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Wingnut Wings W.12 - 1st WNW kit


panzer948

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I picked up the Hansa-Brandenburg W.12 Early kit by Wingnut Wings as my first foray into the WNW world.  I finally have enough progress into the build to post a few pics.  So far it is definitely holding up to the hype of great engineering, excellent manual, and overall high quality plastic. 

 

I plan on constructing "Build E" but with the C Float Paint Guide (black floats) to match the later 1918 scheme.  This is based on a picture that shows Plane 1410 with black floats in April just before it was supposedly written off...  My theory is that they converted to the black floats just before it was lost since that same unit was flying W.29s with black floats.  This also holds true for the parbellum MG with sight that they used on the W.29s (see upgrade MG below)

 

I picked up the following detailed kits to further beatify the build:

 

  • GasPatch Models - Parabellum 14/17 1/32 (only upgrading rear gun; but to the newer version of the Parabellum with the more distinguished sight like the W.29s used).
  • Bob's Buckles -  eyelets and turnbuckles
  • Aviattic Decals -  the weathered naval hexagonal pattern
  • HGWModels - Engine, Interior and Exterior PE sets
  • HGWModels - Seat-belt Set

 

To date, I have only used the Interior PE set and seat belts.  Seat belts appear very realistic and build nicely into a almost functioning belt.  Adding oil paints to weather them takes very well to the textile like material and really adds an extra level of realism.  

 

Below are some pics of the interior after weathering but just before adding to the fuselage.  I picked up some Mr. MetalColor paints for some of the metallic colors.  I used oils to simulate wood grain and weathering in general.  I used EZ line for the interior rigging and painted the lines silver.  The seat belts were carefully positioned using 5 min. Epoxy, which of course takes time to do in multiple stages.

 

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Edited by panzer948
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  • 1 month later...

 This past month I have been primarily working on the engine.  Below are a few pics of the completed engine prior to painting which includes an HGWModels Engine PE detail set that I only partially used.  I did not feel all the PE was necessary due to the quality of the WNW kit.

 

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Below I have added a light gray primer using Tamiya Fine Primer and followed that up with Tamiya Gloss Black.  The gloss black was more of a base coat for the next layer of Mr Metal Color Al.

 

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As a continuation of the above, below is a pic of the painted engine prior to weathering. All metallic colors are Mr. Metal Color Al, Brass, or Gold.  I used an airbrush to paint the lower part of the engine Aluminum, the rest of the engine was hand painted.  I had to go back over the black upper engine area using a mixture of Vallejo acrylics to create a very dark gray/black metallic color.

 

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Finally, below are some pics of the weathered engine more or less complete prior to mounting it in the plane.  I may add some more stains, touch ups, metallic pigments, etc. after installation to the engine deck.  The majority of the weathering is done with oils after sealing it with Mr. Hobby Semi Gloss.  The clear coat did change the Al finish somewhat, which I had heard is normal.  However, without that clear coat I would have damaged the original paint during weathering, which I learned the hard way when testing a small area.

 

I used the oils to first add a dark wash in the recess areas and then used oils similar to how Rinaldi explained in his TankArt series (Oil Paint Rendering). The exhaust pipe is painted mostly with oils directly.  I primarily do armor builds so rely on oils pretty heavily for this kind of look.

 

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  • 7 months later...

Wanted to update this thread with some final work on the W.12.  Actual plane is done so wanted to take some pics and document what I have done to date prior to working on the next phase, which will be a beach scene diorama.

 

First, as indicated above, I used Aviattic Decals, the weathered naval hexagonal pattern, instead of the kit decals.  This was mostly because I wanted a weathered looking aircraft for late in the war and wanted to do some preshading of the ribs and let that show thru the applied decals.  After Tamiya primer, sanding, primer, and more sanding; I then painted the fuselage, wings, etc. using Tamiya XF83 and XF57. I did a bit of preshading using lighter and darker shades of each color using my airbrush. For the wing tops that will be covered by Aviattic Decals, I kept the color similar to the under wing color and lightened that even further as I got away from the wing edges.  I was worried if I painted the tops a different color my decal may leave some of that exposed if trimming them to short.   For the wing ribs, I painted a Tamiya clear smoke over the unmasked areas adjacent to the ribs.  I then sealed this with Tamiya Clear. The pics below show progress up to this point.

 

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Edited by panzer948
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Next it was time to prepare and trim the Aviattic Decals since they came on one large sheet.  I have to admit, I was a bit worried about this step.  After asking some fellow AMPS friends (I build armor too), I got the great advice of scanning the WNW decals and printing/cutting those out as my template.  That way you still have your originals in case you mess up.  Luckily, my cuts were on the money and I was able to match the new decals pretty close to the correct size WNW decals on the first try.  This step was much easier than I thought so if anyone is on the fence about cutting your decals to shape, I would say go for it and just take your time tracing and cutting.

 

Below is a pic of one of the wings after applying the Aviattic Decals.  I was happy to see some of the pre-shaded light and dark areas show thru.   I was extremely pleased with these decals.   I found them very manageable and easy to apply.  Just the right thickness for this application.

 

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For any areas that are not perfectly lined up, I used regular paint to touch up.

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Next came time to prepare some of the smaller details. I wasnt real happy with the kit guns, partly because I had a hard time rolling the metal cooling jacket (top image), therefore at the last minute I placed an order with Master Model for their PE set (AM-32-104) (lower image).   As indicated above, I used GasPatch Models - Parabellum 14/17 for the rear gun.  It too is a great kit.  Note that this plane is modeled with minor battle damage, which will go along with the theme of the diorama.  I thinned out the back of the panel with a dremel tool before cutting sharpnel holes with an X-Acto knife

 

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I painted the weapons by airbrushing them a semi-gloss black and then mixed Testors Silver with Raw Umber Oil Paint and dry brushed raised detail, getting lighter to a sliver color on the most raised details.  I later added some Gun Metal pigment after I mounted them to plane.

 

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My next new challenge was the prop as I had never painted one to simulate wood grain.  I looked into several methods of doing this.  I ended up going with what I thought was easiest but maybe the easiest to mess up too.  I painted it first with a light brown base color (photo above) and then masking areas with long strips of Tamiya tape to over-spray it with a dark brown color.  I then drew over this with a mixture of fine ink pens and colored pencils to simulate wood grain.  I then sealed it all this using a mixture of Tamiya Clear Red and Yellow to give it more of that wood stain look.  I sealed this with several coats of Testers Clear Gloss from rattle can, with some light sanding in between.  I used Mr. Metal Color for metallic bronze tips and metal hub.  

 

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