mozart Posted September 27, 2016 Share Posted September 27, 2016 Some very interesting, innovative and useful techniques there Hubert, I especially like the idea of using the Silhouette for the windshield shape. I tried many different methods for my Tiger Moths, none terribly convincing but I think I may well try yours. She's looking splendid. Max Hubert Boillot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubert Boillot Posted September 30, 2016 Author Share Posted September 30, 2016 (edited) Thank you, Max. Glad there are some ideas you can put to use. A very "exciting" week, fighting these pesky hairline cracks at the fuselage halves junctions ahead of the fin and ventral strake. I have lost the count of how many times I filled them, sanded them, painted the area ... to find the crack was still visible. I widened the crack with a micro-chisel, filled it with micro balloons and CA, and even then it took a few trials to get it right. I am happy to report that, as of this afternoon, I have finally prevailed ... I mentioned the Villesauvage field ( now Etampes) where the 1921 record flight and Coupe Deutsch race took place. It was apparently not too smooth. At least it is reported that this was the reason (ceratinly not the only one) for the demise of the "Texas Wildcat" in the 1921 Coupe Deutsch, as it had been built without any kind of schock-absorber landing gear, in the belief that French "aerodromes" were smooth like a golf course ... I have tried to replicate a not-too-smooth grass-field base on which to pose the Sesquiplan and Sadi. I am afraid there are no in-progress pics for this experiment. I was too busy trying to make it work. So here is how I did it , using a cheap A4 photo frame I bought in a thrift-shop as a basis. - The photoframe's glass was replaced with "Kadapak" (foamed carboard) - I did a soil base by mixing gap-filling plaster and wood (PVA) glue, the idea being that the glue would help the plaster stick to the smooth cardboard, and the « soil » - When still wet, I used a kitchen simmer to spread some earth from my garden on the base. - I also made some wheel imprints in the still wet base, to show the passage of aearoplanes, including the Sesquiplane. - When this was dry came the experiment of laying some grass. I have bought from WW Scenics ( http://www.war-world.co.uk ) some 2 mm and 6 mm electrostatic grass. They do it in various tones (spring, summer autumn, winter, dried, etc...). As the flight took place end of september, I mixed some "summer" and some "autumn" grass in 2 and 6 mm heights. The earth base then was pasted with a tinted (using sienna tint for house paints) diluted (with water) PVA glue. Using the "Pro Grass Micro Applicator", I then sprinkled the grass on the glue. WW Scenics recommend to stick a nail in the middle of the conductive glue and clip the alligator clip to it, before swtiching on the Applicator. The electrostatic effect is supposed to make the grass stand upright. My first result was not too convincing, but the base still looked like a grass field. I have found the nail-and-alligator-clip to be a bit awkward, especially as the cable is fairly rigid. You can also notice the "plate" I have glued in one corner of the base. It's a simple 0.2 mm thick brass plate, on which I applied a clear decal on which I had printed the text. Using Micro Sol and Micro set, it went down smoothly. without any noticeable carrier film. When this was dry, I had a second go at it, trying to replicate some taller grass tufts, and to see whether the Applicator could be more efficient than my first trial let me suppose. This time, I applied the diluted glue in small patches. Holding the applicator in one hand, and the end of the alligator clip in the other hand, in direct contact with the wet glue puddle, and holding the applicator a lot closer to to the "ground", without shaking it like a salt dispenser this time, I got some much more convincing results. The « grass » is really standing up. See for yourself : This one is getting nearer to completion. I am already thinking of a new entry, recycling my entry in the Biplanes GB, which did not go very far : the venerable Monogram Grumman G-22 Gulfhawk. A quick pic with the Sesquiplan landed at Villesauvage to conclude... More soon. Hubert PS: sorry for the wrong orientation of one pic. It is looking OK in PB Edited September 30, 2016 by MostlyRacers mozart, dutik, Tnarg and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaka HI Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 Very cool. That grass looks the part. Never seen that applicator -- very interesting. That grass...man, I wanted to smoke it! Hubert Boillot and Shawn M 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn M Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 that base looks sharp, is your applicator a modified flashlight? wrong grass Shaka, maui wowie would be a great addition though Shaka HI and Hubert Boillot 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubert Boillot Posted September 30, 2016 Author Share Posted September 30, 2016 that base looks sharp, is your applicator a modified flashlight? wrong grass Shaka, maui wowie would be a great addition though The shell certainly looks like a modified flashlight, but the innards are completely different. The concept is to make the "grass" stand upright using an electrostatic field generated between the Applicator and the "ground". I am afraid that smoking this grass would be really obnoxious for your health though Hubert Shawn M and Shaka HI 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TorbenD Posted October 1, 2016 Share Posted October 1, 2016 Grasstastic Hubert! - very convincing technique. She's looking very pretty in her new surroundings. Torben Hubert Boillot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mozart Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 Marvellous! Max Hubert Boillot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn M Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 green with envy I am Hubert Boillot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Ray Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 Looks great, Hubert! The base really sets off the racer colors. Hubert Boillot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuildAero Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 Hubert, for a smallish area such as that base, you could try my favourite method of grass. Medical lint. Stick it down and colour it up with watercolours, gouache,even acrylics if you must. In fact I have even used enamels when I was desperate! Once it's nearly dry it can be teased up with a brass suede shoe brush and have rat runs and rabbit walks run into it with a Dinky toy wheel on a bit of wire. It can even be shaved into a lawn with an old electric shaver. OK, it's less easy to get than it use to be, but it is a lot more subtle than electrostatic and the colouring is entirely your responsibility. Here's a wee set-piece I did years ago. It is only 8" square. The grass is all lint. Cheers, Martin Hubert Boillot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubert Boillot Posted October 9, 2016 Author Share Posted October 9, 2016 (edited) The Sesquiplane is now officially finished ! Time to move to another subject Before I could claim the Sesquiplane « over », I had a few details to sort out first. Close examination of the pics of # « 6 » and « 7 » posted in this thread, even though they are not of the highest definition, finally convinced me that the Sesquiplane had some way of regulating the flow of air through the Lamblin lobster pots. But, whereas on the NiD 29 these was made of a « plate » in front of the Lamblin, it appeared to me, looking at the rear view of « 7 » that this regulation on the Sesquiplane was a kind og clamshell dorrs at the rear of the Lamblins. Duly reprrsented by cutting arcs in aluminium sheet (from a kitchen disposable tray), shaping them and cutting out the passage for the gear leg. The next add-on is probably more questionable. The water circulating though the Lamblins had a « return » pipe. On the Sesquiplane, there was a distinct streamlined cover on the « descending » pipe, whicj I have duly reprensented. The profile view of « 6 » finally led me to believe there was a return pipe hidden behind (from a profile view) the lobster pots. Not completely sure, because the view with Sadi does not show them. This is where I have used some « artistic » licence and added a return pipe in copper wire on each side. The exhausts were made by drilling a 2mm dia brass tube to thin down the inside. It was then blackened in UvDR's blackening solution, wiped in a kitchen paper towel, covered in Mr Metal primer and finally sprayed with Alclad « Exhaust Manifold ». On the left side of the aircraft, the backing plate for the exhaust was still here, so the pieces of tube wre glued to it. On the right side, the backing plate got unglued and is still « clinging » inside the nose. The fix was finally simpler than I feared. I simply cut the tubes long enough until they touched « something » inside the nose (most likely the other side backing plate, or fro the front one, the tube that represnts the carburetor intake. A spot of CA, et voilà ! The rigging wires were added, using 0,3 monofilament when glued in place it is tightened by approaching an incandescent toothpick. The windscreen was glued in place using Tamiya Craft Bond white PVA glue The tail skid was painted yellow, and the dark wood color simulated with Burnt sienna oil paint. The skid's plow itself was painted burnt iron. The rudder decals worked out in the end, but, as I feared, the printed red was not dense enough, and the white reserve band I had left was showing though. I simply doubled the decal, and finally got a satifying, if not perfect, clor around the Nieuport Delage name. The extra satisfaction is that the diferences in the red between the painted parts and the printed decals is almost not discernible once the lot has been varnished http://s304.photobucket.com/user/hubert_boillot/media/Nieuport%20Sesquiplan/IMG_0908_zpski3lhye2.jpg.html'>[/url] Thoughout this thread, I said the prop was a Lumière one. Well I stand corrected. Close examination of the pic of Sadi standing near its mount showed a prop logo that did not look like the Lumière one. And for a reason : apparently all Nieuports were fitted with a Chauvière prop. And the Chauvière logo, with its wing in the middle of a « C » definitely looked like the blurred thing on the pic. The issue is that this wing in the logo is white, and, if I wanted to represent it, I had no choice but to print it on a white abckground decal. I found a good enough pic of the Chauvière logo a a wood backgound, and printed it reduced on a 2.5 x 2.5 mm square on the decal sheet. It is barely visible, but, as for the internal detail, « I know it's here » After plenty of paint touch-ups, especially around the red areas of the fin, ruder, stabilisators and elevators followed by steelwool rubbing, I declered the airframe was good enough for a final coat of high-glos varnish. Tamiya's X-22 is as good as it has been described here, and probably a lot better than that . It sprayes beautfully diluted with Tamiya's lacquer thinner, levels smooth, and gives a top-notch gloss finish, which I wanted for the Sesquiplane. When the varnish coats were dry, came the time for the final details like the rudder control cables, made with UvDR's « standard rigging wire » « 6 » had a short life, and was polished and wiped for maximum preformance. It did not have much time to weather and get dirty. I kept the weathering to a minimum, around the wheels, with brown wash and pastel powders, and the bottom wing which received the wheels projections. A pic of « 7 » upturned after an accident two years later show some exhaust stains. The high performance Hispano burned an exotic melange with almost 100% benzole, which probably burned with a blue flame. However, in my theoretcial display, the pic with sadi would have been after the record flight, and a light touch of exhaust stains would add some liveliness to the spic and span airframe. This was done very ightly with Tamiya Smoke. Finally a touch of Tamiya grey Panle Line Accent Color was added to the articulations of the movable surfaces (ailerons, rudder, tailplanes). And … finished ! More and hopefully better pics in the RFI section later. I hope the weather will give me some nice sunny light. This is a double first for me: first time I finish something in a GB, and on top of it, the first one to finish anything in this GB Thanks for following along. See you in the « Spirit of Africa » thread Hubert. Edited October 9, 2016 by MostlyRacers mozart, AndersN, TorbenD and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubert Boillot Posted October 9, 2016 Author Share Posted October 9, 2016 TorbenD, DougN, Shaka HI and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TorbenD Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 Superb! Such a lovely, skillful build that‘s been a pleasure to follow Hubert and congrats on finishing the GB too - I'm looking forward to seeing you handle the Spirit of Africa. Torben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaka HI Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 (edited) Awesome build, Hubert! Thoroughly, enjoyed it and even got me visiting Combat Model's web site (based on your other build as well as this)....then I got realistic. Ha! Too much work! Edited October 9, 2016 by Shaka HI Hubert Boillot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 Awesome result on a tough build, Hubert! You now have something rather special in your display cabinet. Kev Hubert Boillot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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