FarEast

More rigging and I was really starting to get eye fatigue - don't you just hate it when you just want to complete that last little bit before calling it a day but no matter what you just can't get it right and have to do it over, but you know you should leave it but can't and continue to mess it up! Well that was me rigging last night - Rule # 890099 when its late and it won't go right WALK AWAY! So anyway what was I doing? Well control lines of course! After painting up the elevator control levers and attaching Gaspatch turnbuckles I threaded the two lines through the pulleys on the wing struts, these had been drilled out ready for this moment and they slipped through perfectly! I left plenty of length however to enable me to attach them to the elevators. Next up was the rudder lines - these were a little harder as the pulley line is on the outside and therefore they need to be glues in place on the pulley before attaching to the 3 way splitter that then connects it to the rudder and tail skid. The PE part that came with the kit is rather two dimensional. I started with drilling 5x 0.5mm holes in a piece of scrape PE sprue that came with the kit and then cut to size and sanded. I then cut 5 lengths of 0.4mm brass rod and pushed them through and using a dab of CA glue to hold them in place. I then trimmed one end and then fed Gaspatch 'Type C' Turnbuckles over the tubing, cut to size and then using needled nose plies crushed the brass tube to form a cold rivet, this allows the turnbuckles to freely move and create perfect lines when the rigging is attached.

I must say though this is the only forum I'm actively a member of the other being ww1aircraftmodels.com - which I'm currently just a lurker

Very nice, however sadly the active membership is far far less, just based off some quick Search-Fu I did regarding why the Group builds have such poor attendance.

do335b6, Beautiful! I have to admit I would love to build ZM aircraft, but I promised myself I would stick to one genre and brand - the house just isn't big enough! I will live the dream through your build though! Colin, according to ZM it's all about the experience, he wants you to see the build in all it's glory for him it's all about the experience and he wanted to pass that on to fellow modellers. His bio on ZM is very interesting.http://www.zoukeimura.co.jp/en/concept.html Barking mad Jap-Lish but you get the idea - if you can read Japanese it makes a lot more sense

James, sorry you are correct, the wing length variants were with the naval Eindecker's (LF)

I want this too! Also for the record you might want to check the wing length of the build you intend to make as this often changed with Eindecker's also you can use this for the E.I however you will need to remove the compass from the wing.

Thanks Jonathan. For those interest the emergency fuel tank line can follow several different routes depending on the location of the tank. I especially like the version that follows the bracing wires on the early 1916 builds and may use this in my next DH.2 kit, for this one however I used the 'Alternative fuel line routing" for the simple fact its more interesting.

So I've spent the last two days rigging, yesterday I got all the wing struts and braces done. I also took a better photo of the finished emergency fuel line with cut off valve, this detail is actually missing from the Wingnut Wings DH.2 option A,B,C and D. Option E has the detail in low detail and no valve, so using 0.5, 0.3mm tubing and some nuts that fitted the scale I made my own. Next up was all the fuselage bracing wires and after pouring over as many photos of the aircraft both vintage and modern replica I came to the decision that the kit is missing an addition mounting point on the lower wings for the bracing wires. Fortunately it was in a place that was accessible with my small pin vice drill and an additional turnbuckle was added. Next up was the wheels and struts, again more bracing wires both on the fuselage and struts and I attached these before mounting them. The final job was to assemble and paint the tail boom, this is currently dry fitted to the aircraft to retain its shape, I will attach the majority of the bracing wires before attaching it however my next job is to make a more detailed control line splitter rather than using the PE parts supplied with the kit.

The incredible!

Danny, incredible job! You should be very proud of this one indeed! Can't wait to see your next project.

That's incredible!

Danny I really think you have hit this one out of the ball park, first of all it takes a lot of balls to build a OOP kit, I'm quietly avoiding mine - no idea why just scared of screwing up with no way to pay my way out of it But I really love this build and I've been following it here and on FB since you began and I'll be coming back here for reference when I finally man up and build mine! Thank you for sharing.

And get those points too! I just got the Wingnut Wings Pfalz D.IIIa at a bargain price of 3,000 JPY after cashing in some of the points!

So the final job of the weekend was to start putting in the anchor points and turn buckles - having inspected numerous images of the only flying DH.2 replica (That happens to be in the same scheme I'm building) as well as some excellent photos courtesy of James Fahey, I realized I was going to need about 84 open ended buckles to complete the wings, I had exactly half that number so even before I started an order for 150 open end turnbuckles was sent to Gaspatch models with priority tracked shipping in the hope that they would reach me by the following weekend. With those in place and no time to start other parts it was time to call it a day.

Next up was the 'Emergency 5 gallon Gravity Fed Petrol Tank', I really didn't like the plastic breath tube and it didn't really respond well to having the end drilled or carved out. So in the end I decided to just replace it with a piece of brass tubing, well it was brass tubing so it was a 100% accurate modification A drill hole and a single bend later and the 'Breath Tube' is done. The whole thing was given a coat of Mr. Surfacer and then Mr. Finisher and painted up. The fuel gauge was painted with a thinned MIG AMMO Weathering Effect Fuel Stain and when the light catches it the effect is perfect.

It's been a while since I last posted but things are moving along nicely - albeit a little slower due to parental duties (taxi services and one man soccer fan club) The first order was getting the fuselage halves and corresponding parts together, after a few dry fittings and subsequent cleaning of parts she slotted together beautifully. It took a few runs to get rid of the seam line that runs down the center of the nose cone but Mr. Surfacer and finisher are great and really airbrush on well, as you can see from the image I also removed all the appropriate detailing ready for the HGW ultra detail PE parts. Again more cleaning and dry fitting and finally time to mount the fuselage to the lower wing and fix the engine in place.

Thanks for the translation - couldn't work out what he meant.

Well as HLJ and Beaver Corp are based in Japan and purchase direct, so I can't see why they won't be able to get the product now as they also have an online domestic shop here in Japan.

So last night I took a deep breath and finished up the Taurus Models; Gnome Monosoupape 100hp British rotary engine. It required some very fiddly work wrapping 0.2mm wire around an old drill bit to create a coil and then attached to the spark plugs at one end and then the electrical board, After two failed attempts on Tuesday and Wednesday I felt certain I had the technique. Hard to see in this image as it was taken with the macro lens in a hurry - but the coils are very fiddly and delicate. After about 30 minutes of work it was time to put it down and go eat.

Cor, Many thanks my friend! I build dirty worn aircraft as I have found its easier to hide my many mistakes The photos are all taken with my mobile phone believe it or not, then I just add the graphics via photoshop!

So on Friday the Taurus Models Gnome Monosoupape 100hp British rotary engine arrived along with some additional goodies for other builds in the stash. But first I need to get the cockpit detail finished up. The fabric seat belts by HGW are just simplicity when it comes to installing them and I will soak them with water mixed with pva glue to weigh them down and then manipulate them in to the desired position - they will then dry in that position I also took the time to start on the pre-shading and weathering done I laid the base colours down in preparation for the Aviattic decals. So with that done it was time to work on the Engine. The parts are incredible and ridiculously small, this really pushed me to the limits and I honestly felt that I was out of my depth. Half way there!

Done!

So the next job is getting some colour and the amazing Aviattic Lozenge down on to the wings! Time to get those hand cut rib tapes down! And some national insignia!

I just want to give a HUGE thank you to Alex at Uschi van der Rosten for all the help and advice he's given me on this build!

After bonding the two halves together it was time for some more preshading ready for Uschi van der Rosten and Ronny Bar Fine decals. I made really great progress after the initial learning curve. However I completely forget to reduce the viscosity and NO! However with some very fine scalpel work to remove the gloss varnish and the base I was left with a great surface to relay the preshading: And then custom cut the panel section again and relay and varnish the area. VERY pleased with that recovery! It actually ended up happening several times during the process! I was a little to liberal with the thinner when it came to cleaning up the section I was working on, so in the end I just removed all the side panels and started again. FINALLY! After completing all of the wood I decided to walk away and take a break....where is that Eindecker?