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Hi all, Landing gear fitted. Bracing wires are 0.12 mm diameter mono-filament with 1:48th scale 'GasPatch' turnbuckles. Rigging tubes are 0.4 mm and 0.5 mm diameter blackened brass. Weathering is 'Flory Models' pigment and 'Tamiya' Weathering Master Set A (Mud). Now onto the propeller, Mike

Hi all, The flying and landing wire inserts are finished - brush painted 'Tamiya' Sky Grey (XF19) and dusted with Earth pigments. The ailerons are fitted and at the correct angles to match the control column position. Aileron control rods fitted to the the operating levers in the upper wing, which again are at the correct angles to match the ailerons. Windscreen fitted. I discarded the supplied acetate transparencies and used 'Microscale' Krystal Clear solution (basically refined PVA adhesive). I also noticed many 'Balilla's' were fitted with a forward facing pipe in the fuel tank in the upper wing, so that's been fitted also. So now it's onto the last two jobs - landing gear and propeller, Mike

Hi all, After experimenting with thin plastic card, decal, card, metal foil etc, I finally decided on this approach to represent the full length inserts between twin flying and landing wires. Basically I used kitchen baking parchment paper. The reasons being it's very thin and is easily positioned and secured to the rigging lines using PVA adhesive, which also gives you time to reposition if necessary. With the model fully rigged and the lines as taut: Strips of baking parchment paper were cut to length and width (span) of the twin rigging wires. PVA adhesive was brushed onto the rigging wires and one face of the strip. The strip was laid onto the rigging wires and positioned to span and align with the wires. More PVA adhesive was brushed over both sides of the applied strip and lines. The thin paper self-grips onto the wires and adhesive. The PVA adhesive not only secures the 'inserts' in position, but also seals the paper, ready for painting. This method gives a smoother and flatter surface than other methods I tried. The shots below show the strips that still need painting etc to finish them off The next step will be to brush paint the rigging with the appropriate and thinned acrylic paint. Lastly will be to apply thin white decal strips to represent the wrapping bands around the lines. Having spent three day on this, I'm hoping the end result justifies the time spent - we'll see, Mike

Hi all, Just a quick note to say I've re-rigged the forward flying and landing wires as I'm trying something easier and quicker to add these infills strips. Although my previous method worked on the Nieuport 28C.1, I had problems on this 'Balilla'. I think it's because the twin wires on the 'Balilla' are longer and wider apart. That and the curl on the cut plastic card strips made it extremely difficult to hold in place and secure. I'll post on the revised method once I've moved on with it, Mike

Hi all, My last model was the Nieuport 28C.1, which has twin flying wires fitted with full length inserts. On that model I was able to represent the inserts strips between the flying wires with plastic card strips, decaled and secured between the pairs of wires. However on this build, the length and spread of the flying and landing wires meant that I wasn't able to hold the strips in position, as the lines were too flexible. Therefore I'm cutting the full length insert strips, cut from 0.2 mm thick plastic card, in half and using 1.0 mm wide strips of kitchen baking foil to suspend the insert on the wires. In this way I'm able to pinch the suspended insert between the two wires (using flat ended tweezers) and apply thin CA adhesive to track along and secure it between the wires. The foil strips are then folded around the wires/insert and secured in position using the CA adhesive, as these will be the base for the linen wrappings. Later I'll paint the foil strips to blend with the inserts then use thin white decal strips over the foils to represent the linen wrappings. I think this is going to take a while as there are 16 half insert strips to fit, Mike

Hi all, The tail unit is rigged now. Twin bracing wires, rudder control line and elevator hinges. Also added the 'metal' retaining strap at the rear of the fuselage at the tail plane leading edge, Mike

Hi all, I've now fully rigged the wings. This includes 'twin' flying and landing wires, cabane and interplane incidence wires and two bracing wires from the upper wing into the engine bay. The only wires not fully connected are the two drift wires from the rear spar of the upper wing. To avoid damaging them, they will be connected to the radiator area later in the build. For the same reason, the moveable aileron control levers in the upper wing will be connected to their control rods later in the build. Now it's onto completing the tail unit before tackling the inserts between the flying and landing wires, Mike

Hi all, There were two fuel lines between the fuel tank in the upper wing and the engine bay. Some ‘Balilla’ aircraft had these fuel pipes exposed, however, this particular aircraft being modelled had the fuel pipes covered with a fairing. This was made from 1.0 mm thick plastic card, cut and shaped to fit between the underside of the upper wing and engine cowl. The edges were rounded and indications of fasteners added. It was then covered with the 'Aviattic' CDL decal and secured in position under the fuel tank in the upper wing. Mike

Hi all, When I test fitted the propeller to the model, it seemed to me that the propeller looked as though its diameter was a bit small. When I scaled a photograph of the model and its propeller to the illustration in the data file, it seemed to bear this out. Also photographs of the aircraft indicate that the propeller tips were more or less aligned with the landing gear axle (propeller vertical). Anyway right or wrong, I decide to modify the propeller. I cut off the two blades, then used 1.0 mm diameter rod to re-join them to the hub, but with a gap in each. This gap was filled with 'Green Stuff' putty and once cured, filed and sanded to restore the blades profiles. The overlay below shows the difference before and after modification, Mike

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