WNW Fokker DVII (Early)

[Dpgsbody55]

That's a sad end to what was shaping up as a wonderful project.  I bought this kit myself on Monday and was looking forward to seeing how it shaped up. 

 

I know how you feel.  About 13 years ago, I started on my first Trumpy Messerschmitt 109.  I had the engine built and detailed, then the dog chewed it all.  I put the whole lot away, then many years later managed to build it with closed engine cowlings and lots of wierd sprue inside to support the prop.  Then I used it as a practice model for my first attempts at airbrushing and it turned out well enough to hang from the ceiling.

 

And the dog is still alive too

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Greif8]

Thank you for all the kind words and support guys1

 

While waiting for the replacement kit to arrive.  I have been working on the nice Gaspatch Spandaus.  These are very well made resin MGs.  The pictures show the finished product.  I have also been working on the figure I purchased for this build.  The resin casting was not perfect and it took some work to get rid of seams and fill tiny holes left by air pockets.  I paint my figures by laying down an acrylic base of colors and than adding highlights and shadows with artist oils.  The three photos show the primed figure with airbrushed flesh for the face and the current status after I added the base colors.  Once they have dried for several hours I will begin adding the highlights and shadows.  

 

Ernest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RLWP]

Gaspatch guns are the highlight of many of my builds

 

Your pilot looks armless enough...

 

Richard

[Kagemusha]

Nice work, like the chap, he looks knackered.

[Out2gtcha]

On 12/10/2019 at 12:13 PM, Greif8 said:

Well this project met an unexpected and unhappy end yesterday.  While I was out my sister-in-law visited with my 10 year old nephew.  I did not know they were coming over or I would have locked my "man cave" up as I know the young lad does not do well at keeping out of places he does not belong and even worse keeping his hands off what does not belong to him.  Well he got ahold of my build and ended up smashing it pretty completely.  When I got home the look on my wife's face told me something was amiss and when she showed my the remains of my hard work I was not best pleased.  I managed to salvage only the aftermarket seat and seatbelt and the parts that had not been built yet of course; the rest was a total  write off.  It took me a good day to cool off enough to write this.  I have ordered a replacement and will start again once it arrives.  I am a fairly patient and understanding person but I admit this whole issue is still very vexing for me.  

 

While waiting for the new kit to arrive, I will work on the pilot figure I bought for the build, as well as the wings.  This means I am going to have a fair amount of left over parts and when I am finished I will very likely offer those to any of you that would like them for the price of shipping as I don't think I will be able to use much, if any of they left over parts on future builds.

 

Ernest 

 

 

I think Im probably a horrible person, but Ive not ever liked small kids that much...............even when I was a small kid!  I remember my mom regaling me with stories of the biggest punishment they could think of issuing me as a child was to sit at the "kids table" with other kids. I HATED IT. Id sneak off and slowly creap up to the adults table just to be away from the other small kids.

Good thing my current kid is 24!

 

Sorry this happened............ if it were me, that kid and I would be having a serious chat..........or at least a serious chat with my sister-in-law. 

[Greif8]

The replacement kit has not arrived yet, no surprise given the Christmas package crunch.  I have finished the pilot figure.  It turned out pretty average, but will do for diorama purposes.  The figure is from a European firm and its sculpting is really not up to the quality of say Andrea Miniatures or Ultracast.  I thought I would give them a chance though.  Again the final result is not what I really wanted, being merely passable.  I don't have the skills to take a slightly below average sculpting and turn it into a work of art.

 

The first photo shows the figure after all base colors have been laid in and I have started with the shading of the trousers.  The following photos show the model in its finished state.  The only thing I am really satisfied with is the dark grey coat; the highlights and shadows turned out pretty well on it.

 

 

 

 

[Greif8]

Reboot of the Build

 

Happy New Year everyone.  I hope this year brings you all good health and fortune for both you and your family - and you all get some sweet builds completed as well!

 

As some of you following this build know, it suffered destruction at the hands of my nephew.  I decided to order a new kit and start from scratch.  The kit arrived a couple of days prior to Christmas and I got to work; while waiting I assembled the wings and decaled them (which I'll show in the next couple of posts).  Below are some shots of the new construction.  I used the opportunity to either correct some mistakes in construction, or add something because I have a better, still far from perfect, knowledge of "what right looks like".  

 

Those of you that have built these kits please feel free to weigh in at any time with recommendations or critiques about something I can do better.  Enjoy the photos!

 

Ernest

 

New Interior, the seat was the only thing I saved from the other build.  I still have to attach the right seatbelt to the frame but this subassembly is pretty much done.

 

A closer view.  I added three "cables" from the control stick grip and correctly doubled the bracing wires at the rear sides, on the last build they were single.

 

Close up of the trigger cables.  I know they ran under the IP and I am guessing two of them attach to the Spandau trigger assemblies, but I don't have a clue where the 

third one goes.  Any wisdom is greatly appreciated.

 

Another close up of the build showing the doubled bracing wires, compass and the seat.  For some reason the gloss I used to replicated glass is not showing up well. 

[Greif8]

The couple of posts show the engine ready for assembly and the wings after assembly and decaling.  This is the first time I have done this and the results are "passable" at best; I was not able to eliminate every single tiny wrinkle which can be seen under fairly high magnification, but they will do for a first try I guess.  I still have to do some minor trimming at the trailing edges in a couple of spots.  I used the Aviattic Decals which were quite nice, I airbrushed a base of Tamiya "Deck" color as that looked close to canvas to me.  I know the instructions recommend white or off white, but I rather like the result here.

 

I have a two questions for the more experienced builders of these kits.  I have read a lot about rib tapes and looked at several builds.  I am guessing either blue or camo is the right type for this build, but I am very open to those who have better knowledge of this then me, so if anyone can lay some "truth" on me here I would appreciate it.

 

Question two is "Which brand decals should I buy?"  I see Aviattic sell rib tape as does HGW.  Are there other manufactures out there and what are your opinions of them, as well as the other two?  Thank you to everyone for sharing your knowledge here!

 

 

Ready for round two!

 

Top of upper wing.

 

Close view, training edge less than perfect.

 

Close up of bottom of upper wing.  I still need to work on the training edge.  I am guessing the inspection door is painted rather than covered with fabric "green/grey" perhaps?

[Greif8]

Finally here is the lower wing after decaling.

 

Top of lower wing.  I still have to paint the tread plates.

 

Bottom of lower wing.  By the way I decaled the bottom first than the tops.

 

I bit of a closer view.  I can see the need for rib tape.

 

Close up of top of lower wing.  Getting the decals at the wing tips to lay down was a challenge!

[Dpgsbody55]

Very glad to see you've resurrected this build.  Looks wonderful so far.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[RLWP]

I think two cables would go under the instrument panel and towards the engine. They engage a clutch in the trigger motor drive:

 

 

There is a flexible drive that comes from the engine, you can see the bowden cable that pulls the two parts of the clutch together. This is an early Spandau with the full casing and a lever to engage the firing mechanism, yours will look more like this:

 

 

This has a trigger motor that connects directly to the flexible drive (the bronze bit at the bottom of the case

 

The third cable is presumably the throttle, so it would go forward to the engine too

 

Richard

[Greif8]

3 hours ago, Dpgsbody55 said:

Very glad to see you've resurrected this build.  Looks wonderful so far.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

 

Thank you Michael, I hope I can do this nice kit justice.  I see you are building the Special Hobby Yak-3, how do you like it?

[Greif8]

2 hours ago, RLWP said:

I think two cables would go under the instrument panel and towards the engine. They engage a clutch in the trigger motor drive:

 

 

There is a flexible drive that comes from the engine, you can see the bowden cable that pulls the two parts of the clutch together. This is an early Spandau with the full casing and a lever to engage the firing mechanism, yours will look more like this:

 

 

This has a trigger motor that connects directly to the flexible drive (the bronze bit at the bottom of the case

 

The third cable is presumably the throttle, so it would go forward to the engine too

 

Richard

 

 

Hi Richard thank you for the information.  I suspected the cables would run towards the engine.  That makes their end points pretty easy as they will be hidden.

 

Ernest

[RLWP]

17 minutes ago, Greif8 said:

 

 

Hi Richard thank you for the information.  I suspected the cables would run towards the engine.  That makes their end points pretty easy as they will be hidden.

 

Ernest

 

Someone, offhand I can't remember who, makes a resin geared drive to go on the back of the Mercedes engine to drive those trigger motors.

 

Richard

[Dpgsbody55]

8 hours ago, Greif8 said:

 

Thank you Michael, I hope I can do this nice kit justice.  I see you are building the Special Hobby Yak-3, how do you like it?

 

I have mixed feelings about it.  I think it will turn out well, but the kit has fit and alignment issues as I've mentioned.  It's one I've wanted to build so I'm pressing on with it, is how I feel right now.  I'll let you all know my final thoughts when I've finished it.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael