DocRob

Merry Christmas Amigos, we were surfing yesterday in brutal storm waves. Not much fun, but very exhausting and gave the right appetite for a BIG fondue. Cheers Rob

Nice and sandy look, well done, sometimes there is a lot of fun in these little projects. Cheers Rob

Thanks Gaz, Albion has the so called slide-fit sets, with three tubes of different diameter included, that's a good way to start, as you don't need a lot of tube for some wheelstruts. I took the measurements from the plastic. The larger struts are 2,00 mm wide in plastic, which equals to a 1,5 mm tube flattened. Thanks Kai? I think the struts on a DR.I are way stronger and shorter in plastic and there is no real need to replicate these in brass. If I remember it right, the DR.I struts have a curved conture, where they connect to the wing. This will be hard to replicate. Thanks, definitely a kit, which needs some extra work here and there . Cheers Rob

Oh, I found a small box with intriguing box art in my stash. It's a 2020 release and has to be mentioned here, albeit it is in 1/72 It's the Grumman FM-2 Wildcat from Arma Hobby, a well designed kit, with masks and PE in the box, amongst several decal variants. Cheers Rob

Wow, looking great, like Harv, I especially like the worn look of the leather on the seat. Cheers Rob

De nada Señhor, and yes, I had to have the solution for the struts first and then get everything started. The results are rewarding and the way I realized it, will help to solve another problem area on the Fokker. The side panels of the fuselage are bended inward, where they meet the upper front part of the fuselage. As I drilled the holes for the strut attachments into the side fuselage panels, the struts will help to bend these fuselage parts in shape. Only dry fitted Cheers Rob

More or less , but Im sure, this kind of kit will throw some other obstacles at me, without me expecting them. Cheers Rob

The upfront coward I am, I started with my most feared parts of the build, besides the fuselage fit, the struts. I decided to substitute all by self made brass ones in two different sizes. I wanted an elliptical shape of the tubes and used wooden brackets in a wise to flatten the tubes, which worked to my satisfaction. To avoid flattening the tubes completely , I inserted brass rods into the tube. I manufactured two different sized type of raw strut from 1,5 mm tube with a 1 mm rod inserted for the wheel struts and the large wing struts and 1,2 mm tube with 0,5 mm rod for the smaller V-shaped struts. Normally I cut the tubes with a scalpel, which didn't work with the oval ones. As I had no superfine saw, I first used a file, but then tried my trusty Tamiya nipper, which worked good, as long as you insert some rod into the tube while cutting. The V-struts needed to be soldered and there will be another bigger third strut added later, when everything will be assembled to the fuselage. This construction needed a connection into four directions, two for the V, another for the larger main strut and one to fix the wing. I used Albion Connecto connectors which I bent in shape and then soldered in. These were the parts After soldering the V on a glass pane Here are all the pre manufactured brass parts. The inserted rods will be cut to length, while assembling and will be glued into pre drilled holes in the fuselage and wing. Cheers Rob

The initially problem with the Fokker E.V were not the wing struts, but the parasol wing itself, which collapsed midair on several occasions. That seemed to be caused, by bad coating of the wood, which led to water seeping in. Other sources claim, that there were changes in the wooden material itself and in the construction from the original plans. With the made changes, the plane got it's new designation D.VIII and the initial problems seem to have been solved. Thanks Harv Down the alley, it seems . Thanks mate Cheers Rob

Don't build that crap and be lucky that the plane is not spinning around the engine on the cover . In earnest, you will like the kit, I hop, albeit there are some flaws in it. Cheers Rob

I second Ernie with the PZL. The only other highlight in 2020 was the repop of the AZ/Hippo Gotha G.V from Aviattic, which I count as a 2020 kit, because of the added goodies like included cookie cut night Lozenge and specially downsized bombs by Lukgraph. When I let my eye wander over my stash, I found only these kits as a 2020 release and after browsing Scalemates for 2020 kits, I have to say, there were not many great new kits this year . A special mention, alas I didn't got me one may ba the Me-108 Taifun by Eduard. Cheers Rob

Good to have you with me. When time comes, I know, I will benefit from your knowledge . Until then, be my guest. Like Carl, it's one of my favorite planes of the era, at least among single engine fighter, so I hope, I can pull a reasonable result out of this build. Cheers Rob

Ladies and Gentlemen, it's official, I will do a WIP about the Fokker E.V / D.VIII. It's a late WWI monoplane with a parasol wing design. I liked the sleek design of the Fokker and when I spotted the Mikro Mir kit, I decided, I have to build one in Lozenge finish. It took my some tries to find solutions for the biggest obstacles I saw, until I felt save enough, to call it seriously a project. I'm kind of an up front coward , when I evaluate a non Tamiya kit, I look for the most difficult steps in the build that I can see and only if I have the feeling, that I can solve these, I really start. In my evaluation phase there often goes a lot of effort in learning new techniques and prepare myself for whatever will thrown in my way. The kit plastic is not up to modern standards, there are flaws in the cast, flash and soft details, but what bothered me most, was the flimsy struts for the wings and undercarriage and the bad fitting fuselage. The benefit of the planes design, is that there is nearly no rigging to be done, but I would have changed some riggings for some better plastic, now that I have some routine. I will use a lot of AM: - Lukgraph Le Rhone engine or CSM Oberursel, depending which fits better under the cowling. - Aviattic engine cowling - Aviattic pilot seat - Aviattic PE-set for the firewall, engine hatch and other details - Some Eduard or Airscale decals for the IP - Gaspatch 08/15 MG's - Lozenge decals from Aviattic - Decalsheet including jig from Pheon - Seatbelts from the spare box - Albion brass tubes and rods and Albion Connecto connectors Cheers Rob

Welcome Dan, nice to see you add some wooden boats to our plastic heavy niche. Your Fifie is exceptionally nicely done and it seems also weathered a bit, rarely seen on wooden ships. Cheers Rob

Very nice, all around congratulations. There are so many details to make the eye wander. The dog is great, as well as the bicycle, not easy to build with lots of etched parts. Cheers Rob

Very nice, the extra detailing payed off. You went the easier way to open up all cowlings. To built the TA-152 buttoned up is not a lot of fun, tell me how I know... Cheers Rob

Great result, love the modulation and the careful enhanced panel lines, you nailed it. Cheers Rob

There are some excellent build logs from our member Sandbagger Mike, where he describes everything in detail. I recommend to look into, they are really resourceful and he does the logs in PDF format on his site, free to access. The idea of using brass to substitute fragile plastic struts was in my ex-engineer mind for a long time, but seeing how Mikes utilizes the method so well, made it easy to follow the pass. I varied slightly with the diameter, as I used 1,5 mm diameter tube for the wheel struts with an inserted 0,8mm rod. I was really astonished that the wood/vice method worked so good. I thought, I would have to take more tests, maybe with hard plastic pieces and a pre profiled gap, but that seems to be unecessary. If soldering works to my liking, I WIP the build and document what I have done. Cheers Rob

I start the evaluation phase for my Fokker E.V build. The kit has flimsy wheel struts and even weaker wing struts, which have to hold the big parasol wing. Therefore I will substitute the plastic struts with brass. It doesn't look like much, but this step was important to me, because I wanted the brass struts to be flattened. To do so I used a brass rod inside the tube and flattened the tube in a wise, between two pieces of wood and got a perfect elyptic shape. Then I filed the angled end. The rod will later be cut to length and will be glued into drilled holes in the kit. Next up is soldering the wing struts, if this works I will do a WIP on the Fokker Cheers Rob

Nice, the colour of grass enriches the whole palette and make the black look even more interesting. Cheers Rob

All around, a very nice result. The interior looks great as does the exterior. Like others said, the figures enhance the liveliness a lot, chapeau. Cheers Rob

Great pic. For weathering it always helps to study photos of the real thing. Not necessarily the same object, but what happens to materials / surfaces, which are exposed to sunlight, physical stress, like abrasion, bending, denting, chemical reactions, corrosion, ... It helps to know something about the materials your subject is made of in reality. The Tankette would have been produced from rolled steel mainly, with some casted parts added. As the steel is happily corroding unprotected, there would have been primer and a coat of colour on it at least. When chipping, you can use the base colour lightened up for scratches very superficial. Deeper scratches / chips will show the primer or even the bare or corroded metal, depending on how old the scratch marks are. Imagine, how the use will cause chipping, around the hatches and moving parts or areas were the users would walk on. You can vary the chips, because older scratches tend to soften a little, where new ones are sharp contured. It's always best to study photos showing the different stages of chipping and weathering in real and plan ahead, how you will do it on your model. Knowledge about materials and using the imagination helps a lot. Cheers Rob

Looking good in the green livery. I'm not sure, which green shade I will use for mine, but it will be a testbed for modulation. If you are not satisfied with the look of your rubber wheels, there's always the possibility to weather them heavily, giving them a dusty or muddy look and weathering armor is pure fun. I started mine too a while ago, but left the bogeys unassembled for better painting the rubber on the wheels. Greetings from my Chinese tanker, on my Tankette, it's time for preparing the paintjob. Cheers Rob

Like Ernie said, I rarely use real black on models. For tank wheels, I use Tamiyas Nato black as a base, but always airbrushed. Brushpainting is another Achilles Heel to me, I get uneven results like you. For airplane wheels, which often have a larger surface, I use my trusted Lifecolour Black set, which consisted of six differently shaded near blacks. This one shows the multi coloured attempt on my 1/48 Mig-31 Here it is Nato Black sprayed on T-90 wheels without modulation, but with later to follow weathering (the track is only primed here) This one has Nato Black sprayed on the rubber rims and got some denting, because of heavy use and tear, while on other road wheels the rubber burnt away.

A great result all around, the blackness is modulated nicely with the oils and make the plane look interesting. I don't like the weathering on the wheels though, too mud caked for my liking, with no mud residues on the struts and mudguard. A little dust on the wheels could maybe blend the mud effect a bit better . Cheers Rob