sandbagger

Hi all, The ailerons on the upper wing can't be attached with rods as the trailing edge of the upper wing is too thin to drill. The kit supplies photo-etch 'hinges', which are flimsy and may not adhere well to an oil painted wood effect surface. Therefore, I decided to modify the hinges by cutting away the hinge arms and drilling 0.5 mm diameter holes through the body of the hinges. Brass tube of 0.4 mm diameter were inserted through the hinge bodies and holes drilled through the ailerons. The tubes were bent forwards above and below the upper wing trailing edge. Holes were drilled through the wing and the top tubes bent to fit into the holes. The underside tubes were cut to end at the wing holes on the underside. Doing this allows the ailerons to be angled on the upper wing and should provide a sturdier attachment. The aileron control horns will be fitted into 0.4 mm wide slots, drilled though the ailerons inside the photo-etch mounting plates. Now onto preparing for pre-rigging the model, Mike

Hi all, The resin used for the 3D printed parts tends to be very brittle. The tail skid bracing bars need to take the weight of the model. Also, the tail skid has no integral strengthening rods or any location into the fuselage. As I wasn't sure if the bracing bars were strong enough, I replaced the rear bracing bar with 0.8 mm diameter Brass rod. This was bent at one end to fit into a drilled hole in the underside of the fuselage. Now onto how to fit the upper wing ailerons onto the wing, Mike

Hi all, The landing gear has been prepared now. I've added the following: 1.4 mm diameter Brass tube into the drilled through wheels to provide a more positive fit onto the integral 1.2 mm diameter axle rods. 'EZ' heavy white stretch line to represent the 'Bungee' type suspension cords. 0.4 mm diameter Nickel-Silver tube, bent and fitted to represent the axle restraining cables. Flattened 0.6 mm diameter Brass tube with integral 0.4 mm diameter Brass rod to represent the crew footstep. I've also made two crew steps from flattened 0.5 mm diameter Brass tube. These were fitted to the fuselage left side at the observer's cockpit and to the fuselage right side below the engine. Now it's onto preparing the tail skid, Mike

Hi all, I've prepared the fitting of the upper and lower wings, including test fitting of the six interplane struts. I found the best way to do this was to permanently fit the lower wings first. The lower wings have only one integral locating rod and no location for the rod into the fuselage. Having only one rod meant that the wings would pivot in the fuselage, making wing alignment a problem. Also, the rod in the right lower wing is located farther rearwards than that in the left wing. Therefore, the rod would be visible inside the cockpit. I chose to cut away that rod flush to the wing root. I then drilled an extra 1.0 mm hole in the left wing root and two holes in the right wing root. Into these I secured 1.0 mm diameter Brass locating rods. The fuselage was then marked and holes drilled through the sides of the fuselage. Both wing locating rods are now not visible from inside the cockpit and the wings are positively located in the fuselage. The upper wing halves needed to be drilled for 1.0 mm diameter joining rods that locate into the two slots in the top of the fuselage cabane strut assembly. The locating holes for the six interplane struts were then drilled into, but not through their location points in the wings. The integral strut rods were cut to 2.0 mm length as they were too long. The struts were then temporarily held in their locating holes in the upper wing, which was then test fitted into the lower wings and cabane strut slots. All in all not an easy wing installation, but rigid enough when test fitted. I've also prepared the tail unit, as all of the parts have no locating rods. I've added location rods of 0.5 mm and 0.8 mm diameter Brass rods. I cut the elevators from the tailplanes in order to have them angled down slightly. Now it's onto preparing the landing gear, Mike

Hi all, After closing up the fuselage I found a problem with the rear fuselage cabane struts. The two rear struts on each side were slightly bowed due to the angle they were fitted. The bottom of two struts had also cracked (3D printed and not reinforced with rods). Therefore, I cut the struts away and replaced them with shaped Brass tube and internal rod. This also makes the struts stronger for bearing the weight of the upper wing halves, Mike

Hi all, I've not posted in the last few weeks, as we took a holiday abroad. The first time in three years due to the Covid restrictions etc. The four of us arrived home yesterday. Yes, you guessed it!! I have Covid, so does my wife and the wife of our friends we went with. Anyway, once we're back to normal I'll crack on with the Lloyd model. Mike

Hi all, Fuselage closed up now, then and the throttle control rod added (0.4 mm Nickel-Silver tube), Mike

Hi all, I'm intending to add a flare and a grenade ammunition rack. So I thought I ought to add the flare and grenade pistols to the gunners cockpit. Both 'spares' from previous 'Wingnut Wings' models. The stowage containers were made from photo-etch and 1.4 mm diameter tube. I also added a map, Mike

Hi all, The internal fuselage detail is now complete. I've added Control cables and cross bracing using 0.08 mm diameter mono-filament. The spark advance control rod is 0.4 mm diameter Nickel-Silver tube, as will be the throttle control rod. The throttle control rod will be added after the fuselage is closed up, so it can be passed through the left side of the instrument panel frame. I may add a map to the gunners table, Mike

Hi all, The fuselage components have been prepared for assembly. The wood finish is 'Tamiya' Dark Yellow (XF60) over painted with Windsor & Newton’ Griffin (Alkyd) Burnt Umber oil paint. The ammunition drum is a spare from a 'Gaspatch' Parabellum set, as its more in-scale than the kit supplied 3D printed part. Now it's onto the control rods and cables before the fuselage is assembled and closed up with the engine, Mike

Hi Kev, Love to and a great way to promote 1:32nd scale modelling. In particular, WW1 aircraft, which I think needs to get out there more for those modelers who tend to shy away from them, Mike

Thanks Kev. Heard you on the 'On the Bench' podcast - great conversation and background on KLP Publishing. Nice to know how you came by your KLP handle, Mike

Hi all, Here's the final shots of Junkers J.1, Serial No: 596/18, located at the Junkers airfield at Dessau, Germany, in September 1918. The fully detailed build log can be found here: As usual a fully detailed build log (in Adobe PDF format) can be read or downloaded from Gallery 4 on my web site (link in my signature block). Once again, many thanks for your support and comments, Mike

Hi all, Completed model shots are now up in the 'Ready for Inspection' page, Mike

Hi all, The basic engine is now complete. I've added the ignition leads, spark advance and throttle control rods and other pipes. Mike