Wingnut Wings 1:32 Albatros B.II Early

[FarEast]

Wingnut Wings 1:32 Albatros B.II Early

All present and accounted for - I hear I'm one of the lucky ones!

So after a bit of healthy peer pressure from George aka Pgtaylorart I decided to switch out what was supposed to be my Christmas gift for the recently arrived DH.9a 'NINAK' (thank you sir she arrived safe and sound and is resting under the tree - the wife is none the wiser )

So between family duties and window shopping for a motorcycle I managed to make a start on the Albatros B.II Early.

Now I have to say the kit is stunning, the detail on the parts is fantastic and more than what you can hope for even for a Wingnut wings kit, however I'm really not a fan of the wooden decals. At first glance they look great and no doubt they they do look really good on the promotional model on the Wingnut Wings home page made by the very talented, phenomenally talented Zdenko Bugan but on closer inspection they are very over emphasized to the point where I can't help but notice it each time I look at them in the packaging - maybe its just me.

So with that in mind I will be building mine using a combination of Uschi vander Rosten Wooden decal sheets and oils.

So lets get started!

So first up the Cockpit floor, after preparing the piece I gave the edges and details a very fine coat of flat black for preshading followed by Tamiya Deck tan. I then gave the center of each panel a very fine coat application of flat white and blended them all in together with the deck tan creating a dark to light effect for each section. Once dried I gave the whole piece a coating of gloss varnish ready for the decals.



In regards to the decals I made my own templates from the original decals sheets in the form of a psd file thhat is then printed on to an A4 masking sheet and hand cut, one day I'll buy a digital mask cutter like the silhouette






The metal parts were done using Tamiya flat black followed by Uschi van der Rosten Chrome Polishing powders



 

[JeroenPeters]

This should be good!

 

No wait... it's already good!

[Eelco]

Yeah! Good start.

[Fran]

 James nice start!

The kit give interior decals? did you use them as templates and used Uschi?

[FarEast]

Pardelhas,

Don't just look at the pictures, read the text and you'll know what I did. its even highlighted in bold print!

[One-Oh-Four]

Attractive in the extreme! 

[Guest DannyVM]

Hi James,

 

i'm checking in mate, look's you are on the way again for a super nice model.

 

Cheers

 

Danny

[FarEast]

So yesterday I got the cockpit fully assembled!

[FarEast]

[Fran]

Pardelhas,

 

Don't just look at the pictures, read the text and you'll know what I did. its even highlighted in bold print!

sorry!!!  

 

Thanks

[FarEast]

sorry!!!

 

Thanks

 

Hahahaha no problem its the school teacher in me coming out young Pardelhas!

 

Now sit down, be quiet and open your Wingnut Wings manual to page 5, chapter 2.

[FarEast]

Ok - one of my good friends asked me on Facebook how I got the leather effect so real and I thought I would share it here.

The Art of F***ing It Up on Purpose.

Now i used to have a tendency to aim for perfection - straight lines, perfectly blended colours etc but lets face it when has nature ever done that? Leather wood, linen are all natural products that are manipulated by man and no matter how hard we try you just can't make a uniformed perfect finish and isn't that why leather and wooded items like furniture are so appealing to us rather than synthetic imitation items?

So here is my method of 'f***ing it up' to look real.

Disclaimer:
Now you will have to forgive me if this technique has already been discovered by someone else - I tend to just do my own thing and post it if it works. I know there are a few lost souls out there that get their knickers in a twist about these things.

First off preshading - you'll notice that I don't really give a damn about over spray, keeping a straight line or splodges from a heavy trigger finger- pretty shoddy work.





Next up is a quick blast of Deck Tan - thinned to help blend in the black.



Spot the thumb print! yes we are keeping that!



Time to mix some colours

I went for an orangey brown mix and thinned it to about 1:3 ratio - applied in several layers.





Hmmm hang on a minute - thats looking rather respectable!

The next step is to give it a coat of Vallejo Satin Varnish

It has a milky finish to it while wet but dries completely clear.



Washes

I used the Mr Weathering Stain Brown on this chair and applied a very heavy coat - we aren't going for a pin wash here gents but almost complete saturation!



Now by some Vodoo magic the weather solution doesn't seem to like the varnish and it distorts cracks and mottles giving you this effect!







This is then locked in with some more satin varnish.

Compared to the real deal....I think that's a job well done

















 

[Steven Robson]

Yep, that's a lovely leather seat, nice share.

[wackyracer]

 Thats sooo cooool! Stolen

[Fran]

really nice tip!!! Going to try it soon! 

[FarEast]

So with the O'Shogatsu Holiday (New Years) here in Japan kicking in and having to take a forced holiday from Motorcycle school (I'm aiming for my unlimited CC license) and also having completed all the work my wife wanted me to do around the house I was finally able to sit down and give the Albatros 100% of my attention.

First up was completing all the little internal details.

The fuel in the pump and line was created by giving the surface a single coat of Tamiya Yellow.



Next up was the observers work station





This image really shows off the cracked and rippled/mottled leather around the seams and on the cushion.



So with those last pieces down it was time to take one last shot of the cockpit internals and then close here up.


 

[FarEast]

Right - no hangover, good I got stuff to do!

So the fuselage is bonded closed - now this is a tight fit make sure everything is super clean, excessive paint removed and make sure there is no burring on the pieces as this thing is incredibly tight but makes a beautiful join it's really impressive!



But when the 4 sides are joined the overall model is incredibly solid, and the seam lines are invisible! Now here is the clincher, the kit comes with absolutely no wooden decals for the engine bay. So if you suffer from OCD like me then you are screwed!



Luckily this is only dry fitted and after some serious oil staining I will apply some Uschi decals to match the rest of the aircraft.
 

[BevanBrooks]

James, incredible attention to detail, I love it. Got a WnW in the stash I look at the plastic from time to time but keep putting it back in the box in fear of completely screwing it up.

 

Perfection in the making.....

 

Cheers Bevan

[AlgiaNick]

Incredible build until now!!! I'm looking forward for the next steps!!! Keep going on my friend!!!       

[FarEast]

So today I got some bench time and went all out.

First off was to build the layers of colour for preshading the wooden ply panels on the fuselage.

This was achieved by giving the whole thing a coat of Tamiya deck tan. Next highlighting all the panel lines and nail lines with flat black.
The next step was to give the center of the panels a very white coating of deck tan and then finally several very thin coats of Deck tan to blend all the colours together - now I'm of the train of thought that any natural material should have no uniformity to it, so any over spray, wavy lines splatters were kept and I was only interested in the final blending coat to go down perfectly.

Once that was dried I give it random shots of Tamiya Translucent yellow, again no uniformity to the application and the point wasn't to cover evenly or entirely the surface of the fuselage.

I left this to cure for about an hour and then came back and gave the entire fuselage a Tamiya X22 clear coat.



Three hours later it was time for some fun - I've already made all the templates for the decal sheets so it really was a case of laying them on the Uschi van der Rosten sheets and cutting them out.



If anyone wants my kit wood decals let me know because I'm never ever going to use them!

[FarEast]

I've  totally lost track of the days and found that I had gained an extra days holiday!  

So as it was a fine day and my son wanted to play at the park with friends (Its just across the road and I can see it from my work bench) I decided to do just that, see it from my work bench!

Righty o! I have been asked how I go about making my decals so here it is:

I made a digital version of the templates first using photoshop which are then printed on to Tamiya masking sheets. These are great as they aren't so tacky and don't pull the decal off the backing sheets. Although care should still be taken.


I then use an array of tools to cut them out.


Then very carefully peel off the mask to reveal the decal underneath.


So with the decals cut it was time to apply them.



So with them all set it was time to look them in place with Tamiya X22. Once this was done I added the dark wood trims and the serial numbers and then it was time to give it an oil wash. This gives the wood such richness and more depth, creating a warmth in the effect as well as adding yet another layer of realism.



As you can see from the finish it makes the wood much more richer and vibrant.






 

[FarEast]

Ohhh floaty birds...... sadly this one stays on the straight and narrow and will be completed as instructed as I think this one is destined for a shop display - point of sale display.

[FarEast]

Also guys here is a warning and maybe a spoiler

 

IF YOU USE THE KITS WOOD GRAIN DECALS YOU WILL LOSE ALL THE SMALL RIVET AND NAIL MARKS!

[Fran]

Great tutorial James!

Those templates looks fantastic! Never saw a A4 Tamiya sheet on sale....

[Fran]

By the way James, how do you know that the wnw decals, the small rivet and nail marks will be lost? Did you use the decals on another Alb. II?