1:32nd scale Roland D.II

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
I'll be building the 3D printed model of a Roland D.II scout by MDesign in Bulgaria.
This particular aircraft is Roland D.II (Pfalz built), Serial No: 2895/16 of the 1st Aeroplane Detachment, Bulgarian Air Service during 1918.
This aircraft was built under license by Pfalz and was marked with the later style of crosses on the wings, fuselage and rudder. 
The aircraft also carried a legend, forward from the fuselage crosses, which when translated into English read Prince Kyril.
He was Kyril Heinrich Franz Ludwig Anton Karl Philipp, Prince of Preslav, Bulgaria, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke of Saxony and was the younger son of Bulgarian Tsar Ferdinand.

However, he was not a WW1 pilot. The legend refers to the aircraft being intended for use in the defence of where he was born, which was Sofia on the 17 January 1895.

Being 3D printed and a limited run kit, it should prove interesting if not challenging,

Mike

[belugawhaleman]

Oh, this will be good😀 Will be following!

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
I've today received my kit and initially I'm impressed.
The kit was very well packaged with separate padded envelopes containing the parts.
Instructions are now included in the kit, whereas before they needed to be downloaded.
Also, all of the parts are now separately printed and bagged, so no longer all contained in a boxed print.
There does not seem to be any surface imperfections or print striation lines.
None of the parts were damaged in transit.
The shipping charge covered importing into the UK so no customs charge added.

As to how easily the parts can be separated from their support trees and then how fragile they may be will be the challenge,

Mike

[HubertB]

I have found out that using a ultrasonic blade holder / cutter was a great - and safer for the parts - help for removing the numerous supports of 3D-printed parts.

Thet can be found on Amazon, for instance. I paid mine around 130 € in France.

Hubert

[denders]

I agree with Hubert. I haven't had that much 3D printed stuff to use it on, but it did make life easier.

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
All of the parts were separated from their support trees using just single blade nippers (DSPIAE).
The resin is tough so no breakages or damage was caused.
The upper wing has been test fitted using the supplied 1.2 mm diameter metal rods.
The fuselage halves and lower wings also test fitted.
I did find that when using the supplied 1.2 mm diameter rods, the lower wing leading/trailing edges were not aligned to the fuselage wing roots.
Therefore, I used 1.0 mm diameter rod, which gives a small amount of play to align the wing correctly to the fuselage wing roots.
Similarly, the supplied 1.0 mm diameter rods for the tailplanes were loose in the 1.2 mm diameter locating holes in the tailplanes and fuselage.
Therefore, I used instead 1.2 mm Brass tube.

Mike

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
The landing gear and engine have been sorted.
The engine as expected was tricky to clean up after removing the support trees.
It will be modified with ignition leads/plugs and pipes, although most of the engine is buried inside the fuselage and under the access panels.
The landing gear struts were cleaned up, taking care to not flex and break them.
Also the tops of the struts were sanded slightly to allow them to fully locate into their fuselage recesses

Mike

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
Supplied metal reinforcing rods pass through the wings/fuselage and the tailplanes.
Entry holes are left at the wing tips and outer ends of the tailplanes.
I used UV setting resin, which was applied to the holes, set then filed/sanded to blend with surrounding surfaces.
A light coat of grey primer was airbrushed to check the smoothness of the filled holes,

Mike

[sandbagger]

Hi all,

The 3D printed control rods for the aileron and the tailplane support struts are printed to scale.
Therefore, they are rather weak.
I chose to replace them with Brass tube of 0.8 mm diameter for the aileron control rods, which were blackened.
Also, flattened 0.7 mm diameter tube for the tailplanes support struts,

Mike

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
The forward sides of the fuselage and engine access panels have louvres intended to aid cooling of the engine bay area.
These louvres are printed on rectangular panels which are too thick. Possibly due to the model being upscaled from the 1:72nd or 1:48th scale models.
It seems from photographs and drawings that the amount and positioning of these cooling louvres were different between Pfalz and LFG built aircraft and between the Mercedes D.III or Argus As.III powered aircraft.

As always, research into WW1 aircraft usually results in inconclusive and differing information. Therefore, the following is my personal findings and may not be totally accurate.
 
Pfalz built, Mercedes powered aircraft:
Five double louvres on the forward right side of the fuselage, as depicted on the model and not four, as shown on various colour profiles.
Four double louvres on the forward, left side of the fuselage. Therefore, the lower, forward louvered panel on the model left fuselage half (for this particular model) should be removed entirely.

Due to print errors I decided to also replace all of the louvres on the engine cowl panels.

All louvres removed, thickness of panel reduced, panel/cowl fasteners reinstated, right side panel added and lower engine cowl rear edge scribed.
All of the louvres will be added using Proper Plane RD-011 3D printed louvres,

Mike

 

 

 

[sandbagger]

Hi all,

Forum 'IPS spam blocked by CleanTalk' is blocking me posting images.

I've tried without using VPN but still blocked.

This happened some time ago but eventually cleared after a few days,

 

Mike

[sandbagger]

 

 

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
Best laid plans of men and mice !!
Regards the fuselage louvred panels, it seems I fell foul of research fog.
I've now been in contact with the author of the ‘Aeronaut Book’ - The Bulgarian Hunters: Roland D.II & D.III in WWI’ (by Mitko Mitkov).
Mitko is somewhat of an authority on Bulgarian Roland D.II and D.III aircraft, so I bow to his knowledge.
It seems only six Roland D.II aircraft, all built by Pfalz with Mercedes D.III engines, were supplied to Bulgaria.
Photographs of the Roland aircraft being destroyed in accordance with the peace treaty clearly show five louvered panels on the left side of the D.II fuselages. 
Also, the aircraft I'm modelling shows the same panels on the fuselage right side.
Therefore, I'll re-instate the panel I removed in error from the fuselage left side,

Mike