Matt_ Posted December 11, 2013 Posted December 11, 2013 As I need to complete a WWI aircraft, this seems like a good way to maybe keep momentum up to a finish... There'll be a lot of firsts for me.. mainly centered on this being my first biplane. I was trying to get some practice on a Roden Albatros, but the engineering makes it quite hard, harder than a WNW kit, so I'll turn to this one. No idea which markings I'll go for yet, kit or maybe Pheon do a set...? Any advice or pointers from anyone who's done this kit already welcomed. Matt
Matt_ Posted December 18, 2013 Author Posted December 18, 2013 Just a short update to say that Richard from Aviattik has very kindly offered me a set of their new 4 colour upper and lower surface lozenge decals for this build. These are the faded version and can be seen here: http://www.aviattic.co.uk/aviattic.co.uk/1_32_%22LOZENGE%22.html Matt
Matt_ Posted December 29, 2013 Author Posted December 29, 2013 Ok, I've started. I wanted to do a couple of things I've not done before (apart from the whole WW1/biplane thing). One of these is to have a go at carving a real wood propeller. I've read a couple of 'how tos' and thought it was high time I bit the bullet. I already had a few sheets of veneer I bought for about £10 off of eBay. Waiting for various bits of the 109 to dry I thought I'd start today. I have 7 laminations, alternated dark/light. Put together with lashings of super glue - the wisdom being that the glue penetrates the wood and makes it 'plastic like' and easier to carve and more resistant to splitting/de-laminating... Put together and clamped for about half an hour. Then carve and sand away... Didn't photo the early stages as I got into it and went ahead on a bit of a roll. Here's where I'm at after a couple of hours of carving... Left side with some profile work done, right side I wanted to get ahead of myself and see the classic lamination pattern become visible... I've been using the WNW prop as a template and here they are side by side. As you can see mucho refinement to go, but the appearance is already quite pleasing. I think the hub areas is going to be hardest and it'll be interesting to see if the CA gives the wood enough strength to hold a thin leading and trailing ege..? So some progress at last... Matt 4
Administrators James H Posted December 29, 2013 Administrators Posted December 29, 2013 First WW1 build, and you're already carving your own props? You're beyond help Looking forward to seeing this one progress. Chosen a scheme yet? 1
Administrators Fran Posted December 30, 2013 Administrators Posted December 30, 2013 great start! I`m with Jim... you`re beyond help!!! Great looking prop!
JonathanReed Posted December 30, 2013 Posted December 30, 2013 Woot! Nice work! I love this place. Yall just go after it and have the talent to back it all up! Nice Job!
Matt_ Posted December 30, 2013 Author Posted December 30, 2013 Thanks chaps... James, at the moment I'm erring towards option E in the kit, Jasta 23b machine, because it's half wood and half painted - and I'll go with the theory that the front painted area is red with white trim (unless there's new info which indicates otherwise). Doing the prop doesn't, at the moment, feel like it's difficult to do. I suspect it'll get harder the closer to finishing I get as a slip of the file/knife/sanding paper could spell disaster... . Matt
Matt_ Posted December 31, 2013 Author Posted December 31, 2013 A few more hours today sanding away.... The edges are getting quite thin and holding up well. As I suspected, the boss is going to be the hardest bit to get looking correct. I filled the hole in the centre (CA glued cocktail stick) as it was off centre and putting me off... It's still overall too 'beefy' and needs one more session I think to get max finesse... Cut the attachment plate from the WNW part and see how it looks.... As it's wood I suppose it needs varnishing..... My advice to anyone would be to have a go at this. Never done this sort of thing prior to this and I reckon this'll be a usable prop (maybe not 100% spot on and maybe ever so slightly asymmetrical - but hey.. it looks cool)... It has been, for me at least, very relaxing and satisfying work.... Maybe some spoked wheels next... then again, maybe not.... Just realised... this plane has a spinner, so the hub being ever so slightly skew whiff won't be an issue if I can't perfect it . By the way, here's WNW's artwork of the machine I'm most likely doing. I shall however opt for a red band Matt 1
coolboxx Posted December 31, 2013 Posted December 31, 2013 Wow Matt really like that prop well done 1
Matt_ Posted January 11, 2014 Author Posted January 11, 2014 OK, I'm calling the prop finished - well just one more coat of Future after a polish with 12000 micromesh when the stuff's fully cured. It isn't totally accurate, the lamination and pattern don't totally match the machine I'm modelling but.. I really like the look of it. Got the 'Wotan' decal on.... Didn't feel the need to do too much to the hub as it won't be seen..... I do have a question. What does anyone think about tinting the last coat of Future with some orange/brown? I don't know if it would make the thing more realistic? Maybe the prop decal decal needs a little toning down as well.. I also suspect the high gloss imparted by the Future isn't realistic... maybe a more satin sheen... Any thoughts appreciated. Now all I've got to do is build a Roland around this... Matt 3
GUY5Y Posted January 12, 2014 Posted January 12, 2014 Matt,your last comment made me laugh! May this site continue to mix expertise and humour.BTW,great prop. 1
Matt_ Posted July 20, 2014 Author Posted July 20, 2014 Guy Well... bit of a fail on everything behind the propeller... I think I need to add 'completion skills' to my store of expertise and humour... I wonder if one of the mods can move this thread over into the general WIP as I shall be returning to this in a while... Matt
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