sandbagger

Hi all, Upper wing fitted. The kit has two exposed fuel pipes between the underside of the fuel tank in the upper wing and the top of the rear engine cowl panel. However, this particular aircraft, like many 'Balilla's', had these pipes covered by a fairing. So, before starting the final rigging I'll need to make this pipe fairing. Mike

Hi all, Pre-rigging Part 2. All of the photo-etch rigging plates, except four, have been removed and replaced with 'GasPatch' pre-rigged lines. So, now onto fitting the upper wing, Mike

Hi Rob, Yes I think I may have over heated the parts during annealing. I usually anneal thicker photo-etch parts and the base plates of these rigging brackets were slightly thicker than normal. However, as you say, the fold lines were probably much thinner, hence they failed. The struts should fit through the brackets and clamp them to the wing surface, but unfortunately quite a few had too large openings, so I had to rely on the CA adhesive only. Not to worry - I'll cobble something together using 'GasPatch' parts, Mike

Hi all, Well a bit of a disaster tonight. Whilst preparing to fit the upper wing I found real problems with the photo-etch rigging points. Most detached from the model surface, despite cleaning up the contact surfaces. More importantly, several actually broke apart with the side members breaking away from the main body. This was without apply any undue stress to them. In fact several very thin parts had already broken off during pre-rigging, but I though I might get away with it. It could be that as usual with photo-etch, I annealed the parts before assembly so maybe that weakened them. I must admit I had my doubts as to how durable these parts would be and I'm glad I found out now before fitting the upper wing. Anyway I'm too far into the build now, so I've removed and disposed of all but four of the rigging points and will go back to 'Gaspatch' turnbuckle rigging. Hey-Ho, Mike

Hi all, All of the photo-etch rigging anchors (pre-rigged) have been fitted to the upper and lower wings. Now comes the tricky part - fitting the upper wing onto its struts through the rigging anchors, Mike

Hi all, After priming the mechanic it doesn't seem too bad now. I think it might have been the contrast in colour between the body and head and the angle I took the photo. I've changed the photo in the post, Mike

Hi all, Unfortunately at this stage of the build I've realised that two of the four interplane struts have no reinforcing rods, which are needed as otherwise the resin strut will bend and break easily. Normally I would make replacement struts from brass tube, but the end fittings of these struts are square in section, which would be difficult to replicate. The customer service from Richard at 'Aviattic' is second to none so I'm hoping he'll be able to find replacements for me. While I'm waiting for replacement struts I've started on the figures. The pilot figure is the ‘Copper State Models’ Italian flying ace (F32-030). The mechanic is the ‘Model Kasten’ mechanic from Set B., as is the ladder. I've altered the mechanic figure from German to a more generic figure and replaced the head with head H1 from the ‘Hornet’ bare heads-mature faces (HH/8) set. I may reshape the head as it seems rather tall? To stop the figure from falling off the ladder, I've pinned the right arm into the ladder to plank. Mike

Hi all, Just a few updates. The lower wings with the twin flying wire anchors are fitted. Also two 'plates' have been made from spare photo-etch and fitted to the wing roots. These plates may have been step plates or access covers to the rigging anchors. I've assembled the landing gear (wheels only test fitted), but its yet to be weathered etc. The 'bungee' suspension cord is EZ white (heavy) line and bracing wires added but not yet tightened. I've added between the front and rear struts the axle restraining cables, made from 0.4 mm annealed copper wire. Mike

Hi all, Well that's the pre-rigging of the anchor points done now. Mike

Hi all, An example of pre-rigging a twin flying wire anchor for the lower wing roots. A combination of 0.08 mm and 0.15 mm diameter mono-filament and 0.4 mm and 0.5 mm blackened brass tubes. All together there will be sixteen various types of hinged rigging anchors to pre-rig before the wings are fitted, Mike

Hi all, I've finally applied all of the required decals. Accurate cutting out of the decals is necessary for the wing coverings and alignment of edges is necessary. Slight overhang of dried decal was gently sanded away. Weather, although slight, was done using 'Flory Models' Dark Dirt fine clay wash, sealed with 'Alclad' Semi-Matte lacquer. Now it's onto fitting the photo-etch rigging anchors before pre-rigging is carried out. Mike

Hi all, Some modellers think photo-etch 'is your friend' :eek2: Here are the wing and strut rigging attachments plus the aileron control levers. All are photo-etch and with self-aligning 'hinged' anchor plates for attaching the rigging lines. Mike

Hi all, The basic fuselage is now complete, apart from the windscreen and flying wire anchor points. The final display will be the aircraft undergoing engine maintenance, so the engine front twin cowl panel will be removed. I’ve added the coolant/vent pipe from the rear of the radiator header tank, made from 0.5 mm tube. Two bracing lines were fitted between the forward fuselage cabane struts and an inverted tubular ‘V’ frame, which was attached to the insides of the fuselage and over the top of the engine camshaft. This was made from formed 0.8 mm diameter tube with ’GasPatch’ resin 1:48th anchor points. A tubular retaining frame was fitted over the inverted ‘V’ frame and attached to the inside of the fuselage sides. This was made from annealed 0.375 mm diameter copper wire. I’ve changed the aircraft serial number by replacing the number 3 with the number 5. The supplied decal for the particular aircraft is 16538. However is seems the only ‘Balilla’ aircraft serial numbers recorded for No:70a Squadriglia were 16550, 16555, 16556 and 16558. Therefore my assumption is that this aircraft serial number was probably 16558, not 16538. Also this aircraft had two light coloured bar markings on the left of the turtle decal, just behind the cockpit. The exact colour of these bands is not known or if they were repeated on the other side of the turtle deck. Now onto the undercarriage before starting on the wings and rigging preparation, Mike

Hi all, Just a quick update. The 'Aviattic' fuselage wood effect decals have circular access panels printed, but these look rather ‘flat’. Therefore to raise these panels and make them stand out more, I added extra decals. I'm now working my way through the fuselage photo-etch, Mike

Hi all, All fuselage decals have now been applied, including rib tapes for the fin and undersides of the tail plane and elevators. Now it's onto the various photo-etch details for the fuselage and weathering etc, Mike

Hi all, The 'Aviattic' supplied wood effect fuselage and tail unit decals have now been applied. Not too easily carried out as the decals need to be accurately cut out from their sheets as they're not 'cookie' cut. They've all been gloss coated as the next step is to apply the 'HGW Models' nail head decals. Then it'll be adding the remaining decals and all of the photo-etch details, Mike

Hi all, Dry fit for the engine and turtle deck, Mike

Hi all, Here's the completed 1:32nd scale Nieuport N.28C1, Serial No.6177, of the 95th Aero Squadron, 1st Pursuit Group, operating from Saints aerodrome, France, during 1918 and as flown by 1st Lt. Quentin Roosevelt. As usual I've uploaded a fully detailed build log on Gallery 3 on my site (link in signature). Forum build log here: Mike

Yeas it does look like it but its just the shot. I checked by standing it on its nose with an engineers square at each side and measuring the gaps between it and the fuselage sides. good observation though, Mike

Hi all, Just a few progress shots of the internals of the fuselage. There's still a lot to do yet. Control rods and some wiring, seat harness, machine guns, engine fit, oil tank, gun synchronisation gear etc. Also the final finish and weathering. Mike

Hi all, I've been working on the preparation of the fuselage internals. The fuselage is moulded as a single piece, so has to be worked through the available openings. The forward bulkhead frame needed to be reduce in width as the front of the fuselage was too wide to fit the photo-etch front frame. The supplied photo-etch sheet is, to say the least, comprehensive and highly detailed with many tiny components. Fortunately some parts are also supplied as resin, if you don't want the 'challenge' of building the photo-etch parts. Fortunately it's not necessary to build the aileron and additional flight controls, as both would be completely hidden under the pilot's seat and can't be seen. However the engine controls can be seen so need to be built. The throttle quadrant alone is made up of 15 separate pieces. This model is definitely not for the photo-etch faint hearted. Anyway, now it's on to the painting phase, Mike

Hi all, The web site at 'Aviattic' has a fully detailed build log (in Adobe PDF format) for the 'Balilla', which can be downloaded. It is extensive and details every part of the build. I have found a few moulded part numbers that don't match those in the build log, so these will corrected in my own build log. Section 1 covers the building of the S.P.A 6A engine, which I've now completed. Now onto the internals for the fuselage, which includes many minutely detailed photo-etch components, which will prove interesting to build, Mike

Hi all, I'm waiting for the display case to complete my model of the Nieuport 28C.1. Therefore I thought I'd start on a model that's been in my stash since it was first released. The resin model kit is one of the best made and presented 1:32nd scale WW1 aircraft kits around and is available from Richard at 'Aviattic'. This model will represent the Ansaldo A.1 ‘Balilla’, Serial No:16538 of pilot Tenente Leopoldo Eleuteri of No:70a Squadriglia, operating from Caccia, Padovano, during the October of 1918. He was the only pilot to shoot down one enemy aircraft whilst flying the 'Balilla'. 'Balilla' (little boy) was the nickname of Giovanni Battista Perasso, a Genoese boy who started the revolt of 1746 against the Habsburg forces that occupied the city in the War of the Austrian Succession. The legend is that while some Austrian soldiers were dragging an artillery piece along a muddy road in the Portoria neighbourhood of Genoa, the artillery piece got stuck in a moat. The soldiers forced onlookers and passers-by to dislodge it. Disgusted by the scene, Perasso allegedly grabbed a stone from the road and threw it at the Austrian patrol, calling on those around to join him. This act set in motion a sequence of events that eventually caused the Austrian garrison to be evicted from the city. Mike

Hi all, The pilot figure is finished and will be leaning against the aircraft, hence the pose. Brush painted using 'Tamiya' and 'AK Interactive' acrylics. Metal fittings 'Mr. Colour' Stainless Steel (213) and Brass (219). Dust and oil stain is 'Tamiya' Weathering Master Sets A and D. This will be my last post for this model as I'm awaiting delivery of the display case and propeller. Thanks to those who followed this build and for the encouraging comments. I'll post the completed photographs soon, Mike

Hi all, The Nieuport 28, like some other French built aircraft, had wood strip infills between the four pairs of flying wires. These infills were held in place between the wires by straps that wrapped around the wires and infills. To represent these wood infills I cut thin strips of 0.2 mm plastic card. These were covered with ‘Aviattic’ Wood Grain (ATT32235) decal, which was conformed around the plastic strips with 'Tamiya' X20A thinners. I cut a five lengths of ‘Bare-Metal’ Matte Aluminium foil of 0.5 mm width These were secured to the infill strip using thin CA adhesive (adhesive on foil backing didn't hold well). The infill strip was laid onto and between the flying wires and the foil strips pushed around the infill to hold it in position. Finally thin CA adhesive was 'flowed' along the flying wires to secure them against the infill strip. Mike