GazzaS

Great job, Rob! Nicely rigged for 1/48, too. Love those shorts! So, did the pattern on the benches prevent graffiti? Gaz

Fortunately my wife isn't bothered by my stash. You know what she'll get me for Christmas? Every model I put in my wish list that is carried by BNA. What am I getting her.... something expensive!

The only rigging between the wings is the aileron controls. They don't even have to be super tight as you will be able to see, on some period photos, is a little slack in them. There are two lines for the LG, six, very short lines for the tail, and four very short lines at the ailerons. Because the lines were so short for the tail and outer aileron I used EZ line. There's not much room for heat shrinking there. As far as strength goes.... it' the first biplane model I've ever turned over on it's back without having to worry about the upper wing detaching.

Really... they are great kits. But the decals will only last so long. I know...I know... Aviatic...blah, blah... In if you repacked the box wrong...stuffed in some literature, or some other AM... you can actually warp and break struts... that's part of why ruining the first kit didn't bother me too much. The second hand kit I'd bought had a ruined tripod strut. The tripod strut is the main weight bearer of the upper wing. But the previous owner had stuffed in a photocopy he'd made of a Windsock Data File. The end result was that one leg of the tripod strut was broke clean through, and the other two legs of the tripod were seriously warped. I hope you all get all of yours built before....

Thank you... I do have some HGW belts... alas I threw away the excess from a previous packet only a few weeks ago.

I need to make a 1/48 parachute. It doesn't have to be too perfect as it'll be sitting on a tailplane. I can use milliput for the body of the parachute. What would you use for the strapping? TIA Gaz

I wonder how many modellers die before they complete half of their WNW stashes. Really.... It's only a model. On Facebook I see tons of guys who are waiting to build their first WNW kit once their skills improve enough. Granted... I wasted one. But you guys can profit from my error....

The cowlings are the easy part. UNLESS you have the frame wrong! That's what I'm trying to impart here. That flimsy, fragile, delicate-as-a-butterfly frame is the entire key to brilliant success, or abject failure with this kit. That's why I had to resort to fitting everything while wet. Hell, I don't think the frame assembly is even glued in place on mine. Once it's in there, it won't move. I think you can almost slide it out, but don't hold me to that. Leaving the motor out, and the frame in, dry fit your lower wing. It won't go anywhere. Then you can dry fit the engine and the forward-most cowl piece (and radiator) and see if you're sitting pretty or not.

Maybe everyone is still asleep.... only 6am here.... Only been awake an hour and a half myself. I think I wrote you on the trouble I had with mine. I had followed the kit instructions and built the inner frame with seat, MG ammo containers, fuel cell and engine as a solid unit and let dry overnight. I ensured there was no paint between the parts... that's the warning commonly given. But I made a different error. The frame wasn't perfectly square. So, when I dry fitted the lower wing, it was immediately apparent that the forward fuselage was canted off to starboard. I tried to gently persuade it straight... but the frame crumbled like an eggshell. I ruined the entire kit. All of the wing and landing gear struts attach to that frame, so it's crucial that it's square. Otherwise, nothing fits. So, on the second one, I left the engine off, and assembled the frame, seat, MG ammo cans and fuel cell and put it between the fuselage halves while the glue was still wet. Then I dry fitted the wing, added the engine and cowl pieces before the glue had totally set anywhere. Much more difficult than your standard left-half and right-half construction. The bonus is, that you only have to fill the short dorsal seam behind the cockpit. The aft ventral seam is covered by stitching, and there are no longitudinal seams forward of the cockpit.

Thank you! Weathering the tracks was a whole new deal for me. Again, something which I want to expand upon in the future. I made some 'textured mud' with model paste and cheap tube acrylic paints which I stippled on with various brushes depending on the space I needed to fill. Photos from the Bundeswehr tank training areas show a lot of yellow mud. I keep a lot of old grotty brushes way past their freshness date for various purposes. (or I'm a tightwad...lol) One of my main concerns is getting away from pigments, because they are easily wiped away, and often change colors if hit with a clear coat. I've considered that every new technique either creates more work, obliterates a previous layer, or shows me that I wasted money on older techniques. Gaz

Well... I tell ya... I hate the 737. Little mf'n tin can.

I like the look of the wood. I wish my deck looked that good!

It's on the back of a German wartime photograph, Hubert.

Silly question I know. Is this script still in usage? I can't read this well enough to type it into Google Translate. I look at any old German document and all of the handwriting is completely lost to me. So.... do they?

I went to the MBK site, registered and even got to the last page of checkout. All I was gonna buy was two D.VII's. But it was fricking expensive. Almost $400 AU for two kits that I don't even have a scheme in my head for. I'm more of an Albatros (two in the stash) and Pfalz D.III (none in the stash) guy anyway. ....and I have at least 5 years of stash to play with. I hope the molds show up elsewhere. I just can't justify that kind of money for two small kits. Call me cheap. I do have a little WNW trade bait. But I'd rather build it than sell it. Gaz

Thank you, Martin. It's the result of an experimental technique tried for the first time that I want to expand upon in the future.

My condolences on your loss, Brad.

Thanks again for your effort. That's the right gun... But I have one of those I can use. The mount is the crucial piece. I may scratch one some day. Bothers me that I still can't figure out what happened to them.

Thanks mate, I appreciate the effort!

Haha... not under the influence... I save beer bottle caps for holding CA or white glue. The lighter is for burning CA off of my CA applicator. The wooden stick holds my CA applicator. Alcohol gives me heart palpitations so I can;t drink and build at the same time. But yeah... I wish I could.

Thank you!!

Thank God I'm in QLD. When they say Melbourne, does that count all the suburbs, too?

This is a great build, and interesting for all kinds of reasons.

Wow, that muck wash really worked. Great job! I bought some and tried it... it wasn't the same brand used by everybody else... and I wasn't happy with the result. It made the plane too dirty.

All you need is this and a few good swings: