Well, it's done and it has scrubbed up nicely. I'm not happy with a a few botches like failing to notice I had not fully inserted the starboard wing before the glue had dried, and there are the usual 'hygiene' issues - but improved over previous builds.
I enjoyed this kit very much and made a few efforts to 'improve' it (mentioned in my previous posts); since then I rigged it with standard Eezyline and short attachment buckles (0.12 mm copper wire from 13-strand electric cable) for the main 'RAF wires' and straightened copper wire (0.12 mm again) for the control wires (elevators, rudder and ailerons); I added a small length of lead wire to the dynamo on the starboard u/c leg. The weathering is fairly restrained but I'm still a botcher with this and tend to rush it. The SH decals were OK but I only used the small stencils on the rudder and rear fuselage - the tire decals behaved very nicely although I did cut them into sections before applying them. National markings were painted.
Points to look for:
1. Chamfer the u/c legs where they meet the fuselage and replace lug with wire for strength.
2. Make sure the windscreen sits flush with fuselage just ahead of the raised leather coaming or it will interfere with the cabane struts - I missed this at first (although knew it should be done) but had stupidly attached the leather chin pad with superglue so it sits about 0.5 mm too low.
3. Set up wings with 4
o dihedral. I went with a quoted 2
o (early) but the wing-fuselage fit 'prefers' the higher (later) value. You could increase the size of the wing root fillet if there is a problem - it is quite noticeable in some period photos.
4. The small spinner fillets behind the prop blades are a poor fit and need attention.
5. The rib tapes are all too prominent on the kit and should really be sanded back quite a way - but at least it meant that shading/highlighting was not required(thanks to Tony Pritchard for this heads-up).
Cheers,
GrahamB
What next? Non-WNW again (well not-entirely) a Roden Alb DIII with WNW wings and Pheon Jasta 30 decals (Bethge - plate 11 in Schmaling & Bock).
Photos not too good:
