sandbagger

Hi all, The pre-rigging is done now so it's time to fit the upper wing, Mike

Hi all, The rigging used is 0.08 mm 'Stroft' and 0.12 mm 'Steelon' mono-filament (fishing line). The pre-rigging is done for the rudder, elevator, ailerons and undercarriage cross bracing. Mike

Hi all, Apart from final weathering, the fuselage front end is done, Mike

Hi all, The engine with radiator assembly is now fitted, along with the cockpit coaming panel and the lower wing. Mike

Hi all, The fuselage sides and top decking had a brown glaze applied, but nowhere else on the aircraft. I've added that and now I'll add the personal and national markings, Mike

Hi all, I've applied the 'Aviattic' linen effect lozenge to the first Fokker D.VII now. Under the decals, although it's difficult to see in the shots, is pre-shading. I've yet to apply the kit decals and weather it all in, Mike

Hi all, A few more bits done. 'Properplane' Heine propeller treated with 'Tamiya' Clear Orange then Hull Red. Weathered with 'Tamiya' Weathering Master Set B (Rust) and 'AK Interactive' Kerosene wash. 'GasPatch' Spandau 08/15 extended handle guns with 'Alclad' Gun metal, then Steel. Weathered with 'AK Interactive' Kerosene wash and 'Tamiya' Rubber Black. Figures assembled and primed for painting - Anthony Fokker ('Aviattic'), Photographer and camera ('Black Dog'). Mike

Hi all, Well the engine is done. There are details I've not added as this model will have the engine fully enclosed. The second Fokker D.VII will have more detail as its engine will be fully exposed, Mike

Hi all, The engine is progressing although there's a way to go yet, not including application of the weathering effects: Cylinder fuel primers Fuel manifold and locking rings Coolant pipes Ignition leads Oil filler pipes Exhaust The oil sight glasses were made by dropping PVA adhesive into the holes - it dries clear (good for making windows etc). This engine is the test bed for the second Fokker D.VII and will be more or less covered by the forward fuselage panels. The next engine will be visible when I build the second aircraft, which will have the internal structure and engine etc totally exposed I know it seems senseless to cover the detail on this engine, but at least I know it's there, Mike

Hi all, The fuel primers for each cylinder are built using the 'Taurus Models' fuel priming cups (3219). They'll be painted when fitted to the engine. Mike

Hi all, I decided not to use the 'Taurus' spark plugs after all as although they are good, attaching the ignition leads to the tiny end of the plug was difficult to do without leaving it looking unrealistic. Instead I've made the spark plugs from 0.8 mm and 0.4 mm diameter 'Albion Alloys' brass tube with a 0.31" aluminium nut from 'RB Motion'. This way the fine lead wire I use to represent the ignition lead can locate inside the 0.2 mm bore of the 0.4 mm tube. Mike

Regards the lozenge on the pilots seat. I'm not sure how common the practice was to have lozenge linen applied to crew seat, but as an example, here's a shot from Wingnut Wings (Albatros OAW). Richard at 'Aviattic' supplies decals for the seat in his Fokker D.VII linen effect lozenge decal for the fuselage. I initially prepared the front face of the metal seat for a wood effect, but then spotted the decal, so applied that. Mike

Hi all, To enhance the engine detail I replaced the engines pre-molded locking rings for the fuel inlet manifold with the ‘Taurus Models’ engine intake manifold nuts (3211). The kit does not have spark plugs to fit to the six cylinders (two per cylinder), however the cylinders do have a pre-molded location hole for the spark plugs. The plugs to be used are from the ‘Taurus Models’ engine spark plugs (late type) (3204) set. Mike

Hi all, A magneto was located on each side at the rear of the engine. These were driven by the engine through a split drive shaft. Attached to each magneto were six ignition leads, which were routed through support tube attached to each side of the cylinder block. Each cylinder ignition lead exited the support tube through an aperture and was then attached to the cylinder spark plug (two per cylinder). The pre-molded support tubes supplied in the kit seem under sized, so I replaced them with micro-tube. The sump of the engine was essentially a ‘wet’ sump, as the oil reservoir was in the rear and lowest part of the sump. The oil was drawn from this reservoir by the oil pump (located at the rear of the engine) and distributed through the engine, after which it returned to the reservoir to be recirculated. The forward part of the engine sump appears to have been open, as can be seen through the open apertures and the front of the sump in the following photograph. An oil contents sight glass was located on the sides of the oil reservoir at the rear of the sump. Some engine installations had an oil tank installed in the engine bay and outside the engine, although this particular kit does not have this feature. I've drilled out the apertures and created a sight glass on each side - the 'glass' will be made of PVA adhesive once the engine is built. Mike

Hi all, The cooling of the engine cylinders was carried out by cooled water from the radiator being fed by pipes to the water pump, located on the bottom, rear of the sump. This water was pumped through an outlet pipe and through interconnected stub pipes at the bottom of each cylinder. The water was then pumped up through the cylinders jackets and out through the interconnected stub pipes at the top of each cylinder, then forward to the front of the engine and back to the radiator for cooling. The kit supplied cylinder block has the pre-molded coolant pipe for the cylinder jackets, but it looks unrealistic, as it extends through and between the separate cylinders, presumably to act as a solid fixing base for the cylinder block. I've cut this pre-molded pipe away to separate the cylinders and replaced it with short lengths of 0.85 mm diameter plastic rod, with a chamfer at at end to fit the contour of the cylinders. Mike