Bobs Buckles

As means of saying hello, my first post in this forum, with my recently completed Roden model  of Boeing Stearman PT-17 in the colours of 28 Escuadrón de Instrucción, Base Aérea Las Palmas (?), Fuerza Aérea del Perú, March 1942
 
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Love it!
Holy smoke!!
 
vB 

Hi all,
I'm still waiting for the figures to arrive for the Roland D.VI so I can complete that model.
In the meantime I'm starting on the 'Special Hobby' 1:32nd scale Fokker D.II.
This model will represent a Fokker D.II, serial number not known, that was attached to ‘Kampfeinsitzer Stafflen’ (Kesta) 4b sometime between April 1917 - October 1918 at Royal Bavarian AF, Freiburg.
Should be fun,
 
Mike
 

 

 
 

finally few in progress pics
Roden kit, markings sprayed

 

 

 
and ICM NMF
marking and insignias masked and sprayed

 

 

 

 

some decals applied already

 
and this happens when painting after 1am 
few moments I was really thinking what's wrong with the insignia blue shade 

 
and corrected

 
Thanks for looking
jan

On the other hand, it's capability will probably encourage you to expand your skills.
 
The chuck issue - my Raglan lathe has a new chuck, I still wouldn't trust it to rechuck accurately. In fact, it is pretty reliable, even so for small or accurate parts I'd use collets
 

 
My other lathe is a Wolf Jahn watchmakers lathe and is designed to use collets all the time, the 3 jaw chucks have a collet stub on the back:
 

 
In your situation, rather than buy a chuck, I'd buy a collet set like this one:
 
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10pcs-ER16-Spring-Collets-ER16-Collet-Chuck-for-Emco-Unimat-SL-DB/363329115984
 
No solution to the overheating though, the internet seems to suggest replacing it with something else
 
Richard

Thanks for your kind comments, Tim and Maru5137  
 
Nothing new to report on the wee Puppy. I've been busy with everything Bob's Buckles and alas the old girl has been neglected.
I will finish her...in time 
 
Cheers!
Von B 

Beautiful build, Ken.
Stunning 
 
Bob

Hi all,
Here's the completed model of the Roland D.VIa, Ser No: 3615/18 during 1918 (Pilot and Jasta not known).
Wingnut Wings kit
Decals from Aviattic and ProperPlane
Propeller by ProperPlane
Rigging - GasPatch turnbuckles, mono-folamant and micro-tube.
Figures from Model Cellar
Paints used Tamiya, Alclad and Mr. Colour.
As usual my PDF format build log can be downloaded from my site (link in signature).
Build thread can be found here:
 
1:32nd scale Roland D.VIa - Page 3 - Works in Progress - Large Scale Planes

Thanks for following this build and for you encouraging comments,
Mike
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Superb! 
 

And we're off!
 
Not much to show, other than I have actually set scalpel to plastic... I'm waiting for various paints to arrive - the first one I'll need is RLM02 and, of course, it seems it'll be the last to turn up so I've started out of sequence. Again.
 

 
The kit's Argus engine is quite nice, but is missing all sorts of components. For the most part, this is not a problem as it will all be hidden when mounted in the fuselage, but some - such as the HT lead that should run between the Bosch units that sit each side of the front of the engine (on the left of this pic) and the inlet air balance pipe which should run between the middle cyclinders each side (hence why the cylinder banks are arranged as two pairs with a larger gap in the middle) - are visible through the various orifices and need to be added.
 

Poor little thing has no idea what's about to happen to it
 

 
HT horseshoe lead added, along with the lifting rings, both made with solder of various diameters.  It's highly likely that I'll have to tear the rings off to get the engine to fit in the fuselage, but it's all good practice!  Gap between ignition frames and Bosch units fixed both sides.  Stubs removed and replaced with holes to receive the leads - unfortunately, they are still too high, so I'll convert them into slots. The leads you see below the engine have to be mounted on the ignition frame and will cover the gaffe... hopefully!
 
Another thing the kit has not reproduced well, is the shape of the rocker covers.  They're depicted (and I've painted them) as simple caps, but they should be wedge shaped and extend almost to the exhaust/inlet ports.  I'll repaint them later.
 
All for now,
 
Sepp, out.
 
 

Holy Smoke, Batman!
Incredible build 
 
Well done!!
 
vB 

Here is one showing the detail of the open end of the vent just below the nose turret:
 

 
Jari

Haha thanks! That made my day.
 
Cheers,  Tom

Who needs Netflix or Amazon Prime? Just come here for all your entertainment.
Super work!
 
vB 
 
 

This is the Special Hobby kit, Built Out of Box. Gunze Sangyo paints used.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday my sister gave me a suitcase containing photos of my dad and Uncle Ivan, as well as their newspaper clippings and drawings. I don't remember seeing these before, but maybe I did when I was very young. In any case, here is my Uncle:
 

 
And sadly his grave:
 

 
I'm sad I never met him, but through my dad we shared a love for aircraft, and among his photos I found several that he took when training. I'll be sharing these with you in the days ahead, interspersed with my build.
 
Cheers,  Tom
 
 

“‘But surely the pilot is the most important crew member?’ ‘Why? In a combat the gunner is the most important crew member. In finding the target the navigator is most important, and if the bombs miss the target they’ve all wasted their time so you can say the bomb-aimer’s the most important. You might as well say the rudder bars are most important because if they stopped steering nobody could get anywhere.’”
 
— 101 Nights by Ray Ollis
https://a.co/hfdudjK
 
I've managed to complete the cockpit except for the blackout curtains I will be adding today. Note that the engineer's foldable seat is added later in the build, when the fuselage halves come together. The most challenging part was adding all of the levers to the throttle quadrant; they are definitely fragile! I won't be adding as much detail to the fuselage interior since it won't be seen and I want to maintain momentum, so hopefully things start coming together more rapidly now!
 

 

 

 

 

 
Cheers,  Tom
 

“‘Corkscrew port go,’ shouted Lofty Lee from his upper turret and began firing as Munro slammed the stick over and stood the bomber on its wingtip. Lofty’s machine guns tilted high above him as he tried to keep the night fighter in his sights while his own plane banked vertically and slid down. It was impossible. Munro grabbed the throttles and reduced the forward speed (and exhaust flame) to minimum and had the satisfaction of seeing the Junkers pass rapidly over him. Its exhausts glowed brighter and brighter as the angle narrowed and he was right ahead of them. ‘Don’t fire, anyone,’ said Munro. ‘He’s lost us.’”
 
— Bomber: Events Relating to the Last Flight of an RAF Bomber Over Germany on the Night of June 31st, 1943 by Len Deighton
https://a.co/7tJVcW1
 
I've been diligently working on the cockpit and forward position, adding paint at last. In my previous post I mentioned the strike camera was missing. I was incorrect (not the first time), as it was attached to the bulkhead below the cockpit instead of on the floor as I was expecting. I did reposition it and add a lens which was missing. Meanwhile, I've been adding photo etch to the cockpit and scratchbuilt the navigators lamp. I still need to add blackout curtains here. I am using Eduard photoetch, but did recolor the yellow and blue dials on the flight engineer's panel since Eduard had the colors reversed. I didn't use photoetch for the radio since I thought it looked more three dimensional if I just painted the details. Note the parachute which is missing from the kit; I have Dennis to thank, since he generously gave me a complete complement!  I still have to add some more details and the throttles, but she's getting there!
 
Cheers,  Tom
 

 

 

 

 

There is another Canadian, James Ivan Wilson, he served with 166 squadron and was killed in action on 20 October 1943 flying Lancasters, he hailed from Hamilton Ontario.  He is buried in the Berlin War Cemetery. His service number was R/186325.  If your uncle was actually in the RCAF, this has to be him because it seems the other chap Ivan Wilmot Wilson was a civilian?
 

 

Popcorn at the ready!
Cheers!
 
vB 

Lovely work, Mike. 
Keep going!
 
vB 

You guys - better compliments do not exist.  Thank you.  Maybe I need to make anther one!  Ha, that will be the day.  Two things:
 
1.  My plan of course is to install this thing into a F4U-1A Corsair.  I plan to have not only the forward cowl panels removable, but the engine compartment panels between the cowl flaps and the firewall bulkhead would be removable also.  This easier said than done, but if done the engine will not be hidden by any means.  Also, that engine compartment is jam packed with systems, which hide some of the aft sections of the engine.  But if I can successfully reproduce all that clap trap, I think you won't mind that the engine is where it is.   
 
2.  You might get your wish sort of.  If in the process of carving up the forward fuselage I essentially ruin it, a very real possibility, then the engine is going to stand on its own.  But a museum?   Does P&W have a museum?  I know the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola has an absolutely magnificent F4U.