ruzlkampf Posted October 10, 2009 Author Share Posted October 10, 2009 Oooooh yeah, I'm moving like a herd of turtles Vaughn! Had to put assembly on the back-burner until I got the decals printed up.....which I did today! Just had to experiment a wee bit, and push my envelope by using some new stuff. I usually use a laser-jet printer/compatible paper, but I found some white Testors ink-jet stuff in a weird size that nobody wanted. Score! In anticipation of having a couple of clear coats applied (which will darken things a bit), I lightened up my test patterns and made them in a length that will cover the fuse sides in one piece. Here's another comparison between my paper test patterns, what I printed out, and the kit decals. Lotsa fun. Now, if I can just figure out if I should decal first, THEN add the struts 'n stuff.....or vice-versa? Should be interesting. Don't know if these decals will 'bleed' in water (I added a clear coat) shrivel, fall apart or blow up in my face. We'll see; I'll do darn near anything for fun,...and call it a 'scientific experiment'. heh heh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruzlkampf Posted October 10, 2009 Author Share Posted October 10, 2009 Time for the last pic of the night. Got all my raw building materials ready to go for a slam-dunk attempt at assembling this for the weekend. Whoohoo! Time to line up at the trough and get something to eat, a nap,....and ready to BUILD! More pics as things progress, Russ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spads57 Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 Russ, Fantastic decals.Your's are miles ahead of the Battle Axe version.I'm really looking forward to your updates,plenty of humor and great modelling. Regards, Gregory Jouette Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 Looking good Russ! nice work with the lozenges! Cheers, Håkan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hans Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 Russ, You must be the Henry Ford of large scale modeling; innovative approach to the hobby, high quality builds and large quantities of those as well. Luckily your models don't come in black only Are you perhaps going to put those lozenges up for sale? I want to do a Battle Axe D VII in the colours of Fritz Anders, a 5-victory nightfighter ace and could certainly use a few sheets. Best regards, Hans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruzlkampf Posted October 11, 2009 Author Share Posted October 11, 2009 Hey thanks Gregory! I've got to give props to you and Mike-in-California for turning me on to the aerodrome site to confirm what I had going on with these decals. Much obliged! Took me awhile to navigate the site to find what ya'll were talking about. If anybody wants the link to the thread on these lozenge patterns, let me know and I'll figure out how to get it in this thread. Fascinating reading. Ha ha! I'm more the 'Quasimodo' of large scale modeling Hans! What did he say in the 'Hunchback of Notre Dame',...."Do you find me (and my builds) repulsive"? Heh heh, this D-VIII (no, no, no Russ ya idiot....it's an E-V! ) build is one of the few that I've ever built with PE and resin, or any of them 'fancy multi-media' parts. I'm too lazy and hasty for such things. Wheeeeew, a WWI night-fighter ace! Niiiiice, I'd like to hear more about that. Do you already have the Battle-axe D-VII, or will you hold out for the Wingnuts offering coming out soon? I visited their site for the first time last night and was very impressed. They're going to be coming out with decal sheets soon also. If you're interested in some 'Russ-Special' decals, I'd be honored to make you up a set. I don't do this for money,...just fun....so you'd have to get them for free or not at all. Give me a chance to see how these ink-jet decals work first, they just might be better than my usual laser-jet crud.....or they might implode/explode/ turn my hands purple. Dunno yet. I need to do a search for a supplier of laser-jet decal paper and stock back up, but I wanted to experiment a bit first and see if these are superior. OK, flapped my gums enough already,...so it's on to the pics! Lessee, I did mention this kit has PE and my lack of experience using this stuff, right? I'm determined to use EVERY darn little piece of brass on this fret just to say I did it. Here's some pics of the mocked up cockpit before I paint it tonight. Pilot in place, with his hand on the (PE) throttle, and stick. Roden mg's with Battle-axe PE details, (the kit mg's are gorgeous resin bits, and I'm torn with indecision) and every piece of PE that goes in this area. As 'Rainman' would say," Very sparkly". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruzlkampf Posted October 11, 2009 Author Share Posted October 11, 2009 Still want to do some sculpting on the pilot, like a face scarf and bigger fur collar....but ya'll get the idea, eh? OK, remember I was talking about the carb detail behind the engine I was going to leave off cuz it was not visible? Still not going to put it on, but here it is for those who are curious about the kit OOB. The fuse sides have a hole for the intakes to stick out of, but I'm just going to slide a hollow tube thru there and leave this assembly off to ease building it. These intakes are solid. Nyet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruzlkampf Posted October 11, 2009 Author Share Posted October 11, 2009 My pile of pieces is getting smaller as the sub-assemblies go together. Taped up the fuse 1/2's to get the landing gear all together and lined up, so it sits on it's gear now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruzlkampf Posted October 11, 2009 Author Share Posted October 11, 2009 Different view; Still trying to cypher the best way to get the wing on and lined up, and getting all those struts whittled down to a semi-scale thickness. Trade-off between strength, and 'scaleness'. Probably put the struts on the fuse first, then decals, then the wing. This is going to get interesting. Anywho, more pics as things progress! Later, Russ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacewolf Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 Different view; Still trying to cypher the best way to get the wing on and lined up, and getting all those struts whittled down to a semi-scale thickness. Trade-off between strength, and 'scaleness'. Probably put the struts on the fuse first, then decals, then the wing. This is going to get interesting. Anywho, more pics as things progress! Later, Russ Great work Russ those MG's and feed belts look awesome...and yes, the strength to size issue is a bear. I know guys who used aluminum and brass tube flattened to an oval shape just to be sure it would hold. I'd jig everything up, fuse in flying position, wing supported where it should be and fit/ size the struts in. Have fun..... Cheers Vaughn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 Looking very good Russ! Very nice guns! Cheers, Håkan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hans Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 Russ, Thank you for your generous offer, I' ll be happy to use your lozenges on my Fokker that has spent about three years in the stash now, waiting for decals that never seem to materialize ( announcements have been made Spada Decals some three years ago and Microsculpt about a year ago) or have no fixed date of release. Over on Aeroscale William T. Lawson has a thread on how lozenge was applied to the real article. This appears to be a science in itselft: diagonally on wings (not all wings..), horizontally on fuselages (or not), spanwise on ailerons and so on. Fritz Anders was the commanding officer of Jasta 73. Here is a profile of his D VII. I have to do more digging on this man and machine (especially finding a photograph of it). Night flying and night fighting was quit common in those days. The English for example had a number of home defence squadrons specializing in defending London at night (and day) against the dreaded Zeppelins and Gothas flying specially equipped and camouflaged fighter aircraft. Best regards Hans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabre F-86 Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 On the strut problem, perhaps you can take a razor saw and make a single cut down the length of the strut and embed a piece of piano wire, then reshape them. Or you can make up new ones using Huberts method. I tried that with the Wal struts and it makes for a very strong structure once the glue has set. (I actually put a brick on top of the wing platform to see how strong it was. The plastic sheet between the struts flexes but the structure has no give at all either vertically (crush) or fore n aft. The diagonals took that out of the picture.) Sabre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Lind Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 Either that or the ambush camouflage pattern off a Panther tank with the command numbers in Red with white border. Love it!!! And who wants a popcorn ceiling when there is zimmerit... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spads57 Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 Russ, The E.V is looking more awesome with each update.The carb and intake tubes are a neat idea. But since you've gone to the trouble of building them up why not go ahead and include them.Just hollow out the in take tubes and she's a done deal. Ah come on ,you know you want to Russ. Since Mike and my tip on the Aerodrome site as proved useful to you here's another excellent site for you to check out. http://www.aeroscale.co.uk/modules.php?op=...6273&page=1 Texturing Lozenge Decals by Stephen T. Lawson. Very interesting stuff to be found here. http://www.aeroscale.co.uk/modules.php?op=...7962&page=1 Lozenge Camouflage 101 by Stephen T. Lawson . This guy's a Master beyond doubt. Take a look I know you'll find both threads most interesting and very useful. I know that both The Aerodrome and Aeroscale sites have been sources for information for my own 1/28 scale Fokker Dr.I conversion to a Fokker E.V/D.VIII project. Still firm on Theo Osterkamp's E.V but still undecided on whether the yellow and black scheme (bogus) or the factor fresh E.V 156/18 as shown in W/S Datafile #25. The yellow and black sure is an eye catcher though. Ah the mind boggles. Highest Regards, Gregory Jouette Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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