bstachel

Hi all,
Well, starting on the tail unit there are a few areas that needed to be addressed:
The 'Berg' had pronounced 'wash-out' (upward flare) at the outer trailing edge of the ailerons. Although it looks as though this was attempted in the kit parts, the 'wash-out' was nowhere pronounced enough. This required careful bending after heat soaking in hot water (boiled).
The combined fin and rudder had a few areas that I felt needed to be re-profiled after comparing the kit part to drawings in several notable publications.  
The tail planes and elevators, when laid together with the rib tapes aligned were found to be off-set to each other. I also felt these parts needed re-profiling.
 
Mike
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi all,
Before starting on the undercarriage changes, the lower wing need to be prepared.
The front spars of the lower wings were connected by a steel bar, which was located on the bottom surface of the fuselage.
As such the leading edges of the lower wings sat slightly below the fuselage. 
This is different from most aircraft of the time where the lower wing front spars were integral to the fuselage construction.
To locate the lower wings to the fuselage, 1.0 mm diameter holes needed to be drilled into the wing roots and one hole each side of the fuselage.
Metal rods were inserted into holes in the wing roots.
When test fitted, the wing root rear rods insert into the fuselage holes and the longer front rod against the underside of the fuselage.
 
Mike
 

 

 

 

Hi all,
The supplied undercarriage struts have solid axle ends solid with bungee suspension cords include.
However the axle fairing has a solid steel rod moulded into the fairing, which can't be fitted into the struts without drilling out the moulded axle ends.
Even if possible, it would leave the weight of the model on the flimsy resin suspension cords, which I don't think would take the weight.
Instead I've removed the moulded axle ends and bungee cords to allow the rod in the axle fairing to locate onto the struts.
I've yet to create the bungee suspension cords from wire. I also replaced the kit supplied bracing bar with 0.9 mm diameter tube, as the kit part was too short,
 
Mike
 

 

 

 

Hi all,
The undercarriage assembly is completed.
Struts modified by removing the pre-moulded axle ends and bungee suspension cords.
Cross bracing anchors points added to the bottom front of the forward undercarriage struts.
Axle secured to the undercarriage struts and 0.4 mm diameter lead wire used to replicate the bungee cord suspension.
Bracing bar in kit replaced (too short) with 0.9 mm diameter brass tube,
 
Mike
 

Hi all,
I've been working on preparing the wings, fin/rudder, ailerons, tail planes, elevators and their associated support struts.
The struts should, I think, have steel reinforcing pins moulded through them, but I found the 'Z' shaped cabane struts had ends without pins.
Also the fuselage indents for locating these struts had no locating hole.
The single piece fin and rudder had no locations for attaching it to the fuselage and neither did the tail planes.
The separate ailerons and elevators also has no locating pins/holes.
Therefore I added support pins of 0.6 mm diameter for the wing struts and ailerons and 0.4 mm diameter pins to locate the fin/rudder, elevators and tail planes.
 
Mike 
 

 

 

Hi all,
On the top of the fuselage and to the rear of the radiator is a condensation matrix for cooling radiator steam back to liquid and returning it back into the cooling system through a pipe connected to the rear of the assembly.
Apparently this avoided a build up of steam pressure being lost through the filler cap and losing coolant. 
Anyway I wasn't happy with the resin one piece part in the kit.
I felt it was too large at the base and anyway the top was slightly off centre with the bottom.
Also the kit doesn't appear to have the 90 degree pipe at the back of the assembly.
So I cut the part in two, re-shaped the base, connected them with brass tube and added the rear pipe using annealed 0.8 mm brass rod.
Strangely the photo-etch in the kit supplies only one 'matrix' disc for the condensation matrix, which presumably like a radiator, would have the matrix from front to rear?
I used the photo-etch from the front of the matrix (as that will be more visible) and drilled 0.3 mm diameter holes in the rear face to replicate the matrix,
 
Mike
 

 

 

Hi everybody!
Here we go - an assembled wing. 
 
Coloured and washed 0,4mm plywood...

 
...an assembled rib....

 
... a pile of splinters ... 

 
...and finally an assembled wing. I am just happy with the result! 
 

 

 

 
I am pretty surprised with the properties of the plywood. It seems to be very fragile, but even when a single rib is assembled and glued, it is really solid and tough! Love the work with a real wood 

Hi all,
The Sopwith 'Swallow' is now complete and posted in the 'Ready for Inspection' thread,
 
Mike

After 7 months of work, the Albatros D.Va (OAW) is finally complete...The build is based on the Wingnut Wings kit and finished as Hans Von Gössel's flying skull, circa mid 1918. The kit was extensively modified in order to make the small details more accurate. Additions were Bo Monroe's 3D printed wing radiator and Fuel tank, HGW Models textile harnesses and Yahu photoetch instruments. I completely scratchbuilt the air valve assembly behind the starboard instrument panel and linked the piping based on the NASM plans for the restored Albatros (the restoration book was of tremendous help with the plans and detail photos). The kit received a new windcreen made from thermoformed clear acetate to thin it to scale, and the coaming was modified to add wrinkles and retaining washers for the leather. Master brass jackets were used for the Spandaus. For the engine, i had run out of Taurus resin overhead cam so i just scratchbuilt the valve springs, the induction manifold was wrapped with teflon tape and the heat shields were made from lead sheet and MENG styrene bolts. Taurus resin spark plugs were used and everything wired using Modelkasten rubber thread. Rexx metal exhaust attached. The Niendorf propeller was my first hand carved propeller and i used different veneer sheets and then coated it with MR. Paint clear. The wooden fuselage is finished with Knotless decals from Uschi van der Rosten and a few filters. The decals are just flawless in their application and in the result you get. I initially had the rigging attachment points 3D designed and printed by my friend and ALM Studios team mate Imad Bouantoun, but they turned out too big due to their hollow nature and limitations on SLA printing so i ended up scratchbuilding those using styrene and thermoforming the domes with styrene sheet to be able to use the Gaspatch Models albatros specific turnbuckles. Rigging tubing is from Bob's Buckles and rigging is done with EZ-Line thin. The lozenge linen is Aviattic and is superb as are all the linen decal series from that manufacturer... Alot of additions and scratchbuilt items which would be too long for me to itemize here, or which i might have forgotten over the period of time since. The figure is to give a sense of scale and was painted by my friend and ALM Studios team mate Bernard Bassous. You can find all the juicy details in the build log .
Id like to thank everyone who encouraged me to push the envelope so to speak. As i mentioned on the wip log, it looks like the stars were aligned for this one!
 
Thanks again,
Stay safe and happy modeling!
Karim
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Hello everyone...
Sorry for not being active here for a long while now. Surgery and recovery had to take the upper hand in life for the past month. The surgery i did beginning of April was successful, surgeons cut some of the shoulder bone off and reshaped and shaved some others and i got my ligament stitched back. Recovery is still ongoing and relatively smooth and i am quite surprised at how quickly i regained full range of motion, like somebody had removed a 'stop' from between cogs of a mechanism. Physiotherapy is ongoing and will continue until mid June when i am hoping to be released again to go fly. I got a bit tired from staying home in Beirut with all the hustle and bustle, and friends being at work all day, my daughter busy with school and not much to do, so i got the green light from the therapist and got on a plane and flew back to Doha under the guise of having to check on the apartment. In reality i was in need of a bit of peace and quiet and use the downtime i have at the bench to push on with the albatros build. I haven't managed to achieve all i wanted in the timespan i had allocated but alot has been done. I have noticed that the stretches i spent at the bench daily during my 9 days here has brought back some pain which i suspect is because i was overusing my right shoulder. Apparently it hasn't completely healed like i thought and this is why i suspect the doctor gave me the sick leave till mid June. Either way, i am back on an airplane tomorrow morning to fly home to continue with the treatment until my sick leave ends so no more benchtime until then. I am hoping to use the time i have for another model related project though!
 
Well, back to the Albatros in no specific order. To be honest i don't exactly remember where we left off but vaguely at the engine. So on with that. I had scratchbuilt the valves by wrapping thin wire to shape on a conical sander. Added styrene punched discs for the valve spring covers. I had rummaged through my ww1 aftermarket stash but i had run out of Taurus resin valves and overhead cam so i ordered some online. By the time i came back to Doha they were there but i then realised i had ordered the set for the mercedes D3 and not the D3a where the rocker arms are at a different position so i ended up using the contraption i had built. Taurus resin spark plugs and modelkasten rubber thread was used for the plug and attachment. I used albion alu tubing for the distributor tube and ezline for the tube to magneto connections. I used Meng styrene hex bolts to close off where the priming cups are installed (or not) as i decided to have them not present on the kit i was building. The intake manifold was partially enhanced with scratchbuilt items. I used teflon tape due to its thinness to simulate the asbestos wrapping and used lead sheet to simulate the top covers on top of the intake manifold. The covers where left in their natural state with no painting done to those. I formed straps using the same lead sheet and used Meng styrene bolts to tie the straps together. The engine got most of its piping and ancillary wiring done using different gage fly fishing wire. I also added half the assembly of a Taurus  models resin priming cup to simulate the drain at the top of the air pump on the front of the engine. Engine was painted using different alclad colors, tamiya colors, weathered with oils, some salt fading and prismacolor pencils (starting to become my favorite way to add little subtle scratches short of chipping the thing). 
 
The guns are the Master models brass jackets. As usual the photoetch was a nightmare but i got used to the sequence of assembly so i had the guns completed in half a day. The jackets got burnished in the Ammo Mig liquid along with the pe fret. Assembly is a bit tricky. The gun bodies got painted alclad gunmetal then drybrushed with buffable iron from Mr metal color Gunze and buffed and then another drybrush of silver to the edges. I weathered the guns with oils, and did some basic heat staining to the jackets with hotmetal sepia from Alclad. a quick dash of semigloss from mrp gave a nice sheen to the gun bodies. 
 
The wings got the Aviattic lozenge treatment and boy oh boy how i love Richard's products. The wings really look like fabric and every time i use them i have a big smile on my face. They are not the easiest but of late i have found that a hairdryer does magic on decals in general. The wings got the anchor points for the turnbuckles completely sanded away and marked for reference and then the new ones installed but more on that below, and all the hatches sanded and removed. I scribed the line where the wing to stub is connected (in reality the wing slips on the wingstubs) as wingnut wings represents this as a raised line. The wings got painted white with the area around the topside ribs shadowed and the ribs themselves darker at the bottom. Glossed. Decals on. A filter of sand brown was put on and it changed the tint of the wing to a nicer richer brown. I also added different filters in different areas to give some variation making the inner side darker. Sealed everything. PE hatches from a spare albatros HGW pe fret were used for all the hatches and i drilled them and will add photoetch fasteners to the hatch covers once i finish all the rigging. i preinstalled the regular type C metal gaspatch turnbuckles which are no longer produced unfortunately (they switched to resin and to be honest i don't know what to think). I added Micromark resin rivet decals for the nailheads around the wingstubs as they are more pronounced that the HGW ones and it helps show them in a small area like this. I also added some sort of drain pipe that is visible on a photo, from the fuselage on the right down to the wing stub.
 
Now the meaty part. In relation to the mounting points for the turnbuckles on the wingstub. Let me first explain how the anchor points work as far as i personally understand. The Turnbuckle has a ball shaped end and the ballshape end in held down by a dome with a slit. My friend and fellow ALM Studios member Imad designed the cad drawings based on the dimensions and limitations of the SLA 3D printer. Working at this small size tuned out to be quite difficult with very little tolerance. We initially tried to work with a thickness for the dome that kept everything in correct proportions but we kept getting a dome that wasn't walled correctly so end of the day we printed the parts the smallest we could go. Back in doha i tried them on the wing and found them to be too big to my taste. Thinking it over a friend of mine tossed around the idea of burnishing tin from a coke can into shape and doing the base out of styrene. Brilliant, i love when modelers get together over a problem and find solutions. Next day i tried but to be honest i wasn't really satisfied with the strength of the burnished dome can so i went back to the drawing board. For the base below the dome, i wanted to do two sheets of styrene cut to size with the upper dome holes punched and the lower sheet with wider dome holes to be able to leave a lip on the dome so it could rotate freely in the base assembly and be locked between the wing and the top sheet of styrene that makes up the base. Another problem is as hard as i tried i wasn't able to get a consistent replication of the base styrene pieces in terms of hole alignment, corner curvatures and sizes. Back to the drawing board and lightbulb moment. I decided i was going to use the silhouette plotter for the base and i was going to thermoform styrene for the domes. I vectored the base shapes and surprisingly the silhouette plotter worked a treat without a hitch. The thickness of the sheet styrene was quite thin so i reckon this helped. I dont think it would be any good say on thicker styrene other than to scribe but then youd have to cut the parts out yourself. I also built a jig out of thick styrene which i drilled at 2mm and thermoformed domes by heating styrene sheet and burnishing it while soft into the jig. The domes just popped off with a good push with a beading tool. The domes got then the slit cut out using a sharp exacto blade and the domes slipped under the two sandwiched base styrene 'slices'. I added 4 bolts from Meng and omitted the two bolt outboard and front and back where they might interfere with the function of the turnbuckles. I hope i was able to clearly explain what i did. 
 
Added the drain tube for the fuel tank at the bottom from two albion tubes and a valve handle from bent brass rod
 
Beyond that point, but not in the photos in tonight's update, i already painted and weathered the struts, installed them, installed the engine and the oil tank and wired it, the landing gear assembly was attached and rigged and i added the anti chaffing disc between the rigging lines from punched disc and the radiator was painted. I also painted and weathered the Rexx exhaust and basically i am left with the top wing job and the rigging and we can see this build through but that will be in the timespan of a month when i am back at the bench and at work here in Doha. 
 
The photo posts are going to be a bit on the heavy side but i do hope you enjoy tonight's update!
I thank everyone again for the well-wishing notes you left and for the kindness. 
 
Stay safe and as always happy modeling
Karim

Hey gang!
 I had 4 days home so i pushed forward because i will not have alot of time at hand the next coming weeks. 
At this stage we have arrived to the inevitable, the woodgraining, which i actually enjoy very much!
For the woodgraining i have used Uschi Van Der Rosten woodgrain decals as usual but this time i have taken my time to choose the one i found most pleasing to my eye. I was initially going to go for the Ronny Bar version, but then i decided to go for the knotless 'Barnfind' version which later received a couple of glazes of ochre mixed with burn umber to get more of a honey tint to the woodwork. Sealed everything in and then attached the HGW photoetch parts using Krystal Klear of which the excess was then wiped clean with water. On the woodwork i used the HGW nailhead wet transfer set which worked but with the loss of quite a few heads, but it still looks all natural to me. The detail is very refined and can only be seen when you look up close. Next build i will probably use the rivet set plan and will rivet the albatros with the RB riveting tool to accentuate the rivets further. The kit stencils worked a treat snuggling down with some mr softer and setter but the big skull was a real bear to get down even with those and with a hairdrier. To try to weather the big white expanses and the skulls i used micromesh to abrade some of the surface and give it more of a used look. The nail lines can be seen through the micromesh treatment in some of the areas which i found to look nice.  Bear in mind i have not started the weathering on the fuselage yet and what i am doing now is just preweathering which i will accentuate at later stages in the location and amount that will tie everything together. I have also built a new flare rack from a spare piece of pe which i have drilled and scribed then bent and the flares are made of 0.7 albion alu tube. In the Iphone photos in the gallery you can see a wire with the cap on one of the flares but that turned out not to be correct after further research of era photographs and reference material. This has since been discarded. Alot of little things have been added overall and work goes on fixing things here and there and slowly adding stuff along the way while keeping an eye out on the references...
One thing of note which has bugged me quite alot is i found the elevator control rigging to have popped off the rigging flywheel at the extreme forward part of the control column and this has somewhat blown the wind out of my sails to say the least. i will try to find a way to get this fixed whenever i have time, if it is within the realm of possibility... let's see

!DISREGARD THE LANDING GEAR IT IS FROM ONE OF THE OTHER ALBATROS I BUILT AND IS USED JUST TO PROP THE FUSELAGE UP FOR THE PHOTOS!
 
At the point of writing this, and for next update i have completed a scratchbuilt windscreen and frame, changed the landing gear molded on retainers on the leg for more accurate ones with resin bolts and leadsheet, finished decalling the fuselage completely and have started by modifying the top wing to take Bo's 3d printed see through radiator! EDIT: and the leather coaming fasteners which i forgot to mention!
 
Thanks for looking in!
Ryan, for you specifically i have inserted a photo of the woodgrain pre glaze and post glaze so you can see the difference in how it tints the base coat. It's like a filter but a bit heavier in terms of oil paint content. I use quick dry thinners and a hairdryer so basically after half an hour and a couple of hairdryer sessions, i gently blend everything in with a lintfree cloth and the brushstrokes disappear and it all feathers in, then i lock it up with a coat of lacquer clear. hope that helps!
 

 

 

 

Above pre-glaze
 

Above post glaze (Ryan!)
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi all,
Well the fuselage is completed, apart from fitting the engine exhaust and the propeller.
The Rudder and Elevator control runs have been connected with the turnbuckles under the pilot's seat.
Also the tail plane to fin bracing cable.
The entire fuselage has been weathered and sealed.
So now it's on to the lower wing, followed by scratch building the skeletal undercarriage assembly, which unfortunately is not available as a 3D printed part.
Mike

Hi all,
Tail unit assembled from the 3D printed parts.
Very fragile once separated from the support frame, so should prove interesting.
The elevator was missing the inboard trailing edge profile, presumably missed during printing process.
Therefore I had to make the profiles using 0.8 mm brass tube.
Mike

Hi all,
I've added the padding rim around the fuselage decking panel and onto the top of the cockpit side frames.
This was done using 2.0 mm diameter plastic tube which was sanded to form a grip for painting.
Then it was slit along one side and located over the decking and secured in position with thin CA adhesive. 
Finally it was primed, painted 'Humbrol' leather (62) and 'Tamiya' Hull Red (XF9), sealed then given a clay wash and finally sealed with 'Alclad' Light Sheen (ALC-311).

Mike

Hi all,
I was shown a diagram of the Fokker DR.1, which had similar controls.
The only photos I had were of the left wing pulleys so I assumed the right side pulleys were the same - wrong.
The control cables for the aileron top control horns cross in the wing centre section - I assumed they didn't which is why I couldn't figure out their interaction.
It all makes sense now.

I can move on to finish the build now,
Mike 

Hi all,
The upper wing has been assembled and the plywood 'saw tooth' fairing added,
Mike

Hi all,
Just a lick of paint on the struts and cross bracing to attach and the undercarriage is done,
Mike

Hi all,
Radiator with photo-etch front and rear cooling core and scratch made pilot operated flap (to control engine cooling),
Mike

Hi all,
Generator lead and seat connector fitted.
Generators were not standard fit, but were installed to some aircraft to power heated flying suits later in WW1 and if carried, wireless transmitters.
Made from 0.4 mm diameter Nickel-Silver micro-tube and 0.148 mm diameter match line.

Mike

Hi all,
The kit supplied fuselage side frames married to the 3D printed fuselage.
This required cutting both, as both have a pilots seat frame and only one can be used of course.
As the join between the two could be a weak area, I chose to fit them together using brass micro-tube.
This gives more rigidity to the join of the fuselage and allows the fitting of the pilots seat frame from the kit (part A26),
Mike
 

Hi all,
I've added the control linkage to the top of the twin carburettors, which consist two levers, connecting rod and cable pulley.
Also the connected levers on the top of the attached 'speed controllers;.
I also created the frame mounted throttle bell-crank and the two cross bars on the forward fuselage frames, which are missing from the kit parts,
Mike
 


 
 

Hi all,
The end is in sight for this engine build.
I've added the decals, ignition leads, gun synchronization mechanism, oil sight glass, generator and drive, cylinder fuel primers, water pump, intake manifold with locking rings, crankcase breather pipe and additional pipes.
All that's left is to add the engine mounted throttle and spark advance (ignition timing) controls - the remainder of the control runs can't be added until the engine is fitted into the fuselage (with the cockpit),
Mike


 

Hi all,
Starting to assemble the engine accessories now.
So far the spark plugs, ignition lead support tubes, camshaft, air pump, coolant drain tap and cylinder base bridging clamps.
Still plenty more to do,
Mike