Airco DH.6A aka "Skyhook"

[fozzy]

Hi Tomek....I'm back from my Xmas break and am catching up on all the forums.....then I saw your rim padding! ....brilliant Mate!!...a lot better than mine I have to say!!...I must try that on the next scratch build I do!!....well done!

[Tomek]

Thanks Mark! A compliment from you is worth a lot!

 

Leif, I have a quite opposite view to "problems" you have mentioned.

First, I think I still have a lot to learn, and my models are far from levels of craftsmanship presented by some paper modelers.

Second, I believe card models have a lot of uncovered potential. You are right, that there are intrinsic limitations of paper kits: visible cutting lines or raster patterns to name few, but these shouldn't stop us. As some already proved, there are ways of overcoming such limitations. Check for example Rowin's work, here on the forums (I-16, Hurricane, 109F-4). He's one of the most progressive card modelers I know, pushing boundaries of the genre to the point that some question if it's still paper modeling. I think we both can agree that these are very interesting times for card modeling, with more and more challenging designs, and talented modelers picking up the gauntlet and proving it can be done better. It's very exciting to watch were all this is going!

And third, I think a paper model, if assembled in a standard way but flawlessly, can still be very convincing. There is a lot of magic in transforming something from 2D to 3D. This alone can give a builder a lot of satisfaction. I plan to make a lot of OOB models just for that thrill!

 

Martin, thanks for looking in! I'm just an assembler, improving here and there something. I'm glad I got your approval! Can't wait for your update!

[Leif Ohlsson]

Tomek, thanks for responding in such a positive manner. I had no business raising these kinds of issues, and I apologize.

 

The half-baked thought I was aiming for was that there is a kind of limit where perfection achieved in some details may result in general disappointment with the whole of the rest, thus making perfect the enemy of good. I did not wish for you ever to encounter that kind of limit.

 

But you reassure me with your stated aim of building a lot of paper models, as you say, out of the box. I'm sure out of the box in your hands will result in some really attractive models, where even a beginner may feel that "OK, this is someting I could do, too, given some time and practice with these nice paper modeling techniques I have been shown here". I really look forward to that!

 

And your rim is still the best I've seen...

 

Kind regards, Leif

[Gil]

Hi Tomek,

Post Merry Christmas and wishing you a Happy New Year!

Best cockpit surround I've ever seen! Of course you cheated in creating this illusion with Photoshop no doubt? Just kidding and rubbing it in. It is that good. Congrats on the accomplishment. On Leif's remark I've been reading the book "Real World Scanning and Halftones" by David Blatner and Steve Roth. It's somewhat dated now making it used book affordable on Amazon. The book contains a mountain of pertinent information to card modeling from the print, printer and scanner view point. I recommend it for all serious card modelers....,

Bien Cordialement, +Gil

[Tomek]

Thanks Gil for the compliments and your book recommendation. I will take a look at the book, especially that my knowledge of this areas is rather poor.

Happy New Year to you too!

 

I managed to skin the fuselage before the end of this year . Yeah, I know, I'm slow

Anyway, the cockpit area was bit difficult, mostly because the padding and double skin made that part very stiff. As the result, on the starboard parts haven't lined up properly (see the red arrow). Entirely my fault, but there is nothing I can do about it.

 

 

 

 

And here a look at the cockpit:

 

 

 

 

I experimented a bit with stitching of the fabric part of the fuselage. The results are not quite were I would like them to be, but I think it's acceptable. I'm planning to do a little bit more work on it, and I hope to improve the final look. The stitches were made out of 1mm pieces of painted stretched sprue. You can see some shine after using CA to glue them on, but that will disappear after a flat coat later. I managed to do stitches on the port of the fuselage, I still have starboard to do.

Somehow the stitches don't look right on the pictures. They look bit better to naked eye, but that's only my opinion.

 

 

 

Happy New Year everybody!!!

[miamiangler]

Tomek the cockpit looks awesome

 

 

willi

[Guest]

MY OH MY, Tomek. This is just fantastic. Very, very well done, my friend. More please.....Harv

 

Also HAPPY NEW YEAR !

Edited December 31, 2011 by Guest

[Guest Peterpools]

Tomek

Front office looks just fantastic, Awesome work

Peter

[Loic]

Impressive job!

[PhilB]

I think your stitch up job looks terrific.

I wouldnt worry about the panel being slightly out on one side. I doubt if the real thing would have

hyper straight panels allowing for the flexing of the fuse and all.

Lovely stuff as usual.

 

[fozzy]

Happy New Year Tomek!....great stitching mate!!

[DougN]

Now it's starting to look like an aeroplane! Love the cockpit, looks great!

 

Doug

[Tomek]

Thank you for your very kind feedback guys! I really appreciate it.

 

Phil, as usual, knows how to lift up modeler's spirit. Thanks!

Doug, I hope from now on the resemblance will be only better

 

I finished starboard stitching and glued in place the windshield. Pictures a little bit later.

The kit instruction suggests to build at this point undercarriage, but looking at Fozzy's S.E.5a thread I think it will be smarter to build the tail and wings first. It seems that way it will be easier to take care of proper geometry of these elements.

I started with the tail. Many of the photos of DH.6 clearly shows visible tapes on the surface of the tail fabric. Additionally, on the tailplane, the internal structure can be seen (note some sort of bracing pushing against the fabric where the horizontal stabilizer meets the rudder).

 

Photo from Datafile (fair use)

 

 

I wanted to replicate a bit this things. The kit has printed tapes on the fabric, but looking at angle they all quickly disappear and nothing can be seen, especially on the upper "brown" surface. My first attempt was to cut thin strips of extra color provided in the kit, delaminate it so almost only print will be left and glue it in place of printed tape detail.

 

 

 

 

The results were too obvious to my liking. It just didn't look right. Another idea was to simply gently emboss these line on the verso of parts. The procedure was the same as in case of fabric wrinkles on the fuselage. Mark the lines, wet them with thinned O'glue and gently press with a stylus. Below a comparison of the elevators done in both methods (left - glued stips, right - embossed) :

 

 

 

 

I think it looks better. Maybe not exactly accurate, but I can live with it. Similar things were done to the horizontal stabilizers and the tailplane.

 

 

 

 

What do you think? Acceptable?

Edited January 4, 2012 by Tomek

[JCote]

What do you think? Acceptable?

 

Acceptable? Certainly not Sir! What are you trying to do, give us plastic guys a terminal complex?

 

Tomek, as ever, your work is jaw-droppingly good.

 

I actually saw a card model up close for the first time at a recent model meet in Vienna (it was an F4 Phantom I think). Initially, from a distance, I was struck by the realism of what I took to be a "normal" model. It was only when I approached the stand to congratulate the builder that I realised what it was. Quite amazing.

 

Best, Jean

[fozzy]

Very acceptable in my book Tomek!!...very nice ....I used a layer of tissue on the old SE5....I am dreading what it is going to look like when she is sprayed up!!....but looking at your photos I don't think you will have any problems!