sandbagger

Hi all, The Aviatik 'Berg' D.1 was an aircraft that had many and varied camouflage schemes that were applied. They ranged from plain varnished wood to streaking, sponged colours, solid colours joined by zig-zag borders and lozenge. The Austro-Hungarian applied lozenge was much larger than the German equivalent and was either uniform shaped hexagons or 'squashed' hexagons. This particular aircraft was manufactured by the 'Aviatik' Company, so had their standard uniform sized hexagon lozenge. The decals supplied in the kit are not the best and have thicker than normal backing sheets. Also they are not 'cookie cut' and need to be accurately cut out from the backing sheets. They are thin and care is needed when applying them as they are easily torn. I've primed the surfaces with white as this brings out the colours more accurately. 'Tamiya' Smoke was used (thinned 50/50 with X20a) to apply slight pre-shading before the decals were applied. Here's the lower left wing as an example. Post weathering will be applied later in the build. Mike

Primed with AK Interactive white (AK759), then surfaces cleared of dust and imperfections by polishing. Airbrushed with gloss coat, then re-polished as necessary. Finally cut and applied PC and CDL linen effect decals from 'Aviattic'. Mike

Hi all, Just a couple of updates. The fuel filler cap access panel has now been added and is 'dished' into the decking panel, as can be seen in the photo in the previous post. Also the model had a pre-moulded circular access panel on the left side of the rear decking panel. As I can't find any evidence that it existed on this aircraft, I've assumed it was supposed to represent the fuel filler cap access panel. If so it was the wrong shape and size and on the wrong side of the decking panel. I've removed it. If I'm wrong it can easily be re-instated. I've built the wood trestles and beaching trolley, although they need to be cleaned, stained etc and have the photo-etch parts added. I'm off for a two week break tomorrow so no more updates until I get back, Mike

Hi all, Not represented in the kit is the fuel filler for the tank. The initial versions of this aircraft were based on the Lohner T.1, which had an oval fuel tank, connected by a filler tube to a filler cap on the decking panel. However the production Macchi M.5 had a cylindrical fuel tank. Drawings of this aircraft don't show a filler tube to the decking panel. Photographs instead show what seems to be a cover plate over an aperture in the decking panel. My assumption is that when this cover plate was removed, it gave access to the filler cap located on the tank itself. Mike

Hi all, I thought I'd take a short break from the resin model and start on the 'easy' job of constructing the 'laser cut' wood trestles and beaching trolley. Hmmmmm - most of the parts have not been laser cut through, just scorched the surface. So these will need to be cut out manually and some parts are quite thick, Mike

Hi all,, Just a few updates for the Macchi. Engine support bearers with added photo-etch bearer plates (kit part), cross bracing anchors (Gaspatch) and added nuts (RB Motion). Also drilled out three lightening holes into the resin top struts and 'opened up' the fasteners around the engine cowls and the nail heads on the top of the forward fuselage. The kit now supplies alternative wing floats but no support struts, so these were made from soft soldered 0.7 mm diameter brass tube. I've also added all of the rigging points around the aircraft. Now it's onto scribbing in the wood panel lines onto the fuselage,, Mike

Hi all, A little more progress. The ailerons have been rounded off at the leading edges and pinned to the upper wing for animation. The fuselage support fairing for the tail plane/elevator/fin and rudder has been hollowed out to allow the elevator controls to be fitted from inside the fairing. I've replaced the elevator control horns, which seemed over scale, with two from a 'Parts' 1:48th scale set. The cockpit area and ports in the decking have been opened up, Mike

Hi all, I've 'fettled' the basic tail unit. Fuselage support fairing re-profiled and drilled. Tail plane drilled. Fin re-profiled and pinned. Rudder pinned. Elevator halves pinned. Rudder control line exit holes in fuselage drilled. Support fairing aperture opened up for elevator controls. Rear fuselage notched for rudder post. Rudder post added to rudder. Photo-etch rudder control horn added. Assembly all test fitted. Just elevator control horns then its on to the cockpit end, Mike

Hi all, My research is throwing up more apparent anomalies - this time with the flight controls. The kit instructions show both the rudder and elevator control 'cables' exiting from an open aperture in the fuselage support fairing for the tail plane and fin/rudder assembly. These cables are attached to the rudder control horns at the base of the rudder itself and to control horns only under the elevator halves. However it seems that: The rudder cables exited the fuselage at the base of the support fairing and were routed back to the rudder control horns, which were in fact attached the rudder post and below the rudder assembly. The elevator 'cables' it seems were more likely to be a push/pull rod which was connected to the elevator control horns only under the elevator halves. This method of control would only require control horns on one side of the elevator as it was a push or pull control. Finally the model does not have aileron control cable exit openings in the rear decking behind the pilot, from where the cables were routed up and into the underside of the upper wing. As an aside the model does not have the filler cap for the fuel tank, which should be located at the right side at the top of the rear decking panel. This is all detailed, with illustrations etc, in the PDF build log I'm compiling as I go along. However before I sort that lot out I need to 'fettle' the tail unit as the there are a few issues to be corrected there as well, Mike

Hi all, I've removed all of the major parts from their resin backing sheets or blocks and cleaned away any residue and flash. The fuselage fin support is moulded with a slight curve on the top edge, which needed to be flattened. There were no substantial 'blow holes' on any of the parts, but there were a few rough spots, especially under the rear of the fuselage. It looked like it had been filed to remove resin? The main problem to sort was that the various struts have steel reinforcing struts moulded inside, which should protrude from the ends of each strut for location into the model. However most struts had at least one that only protruded from one end. I had to drill a 0.5 mm diameter hole into the end of the strut, where I thought the pin should have exited. Once the end of the pin was seen I carefully twisted and pushed the pin up through the strut until it protruded from the end. Tricky as you know how brittle resin can be when stressed - however it worked. The next step is to 'open up' the cockpit and two forward ports in the top of the fuselage, which by the way is moulded mostly as a solid piece so is pretty heavy!! Mike

Hi all, Normally I never work more than one model at a time, but I'm waiting for decals to arrive for my 'Aviatik 'Berg' D.1 build. Therefore I thought I'd make a start on another 1:32 scale 'HPH Models' resin kit. This is the Italian 'Macchi M-5 single seat float plane fighter. I know already there may be some areas of this model that will need some attention, so we'll see how this one goes, Mike

Hi All, The 'Aviattic' CDL decals have been applied to the under surfaces. Weathering still needs to be applied, Mike

Hi all, Austro-Hungarion pilot completed Mike

Hi all, Things are progressing slowly right now until I receive some decals I need. I've applied small serial number decals to the struts and fuselage and painted the condenser assembly on the forward, top fuselage. The fuselage underside has had wood decals (HGW Models) applied. Very thin and fragile!! Weathering and joint seams yet to be applied. Tail skid painted and under surfaces pre-shaded and prepared for CDL decals. In the meantime I'll crack on painting the figure, Mike

Hi all, On the top of the fuselage and to the rear of the radiator is a condensation matrix for cooling radiator steam back to liquid and returning it back into the cooling system through a pipe connected to the rear of the assembly. Apparently this avoided a build up of steam pressure being lost through the filler cap and losing coolant. Anyway I wasn't happy with the resin one piece part in the kit. I felt it was too large at the base and anyway the top was slightly off centre with the bottom. Also the kit doesn't appear to have the 90 degree pipe at the back of the assembly. So I cut the part in two, re-shaped the base, connected them with brass tube and added the rear pipe using annealed 0.8 mm brass rod. Strangely the photo-etch in the kit supplies only one 'matrix' disc for the condensation matrix, which presumably like a radiator, would have the matrix from front to rear? I used the photo-etch from the front of the matrix (as that will be more visible) and drilled 0.3 mm diameter holes in the rear face to replicate the matrix, Mike

Hi all, I've been working on preparing the wings, fin/rudder, ailerons, tail planes, elevators and their associated support struts. The struts should, I think, have steel reinforcing pins moulded through them, but I found the 'Z' shaped cabane struts had ends without pins. Also the fuselage indents for locating these struts had no locating hole. The single piece fin and rudder had no locations for attaching it to the fuselage and neither did the tail planes. The separate ailerons and elevators also has no locating pins/holes. Therefore I added support pins of 0.6 mm diameter for the wing struts and ailerons and 0.4 mm diameter pins to locate the fin/rudder, elevators and tail planes. Mike

Hi all, The undercarriage assembly is completed. Struts modified by removing the pre-moulded axle ends and bungee suspension cords. Cross bracing anchors points added to the bottom front of the forward undercarriage struts. Axle secured to the undercarriage struts and 0.4 mm diameter lead wire used to replicate the bungee cord suspension. Bracing bar in kit replaced (too short) with 0.9 mm diameter brass tube, Mike

Hi all, The supplied undercarriage struts have solid axle ends solid with bungee suspension cords include. However the axle fairing has a solid steel rod moulded into the fairing, which can't be fitted into the struts without drilling out the moulded axle ends. Even if possible, it would leave the weight of the model on the flimsy resin suspension cords, which I don't think would take the weight. Instead I've removed the moulded axle ends and bungee cords to allow the rod in the axle fairing to locate onto the struts. I've yet to create the bungee suspension cords from wire. I also replaced the kit supplied bracing bar with 0.9 mm diameter tube, as the kit part was too short, Mike

Hi all, Before starting on the undercarriage changes, the lower wing need to be prepared. The front spars of the lower wings were connected by a steel bar, which was located on the bottom surface of the fuselage. As such the leading edges of the lower wings sat slightly below the fuselage. This is different from most aircraft of the time where the lower wing front spars were integral to the fuselage construction. To locate the lower wings to the fuselage, 1.0 mm diameter holes needed to be drilled into the wing roots and one hole each side of the fuselage. Metal rods were inserted into holes in the wing roots. When test fitted, the wing root rear rods insert into the fuselage holes and the longer front rod against the underside of the fuselage. Mike

Hi all, Well, starting on the tail unit there are a few areas that needed to be addressed: The 'Berg' had pronounced 'wash-out' (upward flare) at the outer trailing edge of the ailerons. Although it looks as though this was attempted in the kit parts, the 'wash-out' was nowhere pronounced enough. This required careful bending after heat soaking in hot water (boiled). The combined fin and rudder had a few areas that I felt needed to be re-profiled after comparing the kit part to drawings in several notable publications. The tail planes and elevators, when laid together with the rib tapes aligned were found to be off-set to each other. I also felt these parts needed re-profiling. Mike

Hi all, The basic fuselage is now completed, with the addition of the blast tubes for the two 'Schwarzlose' machine guns, crash pads and top rear engine pipe. I also added lead wire to represent the pipes/wires connected at the back of the instrument panel, although its virtually impossible to see them and worse once the upper wing is fitted. There's a lot of photo-etch detail to be added to the fuselage and another engine pipe, but those will be left until later in the build to prevent the getting damaged, Now it's time to move onto the wings and tail unit, Mike

Hi all. I forgot to take shots of the internal fuselage before closing it up. I still have a few bits to do - windows in the front decking, rear cabane cross bracing, top rear engine pipe, blast tubes for the machine guns and crash padding on the breech blocks. Also seam filling and checks, Mike

Hi all, I've been hammering away at the fuselage internal details. Everything is fitted to the right side of the fuselage with regular testing for the fit of the left side. Included are control lines, trigger cables, control rods to the engine etc. I still have some bits to do, like the two machine guns and final weather etc, but I'm getting there, Mike

Hi all, Contrary to the models instruction manual, I'm making a start on some of the internal fuselage details, as I need to see how the completed engine sits in the nose. The reason being I want to cut out the engine access panels from the one piece fuselage halves, so more of the engine can be exposed. After removing the various parts from their resin backing and base blocks, I spent a few hours cutting and sanding away the residue resin, which is normal for resin kits, Mike

Hi all, The engine is now completed. I've added the ignition leads and spark plugs, timing mechanism, oil filler caps, water pump and coolant pipe, vale levers and springs and carburettor lever. I've also made the exhaust pipes from 1.8 mm diameter brass tube mounted onto 1.4 mm tube - the kit items had 'solid' bores. Test fitted into its mounting frames. Mike