Author Topic: Donnet-Lévêque Type A, Libramodels, 1:72  (Read 27868 times)

Offline lcarroll

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Re: Donnet-Lévêque Type A, Libramodels, 1:72
« Reply #15 on: September 21, 2017, 11:21:51 AM »
   Some more "real Modelling" going on here Ian. I love it, great work on the cockpit, you are taking this Kit far beyond it's potential and you have a real winner in progress here!
Cheers,
Lance

Offline lone modeller

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Re: Donnet-Lévêque Type A, Libramodels, 1:72
« Reply #16 on: September 23, 2017, 02:34:03 AM »
Beautifully done as usual Ian. You are turning a lump of plastic into a first class model....again!

Stephen.

Offline RAGIII

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Re: Donnet-Lévêque Type A, Libramodels, 1:72
« Reply #17 on: September 23, 2017, 06:05:06 AM »
Terrific work on the wing length issues and especially the fuselage shape corrections. I love watching how you solve these types of issues!
RAGIII
"A man has to know his limitations": Harry Callahan

"Don't slop it on" Lynda Geisler

Offline IanB

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Re: Donnet-Lévêque Type A, Libramodels, 1:72
« Reply #18 on: September 24, 2017, 10:38:19 AM »
Thanks Lance, Stephen, and Rick. Great to know you're enjoying this as much as I am!

I've made a little progress over the last few days, although most of that time has been spent at work. Unfortunately my camera has eaten the pics I took of the seats, but suffice to say that I have cut them out, sanded them to shape and drilled the lightening holes in the seat backs. Other than that, a coat of interior green has been sprayed and I'm almost ready to close up the fuselage.



Ian

Offline Des

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Re: Donnet-Lévêque Type A, Libramodels, 1:72
« Reply #19 on: September 24, 2017, 11:03:26 AM »
Coming together beautifully Ian, the cockpit areas look really good.

Des.
Late Founder of ww1aircraftmodels.com and forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com

Offline lone modeller

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Re: Donnet-Lévêque Type A, Libramodels, 1:72
« Reply #20 on: September 25, 2017, 02:37:15 AM »
First class details in the cockp[it department. This is an interesting and informative build.

Stephen.

Offline NinetythirdLiberator

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Re: Donnet-Lévêque Type A, Libramodels, 1:72
« Reply #21 on: September 25, 2017, 04:34:06 AM »
That looks just lovely, Ian.  Hard to believe all that strip fit in there and looks so nice once painted.

Top notch, old bean...

Dan

Offline IanB

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Re: Donnet-Lévêque Type A, Libramodels, 1:72
« Reply #22 on: September 27, 2017, 04:29:09 AM »
Thanks Des, Stephen, and Dan. I must admit the cockpit came out better than I'd dare hope!

 The rudder bar was added today from .010 x .030" strip, and I added a little more miliput inside the front end just in case the sanding to reshape it goes through the thin plastic.

 That was all that was needed, so the final job was to glue the halves together and tape it up to let it dry!



 Here are the seats awaiting paint. They were shaped from the ones supplied on the sheet....



Ian

Offline IanB

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Re: Donnet-Lévêque Type A, Libramodels, 1:72
« Reply #23 on: September 28, 2017, 01:35:32 AM »
Another quick update for this morning...

 After the fuselage had sat overnight, I added the step on the hull this morning. Needless to say, it doesn't fit very well.....



 Strips of .010" sheet were then added to both sharpen up the edges, and blend it in to the hull.

 I then got the miliput out again and added some to the top of the forward hull. It was roughly shaped with a wet knife blade and will be sanded to the final shape when dry. I also added some of the excess to the step to help blend that in.





 So that's how it sits now until the miliput has hardened properly

Ian

Offline IanB

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Re: Donnet-Lévêque Type A, Libramodels, 1:72
« Reply #24 on: September 30, 2017, 03:13:24 AM »
 The miliput worked nicely and has now been sanded to shape. Here's its new nose....



I'm happy with that, but I think it's still a little too narrow, so I may yet widen it a tad.

 That left the rear end to sort out. The top deck is too high, the sides should slope more to an apex. Here I've marked out where the changes are needed....





 The tape marks where the apex should be, up to the pencil line, where it starts to slope upwards to the cockpits.

 The first step was simple enough, out with the big file and file the top down....



 Those of a nervous disposition may wish to look away....the sides were attacked with a 6" half round second cut file, which made light work of them, but it wasn't pretty.....



 You can now see why I packed the fuselage with miliput! One small hole at the top front but otherwise ok. That was then refined with sanding sticks, and I have given them a skim of PPP to fill any irregularities. It's now sitting waiting for that to go off before I finalise the shape.



 Thanks for looking in!

Ian

Offline IanB

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Re: Donnet-Lévêque Type A, Libramodels, 1:72
« Reply #25 on: September 30, 2017, 05:23:37 AM »
...and hot on the heels of that last update, once the PPP had dried I sanded it down and refined the final shape. Here's the outcome....











 Word for today is "chuffed", I'm very pleased with that! I'm sure a coat of primer will reveal areas needing a little more work but the shape looks good to me, there's a nice sharp apex down the spine and the compound curves look good, so any touch-ups should be minor ones!

Time for a beer!

Ian

Offline NinetythirdLiberator

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Re: Donnet-Lévêque Type A, Libramodels, 1:72
« Reply #26 on: September 30, 2017, 05:31:42 AM »
You are brave, Ian!  Looks great.  It will be cool when done since you will know all that went into it.

Lovely and getting the popcorn for the next installment.

Dan

Offline RLWP

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Re: Donnet-Lévêque Type A, Libramodels, 1:72
« Reply #27 on: September 30, 2017, 06:05:55 AM »
Isn't that a beautiful little thing, just like a fish

Richard
Hendon for flying - the fastest way to the ground!

Offline Des

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Re: Donnet-Lévêque Type A, Libramodels, 1:72
« Reply #28 on: September 30, 2017, 07:13:11 AM »
Not many modelers would attack a vacform kit with a big file and end up with the results you have achieved, well done.

Des.
Late Founder of ww1aircraftmodels.com and forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com

Offline RAGIII

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Re: Donnet-Lévêque Type A, Libramodels, 1:72
« Reply #29 on: October 02, 2017, 03:02:41 AM »
wow, scary but very effective! What you are doing to correct the shapes is amazing!
RAGIII
"A man has to know his limitations": Harry Callahan

"Don't slop it on" Lynda Geisler