sandbagger

Hi all, The twin rudder control lines with turnbuckles and the aileron control wire horns have been pre-rigged. The last bit of pre-rigging will be the elevator control wire horns. Mike

Hi all, The underside of the upper wing has now been pre-rigged. Also the fin bracing has been done as well as the steerable tail skid control lines. The last rigging to do before the upper wing is fitted are the twin rudder control lines, Mike

Hi all, The wing struts and the cabane struts have been pre-rigged and left 'slack'. They'll be finally tightened and secured once the upper wing is fitted. As with the undercarriage bracing, the end fittings are 0.4 mm nickel-silver tube with 0.5 mm aluminium nuts, although it's difficult to make them out in the shots.. Now it's on to pre-rigging the wing and flight controls!! Mike

Hi all, The undercarriage is now braced. Although you can't see it very well in the shot, there is a turnbuckle bracing line routed across the front of the axle fairing. The end fittings are 0.4 mm nickel-silver tube with 0.5 mm aluminium nuts. All that's left is to create the 'bungee' suspension and the undercarriage is done. Then it's on to rigging the aircraft. Mike

Hi all, Just a few more showing weathering. For those who are wondering what the four black things under the fuselage are and the 'ears' sticking out of the engine carburetor intake: This aircraft was photographed with under fuselage attachment brackets for a 'Cooper' bomb rack' However no photographs I could find show the actual rack as being fitted. Sopwith Camels serving in the Italian theater had a field service mod carried out to fit 'funnels' to the carburetor air intake tubes, to increase airflow to the engine as they operated at higher altitudes than on the Western Front. Barker's B6313 had both fitted, Mike

Hi all, The model is progressing now. The 'Aviattic' linen effect decals have had the kit decals added, plus decal black/white stripes. After sealing it's all have a 'Flory' Dark Dirt wash and 'Tamiya' weathering master highlights. The final weathering will be 'AK Interactive' oil/kerosene enamel for engine staining. Then it's on to pre-rigging and assembly, Mike

Hi all, The linen effect decals for the CDL are on now. The photo is in strong light and doesn't really show the slight applied pre-shading very well. These and the PC12 decals are basic and will be weathered etc later in the build, Mike

The linen effect decals for the PC12 are on now, Mike

Hi all, It's been a few weeks since I posted for this build - been on vacation. Anyway the two figures are completed now - Barker himself and his mechanic (who will be working on the engine cowl). I'm currently cutting and applying the 'Aviattic' linen effect decals to the models (light PC12 and CDL) - a time consuming job as they are not cookie cut, so accurate paper templates need to be cut first then used to trace the outline onto the decals sheet. Mike

Hi all, I've moved on a bit and now have the fuselage closed up, primed and pre-shaded ready for the 'Aviattic' linen effect decals. I've also got the two figures primed ready for painting - mechanic from Copper State Models, pilot from 'Blackdog Models', Mike

Hi all, The propeller is done now along with the engine, Mike

Hi all, I think that's about it for the cockpit. ‘Barracuda Studios’ Wicker Seat and cushion (BR32332). ‘HGW Models’ Sopwith Camel seat belts (132590). Copper micro-tubes for fuel supply to engine, main and auxiliary fuel tanks, fuel contents indicator and fuel tank pressurization. Brass micro-tubes for a pipe 4-way union, pipe connectors and fuel filter. Lead wire for gun trigger cables and engine ‘blip’ switch. Rigging wires with turnbuckles for cockpit side frame, under shield and floor bracing. Flight control cables with turnbuckles for Ailerons, rudder, elevator and tail skid. Micro-tube for throttle control linkage. Mike

Hi all, Here's the cockpit left side frame, with bracing wires/turnbuckles, all new copper fuel supply and contents pipes, throttle control linkage and elevator control lines. I still have to add aileron control lines, the under shield with rudder bar with rudder and tail skid control lines and attach the two middle elevator control lines to the control column. Also add the trigger lines to the two Vickers machine guns. Then it's on to the cockpit right side frame with all of the fuel tank pressurization pipes. Mike

Hi all, I'm getting close to completing the cockpit, along with replacing the kit molded pipework with copper wire, adding a lot of additional pipework, adding cockpit bracing wires and flight control cables (with turnbuckles) and engine fuel control linkage. Also modifying the cockpit forward decking and adding bracing to the tail skid bay. Hopefully I should be able to post some shots of the assembly before I close up the fuselage, when of course most of it won't been visible. Mike

Hi all, Just a quick update. I decided to use the kit supplied modified centre section rather than the one I modified earlier. I've added the support hoop for the linen that was removed from trailing edge of the upper wing centre section of Barkers B6313, Mike