sandbagger

Hi all, Just an update. The Junkers J.1 is still waiting for its propeller and exhaust to arrive from Ukraine. They've been in transit since the 6th so I'm hoping they'll arrive soon. Once they do I'll be able to post photographs of the completed model, Mike

Hi all, I decided to modify the radiator pipes to better represent those fitted to the actual aircraft. The 3D printed rear pipe in the kit was discarded and a replacement made from 1.0 mm diameter rod with a 90 degree bend in the radiator end. A hole was drilled into the water pump on the rear of the engine and also into the underside of the radiator. The forward facing extension to the pipe was added with 1.0 mm diameter rod and 1.2 mm diameter tube. The forward 3D printed pipe in the kit was modified with a 1.2 mm diameter end tube and 1.0 mm diameter 90 degree bent rod. A 1.4 mm diameter tube was cut and fitted to the pipe stub on the top, front of the camshaft housing. A hole was drilled for this pipe in the underside of the radiator. Although dry fitted for now, it can all be added after the fuselage, with engine, has been closed up, Mike

Hi all, My assumptions for how the engine cooling system worked are: The engine driven water pump on the lower, rear of the engine, supplied water to the six engine cylinders. This supply was pumped through a pipe interconnected to the lower right of the cylinders. The water flowed up inside the cooling jacket of each cylinder and flowed out into the the return in the camshaft housing. From there it flowed through the external forward pipe over the camshaft housing and into the base of the radiator. It was then drawn around the inside of the radiator housing then down through the radiator to be drawn back to the water pump through the external rear pipe. The external overhead cooling pipe supplied in the kit is in two parts and joined together. The radiator just sits on the top of this pipe. However, it seems this is not correct as can be seen from the following photographs taken at the time. The supply to and the return from the radiator are separate pipes, which given the above would make sense. Mike

Hi all, The six kit supplied 3D printed exhaust pipes are not chamfered at the ends and not bored out internally. Also, when fitted, the exhaust pipes should be angled slightly rearwards, which the kits pipes are not. Therefore, I discarded the kit pipes and replaced them with rod and rubber tube. The two supplied 3D printed halves of the cooling pipe are intended to be butt joined to the engine and to each other. This is a weak method of joining parts. Therefore I cut out and replaced the larger diameter portion of the front pipe and replaced it with Brass 1.4 mm diameter tube. The ends of the pipe were drilled and pinned into the engine, using 0.3 mm diameter Brass rod, Mike

Hi all, Having completed the basic chapters for the Lloyd C.V build log, I've found a few bits that will need adding. Addition lower wing support rods. Increased depth of support rods in upper wings. Cockpit cross bracing wires. Pilot cockpit control rods and wires etc. Pilot cockpit flight control cables. Plus the following. Mike

Hi all, Final pieces for the Junkers display. Medium size German refuel trolley ('Aviattic' ATTR011) and ladder from 'Modelkasten' figure set (B), Mike

Hi all, The Junkers J.1 model is now complete apart from the propeller and exhaust stack, which are on their way from the Ukraine. Here are the figures to accompany the aircraft. I just have a refueling drum to finish. As usual I'll post completed shots once the model is on its display base, Mike

Hi all, The build of the Junkers J.1 is coming to a close. So next up is the 1:32nd scale resin/3D printed Lloyd C.V from 'Lukgraph'. On October the 4th, 1917, Feldpilot (Zugsfuhrer) Adolph Wiltsch and his Observer Roman Schmidt were flying Lloyd C.V Serial No: 46.01 from Flik 13 on the Russian Front. They were attacked by three Russian ‘Sopwith’ type aircraft. They managed to evade these attackers and Schmidt managed to shoot down one in flames. This was Schmidt’s third aerial victory. Mike

Hi all, Ask me how I know 😠 The upper wing, although hollow, is still a relatively heavy and large piece of the model. As such, when attached to just the four outer struts, it will move and twist until the four inboard struts are fitted, which will make the fit of the wing more rigid. Until then the upper wing can easily shear away from the four outer struts!! Therefore it’s best to restrain upper wing movement as much as possible for the remaining construction of the model. I used sponge packing pieces inserted between the wings, held in place by elastic bands around the wings and packing. Mike

Hi all, I've dry brushed the metal corrugations of the wings, fin, rudder and tail plane, plus the struts, to give an effect of paint wear over Duraluminium. The fin support struts, tail skid and aileron control rods have also been added. The lower wing and struts are fitted as is the engine. Now onto the fitting of the upper wing, Mike

Hi all, One dirty ground attack Junkers J.1. 'Flory' Dark Dirt fine clay wash then sealed with 'Alclad' Light Sheen (ALC311). Now to apply the metallic wear by dry brushing, Mike

Hi all, I've represented the front and rear grills of the radiator in the upper wing. Cut strips of the 'RB Productions' Radiator Mesh (RB-T027), sadly no longer available. Mike

Hi all, A few updates. The 'Aviattic' 5 colour faded lozenge decal applied. Also the kit supplied decals. I had to print the serial number for this particular aircraft. I've fitted the tail plane, fin and rudder. Also the two flare racks, engine Tachometer and pilots mirror. Now it's weathering before assembly, Mike

Hi all, The locking plates for the two access panels. Mike

Hi all, The hinged engine access doors had more detail than provided on the basic doors that are supplied in the kit. Also Wingnut Wings chose to have four bracing ribs moulded onto the inside of both panels. However, The only photographs of these panels, either at the time or museum aircraft, don't show four bracing ribs. They seem to have been located on the doors as either: Two ribs - front and forward Three ribs - forward, centre and rear Two ribs - forward and centre. Also there are details that needed to be added: Lightening holes in the bracing ribs Retaining cable or rod Additional bracing tubes Ports from the external cooling air louvres (right door only) Access panels to the engine (left door). I opted for the three ribs (forward, centre and rear) as shown below. The ribs were cut from 0.5 mm thick styrene sheet and drilled using 0.6, 0.8, 1.0 and 1.2 mm diameter drills. The bracing tubes are flattened 0.7 mm diameter Brass tube. Cooling ports and access panels were cut from 0.2 mm thick styrene sheet. Now onto the locking plates for the two access panels. Mike

Hi all, The basic fuselage internals are done. Although no rigging is necessary I have added the rudder and elevator control lines. I've also added extra fuel pipes to the main fuel tank and the 'Telefunken' wireless aerial wire, wrapped around the spool on the set in the gunners cockpit. Finally the two filler caps on the right side forward from the pilots cockpit - I assume these were for fuel and coolant. I've not fitted the two aileron control rods from the cockpit as they can be easily broken during subsequent handling. I've tested and they can be fitted later but before the engine is finally fitted. The engine shot below is test fitted only. Mike

Hi all, The engine is as complete as I can get it. I've added some details: Ignition leads support tubes Ignition leads Valve gear push rods Cylinder fuel primers Float chamber fuel supply Magneto spark advance rod Throttle control rod Carburettor interconnection rod and levers Rear engine pipes and tachometer drive. Coolant pipe through cylinder bases Coolant supply pipe from water pump. The engine controls will be attached to the fuselage/cockpit later in the build. Now onto the fuselage, Mike

Just noticed the pilots windscreen has lifted at one side - sorted now 🙁 Mike

Hi all, Although the kit supplied engine (Benz Bz.IV) is of good quality, there are details of the engine not included. 1. Cylinders coolant pipe (left side of engine only). 2. Ignition lead support tube (both sides of the engine). 3. Fuel primers (left side of engine cylinders). 4. Carburettor pre-heating gallery. 5. Carburettor pre-heating pipe. 6. Carburettor pre-heating pipe. 7. Carburettor pre-heating supply pipe. 8. Ignition leads (both sides of the engine). 9. Carburettor control rod. 10. Fuel supply connection (possibly). 11. Bleed pipe (possibly). 12. Valve gear push rods (6 each side of the engine). 13. Oil filter and pipe. I've made a start by cutting away the pre-moulded and flat coolant pipe across the bottom of the cylinders. This was replaced by 0.8 mm diameter styrene rod inserts. Also the ignition leads support tubes were made from flattened 0.6 mm diameter brass tube. Next up are the cylinder fuel primers, Mike

Hi all, Completed model photographs are now up in the 'LSM Aircraft Finished Work' page, Mike

Hi all, Here's the shots of the completed model. This model represents BE2c Serial No. 2635 of No.13 Squadron, RFC, operating from Savy in France during 1916. My full build log, including all materials used is here: As usual a full build log in PDF format is available to download from my site (Gallery 4) in my signature link. Just click the PDF icon to read or download. Once again thanks for your comments and encouragement - appreciated, Mike

Hi all, The upper wing ailerons are supposed to be close to the outboard trailing edges of the centre section. Once assembled, there is a 2.5 mm gap where the centre section moulding did not include an extension to meet the ends of the ailerons. Making inserts to fill the gaps is tricky as the wing surfaces are corrugated. However, the kit sprues have two parts (24 and 25) which are not used and these are corrugated on on side. I cut two strips with two corrugations to fit the gaps. These were cemented into the gap on the top surface of the upper wing. There is not enough of parts 24 and 25 left to use on the underside of the upper wing. Therefore I cut inserts from 0.5 mm styrene sheet to fill the gaps then added two 0.5 mm wide styrene rods to represent the corrugations. Mike ORIGINAL GAP UPPER SURFACE INFILL UNDERSIDE INFILL

Hi all, The kit supplied upper wing outer sections have an extension at the wing trailing edges. This is to represent the cover strip for the leading edges of the ailerons. However, due to the limitations of moulding, these corrugated cover strips are moulded as straight extensions. In reality, these cover strips were normally unevenly distorted along their entire length, from slight to heavy distortions. As they were made from corrugated Duraluminium sheet, my assumption is they were probably distorted by being trodden on by maintenance personnel. To create these distortions, I used the heat from an electrical soldering iron. The wing was held of the tip of the soldering iron until the styrene showed signs of softening. I then eased the styrene into a distortion using the ball end of a paper embossing tool. Then I just moved along the wing repeating the process. Now onto the infamous gap between the aileron inboard ends and the upper wing centre section, Mike

Hi all, Interesting to note that even 'Wingnut Wings' can get it wrong. The known gap at the upper wing aileron inboard ends. Also the instruction manual on page 11 shows assembly of the upper wing outer sections. The kit supplies wing stiffeners (Parts I1 and I6), which are intended to be fitted into the upper wings outer halves before the halves are joined. However, the instructions on page 11 do not show or mention these stiffeners. Mike EDIT - I was wrong - the stiffeners are for the upper wing centre section (page 8 in the instructions) - not for the outer wing sections.

Yes the Wingnut Wings kit (32001). It was one of the first four kits released back in 2009: 32001 1/32 Junkers J.1 32002 1/32 LVG C.VI 32003 1/32 SE.5a ‘Hisso’ 32004 1/32 Bristol F.2b Fighter Mike