WNW FE2b Late

[Ian from Doncaster]

Thanks for the links and the comments

A little more tonight.  Painted the copper pipes, switches and decalled the lower panel in the pilot's cockpit, and assembled the panel to the observer's locker, front floor and then to the radiator.  I almost forgot to paint the inside of the central box in the locker, which is seen on this version as there are two separate lids.  I couldn't do the woodgrain in such a small space, so I just gave it a wash with the base colour.  Also the inside of the locker when viewed from the rear is seen in front of the rudder bar so I painted that and gave it a bit of grain.  Can't be sure if this is visible when the nascelle is buttoned up, but I didn't take a risk. Had to re-rig the lines to the rudder bar, starboard side, so not as well done as I wanted but ok-ish.  Forgot to add toe straps to the rudder bar, but they would have to be scratched anyway - at this stage I could still add them if I am careful.

Slow going, but worth taking time over.

[Pete Nottingham]

Lovely job Ian, the pit is starting to come together now.

Cheers

Pete.

[Ian from Doncaster]

Thanks Pete   I just noticed a mark of copper paint on the seat back, easy to remove.  The curve shaped "scratch" just visible in one of the pics on the observer cockpit floor is I think a cat hair, not stuck in the paint fortunately.

Dry fitted the side frame to check the fit.  It looks ok, and will be very snug.  However, it will be necessary to scrape the paint away from joining surfaces to ensure a proper fit.  If I left it as shown below, the albeit small gap may result in the nascelle halves not fitting snugly.  This is not uncommon with WNW models, but is a lesson I learned with my RFC Pup! 

[Pete Nottingham]

This is what I've found as well Ian, WnW kits are so precise that even a coat of paint will spoil the fit, on the Albies you have to dry run every bulkhead to ensure the fit is ok or else the fusilage halves won't fit together snugly.

Cheers

Pete.

[keith_christie]

Really nice progress Ian,

Best Regards

Keith

[GAJouette]

    Ian,
It just gets better with each new update my old friend. Keep up the fantastic progress.
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette

[pepperman42]

This is going very well and excellent close up photos!!!

Steve

[Des]

Beautiful work to date Ian, the cockpit is looking excellent and the Humbrol 29 on the wings is perfect.

I use the same punch set as Bud.

Des.

[Whiteknuckles]

Looking good Ian, thanks for the detailed photos, they provide a lot of inspiration.

Andrew

[modelmaker]

I love the wood tones, very nice effort !

Sean

[Ian from Doncaster]

Thanks for all the comments folks and the encouragement - I know my work isn't a patch on the experts here, but I'm here to learn and share.

Not too much to report tonight - been doing stuff to prepare for a house move in a few weeks.

Prepped and painted a couple of extra cockpit parts but nothing for any pics yet.  Didn't have time to assemble the first side frame so I did a bit of work on the wheels.  They have already had the multi-layered black tones sprayed on, but I masked the hubs to spray on the whitewall tyre rims then painted the rest of the tyre mid grey.  Not sure why an aircraft painted in dull tones would have whitewall tyres but that is what the colourscheme calls for, so be it...  The visible spokes are highlighted with a silver sharpie, and I may try and paint the axle locking pin, but that will be with the cat's whisker paint brush!.

[modelmaker]

how did you get such a neat demarcation line on the tyre between the white and the grey? I made several attempts at it I even cut out an appropriate sized masking disk  but that didn't work either.

Sean

[Ian from Doncaster]

Hi Sean - i used a circle of tamiya tape to mask the wheels to paint the whole tyre white, then I carefully painted the grey very thinly around the outer edge of the tyre - there is a slight ridge near the circumference on each side, so with thin paint and as steady a hand as I could muster, I did it free hand.  There are a couple of tiny dry brushed white touch ups though

[modelmaker]

Your a better man than I Ian! I tried that process twice and I couldn't get it to look anywhere near as good as yours.
I'll have to have another go at some point as you say the instructions call for it needs to be there.

Sean

[GAJouette]

  Ian,
Love the Whitewalls my old friend. Excellent masking too nice and sharp. Perfect.
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette