Copper State models 1/48 Etrich A.II Taube

[Nigel Jackson]

Hello All

Well, after a nasty case of food poisoning which saw me lose two kilos in five days, a refreshing family holiday near Carcassonne and the virtual completion of a pesky little Airfix Gladiator, it's time to move on. Anxious to see WNW produce a Taube, I thought I'd hurry them along by taking up the greatest challenge of my modelling life and start work on the Copper State models 1/48 Etrich A.II Taube. In the end I may not have the skills to pull it off but, unless I try, I'll never know.
 

First we have an overall shot of the box contents; I have put the separate and limited construction notes, and the more useful front and side elevations, and plan view drawn by M.Digmayer, in plastic sleeves to protect them. Eagle eyes will notice the lack of white metal parts, even though they are mentioned on the parts list. My understanding is that my kit is a slightly later boxing, which replaced these with resin parts.


IMG_0764 by nigeljjackson, on Flickr


One of the factors to bear in mind on this Taube is, I think, an incredible dearth of photographic material available, notwithstanding the best efforts of forum friends, to whom I am very grateful. This is going to leave me heavily dependent on the Digmayer drawings.


The next two photographs show an immediate problem. In an important sense the resin wings capture the light, seed-wing form in a beautiful way. But you will notice the very serious warpage along the front leading edges.

IMG_0781 by nigeljjackson, on Flickr


IMG_0782 by nigeljjackson, on Flickr


Questions

A forum friend has already advised me that such resin warping can be corrected by careful immersion in warm/hot water. But I am very nervous about the best way to do this without damaging the lovely delicate rear edges. Would it be best to remove completely the surplus resin block before attempting to straighten things? What sort of temperature should the water be? Will I need to apply pressure by hand or will the resin 'remember' its original form?


With his customary care and support, VonB has suggested that his 0.5 brass tubing might not be best suited for my rigging sleeve needs and that 0.3mm polymide tubing would be a better bet.  Can anybody on the forum suggest a supplier of such tubing?

Time for a stiff drink!

Best wishes
Nigel

[RAGIII]

Nigel,
Like you I have heard of the hot water treatment. I am afraid I have never actually used the method so I can't advise you on the pour block. I am looking forward to what you do with this one!
RAGIII

[First tee]

In the U.S. you can buy polyimide tubing from Amazon.  Runs $12 - $15 for a 30 inch piece.  It is small almost to the point of being invisible but it's shipped in a ridiculously large tube.

[uncletony]

In the U.S. you can buy polyimide tubing from Amazon.  Runs $12 - $15 for a 30 inch piece.  It is small almost to the point of being invisible but it's shipped in a ridiculously large tube.

Indeed, although sometimes it also arrives in an even more ridiculous sized carton!

Here:

http://www.amazon.com/Miniature-Polyimide-Tubing-0-0126-Translucent/dp/B003TLNL5I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1435760766&sr=8-1&keywords=Polyimide+tubing

[Des]

Good luck with your build Nigel, I'm looking forward to seeing you make a start. As you know I scratch built a Taube so I am very keen to see how this kit builds up. As far as the wing warp goes, I know the hot water treatment works well on plastic but I have never tried it on resin.

Des.

[Thumbs up]

I have heard that resin responds to the hot water treatment from reading reviews on internet modeller,Some reviewers stated that after time the warp came back,but this seemed to be in only a few cases.The taubes rigging should keep it true,ut then again it is a wing warper!

[coyotemagic]

I've built an number of resin kits, at least half of which had some form of warping.  In every case, I first removed the casting block, immersed the part in very hot water (near boiling), removed the part with tongs and immediately placed it on a cool, hard surface and I've never had the warping return.  Go for it with gusto, Nigel!
Cheers,
Bud

[Ernie]

Glad to see you choose the Taube, Nigel. It will be a very interesting build
to follow and I am really looking forward to it, my friend.
Sorry I don't have any experience with the hot water treatment, but I would
have no problem following Bud's advice.

Cheers,
Ernie

[Nigel Jackson]

Hello All

Thank you so much  for the advice and support; it is much appreciated and just demonstrates what a wonderful forum this is. Goodness knows how I'll manage with polyamide tubing so small!

I'm just waiting now on an email responding to some questions I also posed of Copper State Models. Naturally enough I'll post photos of any progress/disasters.

Best wishes
Nigel

[Ssasho0]

This is going to be very interesting build, that I will follow on closely
By the way, what kind of polyamid tubing are you going to use? I tried to get some of the stuff Bertl is using, but with the transport it will cost me 80$ for 1,5meters which is too much :-( Otherwise, I found it in US for about 35$, but with the shipment 80 and at least 2 months for delivery. Not mu cup of tea

[IFF1418]

Hello Nigel,

All the best of luck with this interesting and fascinating build my friend. I just know it will be at your usual standards and a very neat build too!

Kind regards
Patrick

[Thumbs up]

This is going to be very interesting build, that I will follow on closely
By the way, what kind of polyamid tubing are you going to use? I tried to get some of the stuff Bertl is using, but with the transport it will cost me 80$ for 1,5meters which is too much :-( Otherwise, I found it in US for about 35$, but with the shipment 80 and at least 2 months for delivery. Not mu cup of tea

My God! It's a thing that you could pop in an envelope along with a lengthy letter and stick a stamp on.What is it with these rip off merchants???

[Nigel Jackson]

Thanks, as ever, Patrick for the kind words and support.

In terms of the polyamide tubing, SsashoO, I'll almost certainly follow the Amazon link that Bo provided and order from there.

Best wishes
Nigel

[Pgtaylorart]

Thanks, as ever, Patrick for the kind words and support.

In terms of the polyamide tubing, SsashoO, I'll almost certainly follow the Amazon link that Bo provided and order from there.

Best wishes
Nigel

That's where I got my tubing. The stuff is so much easier to work with than the brass tubing and looks the same in the end. Definitely worth the money.

George

[Michael Scarborough]

This is rapidly becoming one of my favorite aircraft and I really look forward to following your build, Nigel.

Coincidentally, I just had my first try at the Polyimide tubing and, after some interesting launches into orbit, found it to be a straight forward process. Bo's Amazon link is where I got mine and he is not kidding about the tube it is shipped in. It's like a circular bridge girder.

Cheers from NYC,
Michael

I've never had the warping return.  Cheers,
Bud

Yes, but we weren't discussing your psyche, Bud.