sandbagger

Hi all I added the machine gun trigger cable on the control column and weathered the cockpit and engine Then the fuselage was now closed up with the support rods for the lower wing fitted One thing to be careful of is to not break the bottom of the control column, which protrudes from the underside of the fuselage That shouldn't be a problem once the landing gear is fitted Now its onto cleaning up the fuselage seam joint Mike

Hi all I've added the rudder, elevator and aileron control lines to the cockpit These are 0.5mm diameter blackened Brass tube with 'EZ' stretch line (Fine), as that line is more visible inside the cockpit Mike

Hi all The fuselage halves have been painted with Raw Sienna oil paint for wood effect The basic cockpit assembly is complete with added pipe to the hand pump and throttle and spark advance control rods The engine is complete, including added: Ignition leads Carburettor fuel supply pipe Cam shaft oil pipe Throttle control rod Now it all needs to be weathered before rigging the rudder, elevator and aileron control line and fitting the control column and rudder bar Mike

Hi all, More preparation before assembly. The fuselage cabane struts and interplane struts were all drilled and pinned for locating. The forward 'feet' of the rudder support frame and the tail skid assembly were also drilled and pinned for locating. The opening in the upper wing was chain drilled and shaped to accept the 3D printed radiator. The four 'feet' of the landing gear struts were drilled and pinned for location. The kit supplied Steel rod was cut to length for the axle. The kit supplied photo-etch cooling cover and front cover for the 3D printed machine gun were added, Mike

Hi all To reinstate the sanded off wing rib tapes Strips of 1.0mm wide plastic card of 0.2mm thickness were cut These were secured onto the wings using thin CA adhesive They were then sanded to reduce their thickness and to blend them more to the wing surfaces The wings were grey primed, as this shows any high spots or ridges Where necessary I sanded again and re-primed until the desired effect was achieved The wings will be painted later in this build Mike

Hi all Response from 'Lukgraph' about the propeller Mike "We found this issue, mirroring was accidentally turned on while printing. We replaced all propellers in sets. Of course we will send the correct one. Please contact us. Best regards Lukas"

Hi all Some progress for the Halberstadt Plastic card tabs were added to the fuselage halves to help align the fuselage halves Machine gun cutouts made Holes made for the lower wing support rods, control column, elevator and rudder control cables Test fitting the basic cockpit structure Upper wing radiator cutout Rudder and elevator rods added Upper and lower wing warp removed using immersion in hot water Wing trailing edge 'washout' (droop) added Rib tapes sanded off (will be replaced) Aileron support rods added Mike

Hi Rob, Thanks, but it's not so much of a problem for me as I usually replace kit props with versions from 'Proper Plane'. However, a kit of this cost should really not have basic errors like this, Mike

Hi all Another problem found The kit supplied 3D printed propeller has the blade twist in the wrong direction This can't be corrected, so will need to be replaced with a correct propeller Mike

Hi all, The wings supplied in the kit are cast in resin and have internal metal reinforcing rods to prevent warping of the wings. Comparing the wing shapes and detail to reference material shows that some aspects of the wings require changing to make them closer to that of the actual wings: The wing ribs tapes are too heavily cast. The wing trailing edges do not reflect enough the ’washout’ droop at the inboard sections of the wings. The leading edges of the upper wing halves are of different thickness. The top surface of the wings appear to be too ’bulged’ around the central area. The upper wings have a degree of warp. So to correct these will require some work, Mike Examples of wing 'washout' and lack of visibility of the wing tapes The kit supplied upper wings

Hi all The pilot figure with flight jacket and gloves (moustache added at clients request) Also resin covered pictures of the ships plaque and Federico Martinengo These will be located on the display base Just waiting for the propeller now to complete the model Mike

Hi all As my build of the Macchi M.5 is drawing to a close I'll be starting the next model. This will be the resin 'Lukgraph' model of the Halberstadt D.II, Serial No:810/16 Vzfw. Erich Schutlz of the Royal Jagdstaffel 25, operating from Kanatrlarci, Macedonia in early 1917 Mike

Hi all The model is now mounted onto its display base. Just the figure and propeller to complete this build Mike

Hi all The model has moved on a bit since my last post. The upper wing has been fitted and all wire rigging done. I just have the outer wing support struts to make and fit. These will be made from 0.9 mm formed Brass tube. Also I have to fit and rig the two ailerons, under wing floats and propeller Mike

Hi all The engine installation for the Macchi M.5 is ready to be fitted to the hull. The propeller will be fitted later in this build, The frame bracing wires are 0.08 mm diameter mono-filament with blackened 0.4 mm diameter Brass tube. Turnbuckles are the 'Gaspatch' 1:48th scale metal versions. Mike

Hi all, Some progression the Macchi M.5. Painted using 'Tamiya' acrylics and oil paint for the wood hull. 'Aviattic' linen effect decals applied to flight surfaces. Personal markings are custom made by Mika at 'Arctic Decals'. The model, especially the engine still require weathering. Mike

Hi all I've replaced the kit supplied 'Z' struts between the engine support frame and underside of the upper wing. The kit struts don't align correctly with their attachment points and not every strut has a protruding locating rod. The replacement struts are Brass tube (formed to an aerofoil profile) with internal rod. Mike

Hi all, I've added the following, which are not supplied in the kit: External compass shroud External base for gun sight. Support struts for lower wing floats (Brass tube and rod). Support struts for the tailplane (Brass tube and rod). Lower half of the rudder post, Mike

Hi all, The basic engine modified and with additional detail added in Brass, Mike

Hi all, The 'HPH Models' 1:32nd scale resin model of the Italian Macchi M.5 float plane. This is a commission build for the Commander of the Italian Frigate 'Federico Martinengo'. His ship was named after the Italian naval pilot of WW1, Federico Carlo Martinengo. I've previously built a version of this model and have a build log on my web site. The only real differences between the two models will be the aircraft markings. As such, I'll not create a detailed build log for this model here on the forum, just progress shots, Mike

Hi all, The shots of the completed model are now up in 'LSM Aircraft Finished'. Thanks for your support and comments during this build, Mike

Hi all, The Hanriot HD.1 of the Belgian pilot Willy Coppens of the 9th Escadrille, Belgium, 1918. Thanks for your support and comment during this build. As usual a fully detailed build log (PDF) can be downloaded from my web site. Mikes WW1 Aircraft Models Mike

Hi all, I'm waiting to complete the display case. However, the model and figures are completed. I'll post the final photographs soon, Mike

Hi all, The rudder, ailerons and upper wing have now been fitted. All pre-rigging was also put in place. However, previously when test fitting the upper wing, I found that the kit supplied 3D printed cabane side support struts were too short. When located, they were approximately 1.0 mm clear of the fuselage. So I modified the fuselage cabane strut assembly to lower the upper wing slightly to allow the struts to locate fully. Now, with the upper wing fitted, I found that the struts were still too short. Therefore, I decide to discard the kit supplied struts and create replacement struts. These were made from 1.2 mm diameter Brass tube, formed into an airfoil profile and with internal 0.3 mm diameter Brass locating rods. Onward upward, Mike

Hi all, The fuselage cabane strut assembly has been fitted. The rudder pre-rigging has been added using 0.08 mm diameter mono-filament, 0.4 mm diameter clear tube and 0.4 mm diameter blackened Brass tube. The ailerons have also been pre-rigged using 0.08 mm diameter mono-filament and 0.4 mm diameter blackened Brass tube. Mike