Lebed VII (Sopwith Tabloid), Special Hobby 1/48, Upd 23.1.18 100% scratch floats

[Bughunter]

Rotary engine Gnome Lambda


The Tabloid was equipped with different engines, this Russian machine with a 7-cylinder Gnome Lambda 80hp. This is available from Small Stuff, so let's start!

As usual clever and secure packed:



Some of the push rods was missing, but here I need only seven, still some additional ones.



Incomprehensible detailed and very clean produced parts. I never found a single bubble.



The cylinders are mounted and painted with Alclad II. I have used the following colors:

• Dark alu
• Steel on the cylinders
• Exhaust Manifold for the cylinder heads
• Hot Metal sepia on the cylinder
• Gold Titanium only a small amount on the case

Alclad has no real brass, but Pale Gold and Polished brass are available. But the later one is special and need a sealing. But now there is a Brass from Mr.Paint (MRP-150), which I tried here:
After the picture I added a bit of Pale Gold.



Valve handles painted with Dark alu and Steel.



Also the other small parts.



During the mounting, back view with spark plugs ...



... and the front view with the brass sockets:



After the cut of the valve handles with razor and a oil color washing the engine is done! Wiring will be done later.



I like the result, in real it looks more like metal compared to the pictures.



Here again on the package, see the upper left warning (due to the correct scale)!



Houston, I have a problem!



Lance gave me a crazy idea ...

An acquaintance I made years ago won the Michael Fitz Award for Best WWI Aircraft Model some time ago and he told me that he always tries to use the same materials on his models as was used on the real aircraft when he can, thus thin aluminum sheet from disposable kitchen plates and wood figure a lot into his Builds as an example.

Let's see ...

Cheers,
Frank

[Juan]

Wow Frank, your work is incredible and the engine sublime (crazy fit issue).  Looking forward to your next installment.

[lcarroll]

Frank,
     "Lance gave me a crazy idea ..."
    I'm looking forward to your next post to see what you are up to.........
    In the interim, can you share what you used for your "oil" on the Lamda? Beautifully done, great metal colours.
Cheers,
Lance

[RAGIII]

Stunning work on the engine Frank! Beautifully painted.
RAGIII

[UFAG]

love the semi-scratch build with the real wood, and the prop is a gem..!!

[Bughunter]

Thank you for your kind words, this makes it really fun, to write a build report here!
 

    In the interim, can you share what you used for your "oil" on the Lamda? Beautifully done, great metal colours.

It is simply "burnt umber" from a artist oil series thinned with lighter fuel.

Cheers,
Frank

[ondra]

Very impressive work, Frank, you definitely possess excellent modelling skills! I will be watching this build with great interest.

Cheers

Ondra

[Bughunter]

Thank you, Ondra!

Wings


Still something to show. The front will take more work, but I can show the painted wings.

Primed white and masked:



The lower surface shadowed with wood brown and masked:



The upper sutface darkened, the lower surface brightened up and the tapes removed:



For the color I decided to follow the manual and used a bright grey (Gunze H338), view from below:



... and from top:



That's all for today!

Cheers,
Frank

[RAGIII]

Nicely painted and shaded!
RAGIII

[pustota]

Very good, i love wood!

[Bughunter]

Thank you!

One question regarding the engine:

    In the interim, can you share what you used for your "oil" on the Lamda? Beautifully done, great metal colours.
Cheers,
Lance

In real it looks much better metallic , compared to the pictures. The camera sees mostly the washing on top and cannot look so "deep" as the human eye.
Has anyone tried to use optical filters for such situation? Is there something to improve this?

Cheers,
Frank

[Bughunter]

Wheels


For the wheels I have a own update, you will know soon, why ...


The kit solution by SpecialHobby for the spoke wheels:
Four half tyres, four PEs, and you need to create 3mm long bushes.



The hubs must be moved out 1,5mm and the half tyres needs to be added.



Here are my usual 3 problems are!
First problem: how to fill that with putty and sand it clean?



Second problem: the wheels looks much to big, like a bulky agricultural tractor wheel.



Third problem: During bending of the last PE I hear a loud "click"



At first I filled out a web form on the SpecialHobby web site, because I had no other idea.

The I found in my stash this set from Eduard:



Bending as recommended with a steel ball:



Much more filigrane wheel, I sanded also the half types, compared to the kit ones at the right.



But the half tyres are cool, because I had an idea. Glued on thin plastic:



Cut the inside out to get a wheel rim. This make also the glueing of the spokes easier.



This was more effort then expected, but look much better at the end.



After two weeks I got now a replacement PE sent by SpecialHobby. Thank you very much!

Some color is needed, then the wheel task is done.

Cheers,
Frank

Edit: removed duplicate picture

[lone modeller]

Those engines fromSmll Stuff are really excellent, but your painting has turned it into something that looks as though it is made from metal.

Your wheels are equally stunning. I have used Eduard wheels for 1/72 scale but I think that the spokes are too thick: on your model they look just right.

A most interesting thread with so much to learn from a master modeller.

Stephen.

[xmald]

Great update. The Eduard`s spokes look way better!

[RAGIII]

The Eduard spokes look terrific in my opinion. Excellent work!
RAGIII