Revell 1/48 Fokker Dr 1 (Eduard) Speedbuild...

[Monty]

It's great to get so much encouragement when the pressure is on! Thank you Stephen, Gregory, Rick and Terri! So I dived in and got the middle wing on just as the instructions suggest - I think this is the best way to go. At the same time I got the tailplane on and lined up... It all fits really well... compliments to Eduard... A smear of putty at the front edge of the tailplane helps, but don't completely eradicate the joint, it's there on the real plane...



I also added the strip of lacing underneath the fuselage....





You can see how the putty needed some attention with surface primer too!

Regards,
Marc

[Alexis]

Your get closer to the finish line ....




Terri

[Monty]

Thanks for checking in again Terri! Well, the next wing to go on was the lower wing, and with some clever engineering and moulding works much like the original... just make absolutely sure it fits right in the large slot as intended! And also that it's absolutely parallel to the middle wing and simply ignore the struts etc at this stage...



Then when the glue is dry turn it over and insert the interplane struts through the middle wing into the lower wing... to my suprise they just slid in with scarcely any help... just a tiny sandind here and there... I checked the alignment was all OK and added the top wing, ignoring the centre-section struts at this stage...



And that's how quick it was, a real treat! I've started cleaning up the interplane struts and the axle wing too... I can't waste time!

Regards,
Marc

[RAGIII]

You are really moving along on this one! Looks Great!
RAGIII

[Monty]

Hi Rick! Thank You for the good vibes! And yes, progress has been made... I tackled the centre section struts between the fuselage and the upper wing: Only the small pips on the connecting bar along the top needed the mould line removed and a bit of judicious thinning, and to my surprise everything fitted, Just like that! Nice moulding... I started on the undercarriage struts, I decided to take a leap of faith and clean them up and atatch them in the right place (following the instructions) more or less at the right angles (following the Windsock plans) and wait for them to set hard before progressing further...



So this is where e are, not much visual progress but I'm happy...
Regards,
Marc

[RAGIII]

Looking great. Make sure your gear legs are seated ALL of the way down in the axle wing. If not they can be a tad long. The only flaw of this kit.

RAGIII

[xmald]

You are doing something I wanted for quite some time!
Your build makes me to do it even more

[Monty]

Hi Rick! Yes, you are quite right - I realized early on that the mould line down the struts needed removing, and this applied to the tips as well! After doing this, the struts still needed a bit of persuasion to seat properly - I judged the length from the Windsock plans using "Eyeball Mk 1!" Now the position of the undercarriage struts mounting to the fuselage needs some modification: Firstly, ignore the instructions!They would have you drill 4 holes - not a good idea! The rear struts have a kink in them and fit in the slot between the leading edge of the lower wing and the fuselage - just look 2 photos up to see this slot- and there is a groove in the fuselage side that holds the strut exactly! Nice one, Eduard. Then the front struts don't quite seem to match up to the forward corners of the fuselage... well, they shouldn't. The mounting place for them is about 0,5mm rearwards from the firewall and 0,5mm in from the edge of the fuselage... Interestingly, the PE from Eduard has the mounting hole exact... I know you now have a "butt" joint with no locating hole, but just glue it and all will be well!

Hi Xmald, sometimes it's just good to build a kit and not stress about the finer details... Thanks for checking in!

Well, here is the undercarriage glued in, the engine and wheels are just dry fitted for the "pose" shot!



Regards,

Marc

[Alexis]

And a nice pose she is !





Terri

[Monty]

Thanks for the encouragement, Terri! I realise that not everyone would assemble to this stage before painting, but my intended colour scheme is quite simple and as long as I can get the finish between the wings OK, it should save a lot of time!
Eek! Suddenly everything went dark!



I think it is imperative with this brightly coloured translucent plastic to "kill" the colour and stop the red  light reflection coming through, and so I use a darker undercoat and make sure it's fairly dense - but I tried to keep it as thin as possible in order not to obscure detail - here I used Tamiya Acrylic XF-24 Dark grey thinned 40% with their thinners and 4 dashes(!!) of X-22 the gloss clear to get it smooth... seems to work! I just need to let it dry and on to the white!
Regards,
Marc

[lone modeller]

Now I know what a quick build means!!! This looks very like the old Airfix Dr 1 of 1950's vintage but in a larger scale and infinitely better! This is going to look super when finished - regardless of speed of construction.

Stephen.

[Borsos]

I deeply regret joining in so late, as it is a wonderful build to watch. This speed building idea is really clever for having a relaxing break between two mre challenging builds. And your tripe looks very nice!
Borsos

[coyotemagic]

Very nice work, Monty!  Like Filip, you've got me itchin' to do the same.  In the midst of my very challenging Grigorovich build, I find myself longing for the simpler things in life.
Cheers,
Bud

[Monty]

Hi Bud, Filip and Stephen! Thank You for checking in! Yes, it does take the stress off to just build out-of-the-box, and it's really fun to see constant progress taking place on the bench! Eduard have created a honey of a kit here, equally good with a whole lot of PE and extras (we have seen some great ones on the site) or just built from the plastic parts... Well, the next step was the white (remember it's a red and white group build, and the white will serve as a great undercoat for the red) so I mixed some Tamiya acrylic  X-1 gloss white with some XF-1 flat white, added a tad of X-22 clear and 40% thinners and sprayed it - mostly thicker in the areas that should be white and a thin coat in the areas that are due to be red. I'm not sure it looks OK - the white is a bit grey and patchy - I will have to think about this one...



Regards,

Marc

[Juan]

Hi Marc, the rear looks white enough, the wings may be throwing you off, but if red, then that color will fix it.  Looks like a little gem from were I am sitting.