sandbagger

Hi all, The underside if the upper with has been pre-rigged with the flying, landing, incidence, drag and cabane bracing wires. For rigidity the landing gear has been final rigged with its bracing wires. Mono-filament of 0.08 and 0.12 mm diameter used with 0.4 and 0.5 mm diameter blackened Brass tube. The turnbuckles on the landing gear are 'Gaspatch' 1:48th metal Type C for strength. Now it's onto fitting the upper wing, Mike

Hi all, Finished preparing the various parts of the model. The ‘Grantenwerfer’ bomb rack is from another model kit, although I've added the back board so it can be attached to the side of the fuselage. The flare ammunition rack is also from that kit, but I made the flare cartridges from painted 0.5 mm diameter styrene rod. The tyres and inner wheel covers for this model are the new 3D printed resin wheels ('Continental' 76x100) from 'Proper Plane'. The outer wheel covers will be the kit supplied parts. Now it's onto pre-rigging before assembly, Mike

Hi all, The Fokker E.IV ‘Eindecker’, Serial No: 161/16 of home defence unit Kest 6, April 1917 at Bonn Hangelar, Cologne. Flown) by Leutnant Hans ‘Garrelt’ Müller. The build log for this model is here: https://forum.largescalemodeller.com/topic/18809-132nd-scale-fokker-eiv/#comment-220215 As usual a fully detailed build log is available to download from the Logs page of my web site (link in my signature block). Mike

Hi all, Completed model shots are now up in the WNW Ready for Inspection thread. Thanks for your comments and support during this build, Mike

Hi all, Tweaked the devil cat and face by adding white. Also added wing to the Imp figure, Mike

Hi all, The wings and tail unit have got their lozenge decals. ‘Aviattic’ Halberstadt Cl.II 5 colour lozenge upper surfaces (ATT32196), ‘Aviattic’ Halberstadt Cl.II 5 colour lozenge lower surfaces (ATT32199), ‘Aviattic’ Halberstadt Cl.II 5 colour lozenge tail surfaces (ATT32205), ‘Aviattic’ Halberstadt Cl.II 5 colour fuselage stipple surfaces (ATT32209). Applied on a white gloss base coat then coated with 'Alclad' Flat (ALC314). Weathered with 'Flory Models' Dark Dirt fine clay wash. Finally coated with 'Alclad' Light Sheen (ALC311). Now onto pre-rigging before assembly, Mike

The gauges are a Tachometer (engine revs) and the smaller, a Manometer (pressure), Mike

Hi all, The fuselage is all decals. 'Aviattic' ATT32209 stippled lozenge with kit supplied and created by me markings, Mike

Hi all, The fuselage decals have now been applied. Just a few small tweaks then it's on to the weathering, Mike

Hi all, I now have a photograph of the right side of this particular aircraft. It indicates that the black 'Devil Cat' was applied only on the fuselage left side. The right side had a Imp figure and a devil face. The quality of the photograph is not good so I've created decals as close as I can. The Imp was traced from the photograph and the devil face was the closest I could find (online clip art). Mike

Hi all, The fuselage is ready for applying the 'Aviattic' stipple five colour lozenge effect decals (ATT32209). I also needed to create the 'Devils Cat' and 'ANNI' decals. These were copied from the colour profile into Paint Shop Pro 2019 software on my PC. The edges of each were cleaned and they were then test printed on paper and resized as necessary to match the model size. The markings were printed on my Canon IP7250 inkjet printer and on ‘MDP’ (Mr Decal Paper) Clear water slide decal paper. I printed extras as the clear decal paper is translucent and may show the underlying decal. If so I can double the decals to increase the colour density. The printed decals were given two light sealing coats of ‘Krylon’ Acryli-Quik sealer to seal in the ink and prevent bleeding of the colours when the decals are applied. Mike

Hi all, The fuselage is now closed up. The instructions call for the front cabane struts and wing radiator pipe to be fitted before the fuselage panels. However, this leaves them exposed and likely to be broken or damaged during the subsequent build. Therefore I decide these could be fitted after the panels and later in the build. Both the pilots 'Spandau' and observers 'Parabellum' machine guns were modified to have 'Master' Brass barrels and cooling jackets. Somehow I managed to lose both of the landing gear bracing tubes. So I replaced them with brass tube, which will probably give the gear more strength anyway, Mike

Hi all, The fuselage is close to being closed up now. The engine is complete apart from some weathering and controls that will be fitted. The fuselage still needs the pilots machine gun to be fitted. Mike

Hi all, The subject of this model has been changed, as there is no photographic or other evidence for this aircraft, apart from textual notes taken at the time and passed down through generations. Mike.

Thanks. I've completed 44 models since retiring back in 2016. I'd set up the 'cave' for modelling before I retired as that's what I planned as my hobby. It's what I've been doing every day more or less since then, so my turn around time for models is probably quicker than most. I built 8 models in 2022, so if I kept that build rate up I'd need to live to over 80 to build just my current stash of models, Mike

Hi all, As the build of the Fokker E.IV 'Eindecker' is coming to a close, I've started the next build. This build will be of Halberstadt Cl.II ‘Anni’ of Schlachtstaffel ‘Schlasta’ 27b (Battle Squadron), based at Villers-au-Tertre Aerodrome from late 1917. Flown by Uffz. Fridoin Redenbach and the CO of the unit, Oblt. Sigmund Kreitmair. Schutzstaffel ‘Schusta’ 27b (Protection Squadron) was formed in February 1917 and operated primarily as escorts to bombing or reconnaissance aircraft. On April the 16th 1918, the unit was renamed Schlachtstaffel ‘Schlasta’ 27b (Battle Squadron) and was then engaged in ground attack missions. Three colour profiles were created in 2012 by R.N.Pearson and were based on data from Duiven/Dan-San-Abbot and the ‘Schlachtflieger’ publication. The first profile depicts the aircraft, which I believe was written off as non-repairable after crashing. For the second and third colour profiles, there appears to be some conjecture as to the lozenge covering used and the colour of the 'devil cat' marking. However 'Wingnut Wings' have a photograph of the crashed 'ANNI', which I assume is the subject of the second colour profile. If so, then the third profile is the last iteration of this aircraft. The third colour profile indicates this aircraft was an 'early' Halberstadt Cl.II, with the pilots machine gun mounted on the port (left) side of the cockpit coaming. I chose the third and final colour profile for this model build, although I'll need to create decals or paint masks for the fuselage markings, Mike

Hi all, Getting close to the finish now, Rigging completed using 0.08 and 0.12 mm diameter mono-filament with 0.4 and 0.5 mm diameter blackened Brass tubes. 'Gaspatch' 1:48th/1:32nd and 'Proper Plane' 1:32nd scale turnbuckles. Just the gun sights, windscreen, foot steps and propeller to fit. Also the display case and figure, Mike

Hi all, The rest of the parts have now been painted and decals added. 'Flory Models' Dark Dirt clay wash used for weathering/stain. Over sprayed with 'Alclad' Light Sheen (ALC311) to seal the finish. Now onto pre-rigging before final assembly, Mike

Hi all, The support pylon in front of the cockpit is moulded to scale. This makes the pylon weak and liable to distortion or breaking if subjected to stress. In addition, despite the good key supports in the fuselage for the wings, the weight of the wings does impart a downward leverage (anhedral). Therefore, as with my E.1 model, I chose to replace the pylon and its cable pulley. The cable pulley was cut from three 2.5 mm diameter and two 1.75 mm diameter discs of 0.2 mm thick plastic card. The pylon was made from 1.0 mm and 0.6 mm Brass tube with 0.4 mm diameter Brass rod, on which are two 'Gaspatch' 1:32nd scale Type C turnbuckles. The parts were soft soldered together and the cable pulley secured onto the 0.5 mm rod. A holes of 0.2 mm diameter was drilled through the flattened front tube to allow rigging lines to be attached, Mike

Hi all, Fuselage more of less complete now. 'Flory Models' Dart Dirt clay wash and 'Tamiya' Weathering Master Set A and C. 'AK Interactive' Kerosene wash used under the fuselage at the engine. Decals applied and sealed with 'Alclad' Light Sheen (ALC311). Now it's onto painting and pre-rigging before building continues, Mike

Hi all, Engine and cowl assemblies fitted. Fuselage side fairings and underside deflector fitted. Now onto the fuselage weathering, Mike

Hi all, The cockpit and top coaming panels now fitted. As usual, most of the cockpit detail is not visible. The green paint or dope over the Fokker effect metal panels was oil paint. 'Mig' 3506 Field Green (Oil Brusher) applied then removed using a soft, broad brush with 'Mig' Odourless thinners. The applied Fokker effect can still be seen through the paint. More weathering has to be applied so this is just the base covering. Mike

Hi all, The Fokker company burnished or turned the exposed metal surfaces of the 'Eindeckers'. 'Wingnut Wings' suggest representing this effect by brushing with thinned 'Tamiya' Aluminium and Chrome paints. I think for many modelers this can be problematic, trying to brush paint thin and consistent 'squiggles' over the parts. Instead I tried an easier and much quicker method, as follows: Airbrushed with 'Tamiya' Gloss Black (X1). Airbrushed with 'Alclad' Duraluminium (ALC102). Airbrushed with 'Alclad' Flat clear coat (ALC314). 'Squiggles' drawn using a standard 2B pencil. Airbrushed with 'Alclad' Light Sheen clear coat (ALC311). The final clear coat highlights the graphite in the pencil squiggles. Of course I then realized that most of this will have to be lightly over-sprayed with the green dope for this particular model - hey-ho. Mike

Hi all, I've replaced the kit supplied machine guns. Instead I've used the 'Gaspatch' MG 08 equivalent weapons. This meant a few modifications to both kit supplied and 'Gaspatch' parts. Mike