Roden's 1/32 S.E.5a (Wollseley Viper) - Grinnell-Milne's 'Schweinhund'

[Chris Johnson]

Lovely start Chris, just watch out when you get to the engine, there are serious fit issues when you try to get it in the fusilage, I think Roden supply their stand alone engine with the kit and it appears to be too long for the engine bay.

Thanks for the warning Pete. This could be my most challenging build to date.

Cheers,

Chris

[ALBATROS1234]

hats off to you taking up the challenge of scratching the pulleys, i took the easy way out by getting the encore usa kit which has resin pulley inserts.

[Galloway]

Chris

 Your S.E.5a is coming along very nicely, the pulleys and the masking/painting came out great!...... Just a minor ARRRRRGH!
We all know this feeling.... I have only had paint lifting issues when using acrylics.... ( I don't use them often ) When I use Tamiya for a base coat I thin it with Lacquer thinner ..... Also if you have any issues with enamel or lacquer based paint it is easily sanded and feathered. Acrylics not so!
 
 Can't wait to see more!

      Ken

[Pete Nottingham]

Sorry to hear about the paint issue Chris, I hope you can sort it out OK.

Cheers

Pete.

[LindsayT]

Sorry to hear about the troubles, Chris. That sounds annoying.

Do you have any pictures of how you got a nice sharp line when masking the top or bottom of the wing? I'm brush painting my dh4's wings and am having trouble getting a good sharp demarcation between the top and bottom. Even just a reference to another post would be helpful.

Thanks,

Lindsay

[Chris Johnson]

Do you have any pictures of how you got a nice sharp line when masking the top or bottom of the wing? I'm brush painting my dh4's wings and am having trouble getting a good sharp demarcation between the top and bottom. Even just a reference to another post would be helpful.

Sorry, but all I have is the image of the masked underside of one of the wings I posted below. I know fellows here do it a bit differently but I taped together a couple of strips of masking tape and stuck it to the wingtips. I traced the curved section of the wing tip and removed the tape and stuck it to my cutting matt. With a sharp hobby knife I sliced just inside the outline. With those curved shapes completed, I stuck them back in place inside the wingtips. Then I ran straight pieces of masking tape between the two wingtip masks to ensure that I had nice straight lines along the inside of the leading and trailing edges of the wing. Then I masked the rest of the interior of the wing, to end up with what's in the image below. I used an airbrush to lay down the topside colour but there's no reason why using a brush wouldn't work too, as long as you ensure that the tape is well sealed along the edges so the paint doesn't creep. I hope this helps a bit.

Cheers,

Chris

[LindsayT]

That's great, thanks for the help.

On with the build!

Lindsay

[tankbear]

Chris,

Well, I hope you get this one well and sorted soon.... I have a feeling that it is taking what little hair you have left. 

Actually, considering the issues you have had with it your build is going remarkably well. Now you just have to dig out a 1/48th scale one and give that a try....

Bob, aka tankbear* 

*Don't ask... 

[Chris Johnson]

Bob, aka tankbear* 

*Don't ask... 

Oh, but I absolutely have to!

Cheers,

Chris

[Chris Johnson]

The Uncontrolled Spin Continues

After repairing the lifted paint areas, I decided to seal the wing with Glosscote as I thought that perhaps the masking tape had adhered too much, thus causing the paint to pull up.

Then I laid out the ribs again with Tamiya tape. This time, taking the advice of Tankbear, I stuck the tape to my forehead first, to reduce its adhesive properties. The composite image below shows the tape in place on the top wing.



In the image below, the lower wing is masked and it's here where I made a major mistake. You'll note that I neglected to lay out the wing spars! Doh! 



Next step was to apply the pastels and I used an eye shadow applicator to accomplish that task. I found the pastel dust a bit difficult to move around, which surprised me, as I thought the Glosscote smooth surface would've promoted that effect. Evidently not. When I pulled up the tape this time, I had paint lifting occur again, for the second time. More repair work followed.

With the second bout of repair work completed, I sealed the pastels with Dullcote. It was at that point when Tankbear pointed out that I had missed the spars on the bottom wing. Doh! x2 

I used two part epoxy to fill in the pulley inspection ports after painting the pulley detail. Just as Bud said it would, it leveled out perfectly and dried crystal clear. I would recommend this technique unreservedly.



For some reason, I thought I needed a woodgrain effect on the undersurface of the bottom wing. Of course, had I checked my references more closely, I’d have discovered that it should be the same colour as the underside of the fuselage. Oh well, so much for accuracy. I masked off the area and applied the woodgrain and this time when I peeled back the masking tape, I had no paint peel off at all. Who knows why, when it peeled twice before on the same wing! 



I like the pastel shading technique but I definitely need to practise more to get better results. Even though the wings are a real mess, with numerous repairs, missing spars, and perhaps an inappropriate woodgrain appearance on the bottom wing, I'm officially done with them.

I'm beginning to understand why this stringbag is called 'Schweinhund'.     

Cheers,

Chris

[Des]

Even with all your trials and tribulations your perserverance has paid off, the wings turned out excellent, well done Chris for not throwing the towel in.

Des.

[Whiteknuckles]

Chris,

thanks for sharing your trials and tribulations with your build. Very informative and appreciated

Andrew

[RAGIII]

Chris,
very inspiring work. Sure beats what I did with this kit(Even before mine crashed)
RAGIII

[phs Paddy]

Thanks very much for sharing the detail of your techniques and even the anomalies.  You’re a patent gent and as Des said it paid off. Also great to hear that Bud’s recommendation was spot on about using epoxy for the inspection ports. I'll remember when he says ‘trust me’ its money in the bank.

There is no doubt in my mind that you’ll have another special build when this beauty is completed and worthy to be added to your growing squadron.

Paddy         

[Frank Berger]

Chris,
Problems or not a great build! I've had my share of ARRRGHHHH's along the way, but as the wise old modeler once said, if you can build it once, you can fix it many times!

Frank