"Captured!" WNW Albatros DV in RFC Livery

[Trackpad]

Hello, Everyone,

Just a quick update to say that I've got various panels toned and will be starting the wood grain decal phase over the next few days. Pretty busy here as my wife and I are decorating our church for Easter and we have lots to do. Photos below showing where we stand. (Got a better "blue" forward fuselage in these shots:  )





I'm in uncharted waters now so I'm collecting information on as many methods of finishing the rear fuselage as I can find: the various woodgrain decal sheets; very thin paint filters; Tamiya Clear Yellow and Orange (and various mixes of both); combinations of clear and regular paints...and so on and so forth. You've just got to love this hobby.    

More later!   

[RAGIII]

I really like the varied base coat panel colors. Should look great with the grain decals.
RAGIII

[GazzaS]

That's an interesting way of doing the fuselage.  Thank you for sharing.  I will borrow some of that when I do my next Albatros.

Gaz

[pepperman42]

Looking forward to the decal results!!

Steve

[Trackpad]

Here's a bit of an update as I explore a few methods of applying the wood grain decals.

So far I've found that the best method for me is to get the panel outline onto a piece of masking tape as described in the Uschi folder (I'm using Kamoi tape), then lay this over the decal sheet. Cut out the panel with a sharp craft knife, then remove the masking tape from the decal. Soak the decal until it slides off the backing paper. Brush a coat of Pledge/Future onto the panel area, then apply the decal and slide it into place. Use the brush to remove any excess Pledge from under the decal. Trim any decal overage with the craft knife and ensure that the decal covers the complete panel. Finally, brush a thin coat of Pledge over the newly-decaled panel and allow to dry.

Here's a photo of the first three panels in place along the fuselage bottom. I'll try to apply at least one panel per day over the next week or two.



Thanks for visiting. Have a great week! 

[uncletony]

nice, but the grain is going the wrong way! 

[Trackpad]

nice, but the grain is going the wrong way! 

Lucky I'm not too far along. Pretty easy to fix. Can you point me in the direction of a good reference on which way the various panels are oriented?  TIA!

[uncletony]

nice, but the grain is going the wrong way! 

Lucky I'm not too far along. Pretty easy to fix. Can you point me in the direction of a good reference on which way the various panels are oriented?  TIA!

sorry to bring that rain down, but somebody would've pointed it out eventually

As for the grain direction -- it's easy -- all panels have the grain is parallel to the thrust line. The reason for this is easy to understand; the panels were 3 ply with the outer panels having the grain in the same direction. So, the easiest bending direction is with the grain (of these outer panels), not against it.

Check the photos here of the TVAL repro, it is authentic in this respect:

https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=170.0

If you have access to the NASM book, there are lots of good pictures there of the original skin and repairs / replacements being fabricated.

[uncletony]

by the way, when I did mine, I also did it at the rate of one or maybe two panels a day at most. Slow and steady wins the day!

[Trackpad]

"sorry to bring that rain down, but somebody would've pointed it out eventually"

Crypes, Bo, don't feel sorry. I'm glad to receive a few sprinkles of rain now and then as I motor through this project. What I fear is the combination of monsoon and tsunami that hits when I'm 80% complete and someone sends a post starting with "Oh, by the way..." and I'm virtually sent back to the start point.

Thanks for the "parallel to thrust line" information and the lead to Jamo's photos: much appreciated! 

[Trackpad]

Gentlemen, I'd like your opinion on my next step: to revisit the painting of the rear fuselage panels on my Albatros. I've been scanning through several Albi builds on the Forum recently. I get the feeling that what I've applied may end up being too dark once the  decals, filters and post shading are possibly applied.

I've "corrected" the directionally-challenged lower surface woodgrain decals by simply over-painting them. I've used a 1:1 mix of Gunze H-313 Yellow FS33531 and Gunze H-316 Off-White FS 17875. Here is the mix applied over the original decals:



I've also sprayed a small sample of the mix on a test card, applied the Uschi WGSF-48 Super Fine "Rich" decal and then brushed some Tamiya Clear Yellow (left) and Clear Orange (right) over it. Here is the result:



I've got any number of options here:

a. use the tested decal with an Orange overcoat, a Yellow overcoat, or no overcoat;
b. use the Uschi WGSF-48 "Pale" version of the decal, again with the three above options for over-coating;
c. amend the Gunze mix as it might be considered unsuitable for valid reasons;
d. consider any suggestions provided by those Forumites who are much more knowledgeable on the Albatros than I am.

I don't want to belabour the point, but I'd very much like to be "in the ballpark" before firmly committing to a valid "way ahead" for the rear fuselage finish. I've made one glitch already, and would really like not to make any more. TIA for any opinions, suggestions or comments. They will be most useful! 

[Trackpad]

I'd suggest you always go a bit lighter than dark; it's easy to darken up a colour with clear filters later, but much harder to go the other way without using solid colours that will mask the decals. I use a 70/30 mix of white and wooden deck tan (i.e. off-white) as a basis far all my wood.

Thanks. How does your base colour compare with the mixed light tan I've used on the underside? 

[Trackpad]

Pretty close. 

Perfect!    

[RAGIII]

It looks as though your new method will achieve beautiful results!
RAGIII

[Trackpad]

It looks as though your new method will achieve beautiful results!
RAGIII

Thanks. I'll be doing a few more tests, then perhaps settle on a method. Depends on what other visitors might suggest in the meantime. So far the "go lighter" and "light tan" suggestions have the inside track, with perhaps a thin filter of clear yellow or a mix of the yellow and orange. As someone once said to me, "Make haste...slowly!"