not easy and I just can imagine how bad is it to put the Roden original ones on such a big surface!
Before the decals, I mixed Tamiya XF-18 medium blue with gloss white XF-2 and gloss clear in 1:1:1 ratio and lightened the whole aircraft - it was too dark. The preshading is still visible but way, way more subtle. It also created a glossy surface for the decals, but I nevertheless polished it with some Tamiya polishing compound - to get rid of the dust.
The wings were glued, and the brass pins, that were installed, really did what they were supposed to be doing. The dihedral was set a bit higher angle as when the top wing is glued it will sag a bit. I don't know if it is enough or not, only time will tell! Some putty and sanding were required of course and after this the decalling commenced. I’m just starting to lay the decals, so not much to be shown here, but I plan to decal the wings and fuselage, then to run the control wires along the fuselage and put all the eyelets on the wings, after the decals. Then I will mount the rigging wires on the upper wing and just then glue the engine nacelles and the upper wing.
Not sure if this will work, but if any problem arise I will be dealing with it on the go.
While checking the pictures I came to the conclusion that there was no lozenge under the engines and it was a medium blue plate. This can be seen on the archive photo bellow.

Here are few bad and dark pictures…I should finally set up a photo boot or at least get some additional light for taking pictures!

Any comments, questions, recommendations and constructive criticism are more than welcome!

Best regards,
Sasho

gluing the wings and settign the dihedral







the decalling commenced



here I think it is visible that there is no lozenge under the engine

[Ssasho0]

an update day for me
I was nit happy with the way the lozenge decals were laid, so I removed them, repainted the whole aircraft, nearly pristine white, the preshading was really barely visible, then put the decals again This is terrible, so use white under Aviattic decals, otherwise you may need to re do them like me!
Now the colours are way more visible and vivid, glossed it and then started to put the ribtapes. The upper wing is ready and I am working on the lower wings at the moment. I also repainted one of the engine nascelles and will repeat it with the second one in the next days.
The Roden supplied decals foor the markings are terrible, they desintegrate and broke into pieces, so after Aviattic it was a real shock and back to reality Managed to put them on the port side, not perfectly but as good as possible. I don;t wanted to attempt anything with them in fear of breaking into smaller pieces that I can glue back together!
Here are few pics, feel free to comment, ask questions, give recomendations or express constructive criticism

Best regards,
Sasho

[radio]

Very beautiful work with the decals.
The engine is great Sasho.
Martin

[Alexis]

Nice !

When working Roden decals I will bring out the airbrush and spray on a few coats of Microscale decal film and it takes care of them breaking up in the water and such .

You can use a gloss coat of lacquer , but don't spray all the decal at once . Only spray the ones you plan to use with in a modeling session . Once the decal have been spray , let them sit for 30 minutes . You want the lacquer to be pliable Once it has full set it hardens up to much and you're right back to square one again , just with more decal fragments .


Man , that's going to be a lot of rib tapes !





Terri

[RAGIII]

Excellent work on the Lozenge application! I am sure you will recover from your issues with the Roden Decals!
RAGIII

[PrzemoL]

Spectacular modelling! I like it very much.

[Pfalz_Phan]

Love this build.  I have the G. V I am looking to tackle for a group build. On the camo, since the fabric was put onto the plywood body of the aircraft and also the flight surfaces, do you think it would appear different in shade/tone? I can see painting the wings white but I wonder if the body should be painted a light tan color due to the effect of the wood being underneath.

simon   

[WarrenD]

Yes Sasho, I hope you haven't given up on this build yet.

Warren