Well....its finally finished.
I always wanted to complete this model. apart from an innate desire to see it finished the main reason was in honor of Des and as my way to say thank you and 'tip my hat' to him so to speak.
It was very poignant for me to return to this thread for a final post and noticing that the last entry was from Des
. Somehow its made it feel right.
So my hat off to you Des and thanks for your encouragement and enthusiasm.... I'm sure you are looking down on all of us mate.
This model presented some challenges.......
- my first WW1 model with the associated complexities of making eyelets, rigging, wood staining for the propellor etc. I found the alignment of the struts and wings a nightmare the rigging less so.
- I also changed the shade of red mid build and subsequently lost my preshadng detail, this was only exceeded by losing the sprue with the photo etched parts so dont go looking for the gunsight ring and a couple of other details.
- its also my first time scratchbuilding some items such as control horns, fuel cap, lewis trigger cable,pulley cables (not really visible) and pitot tube.
- During its period of storage , one of the bottom wings had become detached so required a certain amount of repair.
- hand painting the A and kangaroo on the side which I researched and completed and then found additional references which showed them to be slightly mishapen .... !
- my first attempt at a diorama base and bench and some scratched built 'tools'
- and finally I was keen to try some weathering with the model being a tribuite and depicting a tired 'end of its life' instructional airframe used by Les Holden MC AFC on the home front after his tours of service.
I had hoped to finish it by ANZAC Day here in Australia as a tribute to Les and the diggers but just missed it by a couple of weeks. That sentiment is unchanged though.
Anyway whats important is it completed, far far far from perfect or even a high standard but I sure learnt a lot. This could belong in any number of threads ..... the original thread or the Shelf of Doom, or the lockdown threads but could I request it be moved to the Des Delatorre Memorial thread please ?
Anyway , whats next ?
I have already started the Merit 1/24 Fokker DR1 Triplane for a bit more practise then on to the build I promised to also complete for Des...my Hasewaga 1/8 Museum series Fokker DR1....oh dear
