sandbagger

Hi all, You ever get that feeling of 'I probably should't have started this'. As the Bristol Scout build is just waiting for the display case to be delivered, I thought I'd start my next build. The 'KatModel' 1:32nd scale kit of the Phönix C.I, which hopefully will represent Phönix C.I, Serial No.121.57 of Flik 57/Rb, operating from Godega (Italian Front) during June, 1918. Hmmmm - where do I start? When the fuselage halves are held together at the tail, the from of the fuselage spreads to an 8mm gap. Also the forward sides of the fuselage are not vertical, which prevents the two 3D printed nose cowls from fitting correctly. The massive 'engine supports in the the fuselage are next to useless. The 3D printed cockpit decking panel spreads over the fuselage sides by at least 4mm. The engine side panels are too long to fit between the nose cowls and cockpit decking. The right side of the engine has carburetors, which foul the panel that side and stop it from fitting correctly. The 3D printed cockpit assembly did not fit inside the closed up fuselage. The surface detail, such as panels and panel 'fasteners' are way oversize and look like they were made in a shipyard. Other than that, so far OK Suffice to say: I pinned the fuselage halves Filed down the fuselage join seams Filed down the cockpit sides Added a spreader inside the forward fuselage to straight the sides Removed the engine supports Removed the engine carburetors for the right side Filed back the forward edge of the cockpit decking panel Filed the end edges of the two engine side panels Filed down the propeller shaft in the lower nose cowl. The fuselage and nose cowls have been joined with CA adhesive (the cockpit assembly and engine can be inserted). The 3D printed panels and engine are just test fitted for now. As you can doubtless see, most if not all of the fuselage detail will probably have to be removed and replaced with more in-scale detail. Also the joins between panels and the fuselage will need to be blended. I enjoy a challenge, but really Mike

Hi all, The Bristol Scout 1260 model is more or less complete. Added details include open access panels, refueling funnel with removed tank filler cap, external starter switch and all rigging. Also an over wing Lewis machine gun with gun sight, butt latch on decking panel and trigger cable. Finally a pilot and mechanic figure stood on a trestle. I still have to make the display for this model. Once done I'll of course post final photographs and upload my PDF build log to my web site. Thanks for your support and comments during this build, Mike

Hi all, Model is now rigged. Still more small details and parts to add, Mike

Hi all, Upper wing on. Now for final rigging, Mike

Hi all, Update on the Scout build. I've pre-rigged the assembly and upper wing. For this model I've not used tubing to secure the lines to the turnbuckles. Instead I looped the lines through the turnbuckles the twisted the line and secured it together using thin CA adhesive. I've used the 'Gaspatch' 1:48th scale metal turnbuckles (Type for most of the rigging. These better represent the way the turnbuckles were attached to pivot on their mounting brackets. Some double ended (Type C) turnbuckles are used for flight control cables. Now it's onto fitting the upper wing, Mike

Hi all, Just a quick update. The landing gear struts were wrapped in linen to protect them and strengthen them against splitting. I chose the apply the 'Aviattic' CDL decal to the struts, not that you can see much of it. I also dirtied the gear using the 'Flory Models' Dark Dirt wash. The axle was replaced with 1.2 mm diameter brass tube. Now onto pre-rigging, Mike

Hi all, The clay wash has been removed to give the effect of a well used Bristol Scout. A final sealing coat of 'Alclad' Light Sheen (ALC-311) was airbrushed to seal it all, Mike

Hi all, The surfaces were airbrushed with 'Alclad' Light Sheen (ALC-311), which give enough 'grip' for the clay wash. 'Flory Models' clay wash (Dark Dirt) was then brush heavily over the model. Next up is to remove the wash with slightly dampened kitchen absorbent paper, to achieve the desired weathering effect, Mike

Hi Rob, If you're referring to the kit decals, yes they do contrast heavily with the rest. But I still have to apply weathering and the final sealing coat, which will help blend those decals, Mike

Hi all, Well, the decal pre-shading test didn't turn out too bad I guess. Airbrush primed with 'AK Interactive' White primer (AK759). Polished with a 'Flory Models' Green polishing stick. Airbrushed with 'Alclad' Aqua Gloss 600. Pre-shade decals applied using 'Xtradecal' Parallel stripes black set (XPS1). Light coat of 'AK Interactive' White primer (AK759) airbrush to fade back the decals. Airbrushed with 'Alclad' Aqua Gloss 600 as a sealing coat. 'Ghost' roundels airbrushed on underside of upper wing using tracing paper masks (don't stick and lift decals). Light coat of 'AK Interactive' White primer (AK759) airbrush to fade back the roundels. Airbrushed with 'Alclad' Aqua Gloss 600 as a sealing coat. ‘Aviattic’ Bleached CDL (clear backed) (ATT32044) decals applied (cut to shape). Kit supplied decals applied (serial number made from ‘Xtradecal’ RAF letters and numbers set (X32021). NOTE: All decals applied with added PVA adhesine in the decal water (helps to stick the decals down without, if any, silvering) All of this still needs weathering, detail painting and final light sheen final coat (to lessen the gloss). Mike

Hi all, Fuselage sides now pre-shaded with the 'XtraDecal' stripes. Mike

Hi all, Undersides of the lower wings and the fuselage now pre-shaded with the 'XtraDecal' stripes. Mike

Hi all, A couple of updates. As the mechanic figure will be refueling the aircraft from a container, I needed to make a funnel. This was made from 0.3 mm thick plastic card and a piece of stretch sprue for the pipe. painted with 'Mr. Colour' Stainless Steel (213) with 'Tamiya' Clear Yellow (X24) inside to represent fuel. Two spare label decals were applied from my 'spares' box. The propeller is a laminated wood propeller made by Alexey Belov at 'Proper Plane'. Mike

Hi Rob, It will be oversprayed then have the CDL decal applied, so won't be as obvious as it is right now, Mike

Hi all, While I wait for more decals I thought I'd hit the two figures. Both are from 'Copper State Models' to accompany their Bristol Scout, Mike

Hi all, I've had work done to my home, so haven't been able to model much the last week or so. However, I'm back onto the Scout now and continuing the underside decals for pre-shading. The upper wing, ailerons and tailplane/elevator are done. Once I receive more 'Xtradecal' stripes, I can complete the lower wings and fuselage, Mike

Hi all, Thought I'd try something different for pre-shading. The Bristol Scout in particular shows well defined internal structure through the Clear Doped Linen covering. Rather than trying to represent this by the usual airbrushing, I though of using decal instead. I've applied three different thicknesses of black decal stripes from the 'Xtradecal' Parallel stripes black (XPS1) set. These take as long to apply as masking then airbrushing would. The idea is to over spray the decals with white to fade them back but leave them defined. The CDL decal will then be applied to cover the surfaces. We'll see, Mike

Hi all, As I'm going to apply the 'Aviattic' CDL decals (clear backed) to the model, I primed with a white primer (Tamiya). The primer was then polished using the 'Flory Models' green/white polishing stick. This saves having to gloss clear coat before the decals. It also allows for wearing away primer from some raised detail and a precursor to pre-shading. So next up is pre-shading and internal structure, Mike

Hi all, The Gnome Lambda Rotary engine is complete, including 0.4 mm diameter Brass tubes with 0.2 mm diameter copper wire spark plug leads. I cut away the kit spark plugs and drilled holes into the cylinders to mount the plugs. The engine was then fitted to the engine bulkhead and the cowl fitted over the engine. I had to slightly sand the valve levers on the top of each cylinder to allow the cowl to fit, as they were restricting the fit of the cowl. Due to the size of the opening in the engine cowl being so small, very little of the engine can be seen. Now it's on to external pre-rigging, Mike

Hi all, As described earlier in this thread, Scout 1260 had an external starter switch on the left side of the cockpit decking panel. This was created from pieces of sprue. The gun latch for holding the Lewis machine gun vertically during reloading or un-jamming was located on the right side of the decking panel. This was created by cutting spare photo-etch sheet. It will be fitted to the decking panel later in this build. Mike

Hi all, A few updates. The lower wing and under shield are fitted. Care needs to taken to make sure all locating faces and recesses are clear of paint, especially the wing locating recesses in the bottom edges of the cockpit side frames. At this stage it's best to secure sponge blocks under the fuselage to protect the exposed control column from damage. The outer wheel covers have pre-moulded impressions of the wheel spokes. However, they are pronounced and sharp, so need to be scrapped or sanded to soften them back. The kit supplied axle seems a little weak and flexible. I cut off the bungee cord suspension units from each end of the axle. Then drilled holes of 1.2 mm diameter through the units. The axle was cut from 1.2 mm diameter Brass tube and 49 mm long, in order to fully locate into the internal wheel spigots. The wing ailerons were drilled and pinned to allow them to be positioned. Mike

Hi all, Fuselage closed up. Now to clean up the seams etc, Mike

Hi all, I've gone as far as I can to finish the cockpit details. I've added the control tubes/cables for the carburetor, shut-off valve at the fine control valve and the shut-off cock on the fuel tank supply pipe. Also the shut-off valve at the outlet supply from the fuel tank to the fuel contents indicator, including the interconnecting pipe. I know, I know - don't say it. But for me it's the satisfaction of doing it, not so much for being able to see it afterwards. Next up is to close up the fuselage, Mike

Hi all, A few more additions. The fuel contents indicator in the cockpit was the sight glass type, which was connected by a pipe to its shut-off valve under the left side of the fuel tank. It indicated the contents of the fuel tank using the 'U tube' principle that a fluid will find its own level. The pipe is attached to the fuel tank, but the cockpit end will be attached later in the build. The tank outlet had a shut-off cock, which was operated by a push/pull control on the left side of the cockpit. The 'ring' handle was made from copper wire inserted into a 0.5 mm diameter Nickel-Silver tube. The tube was bent to shape to to fit along and cockpit left side, under the instrument panels and cockpit cross members then through the opening in the crankshaft mounting plate. The front end has 0.3 mm diameter lead wire to represent the operating Bowden cable, which will be attached to the tank outlet later in the build. Now it's onto the carburettor and main fuel supply shut-off cock control runs, Mike

Hi all, A few modifications to the cockpit assembly. I've added the magneto HT lead. I've painted it red only so it can be seen inside the fuselage. Also a fuel tank (bottom only) with collector sump and outlet to the fuel gauge. The fuel system and its controls are way too lengthy to repeat here on the forum. However, I've detailed the fuel system in my PDF build log, which I'll post on completion of the model. The basic engine fuel supply is as follows: Sump on the fuel tank through a shut-off cock then a pipe to the fine control valve. From the fine control valve, through a pipe to the underside of the carburetor. Mike