Peterpools Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 Thanks Rob I can see some of the effect and also now have a better understanding of what your achieved. Looks so good. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted April 6 Author Share Posted April 6 22 hours ago, Peterpools said: I can see some of the effect and also now have a better understanding of what your achieved. Looks so good. Today, I added some multi color sponge ´chipping´ onto the non lozenged areas. I considered brown Flory clay wash, but decided against, as there are not many panel lines or similar on the fuselage. Then the bat got wheels - Does it make it a Batmobile? The undercarriage is very robust luckily and I added the first rigging through the beforehand glued in eyebolts. I used Infini flexible thread here, which was great to work with, elastic and therefore easy to tauten, but stiff enough to fiddle through the aluminum tubes, even for the second time. On with the wheels, wich are luckily included in two versions, weighted and normal. I chose the weighted ones for the heavy bird. Hard to imagine landing this huge bat on an improved airfield with four wheels the size of my mountainbike´s. Cheers Rob 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 Rob Way to go .. looking mighty good and you're on a role now. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinnfb Posted April 7 Share Posted April 7 Those wheels look rubbery, nice detailing all around. Cheers Martin 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted April 9 Author Share Posted April 9 The beast got teeth, literally I mean. After installing the bomb racks, I added the bomb load. Again, I used CA to glue the parts in place, which I prefer with painted parts. There is less risk of damaging the paint and applied with a tooth pick, it´s a very fine method. I will add some holding belts later, which I will make from fine Kabuki strips. The tailskid fits into a massive part inside the fuselage, but lasts only on a tiny plastic peg on the rear end. As this was damaged while handling the AEG, I replaced it with a 1mm brass rod for some extra strength. The fuselage window was very dirty from the inside, possibly due to lacquer fumes, but I could reach the inside from above and clean the panes I removed the masks from the cockpit openings and painted the paddings with oil colors and matte medium thinner. I used a dark brown base color, which I darkened for crevices and shadows with dark blue and lightened with some vanilla yellow for highlighting. I really like oil colors for replicating leather, you get great coverage, easy modulation and about the right shine. Cheers Rob 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 Rob Amazing progress and the "teeth' look perfect in place. Thanks for the tip on using oils for leather and I'm going to give it a try at the next opportunity. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted April 10 Author Share Posted April 10 11 hours ago, Peterpools said: Amazing progress and the "teeth' look perfect in place. Thanks for the tip on using oils for leather and I'm going to give it a try at the next opportunity. You´ll love the oil colors, Peter. They are perfect for replicating wood or leather as they cover well, blend perfectly and can be applied without leaving brushstrokes. The downside is the long drying time, but that can be reduced with fast drying thinner. There is also a matte thinner, which reduces the shine a bit, so you can play a bit with the reflectivity of materials. For weathering, you can use the oil dot technique which allows for easy controllable tinted, irregular effects on painted surfaces. Lastly you can make your own washes and panel liners with oils, which are great to use and very controllable. Cheers Rob 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 Thanks Rob I've already bought four tubes of oils and am planning on buying a small set and giving then a good try. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinnfb Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 This picture came to mind while following your progress Rob. fine work as always. Cheers Martin 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landlubber Mike Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 Wow Rob, this is looking spectacular! And you're moving really quickly through the build. You'll be done soon at this rate, minus the four miles of rigging this one takes 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 The leather effect is eye watering good! It looks like the real deal. Thats really impressive. Jeff 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted April 11 Author Share Posted April 11 15 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said: Wow Rob, this is looking spectacular! And you're moving really quickly through the build. You'll be done soon at this rate, minus the four miles of rigging this one takes Thank you Mike, the build is not that difficult, in general pretty forward, due to great fit and engineering. Decaling took a lot of time and rigging of the nacelles will become a bit nasty. Rigging the wings will be not so hard, I hope, there is relatively large space between the wings and like many German birds, rigging is not over complicated. Cheers Rob 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted April 11 Author Share Posted April 11 13 hours ago, Jeff said: The leather effect is eye watering good! It looks like the real deal. Thats really impressive. Thank you Jeff, oils are just the best to replicate leather, it looks real almost instantly. Cheers Rob 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted April 12 Author Share Posted April 12 Today, I reached one important milestone with the huge bat. After painting the internal MG, I installed it into the fuselage, because this area will be harder to reach, when the wings are on. Then, I installed the nacelle struts, which received eyelets before for the nacelles rigging. Before adding the engine nacelles itself, I finished the rigging between the fuselage and the struts, a hard to reach area, after the engines are in place. I used Infini elastic rigging thread and tiny aluminum tubes for the rigging and tried successfully not to break the struts while rigging. Lastly, I added the engine nacelles itself and the radiator and engine steering axles. It was a nerve wrecking task and not all went completely satisfactory. The starbord engine isn´t perfectly upright, but there was no way to correct it without a lot of fuss. Cheers Rob 8 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landlubber Mike Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 Those engines look amazing, especially with the AM exhausts. Great job! 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 Rob WOW, awesome progress and the spending time enjoying your images, the detail and weathering is brilliant. No question a very delicate and skillful hand is needed to maintain your level of craftsmanship throughout the build. Looking mighty good. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belugawhaleman Posted April 14 Share Posted April 14 Looking great Rob! I'm expecting hearing those engines start-up they look so real! Excellent work! 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinM Posted April 14 Share Posted April 14 Motoring right along Rob and really looking good! 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted April 16 Author Share Posted April 16 On 4/12/2024 at 6:51 PM, Landlubber Mike said: Those engines look amazing, especially with the AM exhausts. Great job! On 4/13/2024 at 9:42 AM, Peterpools said: WOW, awesome progress and the spending time enjoying your images, the detail and weathering is brilliant. No question a very delicate and skillful hand is needed to maintain your level of craftsmanship throughout the build. On 4/14/2024 at 2:10 AM, belugawhaleman said: Looking great Rob! I'm expecting hearing those engines start-up they look so real! Excellent work! On 4/14/2024 at 10:48 PM, KevinM said: Motoring right along Rob and really looking good! Thank you amigos, the painting and weathering of the engines was pure fun, the installation of the nacelles, struts and rigging around the engines is not so much. There is just no wiggle room and sometimes two different struts share the same hole, with added eyelets around for rigging and a steering shaft . The struts are relatively robust, except for the very fragile area directly behind the connector tabs. I broke some of them and I hope, in the end the mid section will be robust enough. Progress is slow at the moment, and it has to do with some of you. I read the actual threads about ageing, falling and hurting themselves and remember older ones as well. With my 60 years, I seem to be a youngster here, but of course, I feel the burden of age as well, but decided, to tackle the subject with more expanded physical activity. So it´s two kilometers of ocean swimming in the morning, followed by some yoga. Tomorrow I will run through the wood with de dog and then it´s mountainbiking and hoping for some surfable waves soon. Your threads made me thinking and were a bit of a wake up call out of my usual early spring lethargy. Thank you for that, guys. Cheers Rob 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted April 16 Share Posted April 16 Rob Bravo for becoming pro-active to the aging process and doing all you can to stay healthy and in shape. All the activity and physical exercise is the best medicine possible, as getting older and not being healthy is as we use to say: a bummer. The best way to use your time and at the end of the day, an hour so if time permits, modeling. What a great choice and decision. 🏆 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted April 16 Author Share Posted April 16 Today, I managed a very dreaded step in the build, finishing the mid section of the upper wing. Before, I added rigging wires from the nacelles through the cabane struts and later to be fixed under the upper wing, therefore they are not taught. WNW tells you to install the cabane struts first, reaching diagonally from the fuselage, which makes perfect sense, but then let you put the inner struts from the top of the fuselage to the gas tank in the middle of the upper wing to be glued into it´s wing fitting and then last into the fuselage. I didn´t like that second part like shown here in the manual and preferred to have all strut gluing to make on the upper wing, which worked good. Alignment was not easy, but now all looks more or less straight. Cheers Rob 7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HubertB Posted April 16 Share Posted April 16 Damn you Rob ! Now I’m gonna have a nightmare, trapped between metal tubes all around me ! And that’s before the rigging ! 🥴 Hubert 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted April 17 Author Share Posted April 17 17 hours ago, HubertB said: Damn you Rob ! Now I’m gonna have a nightmare, trapped between metal tubes all around me ! And that’s before the rigging ! The big bat is haunting you in your dreams, Hubert? Don´t fear, as I feel the major part of rigging is done now. The rest is straightforward wing rigging, but I have to cut some brass tube, as I ran out of the aluminum ones . One night, it will come for you though, with rattling engines, grim jaws and showing all areas which I need to touch up . Cheers Rob 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 Holy smokes Rob Incredible and I could never have accomplished the rigging and strut work anywhere as perfectly as you did. These days, I can't see that well any more plus my hand - eye coordination isn't what it once was. As with Hubert, this would easily give me nightmares for years. Have flown for many years and first soloed in taildraggers, I just couldn't imagine flying this beast, yet alone at night and actually landing it without a least a ground loop or two per week. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinnfb Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 To combine the words "rigging" and "straightforward" in one sentence, is in my eyes an absolute blasphemy, most impressive work Rob. Cheers Martin 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now