bughunter After the finished Camel I put another project on the bench. Some little things was done already, like some cleaned parts and a painted seat, but nothing reported yet. So now a serious start ...
The manual of the CSM kit helps for the work on the cockpit.
Does anyone here like to follow my new build report?
Michael Kohl I suppose there will be things to learn and marvel at. So - I am in.
8 February 2022, 22:42
bughunter Welcome!
Erik, ich muß ja! Sonst bekommen ich den Stash nie im Leben abgebaut. Wobei, wie war das? Man kann nicht sterben, so lange man noch ungebaute Bausätze hat?
8 February 2022, 22:57
David R. Meizoso More magic! Wohooo! Thanks for sharing, Bughunter!
8 February 2022, 23:14
bughunter Thank you!
Now I have done some metal work.
9 February 2022, 16:31
Michael Kohl That Small Stuff stuff is really tremendous. Nice mill you have there. I suppose you presented it already elsewhere. I am keen on some detail. Gerne auch als pm.
9 February 2022, 16:48
bughunter The mill is a Proxxon MF 70, with "Teilapparat" My favorite tools | Album by bughunter
Both are not perfect, the "Teilapparat" is not centric, the X/Y table only alu and not very precise. And I'm afraid that the engine won't last much longer either. There are instructions for converting to a brushless motor on the net.
bughunter Welcome Dietmar! I think there are some free seats in the first row.
Let's see if I can improve the undercarriage of a Nieuport 17. I thought about this solution for a while and experimented. It is not completely original, but an improvement over the kit plastic.
bughunter Welcome and thank you mates!
Yes David, since I have no chance to build all the types of biplanes of that time (I have a type book with only German planes of WWI: more then 500 types!, plus all the types of Austria, Italy, France and GB ...) I can try build more triplanes.
A SPIN conversion kit is involved here, but the wings are very thin and fragile. Only the lower wing has a wire in, but this is of the cheap flower type and not very strong. I think here a functional rigging with fishing line is needed to hold the wings, let's see.
bughunter Does anyone know decals of this font, with and without white border? 4 ... 4.5mm (may be up to 5mm) high? See picture 32.
This is very small for my cutter 🙁 The knife removes the inner parts during cutting. I will try again, but may be a decal would be a better option.
14 February 2022, 19:01
Boris B I'm joining in and will scour my decals stash, just in case…
14 February 2022, 22:06
Uwe Kaeding Looking great. Pegasus used to make an RFC serials decal sheet in both 1/48 and 1/72. I have the 1/72 version and it has serials in black and in white, with the white ones a little bit bigger than the black ones - you have to put the white ones on first, followed by the black, and each digit separately. Very fiddly, but well within your capabilities! Ony issue might be finding them - sometimes you can find Pegasus kits and decals on the Freightdog Models site. Here are some links to the Scalemates data base: RFC WWI serials (Pegasus PGS48001, 1:48) or RFC WWI serials (1/72 & 1/48) (Pegasus , 1:48).
BTW - I used the 1/72 set of these decals on my old Roseplane resin kit of this same aircraft: Nieuport Triplane 2 | Album by Uwe Kaeding (1:72). You can just about see the white borders in some of the photos - should be easier and more obvious in 1/48.
Robert Podkoński The next Talent Show?! I am taking a seat of course and watching with pleasure and interest!
16 February 2022, 20:31
Boris B Frank, about mills, do you have an opinion or first-hand experience with the Proxxon FD 150 ?
And did you turn the cowling itself on the MF 70 ?
16 February 2022, 21:06
bughunter Today I added the next batch of pics of the tail skid and undercarriage.
Welcome Robert! You are late, or the project fast? I guess I have finished this bird here around 60~70%.
Boris, the FD150 is a lathe. And no, on the MF70 I milled only the cooling cut outs. This thing is not precise enough. No, the cowling is done on my lathe My favorite tools | Album by bughunter
I think the FD150 is a toy, it may work on some small parts, but the forces should not be underestimated. And the FD150 has only a aluminium bed and many other parts. The MF70 too, but that is not robust. May be it works ok for someone, but it is also very small. You may run very quickly into limits with that machine.
bughunter Thank you mates!
The SPIN conversion kit has no decals. I wanted to use fuselage decals from Eduard for the wings, but they didn't quite match this prototype. So decided to do masks and paint. That was a lot of effort (and some drying time in between), and risky to mask on resin, but it looks nice.
17 February 2022, 18:42
Robert Podkoński Really good work it is, bughunter! And you are really fast on this project 😉
17 February 2022, 19:16
Michael Kohl progressing nicely.
You enforced the lower wing with a metal strut. May I ask how you placed it? Did you "just" cut a groove on the lower side of the wing? I am asking as I face a similar problem on a project and have not found a convincing solution yet.
18 February 2022, 10:31
bughunter Thank you Robert and Michael!
The resin wings are from the SPIN Models conversion kit (see project inventory). Inside the lower wing there is a "green flower wire" included during the casting process. The good thing that the wire is used. The bad thing is, that it is only done on lower wing and the wire seems not to be very strong. The lower wing alone hangs already, the other wings will put more load on it. I think I have to use a functional rigging with fishing line. All wings are very thin and narrow. May be a steel wire between the middle wings could also help.
Still a lot of work on the ToDo list ...
gorby Good grief, this one is nearly over before I found it! Excellent work as always and quick as well.
18 February 2022, 16:56
bughunter Marcel, I hope the best (I would put up with the long drive)!
Welcome gorby 👍 Where were you? I'd (almost) given you up for lost 😉
18 February 2022, 17:50
gorby Your working too fast for me Frank! 😄
It's almost as if you know what you're doing. 😉
18 February 2022, 17:53
bughunter Yes, I know what you mean. I always show the same boring things. 😉
20 February 2022, 15:41
bughunter I contacted Peddinghaus-Decals (listed here on Scalemates with 3500 decals and are able to print white). They made custom printed decals for me - Thank you very much!
Applied - I'm satisfied now. So I could continue on this project, but at the moment the DH2 has occupied the bench.
19 March 2022, 21:14
Villiers de Vos A master at work. Your fabrication skills as well as attention to details and accuracy is impressive.
20 March 2022, 04:48
bughunter Thank you Villiers!
I think I will continue on this project soon, once the DH-2 is finished completely. During the waiting phase for the decals the DH-2 take over the bench and was done in one go.
bughunter Thank you mates!
Today only a little update, but is cost me lot of work.
I experimented with different materials and methods, but do not liked it. One example was Bare Metal Foil, which do not want to stick to the wood!
Ok, now I'm happy that it is done.
25 May 2022, 19:12
David R. Meizoso It's really impressive that you can cut the stripes with the appropiate angle as to stay horizontal in the side view. I wonder what those stripes are on the real thing, and why they're not perpendicular to the strut's edge.
25 May 2022, 19:43
bughunter Thank you David, that was a lot of trial and error.
On the real thing the struts were hollow to made them lighter and consisted of two halves. The halves were secured with the strips. Why they are so angled? To be in direction with the airflow? No idea, but the same principle on the normal Nieuport 17 biplane.
bughunter Rigging finished, windshield scratched, the Vickers MG is mounted.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel, or is it a panoramic wallpaper?
2 June 2022, 17:55
S M You have incredible building skills! I'm amazed by photo 75, where you have control levers made of thin wire and still you managed to make a tiny hole on their tips for the control rods 😮
2 June 2022, 20:31
Ricardo Reis Ooops, almost missed another master build from @bughunter! 🙂 Following!
2 June 2022, 21:20
Alec K Definitely a light at the end of the tunnel. Looks glorious 👍
3 June 2022, 00:23
bughunter Thank you mates!
@ S M the control rod is 0.3mm
@ Ricardo Most of the work was done before I started the DH2, but was then on hold due to missing decals. I started then the DH2 as new project and this was done without interruption. In meantime the decals arrived and I have started the remaining work.
@ Alec My wife says it is ugly. I must admit it is 😉 The pilot has no good view, not to the airfield for landing and not to ground for navigation.
3 June 2022, 10:59
Alec K Frank, your wife has an aesthetic acumen, I'll admit. That said, my motto is "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". Maybe there is a similar saying in German 🙂
3 June 2022, 13:54
bughunter Yes Alec, we say this also in German language 😉
The wheels are painted and last decals are applied.
3 June 2022, 16:13
Urban Gardini Well, it's indeed one of the most ugly planes that have ever taken a flight. It's there right behind the Caproni Stipa...
bughunter What about a Nieuport 10 as Triplane? I will do two Special hobby Nieuport 10, one as normal biplane, the other one also as converted Triplane - the project exists already in 'Ideas' 🙂
4 June 2022, 12:01
bughunter If I don't find some missing small parts in my tinkering cave, this triplane is finished!
There will be another album with outdoor and light tent pictures, but this depends on weather and time constraints.
Thanks for watching and commenting through this build!
4 June 2022, 18:15
Urban Gardini It's been a pleasant journey as usual to follow your build...
4 June 2022, 18:18
Moritz Fentzahn Congrats Frank, as always a great result and a nice and unusual addition to your collection. Looking forward to see some progress on your new camel the next days
4 June 2022, 18:26
Bruce Huxtable Another beautiful creation, for sure. Superb workmanship that is never taken for granted, Bughunter.
4 June 2022, 18:43
Boris B Congratulations Frank, another stunning build. The bird may not win beauty prizes, but your skills and your willingness to share them means that you should -- wine prizes, I mean, and not necessarily beauty ones 😉
Thanks for another wonderful journey and ongoing inspiration !
5 June 2022, 17:37
bughunter Thank you mates for such great feedback, highly appreciated!
It is a nice model (of an ugly original), but definitely not my best or contest quality. I had not paid enough attention in the early states to the surface of the bad quality resin wings. A SPIN kit is a huge difference to modern injection kits.
bughunter
6+
Michael Kohl
Uwe Kaeding
Robert Podkoński
Boris B
gorby
Villiers de Vos
David R. Meizoso
S M
Ricardo Reis
Alec K
Urban Gardini
Moritz Fentzahn