Fokker E.V / D.VIII Parasol Mikro Mir 1/32

[DocRob]

13 hours ago, HubertB said:

Good to see you saved the decals Rob. It certainly would have been a bummer after all the hard work you put into it.

 

11 hours ago, GazzaS said:

I'm glad you were able to save the decals, Rob. 

 

For me...  I will never, ever mask over decals.  If you want to lift a bad decal, it will fight tenaciously to remain in place.  But if you take all possible masking precautions, they will jump off the model as if it were about to explode.

 

10 hours ago, krow113 said:

lol

teeth on edge time

good save!

perhaps a little high end white glue in the decal solution could help adhesion

Thank you guys, the decals were saved by now, but there is fear left, that after varnishing them, they could lift again. It seems, coating them doesn't effectively hinder the lift off. The adhesion on the Pheon decals seems to be very low.
Like Gaz said, I had a bad feeling with masking over the decals, but with a nearly completely decaled fuselage, it's hard not to.
I will experiment with the white glue Steve, thanks for mentioning. On another occasion I have used some Tamiya extra thin and it worked without destroying the decal, but this was only a partial lift off.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

7 hours ago, BlrwestSiR said:

Wow, good save. 

Not sure if it would work but Tamiya make a brush on decal adhesive. I have a couple bottles of it, one even has decal softener in it. 

Thank you Carl, I read about that Tamiya decal potion, but never tried it. I will try to get a bottle of that stuff and test it on some stubborn decals

2 hours ago, HubertB said:

3M sell a repositionable glue (the one for Post-it) in a spray can.  Maybe worth experimenting with thin paper ? It can be found in stationery and art stores (maybe not on your island, though, Rob)

(Me, it’s a long time since I reached the masking/painting stage on a kit  so I haven’t tried this idea myself )

You are probably right about the availability of the 3M rattle can glue Hubert. Not many aerosol driven cans are on the shelves here anymore and importing them is impossible, since they changed the types of aeroplanes for mail delivery to my island. There is a strict 'rattle can ban' in order for the transport.
In this case, I think even this type of glue would have lifted the decal, because the type I used was luckily so much detacked, that it barely sticked  on the surface. This was the only reason, I could pull the decals off the tape and reapply them.

I pity and envy you at the same time, for not having reached the latter stages of a build recently, for obvious reasons . As much as I like painting, masking and weathering, decaling gives me the creeps and if I could outsource this step for money, I would . Failing at decaling as one of the last steps of a project just hurts too much.

Cheers Rob

[Kaireckstadt]

7 hours ago, DocRob said:

Thank you Carl, I read about that Tamiya decal potion, but never tried it. I will try to get a bottle of that stuff and test it on some stubborn decals

You are probably right about the availability of the 3M rattle can glue Hubert. Not many aerosol driven cans are on the shelves here anymore and importing them is impossible, since they changed the types of aeroplanes for mail delivery to my island. There is a strict 'rattle can ban' in order for the transport.
In this case, I think even this type of glue would have lifted the decal, because the type I used was luckily so much detacked, that it barely sticked  on the surface. This was the only reason, I could pull the decals off the tape and reapply them.

I pity and envy you at the same time, for not having reached the latter stages of a build recently, for obvious reasons . As much as I like painting, masking and weathering, decaling gives me the creeps and if I could outsource this step for money, I would . Failing at decaling as one of the last steps of a project just hurts too much.

Cheers Rob

Good that you were able to solve the problems with the decals! 

What I also sometimes do is to „glue“  the decals to the surface with Future/Pledge Floor Polish and seal them with another coat of the same stuff. 

Then the connection to the surface is better and slivering probability further reduced.  
 

Cheers

Kai
 

[DocRob]

50 minutes ago, Kaireckstadt said:

Good that you were able to solve the problems with the decals! 

What I also sometimes do is to „glue“  the decals to the surface with Future/Pledge Floor Polish and seal them with another coat of the same stuff. 

Then the connection to the surface is better and slivering probability further reduced.  

Thanks Kai, I used your method on loose edges of decals before, which lifted a little during later steps of the build and it worked. This time I haven't expected any problems, as the decals lied down perfectly and looked like tattooed on.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

Today, I took all my courage together after the decal disaster luckily solved. The gloss coat was completely dry, so I used a clay wash to make the little Fokker a bit grimy and the decals stayed in place while rubbing the dried clay off the parts with a cloth. I will not go too far with the weathering, but the look should also not be brand new. Everything went well and tomorrow, all will be sealed with some matte varnish.

Cheers Rob

[harv]

Oh that's awesome!...harv

[Kaireckstadt]

6 minutes ago, DocRob said:

Today, I took all my courage together after the decal disaster luckily solved. The gloss coat was completely dry, so I used a clay wash to make the little Fokker a bit grimy and the decals stayed in place while rubbing the dried clay off the parts with a cloth. I will not go too far with the weathering, but the look should also not be brand new. Everything went well and tomorrow, all will be sealed with some matte varnish.

Cheers Rob

That’s looking really gorgeous Rob.  Very nice subtle weathering! 
Looking forward to seeing the final result! 
Cheers

Kai

[DocRob]

13 hours ago, harv said:

Oh that's awesome!...harv

 

13 hours ago, Kaireckstadt said:

That’s looking really gorgeous Rob.  Very nice subtle weathering! 

Muchas Gracias Hombres, I'm still having fun with the Fokker and slowly see the finish line in the distance, but the ongoing repeated sealing with the necessary drying time is winding me up. Work for an hour, wait for the next day. If my bench wouldn't be that cluttered up, I would start another project in the meantime, but the weather is great, I will have a Jog instead and a swim today .

Cheers Rob

[BlrwestSiR]

3 hours ago, DocRob said:

the weather is great, I will have a Jog instead and a swim today .

Cheers Rob

This belongs in the Make the others Jealous section. 

Meantime, the weathering looks great, nice and subtle. Glad to see it looks like the decal issues are now behind you.  

Carl

 

[DocRob]

1 hour ago, BlrwestSiR said:

This belongs in the Make the others Jealous section. 

No need to be jealous, I had a very bad elbow pain the last weeks and running was the only thing to do in the way of sports, which I did extensively, be it rainy, stormy, cold and rarely sunny. Today it was the first swim since four weeks, but the arm held up for a pretty long distance. Now, all my muscles are aching, but I guess the last coat of matte varnish should be dry by now and next up is the long awaited assembly of the main components, yeah .

[GazzaS]

Looks great, Rob!

[DocRob]

After matte coating fuselage and wings, It was time to start with the undercarriage. Because of the fast drying time of the CA, I decided to build a jig for assembly out of a block of wood, which represents the underside attachment points of the fuselage. The little UC wing got pre rigged for the cross bracings and then glued on the struts.

Then, after curing, everything was attached to the fuselage, including the cross rigging, which was inserted first in the strut's holes in the fuselage, followed by the CA'ed struts. I had a little wiggle time, to adjust the whole undercarriage. Finally, the turnbuckles were pulled taught and secured with CA. The extra brass work payed off, as the undercarriage would carry a B-52 now, in 1/32 scale. 

Then I attached the nose section to the fuselage, where the fit is not perfect, but I decided, I can't think of a makeable solution for this and finally glued everything together. It was the second high trouble area, I identified with the build and it proved the toughest one. There is a tiny gap now, that I can live with, so be it.

The Spandau machine guns received a coat of black pigments, followed by some steel pigments and finally got the custom punched out round counters decaled with some Airscale dials. They are not attached finally.

Last but not least, the leather parts were painted in different brown tones and still have to dry, as they are to shiny right now.

Cheers Rob

[HubertB]

She’s already a beauty, even without its wings.

Hubert

[DocRob]

1 hour ago, HubertB said:

She’s already a beauty, even without its wings.

Thank you for your kind words Hubert. Maybe I should follow the path of a fellow member here and leave the wings off, before I mess something up .

Cheers Rob

[BlrwestSiR]

The fuselage really looks fantastic as is. Hubert is right, it would make a great presentation as is. 

 

Carl

[belugawhaleman]

wow! That's really turning out nice.

[Kaireckstadt]

3 hours ago, DocRob said:

After matte coating fuselage and wings, It was time to start with the undercarriage. Because of the fast drying time of the CA, I decided to build a jig for assembly out of a block of wood, which represents the underside attachment points of the fuselage. The little UC wing got pre rigged for the cross bracings and then glued on the struts.

Then, after curing, everything was attached to the fuselage, including the cross rigging, which was inserted first in the strut's holes in the fuselage, followed by the CA'ed struts. I had a little wiggle time, to adjust the whole undercarriage. Finally, the turnbuckles were pulled taught and secured with CA. The extra brass work payed off, as the undercarriage would carry a B-52 now, in 1/32 scale. 

Then I attached the nose section to the fuselage, where the fit is not perfect, but I decided, I can't think of a makeable solution for this and finally glued everything together. It was the second high trouble area, I identified with the build and it proved the toughest one. There is a tiny gap now, that I can live with, so be it.

The Spandau machine guns received a coat of black pigments, followed by some steel pigments and finally got the custom punched out round counters decaled with some Airscale dials. They are not attached finally.

Last but not least, the leather parts were painted in different brown tones and still have to dry, as they are to shiny right now.

Cheers Rob

Looks absolutely awesome, Rob!

This will be a real eyecatcher!

 

[GazzaS]

Stunning looking kit, Rob! 

However, I must disagree.  Adding the wings will present her in her full glory, ready to take it to the enemy.

Besides, all of that work you did on the struts would be wasted. 

Do you have a figure and base in mind to go with it?

[DocRob]

14 hours ago, BlrwestSiR said:

The fuselage really looks fantastic as is. Hubert is right, it would make a great presentation as is.

 

13 hours ago, belugawhaleman said:

wow! That's really turning out nice.

 

13 hours ago, Kaireckstadt said:

Looks absolutely awesome, Rob!

 

12 hours ago, GazzaS said:

Stunning looking kit, Rob!

Muchas Gracias Señhores, I'm quite pleased, how the Fokker turned out at this stage. There were a few obstacles, but it was a rewarding pleasure build until now. 

There will be the razor wing attached after all the work and experimenting which went in, Gaz. It is a Fokker D.VIII and not the Fokker E.V early model, which had the tendency to loose the wing midair . 
For this one, I have no figures planned, I have to to the little dio for my long finished Hansa Brandenburg first, where the figures are almost painted, but the scenery give me the creeps, with acrylic water, shoreline waves and beach surroundings.

Cheers 

Rob

[Jeff]

This is so cool, and you guys sure are knowledgeable about these German birds, really interesting...

[DocRob]

On 2/13/2021 at 6:07 PM, Jeff said:

This is so cool, and you guys sure are knowledgeable about these German birds, really interesting...

Thank you Jeff and you are absolutely right, there is so much to learn from our members here. LSM is a brilliant resource, fast and reliable.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

The weapon deck got some attention today. The Gaspatch Spandau 08/15 are a joy to work with. You have to add the barrel only. No fiddely eyesight in PE, just careful painting with well thinned colour, not to kill the fine detail. The ammo feed was borrowed from a WNW Fokker and then the 08/15's were attached. On the front side, I installed two PE blast panels from the Aviattic set, which I left painted in aluminum to add a little contrast.

Cheers Rob

[Bomber_County]

39 minutes ago, DocRob said:

The weapon deck got some attention today. The Gaspatch Spandau 08/15 are a joy to work 

Stunning Rob, another Stella build.........since having some work at the moment, can’t find any benchtime not even weekends........

[Kaireckstadt]

53 minutes ago, DocRob said:

The weapon deck got some attention today. The Gaspatch Spandau 08/15 are a joy to work with. You have to add the barrel only. No fiddely eyesight in PE, just careful painting with well thinned colour, not to kill the fine detail. The ammo feed was borrowed from a WNW Fokker and then the 08/15's were attached. On the front side, I installed two PE blast panels from the Aviattic set, which I left painted in aluminum to add a little contrast.

Cheers Rob

Stunning work Rob! The Spandau guns look great! 

[DocRob]

3 hours ago, Bomber_County said:

Stunning Rob, another Stella build.........since having some work at the moment, can’t find any benchtime not even weekends........

 

2 hours ago, Kaireckstadt said:

Stunning work Rob! The Spandau guns look great! 

Thank you guys, seeing the pictures, there are still some areas, which need to be taken care of. Surprisingly, these glitches are visible on a photo and I haven't spotted them on the real thing, even using a magnifier sometimes.

I hope you will catch up with your great P-51D soon Phil, but hey, to have a job counts for something too in these times. Modelling is just a hobby and if there is time and will, it will sneak back into your live.

Cheers Rob