Aviatik 'Berg' D.I

[monthebiff]

Beautiful work Mike, you seem to have those decals fully  sorted. Looking very nice indeed.

 

Regards.Andy 

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
All of the decals have now been applied.
Also I've added some post-shading, although there's still final weathering and sealing coat to be applied.

 

Now it's onto the myriad of photo-etch parts for the fuselage,

 

Mike

 

 

 

[monthebiff]

Really nice Mike, this is coming together very nicely indeed.

 

Regards. Andy 

[Kagemusha]

Wow, that looks like a old master, terrific colours. 

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
Thanks for your encouraging comments.
The radiator grill, which is photo-etch, was annealed to allow it to be bent around an appropriate former to shape it to the front of the fuselage.
Annealing also creates the 'heated' look of a radiator.
It was then secured in position using thin CA adhesive under the edges only, otherwise the adhesive would seep under the grill and block the cooling holes,

 

Mike

 

 

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
The tail unit is coming together now with added photo-etch and rigging points.
I've still to add the tail skid bungee suspension and later, the bracing rigging,

 

Mike

 

 

[Alain Gadbois]

I admire your great painting and weathering skills!

 

Alain

[Out2gtcha]

Very nice!

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
The tail skid was mounted on a forked swivel fitted into the bottom of a 3-ply wood covered streamlined fairing.
This allowed the tail skid to pivot up and down as well as swivel.
The type of suspension for the tail skid consisted of double sprung rings, the ends of which were looped over extended support bars located on the bottom edge of the fuselage.
The other end of the rings were attached to the forward end of the tail skid.
This was done using ‘ANYZ’ Black braided line 0.5 mm diameter (AN011),

 

Mike

 

[Mirek O]

Goog job 

[Troy Molitor]

I really like the color combination and the look of this aircraft.   The radiator grill also came out nicely.  

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
I've now added all of the necessary photo-etch parts to the fuselage and lower wing halves.
Also the main undercarriage, a windscreen (which wasn't supplied in the kit) and a flare pistol and cartridge rack (not supplied in the kit, but often carried on this aircraft).
The whole lot has been sealed with a semi-matte lacquer, ready for a 'Flory Models' clay weathering wash.

I've still got to add a small pipe to the radiator condenser assembly and two cross bracing cable at the rear of the engine bay. These will be attached to the underside of the upper wing centre section.
Also the propeller shaft access hole.

Then it's onto pre-rigging and fitting the wings

 

Mike

 

 

 

 

 

[Kendzior]

That's just spectacular! Great work, keep it up.

 

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
Just a few minor additions.
The upper wing was cross braced from the top of the rear cabane struts to the bottom of the opposite rear cabane struts.
These are not detailed in the kit. I've drilled holes for adding the cross bracing through the cockpit front decking later in the build.
The 'ProperPlane' Knoller-Jaray propeller has a 2.0 mm diameter tube added for mounting into the fuselage.
The small pipe on the top of the radiator condenser assembly has also been added, using 0.4 mm diameter Nickel-Silver tube.

Now it's onto weathering with clay wash, pre-rigging the wings and fitting them, which I know already will give me problems with alignment!!

 

Mike

 

 

 

 

 

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
I've applied the 'Flory Models' Dark Dirt clay wash to give a 'subtle' grimy look - I added a few drops of washing up liquid to break the surface tension of the wash to help it spread more over the model. The wash wash applied by brush.
Once the required amount was wiped away with a very slightly damp tissue and brush, I sealed it all with 'Alclad' Semi-Matte (ALC-312) lacquer.
I've also prepared the rigging and control lines.

The next step is to install the pre-rigged lines and fit the wings, so as to be able to complete the rigging.

 

Mike