davec

Hi Tim- Your model is coming along beautifully. You’ve done a great job with all your joinery. Placement of those two carlings so the pump shafts run correctly was challenging. I got stuck there and page 3 of my log has a bunch of posts about how I worked through it, as well as Greg’s approach. I ended up without enough room between the well wall and the inner carling. As I look back on my model, I ended up not installing the inner carling which allowed enough room for the shafts to run right. Between the deck and mast partners, it isn’t visible at all on one side (unless you look underneath) and only a corner of the notch is visible on the unplanked side. I can't remember if I did this deliberately. I don't remember doing it, and just noticed when I went back to my pictures. As I remember working on the lower deck, 80% of the work was individually shaping the knees and waterway. If you used a glue that isn’t hard to debond, it might be worth considering redoing the lower deck. You will be able to reuse the knees and waterway which will save you a ton of time, and this will let you fix both the pump shaft placement and the size of the hatch. If you redo the deck, make sure the space between the well wall and the inner carling is wide enough for a pump shaft and that the width of the carling is narrow enough that the other pump shaft that runs on the other side of it also ends up in the right place. Only one edge of the carling will be visible on the unplanked side, so you can modify as necessary. Your other solution with debonding the carlings and attached ledges, and moving the carlings to the correct location might be something to try first, but however you patch the current notches will likely be visible (probably a small piece of carefully cut boxwood would work) and it wouldn’t address the hatch size. You could try this first and if it doesn’t work, then replace the entire deck. I'm looking forward to seeing how you proceed. I'm sure the end result will be great. Please let me know if I can clarify anything. Dave

Rob - your rigging (and the entire model) look awesome. I'm particularly appreciative of the tip about deburring with the .5 bit. I've always struggled with threading the line through the tubing. I've run a .3 bit through the hole, but clearly not the same as deburring. I'm hoping changing approaches (or doing both) fixes one of the things I've always been really frustrated by. The DH-9 is British (no turnbuckles) so I will be CA'ing the two ends of elastic rigging. I will try your way next time I build one of the German planes in my stash. thanks!! Dave

Great start! I will be following along. Dave

Mike - I am really enjoying these kits. I have vivid memories of building kits in the 70's and 90's and spending a lot of time and frustration trying to get things together. I've been watching your builds and have been really impressed with how you solve whatever building issues come up with your kits. There are a few downsides to the great engineering. The tight tolerances make cleaning paint off joints really important, and I have created my own gaps and filling by not doing this well enough. The other big gap is between my skills and getting the full potential out of the kit, but I'm getting better with each one I build. Some more progress on the DH9. This model has a lot of decals. Not as many as DocRob's AEG, but still a lot. I've been plugging away and have most of the applied except for one side of the fuselage. Overall, they have been going on well. There have been a few challenges, especially the roundels where there are some ~5x5x4 mm small nacelles sticking up under the edge of the decal, which I've had a really hard time getting the decals to settle over. They seem too big for the decal to fully conform to. I've got some splits in the decals and a few place where I cut them and am touching up with paint. The tamiya blue matches well and I'm pleased with the lower ones after touch up. The upper roundel has a white stripe around it. I'm going to try to touch that up tonight. There was a gas cap on the side of the fuselage that was almost as big, and I was able to get the decal to settle over it with 6-7 applications of softener and heat. Not sure it would have worked with the bigger bumps.

I spent some time travelling and work got busy, but I've been cutting out and sanding pieces. I made the jig support pieces in basswood. They are thick enough that I think they will support the sanding and bending even thought the boxwood frames and planking may exert more force than the kit basswood during the sanding and gluing. I made new parts and didn't use the kit ones as it looks like these get sacrificed when the model is cut from the jig and I wanted to leave the original kit buildable.

I decided to add some support prior to fairing. The basswood pieces will get removed after. It has been a while of gluing, debonding, and regluing, but I think I am in a good place. The frames are symmetric and look in the right place related to the bearding line. Took longer than planned, but hopefully sets me up for success for the rest of the build.

Tim - Great to see your progress. The deck framing looks excellent.

really impressive!!

Impressive work on the covering boards. I'm looking forward to seeing the progress pictures. Dave

James - I think your work looks great, and the photoetch you have used, especially the instruments, really add to the model. I also agree with CDW that a lot of the photoetch in the sets isn't very helpful. Some of the prepainted instruments are way better than paint and decal and some of the folded metal looks way better than thick molded plastic. Some definitely doesn't. Picking and choosing which to use definitely makes sense. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the model come together.

Nice! congratulations on finishing!

James - I'd promised myself I would never accumulate a stash. I had 13 or 14 wnw kits on the shelf, which was more than I ever planned. My father was a big time accumulator. When he passed he had several hundred models in his attic (and a house packed full of other things). I brought home about 50 of the models, so now I have a full utility shelf worth to build. Makes me feel guilty having them sit there when a new model comes out that I want to build more. It was funny you mentioned the Kotare Spitfire, because I got a great deal on one at the local IPMS show in February and will probably build it next. Most of his other models got sold to a wholesaler. Lots of lessons about what our families have to deal with when we leave our treasures behind. I'm travelling for a few days. Before I left I got did some more work on the DH-9. I have finished painting, other than some touch up where I pulled off the masking. I will start decaling as soon as I get home. Dave

Great to see you back at work on the model. Coming along beautifully! Dave

Hi James - It was very disappointing to see WNW go under, and then the big spike in prices. I was lucky to buy a number of their kits at list price (including when there was free shipping from NZ). I really enjoyed my first one, a Fokker EIII which went together relatively quickly, so I bought the other ones I liked, then bought some more when they had their water damaged kit sale and their final warehouse clearance sale. Then I inherited my dad's very substantial stash. I have enough models to keep me busy a long, long time. The kits were a little expensive at their original price, but spread over the 2-3 months it takes me to build one, it stays an affordable hobby. My skills don't really do them justice, but I bought them to build, not collect.

I'm impressed by your research and the drawing on the building board. I'm really looking forward to seeing your progress.