1:32nd scale Sopwith Dolphin

[KevinM]

Mike I see a lot of depictions of tires in a grey color did that go across the board to all nationalities?

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
Moving along now.
Upper wing halves and landing gear assembly are fitted. 
Rigging used is 0.5 mm diameter Nickel-Silver tube and 'RB Productions' 1/4 BSF streamline photo-etch wires.
In reality the flying, landing and incidence wires were 5/16 BSF size and the landing gear bracing 9/32 BSF.
However, I use the 1/4 BSF wires as that is what I had that was nearest is size.

Next up rigging:

Fin/tailplane bracing wire, which are 2BA size streamlined wire ('RB Productions') 
Aileron control wires, which are cable (monofilament) and 2BA size streamlined wire ('RB Productions') 
Elevator control cables, which are cable (monofilament) 
Rudder control cables, which are cable (monofilament)
Fuselage/upper wing drag wires, which are cable (monofilament) .

Mike

[Sasha As]

Great work!

[Clunkmeister]

On 11/9/2022 at 3:51 PM, sandbagger said:

Hi all,
Pre-shading is done prior to applying the decals.
Instead of masking and airbrushing the pre-shading, I've used the same technique used for other models of mine.
A white primer was airbrushed over the parts, which is required for applying the clear 'Aviattic' CDL and PC12 decals.
I then lightly polished across the raised detail using 'Flory Models' green sanding sticks.
I also pre-shaded areas such as wing, aileron and elevator trailing edges and added the wing underside internal bracing wires with a pencil. 
The wears away the white primer to expose the light grey colour of the styrene.
The only masking needed was for pre-shading the wing front and rear spars and the fuselage formers frames.
I polished between the applied masking strips.
Finally, I airbrushed several coats of 'Alclad' Aqua Gloss 600 clear coat over the parts as a base for the decals.

The polished-out pre-shading detail will show through the 'Aviattic' clear decals, more so for the CDL than the PC12 decals.

Mike 

This is brilliant!

And is now my new technique.  I assume you follow the lead application up with a gloss clear before applying the decals? I didn’t read that far ahead yet. 🤣

[sandbagger]

6 hours ago, Clunkmeister said:

This is brilliant!

And is now my new technique.  I assume you follow the lead application up with a gloss clear before applying the decals? I didn’t read that far ahead yet. 🤣

Yes - white prime over grey plastic, lightly polish to wear through to the darker grey, then gloss coat and decals.

It depends on the effect you're after, so different primer or base coat colours will give different effects through the clear backed 'Aviattic' decals.

The heavier coloured decals need a darker polish pre-shade to show through, whereas the lighter decals don't.

Mike

[DocRob]

28 minutes ago, sandbagger said:

Yes - white prime over grey plastic, lightly polish to wear through to the darker grey, then gloss coat and decals.

It depends on the effect you're after, so different primer or base coat colours will give different effects through the clear backed 'Aviattic' decals.

The heavier coloured decals need a darker polish pre-shade to show through, whereas the lighter decals don't.

I considered this technique too, as it is less tedious, then to mask all spars, then pre shade, ... . On my finished builds, I went the hard way, because I envisioned, the spars are prominent and should look highlighted, instead of darkened. On translucent linen, you could argue, that it's cast shadow, which looks darker, but with opaque surfaces, I don't know. On most planes of the time, there are enforcement strips applied, which might cast a slight shadow too.
I looked at many historical pictures and have to say, on some the risen spars look lighter and on some darker, hmm.
I might get persuaded to try the easier method for my next build, because the effect looks good in the end.

Cheers Rob

[Clunkmeister]

8 hours ago, sandbagger said:

Yes - white prime over grey plastic, lightly polish to wear through to the darker grey, then gloss coat and decals.

It depends on the effect you're after, so different primer or base coat colours will give different effects through the clear backed 'Aviattic' decals.

The heavier coloured decals need a darker polish pre-shade to show through, whereas the lighter decals don't.

Mike

That is great to know.  I had unintentionally done the same thing on one of my my WNW Felixstowe elevators several years back. The rib  capstrip nails showed through the undersurface CDL nicely and looked GREAT, so much so that I did the same thing on the undersurfaces of the rest of the flying surfaces. 
 

I took it on the chin with that one, though, as a lot of supposed “experts” decried it as unprototypical.  Maybe so, maybe not, but it is an interesting and extremely subtle effect, and really makes what are normally large, bland surfaces, really pop with life. 
(find me anyone who was alive and working on these, without using a crystal ball, and I’d give their opinions greater strength). 😀

But very nicely done, and I love the added effect of a soft pencil lead. Much more subtle than harsh paint. 

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
The rigging is finished.
Added:
Aileron control cable between the upper wing roots (0.12 mm diameter monofilament, 0.5 mm diameter tube and 'Gaspatch' 1:48th Type C turnbuckle).
Aileron control cables from wings to ailerons (0.08 mm diameter monofilament and 0.4 mm diameter tube).
Aileron streamlined interconnecting wire between ailerons ('RB Productions' 2BA wire).
Rudder and elevator control cables (0.12 mm diameter monofilament and 0.5 mm diameter tube).
Tailplane and fin bracing streamlined wires ('RB Productions' 2BA wire and 0.4 mm tube).
Fuselage to upper wings drag cables (0.08 mm and 0.12 mm diameter monofilament with 0.5 mm diameter tube and 'Gaspatch' 1:48th Type C turnbuckles).

Now it's onto the Lewis gun, 'Cooper' bombs and carrier, wheels, windscreen and Aldis gun sight,

Mike

[sandbagger]

On 11/19/2022 at 6:40 PM, KevinM said:

Mike I see a lot of depictions of tires in a grey color did that go across the board to all nationalities?

Hi Kevin,

Early war aircraft had natural rubber (laytex) tyres, which could be light grey, tan or darker grey coloured.

It varied between Nations and time frames, so I guess reference material for the particular time frame would show tyre shade and therefore colour, which could be seen on periods photographs as nearly white to dark grey (looks black).

I believe black coloured tyres with impregnated carbon were introduced after the WW1, as the carbon helped to earth static from the aircraft as the tyres touched down on landing.

 

Mike

[KevinM]

Thanks Mike I am doing a simple Dr1 to see if I want to dabble in bi-planes more in the future.

[sandbagger]

On 11/21/2022 at 8:50 PM, KevinM said:

Thanks Mike I am doing a simple Dr1 to see if I want to dabble in bi-planes more in the future.

Good choice as it only has limited external rigging:

Twin aileron control cables from the cockpit up to the underside of the upper wing.

Rudder and elevator control cables from the rear of the fuselage.

Landing gear cross bracing and wing aileron control cables.

 

Mike

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
Just the last few details done:

Single Lewis machine gun (as for No.79 Squadron).
20lb 'Cooper' bombs and carrier.
Tie down rings.
Wheels.
Top engine panel with windscreen.

Just the propeller, figures and the display case to finish,

Mike

 

 

[Clunkmeister]

Well executed and FLAWLESS as usual! 

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
The last work for the Sopwith Dolhin.
‘Kellerkind Miniaturen’ USAS pilot (54/090).
‘Kellerkind Miniaturen’ RFC Mechanic (54/073).
Tools from ‘Aber’ 1/35th scale hand tools (35 A68).
Painted with 'Tamiya' acrylics, 'Citadel' and 'Mr. Color enamels.

The model is complete, so I'll post up final photographs later today. 
Once again thanks for your support and comments,

Mike

[sandbagger]

Hi all,

Completed model shots now up on the 'WNW - Ready for Inspection' page,

 

Mike