mattlow Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 (edited) I imagine lots of people here won't have heard of Harry Woodman or seen his book Scale Model Aircraft in Plastic Card. Well, Mr Woodman was kind enough to allow free access to a web edition of the book and it is still a fantastic source of techniques and inspiration. The following link will take you to a link to the book, just click on the box with the book's name on it and follow the instructions. http://web.archive.o...wwimodeler.com/ Note tis is a web archive site, the original site is being repaired and is currently (AFAIK) unavailable. Matt Edited January 22, 2012 by mattlow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattlow Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 (edited) By the way Glenn, lovely workmanship, this'll be an impressive bird when you've finished. Matt Edited January 22, 2012 by mattlow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn R Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 After the fun of making the radiator, I finished off the fuselage top decking and the nose area. I know that many 184's had the top of the engine cowlings removed, but as my aircraft was based in northern Russia around 1919, I thought a full set of cowlings would be fitted. I also didn't fancy scratchbuilding another engine! Here you can see the trial fit of both the radiator and top wing centre section, plus the exhausts, which were made from squashed plastic tubing and epoxy putty Let's return to the wings now. I removed the ailerons and took a sliver of balsa core from the nose of each aileron and re-glued the skin in that area with cyano. This makes the aileron nose appear slightly rounded when re-attached to the wing. It was at this stage that I carefully dribbled some cyano into the gap between all the trailing edges and the balsa core. This was made easier by removing the ailerons. This job is fraught with danger and it's best to put some tape on the trailing edges to prevent any cyano going onto the outer skin. Once this was set, the problem of how to replicate the scalloped trailing edges reared its ugly head. Some time ago, a friend sent me a set of metal punches and these seemed the ideal solution to my problem. Using the flip-side of my cutting board, I punched out the trailing edge scallops, as you can see, finishing off with a round file and some sandpaper. After re-attaching the ailerons, I gave the wings a coat of a light coloured paint to see if there were any overlooked imperfections. I wanted to accentuate the rib tapes on the fabric areas of the aircraft, so it was out with the masking tape. All these areas now receiving a light coat of airbrushed paint. This layer of paint should, hopefully, be faintly visible under the final finish - we'll see. Glenn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomek Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 I love the detail of this wing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn R Posted January 26, 2012 Author Share Posted January 26, 2012 Leaving the wings aside for a while, I next had a go at making the beaching trolley. Two, staggered, layers of 10thou card were wrapped around an item of a suitable diameter, I found the screw top of a Tamiya enamel paint pot just right, wrapped again with masking tape and a few drops of liquid cement applied and left to dry for a while. Holes were then drilled into the rims and wheel centres to take the spokes, which were plastic rod. The basic trolley was made from some 30thou strip and painted - another job out of the way. The later style wingtip floats required the making of a suitable master for vac-forming. Two side view sections were cut from some 20thou plasticard and held together with some double-sided tape. The plan shape was cut in half and each piece glued to the side. Epoxy putty filled in the shape and, when finished, the two sides prized apart and stuck onto some pieces of 3/16" balsa sheet. The balsa pieces lift the masters from the vac-former base just enough to give a nice straight edge to the finished float halves when trimmed. On the left of the photo is the grill with a piece of 30thou sheet being heated. On the right is the vacuum chamber with the masters placed on it and the vacuum cleaner plugged in ready to go. Bottom right shows the first pull of float halves. Glenn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeroenpeters Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 master skills! Loving and learning! Cheers, Jeroen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn R Posted January 27, 2012 Author Share Posted January 27, 2012 Now we've got those bits and pieces out of the way, it was time to make some of the struts. Aeroclub, in the UK have packs of assorted, strut shaped, plastic rod which I find ideal for biplanes. Once cut to length, I drill holes in the ends and insert a piece of brass rod. Now we can get on to some serious painting. The main and rear floats received a coat of light grey (Humbrol 165 satin medium sea grey), as did the front fuselage and all the struts. Battens on the bottom of the floats were painted medium brown (Humbrol 63 matt sand) and then a coat of Klear/Future. Wings, fuselage and rudder received a coat of white where the roundels/fin flash appear and were masked off, ready for the next colour. For the doped fabric undersides, I used Gunze Mr. Hobby 45 sail color. The top colour was a mixture of Mr.Hobby 39 dark yellow, 326 blue FS15044 and 327 red FS11136. As usual, I always mix too much, but this extra can be used for touching-up at a later date. Some decal sheet was sprayed Blue (Humbrol 14 gloss French blue) and another piece sprayed red (Humbrol 19 gloss bright red). The rudder striping being done at the same time. Here's my recipe for painting exhausts:- First, a coat of brown (Humbrol 113 matt rust), followed by a gentle dry-brushing of gold (Humbrol 16 metallic gold). Another dry-brushing follows, this time using silver (Humbrol 56 metallic matt aluminium). A pencil is then rubbed on some sandpaper and the resultant dust applied all over the exhausts with a soft brush. Glenn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn R Posted January 28, 2012 Author Share Posted January 28, 2012 Next job was to apply the decals, I use Klear/Future as a setting solution, it pulls the decals down real tight and I have no worries about putting low-tack masking tape over the decals once they are dry. I wanted to slightly accentuate the ribs etc. on the fabric surfaces and this required some mega masking. A couple of light passes with an airbrush, using some very thinned grey paint (Tamiya XF 20 medium gray), gave the effect I was looking for. With a small drill bit, I then drilled all the required holes in whole airframe ready to take the struts and bracing wires. It was at this stage I discovered that the ailerons, as shown on the drawing I was using, were the same length on both wings. Looking at photos, this is not so, the lower ones being shorter. I was too far down the road to do anything about it, so will have to live with it. Glenn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loic Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Great work Glenn. If I'm reading you right, you make your own decals by spraying paint onto some clear decal sheet? Any reason for doing this in preference to simply masking and spraying the markings directly? Either way, looking great! Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn R Posted January 28, 2012 Author Share Posted January 28, 2012 Great work Glenn. If I'm reading you right, you make your own decals by spraying paint onto some clear decal sheet? Any reason for doing this in preference to simply masking and spraying the markings directly? Either way, looking great! Kev Hi Kev, Spraying onto clear decal sheet and then applying the decals helps to reduce the 'balls-up factor' on many scratchbuilds. Also the demarcation lines are not so apparent as when masking and spraying straight onto the model. I find it quicker and easier to go down this road, but a white undercoat is advised. Regards, Glenn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monty Python Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Just caught up with this one. Stunning work. Looking forward to seeing the end result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomek Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 :clap2: A lot of great ideas to digest. Thanks Glenn! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geedubelyer Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 What treat. Thanks so much for taking the time to share your work and ideas Glenn. This is inspirational. Cheers, Guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kagemusha Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 Truly wonderful, eager for the next instalment! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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