LVG C.VI Wingnut

[aliluke]

Hi
I've started on the LVG. This is pilfered from the Duelist set and my brother-in-law got the Camel plus the box. But I got the decals from the original WNW model as I want to make Eleynor/Mia. This was built by the French Memorial Flight Association but now is owned by TVAL (aka Sir Peter Jackson). It is brilliantly photographed here on this forum by Jamo and I hope he's OK with letting me re-post one of his photos. The photo record for this plane is brilliant - my pilot seat does not comply with it!

As I like to do, I start my model with that seat. Sort of feels like the right place to start?! The LVG pilot sat on top of the fuel tank which seems to add unneeded extra danger to an already very seriously dangerous pursuit...

A long hot summer beckons so this one will be a slow burn.





Merry Christmas,
Alistair

[rhwinter]

Merry Christmas, Alistair! The seat and fuel tank look great! How did you achieve this weathering?
Looking forward to your LVG,
Richard

[lone modeller]

If the remainder of the model looks as good as this seat and tank then we are in for a real treat.

Stephen.

[Juan]

Fantastic start, looking forward to you working your magic on the rest of this beauty.

[RAGIII]

If the remainder of the model looks as good as this seat and tank then we are in for a real treat.

Stephen.

Agreed! The seat is simply beautiful!
RAGIII

[aliluke]

Thanks all.
Richard the weathering on the tank is a mistake - the clear finish I applied had an orange peel effect - something to do with my airbrush - which became visible when I did a black wash over it.

I have a question - does any one know how the camera was mounted in the rear cockpit of the LVG? I can't find anything about this online.

Cheers
Alistair

[jeroen_R90S]

Nice subject - a few years ago I went to the airshow where the Mémorial Flight is based (Cerny-La Ferté Alais aerodrome near Paris) and saw it up close when it was still there. I still use a close up shot I took of the lower lozenge on the top wing as my desktop background for my laptop!
The weather was great then; saw their D.VIIF and Hispano-powered Bristol F2b fly that day, though the LVG, SPAD XIII and Sopwith 1/1/2 Strutter stayed on the ground.

With that bit of nonsense said, I can't really help with your question, though I remember Bertl (Umlaufmotor) was working on this model and posted a very detailed build log. There might be something in there?

Seat looks great though, as does the accidental fuel tank weathering!

[aliluke]

Hi
Small update before I head off to summer holidays well away from modelling madness.

More mistakes and accidental outcomes. I completely missed seeing the slightly raised circles on the bulkhead behind the seat - never mind I think they'll be invisible when everything is enclosed. I added the pulleys and foot hoops - both a bit over scale? The wood grain is not really obvious but that is the way I like it - when you look at the 1:1 plane you can hardly detect grain. But the weirdest thing is a light over spray with matte finish came out cloudy - makes every part look dusty. The air brush was super clean - no idea how this happened...I'll polish the leather on the seat to get some sheen back into it but leave the rest for whatever and I kind of like it. Trouble is not knowing how it happened so I won't be able to repeat it  .

Jeroen - Bertl posts have been lost to the Photobucket debacle which is a real shame as that was just an amazing model and one I followed and commented on. I have found Wojek's from much earlier - 2010 I think, but that is way out my league.





Cheers,
Alistair

[bobs_buckles]

Alistair,
That leather seat looks more like leather than the real thing! Well done!

Keep those updates coming.

Cheers,
Bob 

[davec]

Great weathering and rigging.  Enjoy your holidays.  Looking forward to seeing your progress after you get back.

Dave

[RAGIII]

Great weathering and rigging.  Enjoy your holidays.  Looking forward to seeing your progress after you get back.

Dave

I agree with Dave!Looking great!
RAGIII

[Juan]

Very nice progress, we northern hemisphere folks miss the warmth.  Enjoy your holiday.

[mgunns]

I think the pulleys look great and add some interest, overscale maybe, but in there, I doubt even noticeable.  I have built two of these and can't answer your camera question either, but; in my opinion, the location of the camera in a back area, wouldn't be seen anyway.  I like the seat the way it is and the fuel tank turned out nicely, again, hardly noticed once buttoned up.  A word of caution, the lower wing will droop unless you rig it with dihedral.  When you get to that stage use a strong rigging line on the inner bay to lift that wing into a slight dihedral.  I will be following along as you go.  Have fun.

[Des]

You are doing a fantastic job with this build, looking forward to seeing more.

Des.

[aliluke]

Thanks all,
Busy packing for the holidays!

Thanks for the tip on the lower wing - that's a ways off but I will recall it here.

The kit I have is from the duellists set with the Camel and has many differences to the original kit which must have been one of WNW earliest. I downloaded the original instructions and many parts, instructions and decals are completely different. I'm guessing when TVAL got the "Eleynor/Mia" they re-looked at things - TVAL and WNW share the same building. Seems they also put in spruces from other kits too as it has one (G3) that is identical to the DFW mid-production kit and that was not in the original kit. Very clever really, aren't they! But it does mean I'll end up with a lot of unused parts...can't complain about that.

Cheers,
Alistair