sandbagger

Hi all, As my Nieuport XVII build is coming to a close, I've started researching the next build. The Fokker E.IV ‘Eindecker’, Serial No: 161/16 of home defence unit Kest 6, April 1917 at Bonn Hangelar, Cologne. Flown (i think at least) by Leutnant Hans ‘Garrelt’ Müller. There were two pilots with the same name. 1. Hans Karl Müller was a fighter pilot who scored 9 victories until being wounded in combat on the 26th of December 1916, after which he was withdrawn from operational flying and instead was given test pilot duties for the Siemens-Schuckert company. 2. Hans Müller was also a fighter pilot and survived the war and it’s the similarity of the pilot in the following photographs that leads me to believe he is the correct person for this aircraft, given the photograph in the aircraft was taken in April 1917. However, given the information available, the identity of the actual pilot is my ‘best guess’ and may not be correct. Hans Müller was born in Etzel, Ostfriesland on the 3rd of July, 1896. WW1 service: On the 1st of April 1914 Müller joined the army and served in Infantry Regiment No.13. He transferred to the German Air Force in November 1916 and flew two-seaters until the end of 1917. During 1917 it seems he may have been serving on the home defence Kest 6, where he was photographed in Fokker E.IV Serial No:161/16. In late 1917 he joined Jagdstaffel 12 then in early 1918 moved to Jagdstaffel 15 flying the Fokker DR.1 Triplane. On the 9th of January 1918 he scored his first victory and on the 29th he claimed two more victories, although the second was unconfirmed. In March 1918, after shooting down an RE8 for his third confirmed victory, his aircraft was badly damaged over no man's land, but he managed to make it back to his own lines. He finally moved to Jagdstaffel 18 and it was between the 27th of March and the 22nd of September 1918, that he shot down and destroyed ten more opponents, one of which was possibly Paul Baer, the first American ace of the United States Air Service. It was between 9:00 and 9:15 AM on 14 September 1918, Müller shot down three SPAD XIII aircraft from the 103rd Aero and at 2.40 that that same afternoon, he shot down a fourth Spad from that same squadron. A week later, he finished his tally with one last Spad. It was during this day that Müller scored Jasta 18's 100th victory. His total victory tally was twelve confirmed and one unconfirmed. Footnote: At some point in time, Müller changed his surname to "Garrelt" as the name "Hans Müller" was rather common and he and another pilot with the same name were forever getting their mail confused. Post WW1: During World War II, Müller served on the staff of Lutflotte III under Generalfeldmarschall Sperrle. Post WW2: After WW2 he worked in civilian live as an engineer, designing steam locomotives for ‘Hanomag and Henschel’ before going freelance. Hans Müller died of a brain tumour in Munich in 1964. Mike

Hi all, Windscreen assembly, Vickers extended cocking handle and the Lewis gun trigger cable added (0.2 mm diameter lead wire from 'Plus Model'). So just the figures to assemble and paint now. Then wait for the display case and propeller to arrive (UK postal strikes permitting of course). Mike

Hi all, Rudder and elevator control cables are now rigged. Lewis machine gun and aileron control bell-cranks fitted. Just the windscreen, extended loading handle for the Vickers machine gun, Lewis trigger cable and propeller to fit. Then it's onto the figures, Mike

Hi all, Upper wing with rear cabane struts fitted. All inter wing rigging fitted using 0.12 mm diameter mono-filament and 0.4 and 0.5 mm diameter blackened Nickel-Silver tube. Now it's onto the rear fuselage and the flight control rigging, Mike

Hi all, Moving on. The models has been pre-rigged with 0.08 and 0.12 mm diameter mono-filament with blackened 0.4 and 0.5 mm diameter Nickel-Silver tubes. The landing gear, tailplane/elevator assembly with support struts, rudder and the interplane struts have all been fitted. Next up is fitting the upper wing with its rear cabane struts then final rigging, Mike

Hi all, Moving on. Airbrushed with 'Alclad' Duraluminium (ALC102). Covered with 'Aviattic' clear linen effect decal, although against the Duralumium base coat it can barely been seen. Airbrushed with 'Alclad' Light Sheen (ALC311). Weathered with 'Flory Models' Dark Dirt clay wash then resealed. Decals are a mix of kit supplied decals and the 'Kiwi Resin' Lafayette decal set. So now it's onto pre-rigging before assembly, Mike

Hi all, Weapons done. The Lewis machine gun is the kit part. The Vicker's machine gun is a 'Gaspatch' replacement, Mike

Hi all, Well the cockpit is now, as usual, mostly hidden now the fuselage has been assembled. I've modified the fuselage top decking panel to accept the replacement 'GasPatch' Vickers machine gun. This required trimming back the ammunition feed chute from the cockpit ammunition container. Also widening and lengthening the locating slot in the decking panel. So now onto the painting stage of Aluminium dope finish, Mike

Hi all, Cockpit assembly is done. It's not the easiest cockpit to assemble. The aileron control rods have hardly any location pegs into the base of the control column. This mean that when cemented, they flop around as they have no other support. Their tops also need to be aligned correctly to their exit slots in the fuselage top panel. The carburettor air intake pipes are separate and need to be cemented onto the crankshaft. Again, these need to be aligned correctly with their exit openings in the fuselage side panels. As usual, much of the cockpit detail will not be seen on the completed model. Especially the vertical/horizontal bracing wires and rudder/elevator control cables below the pilots seat. Now it's onto completing the fuselage build, Mike

Hi all, Completed model shots now up on the 'WNW - Ready for Inspection' page, Mike

Deleted - double post, Mike

Hi all, Sopwith 5F.1 ‘Dolphin’, Serial No: C4131 of No.79 Squadron RAF during June 1918. The full build log can be found here: As usual there's a fully detailed build log in Adobe PDF format which can be downloaded from my website. Click on the PDF icon on the 'Logs' page on the website. Once again, thanks for your comments and support, Mike

Hi all, The last work for the Sopwith Dolhin. ‘Kellerkind Miniaturen’ USAS pilot (54/090). ‘Kellerkind Miniaturen’ RFC Mechanic (54/073). Tools from ‘Aber’ 1/35th scale hand tools (35 A68). Painted with 'Tamiya' acrylics, 'Citadel' and 'Mr. Color enamels. The model is complete, so I'll post up final photographs later today. Once again thanks for your support and comments, Mike

Hi all, The rest of the cockpit pre-rigging is done. Rudder and elevator control cables. Cross bracing wires for the rear seat frame and lower rear of cockpit. Now it's onto cockpit construction, Mike

Hi all, Both cockpit side frames have been cross braced. This was done using 0.08 mm diameter mono-filament with chemically blackened 0.4 mm diameter Brass tubes. The turnbuckles are the 'Gaspatch' 1:48th scale resin Type C. I used resin as opposed to the metal version as the cockpit rigging is not subject to tension. Now onto the other rigging, including the rudder and elevator control cables, Mike

Hi all, All of the internal fuselage parts have been painted. Weather used was 'Flory Models' Dark Dirt fine clay wash, sealed with 'Alclad' Light Sheen (ALC311). Now it's onto rigging the cockpit detail, Mike

Hi all, The wood effect parts have be prepared. I used 'Windsor & Newton’ Griffin (Alkyd) Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna and Van Dyke Brown oil paints to represent the different wood colours. All will have weathering applied later once other details have been painted, Mike

Hi all, The Le Rhone 9J engine is done. The added ignition leads are 0.125 mm diameter copper wire. The replaced valve push rods are 0.4 mm diameter Nickel-Silver tube. Mike

Hi Jbert27, It's the 'Copper State Models' Nieuport XVII (early version) - kit 32002, Mike

Hi all, Just a couple of updates. All of the parts have prepared with mould seams, 'flash' and sprue tags removed. The tailplane/elevator seam was cut through to separate the tailplane from the elevator, leaving just the hinges intact. The upper wing ailerons were drilled and pinned with 0.5 mm diameter Brass rod to enable them to be positioned, Mike

Hi all, As the Sopwith '5F.1 'Dolphin' build is getting close to completion, I've started preparing my next build. This model will represent: Nieuport XVII (17) C.1, Serial No: N1977 of N124 ‘Lafayette’ Escadrille during March 1917 and as flown by Sgt. Robert Soubiran. Background: Robert Soubiran was born in France to Theodore and Clementine (Malapris) Soubiran, but grew up in New York City. As a young man, he had a knack for mechanical things and began maintaining and racing automobiles with Ralph de Palma, the winner of the 1915 Indianapolis 500. World War One: On August 7, 1914, three days after Germany declared war against France, Soubiran enlisted in the French Foreign Legion in Paris and was among the first group of 43 American volunteers. He served in the Chemin des Dames sector with other future Lafayette Escadrille pilots James Bach, Bert Hall, Kiffin Rockwell, Paul Rockwell, and William Thaw. When the French became aware of his mechanical abilities, he was tasked to drive a threshing machine to harvest the wheat within the war zone. Soubiran served with the 2nd Foreign Regiment in the Battle of Champagne and the 170th Line Infantry Regiment. He was injured in October 1915 and spent four months recovering in the hospital. While there, he applied and was accepted into France's Service Aeronautique. He underwent aviation and gunnery training at Pau, Buc, and the G.D.E. earning his brevet flying a Caudron aircraft on the 27th of May1916 and graduated on the 20th of October,1916. He joined the N124 Escadrille Americaine (‘Lafayette’) at Cachy in the Somme sector on the 22nd of October 1916. A year later, on the 9th of November 1917, Soubiran received the French Croix de Guerre with Palm for an action on the 17th of October 1917, when he received his first and only confirmed victory over an enemy aircraft. His award citation read: "An American enlisted since the beginning of the war in the Foreign Legion, where he took part in the combats in the Aisne in 1914 and in the Champagne attacks in 1915. Wounded on the 19th of October 1915. Passed into the Aviation, he showed himself an excellent pilot, fulfilling with remarkable ardour the missions confided to him. On the 17th of October 1917, while protecting an attack on Drachen’s (enemy observation balloons), forced an enemy to land out of control." When the United States entered the war, Soubiran was transferred to the American 103rd Aero Squadron and commissioned as a Captain. He flew combat patrols in the French built SPAD XIII. He was then assigned as the 3rd Pursuit Group's Operations Officer. On the 20th of August 1918, he married Ann-Marie Choudey in Langres, France with many of his Legionnaire and Lafayette Escadrille friends in attendance. On the 18th of October 1918, he was assigned back to the 103rd Aero Squadron as its Commanding Officer and served there until the end of the war. Soubiran accumulated over 400 hours of combat flight time in his 23 months with the French Air Service and in 10 months with the U.S. Air Service. Post World War One: On the 19th of April 1919, France made Captain Soubiran a Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur and he was also awarded a second Palm to his Croix de Guerre. This citation reads: "American citizen enlisted in August 1914 in the Foreign Legion. Was distinguished in the infantry (wounded in September 1915), then as a pilot in the 'Escadrille Lafayette’, where he showed the highest qualities of courage and audacity." Foot note: Robert Soubiran owned a Kodak camera and photographed all aspects of life and death as an aviator during World War I. Fellow squadron pilot James Normal Hall said that the ‘Lafayette Escadrille’ pilots have Soubiran to thank for the squadron's only complete photographic record. Death: Robert Soubiran died on the 4th of February 1949 and was buried next to wife, who died in 1982, in Pinelawn Military, East Farmingdale, Long Island, New York. Mike

Hi all, Just the last few details done: Single Lewis machine gun (as for No.79 Squadron). 20lb 'Cooper' bombs and carrier. Tie down rings. Wheels. Top engine panel with windscreen. Just the propeller, figures and the display case to finish, Mike

Good choice as it only has limited external rigging: Twin aileron control cables from the cockpit up to the underside of the upper wing. Rudder and elevator control cables from the rear of the fuselage. Landing gear cross bracing and wing aileron control cables. Mike

Hi Kevin, Early war aircraft had natural rubber (laytex) tyres, which could be light grey, tan or darker grey coloured. It varied between Nations and time frames, so I guess reference material for the particular time frame would show tyre shade and therefore colour, which could be seen on periods photographs as nearly white to dark grey (looks black). I believe black coloured tyres with impregnated carbon were introduced after the WW1, as the carbon helped to earth static from the aircraft as the tyres touched down on landing. Mike

Hi all, The rigging is finished. Added: Aileron control cable between the upper wing roots (0.12 mm diameter monofilament, 0.5 mm diameter tube and 'Gaspatch' 1:48th Type C turnbuckle). Aileron control cables from wings to ailerons (0.08 mm diameter monofilament and 0.4 mm diameter tube). Aileron streamlined interconnecting wire between ailerons ('RB Productions' 2BA wire). Rudder and elevator control cables (0.12 mm diameter monofilament and 0.5 mm diameter tube). Tailplane and fin bracing streamlined wires ('RB Productions' 2BA wire and 0.4 mm tube). Fuselage to upper wings drag cables (0.08 mm and 0.12 mm diameter monofilament with 0.5 mm diameter tube and 'Gaspatch' 1:48th Type C turnbuckles). Now it's onto the Lewis gun, 'Cooper' bombs and carrier, wheels, windscreen and Aldis gun sight, Mike