Author Topic: 1/72 Classic Plane D.F.W. C.V  (Read 4297 times)

Offline Danh4

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 108
1/72 Classic Plane D.F.W. C.V
« on: September 27, 2017, 06:38:44 AM »
I started on this one right after I finished the Classic Plane L.V.G. that I built last month.  The cockpits were built from sheet plastic, wire, etc.



The pilot sat literally on the fuel tank...



Here it is all painted up with seat belts made from paper.



Fuselage is together and the lower wings and tail feathers have been added.  Landing gear was cut from sheet plastic with a brass wire axle added. Cabane struts were made from brass rod, soldered together at the tops for strength.  I bought this kit "used" and the previous owner had sprayed the sheet with brown paint before cutting out the parts. 



A coat of primer really helped with the look of things...



Green and lilac give it some gaudy color...



All that was left was to assemble everything and rig it (I used .005" Nitinol wire). 











The propeller that is on it is made from laminated paper, glued together in a block with CA and then carved to shape.  I saw it done in 1/32 scale on one of the forums and thought I'd see if it could be done in 1/72.  It is actually quite easy and I'm looking for thinner paper in the correct colors so I can get more laminations on the next one. 





Hope you like it, thanks for looking!

-Dan


Offline RLWP

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1494
  • Bodger
Re: 1/72 Classic Plane D.F.W. C.V
« Reply #1 on: September 27, 2017, 07:13:05 AM »
Lovely work

Where can I find information on using .005" Nitinol wire fro rigging?

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

Offline Des

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 9325
    • ww1aircraftmodels.com
Re: 1/72 Classic Plane D.F.W. C.V
« Reply #2 on: September 27, 2017, 07:21:06 AM »
Very nicely done Dan, you did a great job with the propeller, I am also interested in the .005" Nitinol wire.

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

Offline Danh4

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 108
Re: 1/72 Classic Plane D.F.W. C.V
« Reply #3 on: September 27, 2017, 11:54:46 PM »
I'd be happy to answer any questions you guys have about using Nitinol wire for rigging.  I don't know of any real online sources of info for using it anyway.  For those that don't know, Nitinol wire is flexible but fairly stiff and springy.  It will always return to straight unless permanently formed with heat.  It is easily cut with an X-acto blade on a hard surface like glass or a ceramic tile.  It's natural color is dark, almost black.

There are pros and cons to using it for rigging.  Pros are that no holes need to be drilled in the model, the rigging can be done after all the painting and finishing, there are no worries about wires getting bent, wires are adhered with white glue so clean up of mistakes is easy.

Cons are that the rigging really adds no structural strength so any flexing of the model will result in problems, many wires will need to be cut to exact lengths and that can be frustrating at first but that gets better with experience, probably only viable on small to medium size 1/72 subjects.

There are probably more pros and cons that I'm not thinking of but for the most part it works well.  I started out drilling holes and using invisible thread to rig biplanes but once I started playing around with Nitinol wire I never went back and have done dozens of models that way over the last few years. 

My procedure is to add the hard-to-reach wires first, usually the ones around the cabane struts.  Then I'll add any fore-and-aft "X" bracing between interplane struts, then the landing and flying wires. It is impossible to get a pair of dividers in many places to get a measurement for the wires so I cut a piece that is on the long side and hold it in position with tweezers to get an idea of how much to trim off.  When I'm happy with the length I'll use a fine paint brush to put a tiny dot of white glue where each end of the wire will attach, grab the wire with the tweezers and put it carefully into position.  Sometimes I'll dip each end of the wire into the glue puddle to "tin" the ends.  I'll usually add 2-4 wires at a time, then let things sit for a half hour or so before doing a few more. Actual working time to do an entire 2-bay biplane is probably under an hour, it goes pretty fast once you get the hang of cutting the wires to the right length, that gets to be a Zen-like thing after a while!

-Dan

Offline IanB

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2433
Re: 1/72 Classic Plane D.F.W. C.V
« Reply #4 on: September 28, 2017, 01:21:01 AM »
Very nicely done Dan! I like the idea of the wire for certain parts, such as undercarriage and the rear framework on pushers...

Ian

Offline RLWP

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1494
  • Bodger
Re: 1/72 Classic Plane D.F.W. C.V
« Reply #5 on: September 28, 2017, 02:45:29 AM »
Thank you Dan. that's a good description

It sounds similar to what I am doing with fine gauge piano wire. I wondered if you were using the 'memory metal' properties of the wire

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

Offline NinetythirdLiberator

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1583
Re: 1/72 Classic Plane D.F.W. C.V
« Reply #6 on: September 30, 2017, 05:32:52 AM »
Looks incredible (again).  I forgot how cool the interior was.

Immaculate work, Dan

WCDan

Offline Juan

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2455
  • All gave some, some gave all.
Re: 1/72 Classic Plane D.F.W. C.V
« Reply #7 on: September 30, 2017, 08:53:33 AM »
Incredible job Dan, she looks fantastic.

Offline RAGIII

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 18789
Re: 1/72 Classic Plane D.F.W. C.V
« Reply #8 on: October 02, 2017, 03:04:12 AM »
Gorgeous results Dan, and FAST! Outstanding Modeling all around!
RAGIII
"A man has to know his limitations": Harry Callahan

"Don't slop it on" Lynda Geisler

Offline lone modeller

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5296
Re: 1/72 Classic Plane D.F.W. C.V
« Reply #9 on: October 06, 2017, 03:05:51 AM »
That really is an example of master modelling. The propellor looks very good indeed: I am really going to have to try the laminated paper technique - but not on the current build as there is time pressure (GB on another site).

Stephen.