Thanks Gentlemen - glad you like the model.
Guy - you asked about the background I've used. It's a printed model train backdrop from FALLER, and is about 3' X 1.5' drymounted on a piece of foam board. The colours get a bit washed out since I use four floodlamps to illuminate the subject.
Boggie asked - what I'll be doing next? Well - I've got a couple more WnW on the go; a Pfalz D.XII and a D.IIIa. I'm still waiting for some help from Bertl as to how he got that wonderful weathered black finish on his D.IIIa
Ernie asked about the turned aluminum squiggles. That was the one thing that held this project up for months - trying to figure out how to do that without having the types of paints recommended in the WnW helpful tips on their website. I experimented with various metal finishes, finally settling on a base of Alclad Dark Aluminum, and using a new 000 brush to paint squiggles of Testor Model Master Chrome Silver on the surface. The interior of the aluminum cowlings were done with other combinations as I worked out the process since they are barely visible. I also sprayed a few light lines of Tamiya Smoke here and there to weather the surface.
Tug - I had also not wanted to do that greyish green scheme originally, but trusted the WnW reference team since I was wanting to do MvR's mount. As a compromise, halfway through this project I bought another WnW Eindecker II/III just so I could build a cream-coloured one. To be honest for this project I mixed a lighter shade of the XF-22 they suggest by adding some XF-60 Dark Yellow.
Lance, you are always too kind! The turnbuckles are the photo-etched ones from RB Productions. I tried to use a translucent metal enamel on them just to tone down the bright brass look. The base is an old trophy plaque that I just added some Celuclay (with acrylic paint for colour), and randomly stuck static grass of various colours here and there. I've made similar bases for my armour projects for years, and was able to throw that together quickly. It's big enough to work for most of the WnW projects I've built so far.
And RAGIII - Thanks! I pre-shaded the fuselage ribs and the cross-wires above the rear fuel tank, then added very thin masking tape to all these spots. After spraying on the base colour, I removed the tape, then added more base colour to blend and fade the harsh lines. I also airbrushed a very dark brown to show where oil had soaked into the fabric, and later added little cumulative dots of diluted oil paint around these same areas to simulate the stains seen in a lot of the period photos. The wings were done in the same fashion.
Cheers!
Gary
