sandbagger

Hi all, The lower wings are fitted now. Given the wings are pinned into the fuselage at the trailing edge, but only supported at the leading edge by the front spar bracing bar 'resting' on the underside of the fuselage, it leaves the wings liable (with handling) to break free at the front and pivot down on the rear support pins. There didn't appear to be any additional bracing bar support fitted to the actual aircraft, so with 'poetic license' I've added 'U' tube supports over the bar (at the outer ends) and secured them into the fuselage underside. They should provide extra support for the wings and prevent 'break away' until the upper wing is finally fitted, Mike

Hi all, I spotted that the upper surfaces of the lower wings, at the forward wing root area, had protective ‘walkways’ fitted, presumably to protect the wing surfaces from being damaged whilst the engine area was being worked on by ground crew (too far forward for pilot’s access). As no details of this could be found, I’ve assumed this was possibly reinforced plywood fitted under the lozenge linen wing covering or a thin metal design and fitted over the lozenge linen covering of the wings. I decided, more for aesthetics, that I'd use metal mesh from 'RB Productions', which was cut to share and secured in position using thin CA adhesive. They were then weathered using 'Flory Models' Dark Dirt and Grime clay washes and then dusted with pigments. Mike

Hi all, The tail unit is now rigged with cross bracing cables and rudder and elevator control lines. A combination of 0.12 mm and 0.08 mm mono-filament with either 0.4 mm or 0.5 mm diameter Nickel-Silver tube and 'Gaspatch' metal 1:48th scale turnbuckles (Types A and C). Mike

Hi all, I've applied the 'Flory Models' Dark Dirt clay wash to give a 'subtle' grimy look - I added a few drops of washing up liquid to break the surface tension of the wash to help it spread more over the model. The wash wash applied by brush. Once the required amount was wiped away with a very slightly damp tissue and brush, I sealed it all with 'Alclad' Semi-Matte (ALC-312) lacquer. I've also prepared the rigging and control lines. The next step is to install the pre-rigged lines and fit the wings, so as to be able to complete the rigging. Mike

Hi all, Just a few minor additions. The upper wing was cross braced from the top of the rear cabane struts to the bottom of the opposite rear cabane struts. These are not detailed in the kit. I've drilled holes for adding the cross bracing through the cockpit front decking later in the build. The 'ProperPlane' Knoller-Jaray propeller has a 2.0 mm diameter tube added for mounting into the fuselage. The small pipe on the top of the radiator condenser assembly has also been added, using 0.4 mm diameter Nickel-Silver tube. Now it's onto weathering with clay wash, pre-rigging the wings and fitting them, which I know already will give me problems with alignment!! Mike

Hi all, I've now added all of the necessary photo-etch parts to the fuselage and lower wing halves. Also the main undercarriage, a windscreen (which wasn't supplied in the kit) and a flare pistol and cartridge rack (not supplied in the kit, but often carried on this aircraft). The whole lot has been sealed with a semi-matte lacquer, ready for a 'Flory Models' clay weathering wash. I've still got to add a small pipe to the radiator condenser assembly and two cross bracing cable at the rear of the engine bay. These will be attached to the underside of the upper wing centre section. Also the propeller shaft access hole. Then it's onto pre-rigging and fitting the wings Mike

Hi all, The tail skid was mounted on a forked swivel fitted into the bottom of a 3-ply wood covered streamlined fairing. This allowed the tail skid to pivot up and down as well as swivel. The type of suspension for the tail skid consisted of double sprung rings, the ends of which were looped over extended support bars located on the bottom edge of the fuselage. The other end of the rings were attached to the forward end of the tail skid. This was done using ‘ANYZ’ Black braided line 0.5 mm diameter (AN011), Mike

Hi all, The tail unit is coming together now with added photo-etch and rigging points. I've still to add the tail skid bungee suspension and later, the bracing rigging, Mike

Hi Phil, The underside CDL is 'Aviattic' decals, pre and post shaded with thinned 'Tamiya' Smoke (X19). The Lozenge is the decals from 'HPH Models', but to be honest they were a real pain to apply. These were also pre and post shaded as before. Mike

Hi all, Thanks for your encouraging comments. The radiator grill, which is photo-etch, was annealed to allow it to be bent around an appropriate former to shape it to the front of the fuselage. Annealing also creates the 'heated' look of a radiator. It was then secured in position using thin CA adhesive under the edges only, otherwise the adhesive would seep under the grill and block the cooling holes, Mike.

Hi all, All of the decals have now been applied. Also I've added some post-shading, although there's still final weathering and sealing coat to be applied. Now it's onto the myriad of photo-etch parts for the fuselage, Mike

Hi all, The remaining Lozenge decals applied, Mike

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