Sopwith Tabloid (Classic Planes) and Baby (Eduard), another 1:72 double build

[IanB]

I've not made a lot of progress on these lately, mainly due to my own bad preparation on the painting. That resulted in me having to strip and respray the aluminium a few times before I finally got it sorted out.
 My new airbrush is great, and has made life so much easier. Airbrushing is now actually enjoyable! Finally, after many attempts at fixing the problems, and trying to limit the damage, I just did it properly and didn't worry about trying not to damage adjacent areas.

So here's where I am now....







 As far as the Tabloid wings go, I decided to sand off all the rib details and add it again. Unfortunately I used .010" x .020" strip instead of cutting strips of .005" as I did with the tail surfaces and that just didn't work so I have to redo all the ribs.....a job for tomorrow!

Thanks for looking in!

Ian

[Gisbod]

Great skills Ian,

And super subjects! I think Vacform is beyond me! But must be very satisfying...

Guy

[IanB]

Thanks Guy, I'm sure it isn't - this is my first and it really isn't that different from anything else apart from having to add tabs to the fuselage halves to provide something to add the glue to......

After all the trials and tribulations with the aluminium I finally got the wing undersides painted. The Tabloid needed to show a shadow of the framework, and the Baby appears to need lighter rib tapes, despite the fact that it's CDL - maybe it was painted with something a little different than the CDL used on RFC aircraft due to the conditions it served in (any ideas?) I tried a number of different methods: the framework on the Tabloid was drawn on with a brown pencil and sprayed over. The light tapes on the Baby I have previously done with white decal strips sprayed over, but that is very tedious. I tried a white paint pen, but it was too thick, so I tried a white graphite pencil. That didn't show up over the CDL. In the end I resprayed the undersurfaces white and masked them with Jammy Dog mm masking tape. A coat or 2 of CDL, then the tape was removed and another thin coat applied to tone down the white. It's still tedious but much better as I can at least adjust the masking tape to get it straight much easier than I can with the decal strips, and I know they're all going to be exactly the same width. Shame about that pen though, if anyone knows of an ultra fine tip white paint pen please let me know! Ditto in brown....

 Here's what the  wings look like now, first the Baby:





and the Tabloid:





 and yes, the masking tape removed a chunk of the aluminium paint under the Baby, so that needs to be repainted yet again!

 Next up is a strut making session!

Thanks for looking in!

Ian

[TobyCoulson]

Great work Ian. I do like the wood effect you've achieved.

[Alexis]

Both are really shaping up nicely so far Ian 



Terri

[Juan]

Great work Ian, love what you are doing.  Looking forward to your progress.

[lone modeller]

Both models look really great. I think that the rib detail is especially fine - even if somewhat tedious to achieve. Still worthwhile though.

Stephen.

[RAGIII]

Great effects on both sets of wings !Worth the effort!
RAGIII

[IanB]

Thanks everyone, your comments are most appreciated!

 Despite the lack of posts this week I have been busy. Unfortunately when I came to dry fit the upper wing I realised my measuring had been off somewhere.... the rear cabanes were about 1mm too far forward: not much, but it meant that when viewed from the side they weren't in line with the interplane struts. I also found that the holes I'd drilled in the upper wings were 1mm too far apart: again not much and on any other aircraft it probably wouldn't notice, but since the Tabloid cabanes struts were vertical it most definitely showed!
 So that is what I've spent much of this week correcting......filling and redrilling the holes, and refinishing the surface.....

 Today I finally fitted the upper wing and attached the cabane rigging. It will sit overnight now, and tomorrow I will see about fitting the lower wings. The observant may think, hang on, weren't those already fitted? The answer would be yes, twice in fact, but they're so fragile they fell off again both times during handling. Hence fitting the upper wing first (the cabanes are wire pinned) then I'll attach the lower wings to both the fuselage and the interplane struts at the same time to give them more strength.






Thanks for looking in!

Ian

[lone modeller]

That reads like a scratch build with holes being in the wrong places and wings and other bits dropping off! Still the model looks really good at the moment and hopefully you will be third time lucky with the lower wings. Really looking forward to seeing the Tabloid completed as I have one of these on my to build list too.

Stephen.

[IanB]

Thanks Stephen,

 Here she is with the lower wings on - permanently! Most of the rigging is in place and just needs tightening, only the landing wires to add:





Ian

[ALBATROS1234]

looks great . i like to watch your builds

[RAGIII]

Looks great as a biplane an your rigging is looking excellent!
RAGIII

[Monty]

That looks very nice indeed! I do like your rigging method and your treatment of the rib tapes is just beautiful.... Lovely! Marc

[IanB]

Thanks Alby, Rick and Marc for the feedback! It certainly looks a little better as a biplane I must admit!

....and here she is all trimmed up..





 This has not been one of my best builds: another mistake discovered today when I noticed the lower left wing was warped! Somehow it appears I trimmed one strut shorter than the others. I'm not quite sure how as they started off the same - they were all cut on the Chopper, so they HAD to be the same!! Anyway, I eased the joint apart at the top of the left rear strut and the wing straightened out. I have filled the very small gap with CA glue to secure it and will complete the repair and paint touch up tomorrow when it's all set.

Ian