Fokker D.I & D.II double build. Merlin, 1:72

[IanB]

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I did anything on this. I spent 2 1/2 weeks in Kansas doing a King Air 300 type rating, so that accounted for a fair bit of the delay, and I just haven't had the mojo since.
 I have got back to doing some of the smaller items though. I've been working on cleaning up the props and exhaust, and done some work on the Roden engine that I'll be using in the D.I - since it was a spare from another kit I have had to scratch build the inlet manifolds and camshaft assembly using brass rod and Evergreen channel section.....



Hopefully I'll get back to some of the bigger stuff soon.....


Ian

[IanB]

I got a good hit on these two today, and they're now starting to look a little more acceptable.

 Firstly I filed out the slots in the right fuselage halves for the Spandaus to mount in, and added the ammo bins....



then I concentrated on the D.I , adding the engine and fuel tank. With the engine in place I had to remake the ammo bin as it was too thick, so there is now a much thinner lump of plastic in its place.



Finally, I made up an oil tank, added the supports for the seats in both aircraft, and started cleaning up and correcting the D.II cowling. It needed shortening a little and thinning a lot, and I opened up the front slightly. It is now much more acceptable.
 If I can get the seats and controls in tomorrow they'll be about ready to close up, then the real work can begin!

Thanks for looking in,

Ian

[ALBATROS1234]

ditto. where else can you get a model of a fokker d.1. like this

[lone modeller]

As usual your corrections and extra details are just first class (or better). The engine looks very good - the additional parts make a huge difference.

To work on three models at the same time requires a form of concentration that I simply lack - I can only ever manage one!

Stephen.

[RAGIII]

This is continuing to be an inspirational thread showing just what can be accomplished with patience and skill!
RAGIII

[IanB]

Thanks for all the comments folks.
I had another good day today. I added the seats and seatbelts, then made up a couple of control columns and added those. I few small adjustments to make sure everything fitted correctly and the fuselage halves were joined!











Now we"re rolling.....

Ian

[lone modeller]

Just lovely work. Keep it up Ian.

Stephen.

[IanB]

Thanks Stephen

I've got a bit more done and the amorphous blobs are starting to look like something recognisable at last.

 After joining the fuselage halves the first job was to fill the gaps and sand the fuselages to the correct final shapes. Thanks to all the work I did earlier they weren't too far off. There was a slight lip under the D.II which was taken care of with filler, and the fuselages were sanded square with constant checking against a metal square. I had sanded the D.I nose a little too round underneath so I have added some milliput there and when it's set I will sand it to the correct shape. I made the mistake of thinking the nose was rounded but in fact the sides are straight and the underside is flat - I just needed to round the corners!

 The turtledecks have been added behind the cockpits and blended in at the front with Mr Dissolved Putty. a little more tweaking is required but nothing major.

 I then added a strip of .010"x.10" to either side of the D.II nose. This gave me a nice straight edge to the top panel, and I filed the sides down with a small 1/2 round file to give me the "lip" so evident at the sides of the upper panel on these early Fokkers. The side panels were cut from .005" sheet and attached with Plastic-Weld. Once that is properly dry they will be sanded at the top edge to blend them in with the strips added earlier.





 Thanks for looking in.

Ian

[Borsos]

Wow, they are taking shape! Very fine, looks great!
Best regards
Borsos

[Stampesv4c]

When building large R/C models we found out that Windsock 3 views where not correct, used the reference material and used other 3 views to draw and construct the models from. I am glad its you doing this build, I think I would have put it in the "I'll get back to it later corner" and found something else to build.
Looks good and the amount of effort you have put in will make them a good model. Love seeing others work.

[lone modeller]

That is beautiful work Ian. The addition of the card and the reshaping of the fuselage sides has been worthwhile - the results are excellent and this fuselage is really shaping up. Looking forward to more of this thread.

Stephen.

[IanB]

Thanks Stephen, David and Borsos for the feedback.
 I got another good day in today. actually I started this lot last night while waiting for the Milliput to set....

I was debating whether or not to try to use the kit wings, but after trying to sand one down decided it would be quicker and easier to just make all the wings from sheet. I started cutting out the blanks last night and this morning finished those off....4 blanks from 1mm sheet... (I decided to make each pair of lower wings as one piece, then just remove the centre section)



I then sanded down the D.I fuselage and got it much closer to what I wanted. Using the same plan as on the D.II, only correcting the drawing for the correct position of the side panels, I cut those out of .005" sheet and added them. No attempt was made at trying to get the sheet to follow the curves, I simply added the side pieces, a touch of filler around the front, top, and bottom edges, and blended them in with the rest of the nose. It looks good so far, although of course the real teller will be when I get some primer on....





 My last task for today was to start on the upper wings, and figure out how I was going to create the raised centre section. From what I could see in pics, the wing was level with the centre section all the way to the front spar, where the wing started curving down - the centre section stayed straight, thereby giving the impression that it was raised. So after sanding the wings down to the correct thickness and rounding off the edges, I made 2 small cuts with a razor saw, one at each side of the centre section, then bent the leading edges of the wings down. The plan was to use my PE bending tool, but the wing kept popping out so I got high-tech and used pliers! That seemed to work really well, so both of those were completed the same way....









 The edges of the cuts were chamfered and the centre section was thinned slightly to emphasise its raised lip.

Next up, the lower wings....


Thanks for looking in!

Ian

[RAGIII]

You have done an amazing job of making those fuselages look brilliant! Your wings are absolutely beautiful!
RAGIII

[lone modeller]

 "The plan was to use my PE bending tool, but the wing kept popping out so I got high-tech and used pliers!"

Another example of how simple solutions are frequently as good as, if not better than, high tech ones. A man after my own heart. From what I can see Ian you have succeeded well in getting the wing shape that you wanted - and that is what really matters. I am all for Heath-Robinson solutions - I use them all the time!

Stephen.

[gbrivio]

Excellent work with your models.
Giuseppe