Wolf Buddee

Really? How do I keep missin’ this stuff? Phantastic Phantom Koralik! Damn! Cheers, Wolf

Wow Ben, Just freakin’ awesome! Cheers, Wolf

Wow, So very nicely done, and as others have already said, the weathering is perfect. I have a couple of Phantoms in the stash and I can only hope mine turn out as well as yours! Cheers, Wolf

Andy, thank-you so much, After you finish your amazing Helldiver build the DR.1 is going to feel like a breeze. The Corsair is staring at me whenever I'm at the bench so I really do need to get back to it soon. Many thanks Jim, I'm glad I decided to share it here as well. It been quite a while since I actually finished a WIP build. In my best James Brown voice, "It feels good". Thank-you Craig! Sorcery eh? And then look at the metal work and riveting you're doing you Flying Fortress! Now that's sorcery if I ever saw it. Cheers, Wolf

I'm sure the keen eyed among you will notice the cracked paint on the toilet. I’m sure, given the odiferous nature of this piece of equipment, the paint cracking would have been quite natural. I say leave it as is Craig! I wonder if they had a designated crew member, who at altitude and -40 degrees, would pre-warm the seat for the others? Cheers, Wolf

Thank-you Sir, I know that I had read that somewhere but couldn’t find it to confirm. However the streaking decal for the axle wing is considerably more dense than the fuselage and wings so I thought the decal contributed to the overall weathered look of the part. Just me using a bit of artistic licence. Thanks Jeff, Flawless, well not quite, the trick is to make the rest look good enough to make the flaws much harder to spot! That’s my story, LOL, and I’m stickin’ to it……… Thank-you Jay, My big mistakes usually leave a mark too. If you saw me in person you’d notice my left eye has an uncontrollable twitch right now. That normally dissipates in a week or so after finishing a build. Ha ha, Paul, thanks, The oily hand prints are included on an Aviattic decal sheet for the WnWs Fokker DVII kit. I just couldn’t resist using them now. Cheers, Wolf

Thanks Brian, Your build was my inspiration for this build! Thanks Gary, My lessons, well I guess you could say they were mainly what not to do eh? Seriously though, I’ve learned a lot from others here as well and that’s the real beauty of LSP. Thanks Rich, Other than the occasional (self induced) difficulties I thoroughly enjoyed this build as well. Thanks Mike, I figured it would be a bit disingenuous not sharing the screw ups as I think we all experience something on each build we do. Ok, maybe not ALL of us but I do. Cheers, Wolf

Hi Matt, Yes, I’ll most certainly build the rest of my WnWs kits. It would be a shame not to eh? I only wish I had bought more of them but I never would have believed they would suddenly close up shop. Cheers, Wolf

Very kind words indeed Sir! The Mossie is still waiting for me to come back to it. It will get finished but I have a couple of other projects that need finishing first. Definitely not a bad bite! Cheers, Wolf

Gentlemen, Thanks so much for your comments and kind words. As always they’re much appreciated. Cheers, Wolf

I’ll have to take some outdoor shots for RFI and include it’s Pfalz and D. VII stablemates. Cheers, Wolf

Thanks Jennings, Despite the self induced difficulties I’m quite happy with the way it came out. Cheers, Wolf

This little Fokker is finished! Not without a bit of drama though. I wasn’t sure if I was going to share the drama but why not eh? I don’t mind you all having a bit of a laugh at my expense just not too loudly Ok? The upper wing went on without a hitch and then the upper cabane strut rigging wires were pulled tight. They were then painted Gunze Mr. Metal Steel, like all the rest of the wires, and the centre sections of the turnbuckles in polished brass. Then came the aileron control lines which filled me with a bit of trepidation and justifiably so. I had originally thought it would be easiest to attach them at the bottom and then feed them into their holes in the upper wing. Take it from me, don’t do it that way, ‘cause it made it very difficult to work around the cabane struts and then find the holes in the upper wing! After contorting my neck, hands, tweezers, and trying to look through my magnifying lamp to see the holes, and after a half a dozen or more attempts to secure the loose end of the lines, I finally gave up. But not before I managed to knock the rudder off and then break the right aileron free. When re-attaching the aileron I broke the upper portion of the control horn off too. This is when the air turned blue…….. and I invented a new language that I’m sure the neighbours heard, didn’t understand, but recognized as pure frustration. After calming down I went at it again but started by removing the lines from the fuselage cowling and installing the lines in newly drilled holes in the upper wing first. That required a new level of contortions as there was virtually no room for a drill bit in a pin vise. I honestly can’t remember how I managed to get the holes drilled. I understand that severe trauma is often erased from ones memory! Nonetheless feeding the lines in to the fuselage cowling proved easier but still presented a challenge. I honestly got to the point where I considered leaving them out altogether but I wasn’t about to be beaten by a little Fokker. Finally all four lines were in place and each tensioned with a heated dental tool. I really should have thought this process through a bit more but hopefully next time the lesson will ‘ave been learned! I have a few more WnWs kits in the stash………. The engine was attached to the firewall and then the firewall was glued to the fuselage followed by the engine cowling. The prop was painted a light tan colour with Tamiya’s acrylic paint and then Raw Umber oil paint was used for the wood grain effect. I first removed the prop hub and then replaced it with another hub from one of the spare props supplied with the kit. The axial propellor logos came from spare WnWs decals and the data stencils on the prop are from Aviattic. All in all this is a great kit and I would highly recommend it to anyone with a bit of experience in building WnWs products. Again, I dedicate this build to all the men and women at Wingnut Wings who brought us some of the very best WW I models bar none! Cheers, Wolf

Uhmmm, yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s what I was thinking too Kev……….. Cheers, Wolf

Damn, Oliver, Unbelievably real! Cheers, Wolf

Unbelievable Geoff, I sometimes have trouble gluing two plastic bits together without cementing my fingers to the part and you do this kind of work. Cheers, Wolf

Spectacular Kent! You never cease to amaze me with your builds! Seriously! Cheers, Wolf (who needs a green with envy emoticon right now)

WOW! That is awesome! When I saw the first photo I thought I was looking at the real thing. Perfectly built and weathered. Fantastic Airea! Cheers, Wolf

Thanks Jay, If you ever decide to do a WW I aircraft you’ll find it incredibly simple compared to the Corsair you’re building now. That said, your Corsair build, well that’s just a freakin’ awesome piece of work right up there with Peter (Airscale and Geoff (Ironwing) builds. There’s others but those two are the first ones to come to mind. Cheers, Wolf

Hi Matt, The same approach may not work with the Camel as the bracing wires on the Camel were flat with a terminal at each end. Of course, if you’re not attempting to use flat wire, it’ll make the task much easier. I have some of RB Productions flat rigging wire and Gaspatch’s metal and resin terminal ends for British WW I aircraft so I need to find an easy way to use it and keep the flat wire from bowing. I was recently looking at my Camel kit and it should be an interesting challenge. As you can tell it’s another great kit from WnWs. Cheers, Wolf

Wow, Thank-you gentlemen for all the kind comments. They’re always appreciated! Ivanmoe, europapete is absolutely correct. You can order the Aviattic decals directly from their website. Richard Andrews is a real pleasure to deal with and the orders are processed and shipped promptly so purchase from Aviattic with confidence. They’re a great product and offer more than just decals. I built their smaller German WW I re-fuelling cart a number of years ago and it’s a great addition to any of the 1/32nd German WW I aircraft kits available. Cheers, Wolf

That came out looking absolutely brilliant Alex! Wonderful colour scheme and so cleanly executed. Very well done! All the best to your wife for a speedy and complete recovery and to you as well. Cheers, Wolf

Excellent modification Andy! Keep at it! I suspect your build will be one of only a few we’ll see as you have the patience of a saint with this kit. I most likely wouldn’t have…………….just sayin’. Cheers, Wolf

Finally, a week of holidays has begun, yeah! My two oldest granddaughters were supposed to arrive a couple of days ago but issues with their flight schedule means they’ll arrive tonight instead so I’ve had a little time to continue on with the Dr. 1. With the MGs installed it was time to add the center cabane struts, their rigging wires, and the rigging for the undercarriage. This is why I recommend not gluing the firewall assembly to the fuselage. The holes where the ends of the bracing wires run through in to the fuselage were drilled all the way through. This allowed me to pull the lines through the fuselage and hold them tight. Then applying a drop of extra thin CA secured the line inside the fuselage. No excess CA showing anywhere and without any further tensioning required. The cabane bracing wires will be pulled tight once the upper wing has been installed. Here’s a close up of the cockpit opening showing the Taurus Models Fokker Cowl Nuts to advantage. The sharp eyed amount you will also notice I replaced the crash pad assembly on the rear of the MGs that I’d originally installed with the correct configuration as shown in the photos of this aircraft on the WnWs website. The field applied access covers for adjusting the magnetos have also been added using 5 minute epoxy glue which gave me lots of time to adjust their position. These are kit supplied and curled slightly by pressing them against a large punch so they conformed to the fuselage curvature. They were primered and sprayed with Alclad II Dark Aluminum before being attached. As usual, 2lb fishing line, Gaspatch turnbuckles, and Bob’s Buckles brass tubing was used for the rigging. She’s gettin’ close to being finished now……… Cheers, Wolf

What I really enjoy however, is the oily hand prints on the inter-wheel fairing! Lovely build so far, Sean Thanks Sean, Yes, Karl-Heinz, one of the maintenance crew can’t seem to be able to touch any part of the aeroplane without filthy hands. He’s such a Schwein! It’s becoming a real source of irritation for the Rittmeister……….. Cheers, Wolf