BLACK VIKING

I did some looking into that aileron thing....  to me,  this would be incorrect.   when the prototype was first tested,  it was found to have bad handling characteristics.   the V5 {F1} modifications  were:  larger wing surface,  the ailerons {thought to be imbalanced} and the leading edges of the stabilizer fin(s).   looking at pictures show both,  but not as show on my two smaller models.  keen to note that these are reproductions and may not reflect what was on the actual aircraft.

this model does show it........the serial number is that of Ltn. Wolff {not sure of the scheme.  this picture of the red Baron's plane doesn't show the different ailerons.

this is a group of Fokker D VIII's........the wings are totally wrong,  but a very colorful group   {there's a scout tucked in there.........what tha..........}  there were no D VIII's in Berthold's squadron either

the Guillow's kit I built,  has the top wing,  as seen on the Dr 1's.   this one may appear to be a 'Berthold's boys' replica,  but his squadron did not host the raven........or the white tail

very nicely done though.......I think this is the Guillow's kit   {if I do alright,  I'm in for a treat!}  I thought this picture was cool too.

so........be the first kid on your block to have a Fokker in your driveway!   here's an old fixer-up to get you started   

AMC 'Saxonia' and Hospital ship 'Wandilla' On the river Mersey during WW1. The ship with the Red Funnel is Saxonia in her civilian dress.
W/C 14” X 10”

Morning breeze clearing a fog bank in an estuary early 20th century
W/C 14” X 10”
Jim 

slow but steady progress- the topyard parrell rigged 

and the topyard tyes (not belayed yet)
 

take care all
 
Keith
 

But there is another one OC ... rigged and all
 

 
Oeps, forgot tires ...

 
 
 

thanks Robert for the kind comment......and thanks to those who hit the like button    I'm almost at the end of my two week hiatus from work.........Saturday will be a very sad day.  I mention that I got the notification for the wheels,  that they have been shipped.  they were on my doorstep Wednesday afternoon!   I forgot that these folks at located in NAshua,  N.H. ......someone told me that at one time.   I got quite a bit done,  and of course,  I'll have the blooper of the day as well.   I started with the stabilizers and elevators,  assembling the stabs first and adding the elevators a bit later.

next was the wings....a bit of a bugger around the nacelles,  but the job is done.

I was a little surprised that there were only the main wheels in the package,  but there is little detail to the tail wheel,  so this is likely the reason for it.   comes with the hubs too.

it also comes with a mask set,  but seeing how they are,  I never used it.   the parts were prepped for painting.   the ailerons were added to the wings...done in Bomber tan.

the next step would be the outboard turbo chargers.... I added them all.

looking in the inboard nacelles...I saw that I forgot to paint the inside inboard area with the chromate........that was quickly remedied.   all of the brackets for the flaps were added.

the flaps were added when these had set enough.
   
putting them side by side,  I made sure they were both at the same height..........almost looks like the flying wing   

the wheels and hubs painted......

here's where things got to be sort of a head scratcher.  there are the exhaust rings that locate on the backs of the engines.  the have to be assembled in such a way,  that the gap fits on both side of the turbo pipes.  I tried a couple of time to attach them,  but there is no way to be sure that they are correct for the inboard or outboard engines........the engine was becoming saturated with cement...........BLECH!    since these parts won't be seen in the great scheme of things,  I've opted to leave them off.  just cementing the engines in place.
   
....and then came the blooper of the day !  the cowl flaps can be added open or in the close position......I wanted to do the open position.   the two tabs that are on opposite sides of the ring will not fit correctly.  with no logical means to accomplish this.  as I was fiddling around with this......test fitting and jubbling parts,  I picked up one of the wings {the starboard side...I just checked}........grabbing it where the flap is,  and breaking it completely off the wing!   of course,  the glue just didn't let go of the flap part.........instead it broke all but one of the brackets!    I managed to get the flap back on,  rejoining all of the brackets and at the correct height and all.....but the pizz-poor lighting at my desk made it hard.  so all is back to good on the meter....just need to check for touch ups.   I was sitting here,  typing this..........I tried another way to add the open cowl flaps......and it may work.  so I think the open cowl flaps thing is back on   .....decisions.....decisions......... 
     the wheels are assembled now.......ready to be added to the gears........and then to the wings.    I find that I will need to drill a hole for each gear assembly.......sounds like another potential blooper for me....we'll see how that goes  

for those following the Clotilda escapades,  you'll be pleased to hear that one side of the second hull is done........the other side is very close to being closed finally .   it's been a trial....I can tell ya that.   then I can resume with the Clotilda and work on them both .....the hull planking was the super hard part.  I'm planning some scratch building for the second hull anyway,  so it will be slow anyways..........I'll start a separate log when I get a little more further along {if that makes any sense}.   still getting the best of both worlds.......and I love it   

Some more work done on The Spray.  The rails are on as well as the bow block and the taffrail deck.  The lowed gudgeon is on as well as the rudder and rudder post. The rub frail is on each side and the scuppers are cut out. Most recently I built and installed the steering mechanism.  The wheel was cast metal which I aged and then painted.  Overall I am happy with the model so far.  I am not the most talented model builder but it is coming along. Thanks go out to Nic at Bluejacket. A few times I have been unclear about some point or other and he has been kind enough to send a photo from a model they have on site. That has helped a lot.

I've still been putting my exile from my day job to good use and pushing forward on this build. 
 
Next up was adding the 0.8mm ply bulwarks. As with anything like this that has to try to conform to various compound curves, it can be a little testy, but a 30 min soak in hot water certainly helps to ease it into position. A series of pinning and clamping persuaded it too, once glue had been applied. the upper bulwark MDF ears were only lightly glued to the ply as these will be removed in a later stage before fitting the laser engraved deck.

 
 
First planking is done with lime planks, 5mm wide and 1.5mm thick. There's more than enough bulkheads to get a good even finish, providing you faired them properly too. It's all Prep Prep Prep. These planks were glued with PVA and also tapered as necessary. 



 
 
Once planked, a thorough sanding was given, making sure no steps, unevenness or other anomalies would show on the shapes of the finished hull. 

 
 
The 4mm x 1mm pear strips are now cut into short lengths for the stern and stern counter etc. The rudder post is temporarily clamped in position so that I can plank up to it on either side without any guesswork. The edges of this are then sanded flush with the hull sides.



 
 
The pear 'master plank' is now fitted to each side. This isn't guesswork as there are laser cut marks on the bulwark that help you position this in the same place as the planking run for the wale. CA gel is used to glue into position as it gives some seconds to align things.

 
A quick photo with a few deck things sat in position!

 
 
The hull is now planked in pear from the master plank down to the keel. 

 
 
More as soon as I get time to edit photos!

Afternoon!
 
Ok, this one is going to take me a little longer than the prototypes of VM's Fifie and Zulu! I'll try to keep this updated as often as I can if there's some real interest. Flirt is based on the previous Speedy kit, but with some notable differences. The model itself won't have a launch as standard, and there are differences to the rig too, plus the deadeyes are replaced with pear wood heart blocks. She also won't be coppered below the waterline, instead being painted white. Before I kick off with the hull, I built the temporary cradle. This is only temporary as there's a clear acrylic one for the finished model, and I don't want to use that until I really need to. Onwards with the prototype! Again, these are photos that will eventually be in the instruction manual, and not regular bench build images.
 

 
 
The regular kit will have 3mm MDF for the main hull components. I quite like this material. It's easy to sand and takes the nails and glue real well. There will be a Master Shipwright version where the MDF will be replaced with birch ply, but that will be very limited edition! There is actually a little birch ply in the standard kit, replacing the MDF stern frames. 


 
 
As you'd expect, everything just drops together, and those that are building the Speedy I'm sure would testify to. The bulkheads, minus the bevelled ones, are now glued in place. There are also two parts which support the lower deck ends. These are also now glued into place.


 
 
One difference to Speedy is the replacement of the lower MDF deck with an engraved ply deck. This, as before, fits in four sections.




 
 
With the deck in place, glue is brushed un the undersides. That'll give more strength, and some rigidity to the outer portions of the deck edges.

 
That's it for the moment. I've been so busy that I've barely noticed I've been in isolation for over a month. It's one way to make the time fly! More soon.
 
 
 

Royal Louis’ ship yard is open again! That break was far longer than I had originally planned, but I wanted to finish Soleil Royal. Now that she is complete I can turn my full attention back here.
 
With that, I spent some time taking inventory of my current wood selection and I was pleased to find that I should have enough of the mahogany wood that I used on the previous two French builds to complete the lower planking of Royal Louis. Not a lot of room for mistakes so I will need to go slow and be mindful of cuts and waste. Hopefully, with many states slowly opening back up, some of the local lumber mills may also open again and I can find new stock. 
 
For now though I build! So, welcome back to everyone! Looking forward to getting back into this ship! 

Folks,
 
This is a crazy idea, but I have to try it: Build two models of the same Vehicle, but at different scales. I have also decided to not build another war machine (for the time being) as the planet absolutely needs a wind of peace, harmony and balance. 
 
I am a fanatic about Motorcycles and started riding at the age of 13 years old (legal age in France was 14) using mopeds from friends. At the age of 14, I got my first little motorcycle, a DERBI 50 cc with a gearbox with 3 speeds controlled by the foot. The gear patterns were reversed from the Japanese motorcycles and what was to become the standard, but the idea was there. I still have that DERBI bike and moved to a Suzuki 125 GT, at the age of 17. All my youth was spent admiring these big machines such as HONDA CB750, CB550K, LAVERDA, Moto Guzzi V7, Suzuki and other Kawazaki Mach 2 and 3 (the widowmakers) and smaller motorcycles such as the Yamaha, Honda CB125 K4 and many more. A large chunk of my life would then be spent without owning any motorcycle but the urge was always there. In 2001, I purchased a BMW R1100S that I still have today and ride occasionally (that model was never reproduced in scale model, unfortunately).
 
One of my favorite bikes and one that truly revolutionized the world of motorcycles, was the HONDA CB750 Four introduced in 1969 to the world. Much has been said about this bike but I never had a chance to ride it, unfortunately. I did ride the CB 550K and the CBX 1000 with six cylinders in line, though. These were two incredible bikes, especially the CBX with its fantastic power, speed and accelerations.

When the CB750 Four K0 came out, it was immediately embraced as a cult bike and many famous people in Europe (and elsewhere) were seen riding it. Here is an example of French singer Francoise Hardy, riding her CB750 in the streets of Paris: 

Back to the scale models, after this brief introduction of the fantastic HONDA CB750 Four.
 
I built the HELLER Honda CB750 (1/8) in 1971 when that model came up on the French market. I was not even a teenager at that point and my passion for motorcycles was already intense. HELLER was proposing a large choice of models, all in the scale of 1/8: Nortons, BMW, Laverda, Honda, Kawazaki, Yamaha and a few others.

 
The HELLER model was fantastic and very realistic and seems different from the MPC model that I will be trying to build. I compared the sprues of the HELLER and the MPC kits, and they are vastly different although at the same scale.
 
First the TAMIYA kit at 1/6th, which is a classic and has been available for a very long time: 

The kit I bought on E-Bay long time ago, is very old and the decals are damaged due to their ages. All the other parts (rubber mostly) are still in very good shape and flexible. I contacted TAMIYA USA who offered to sell me another set of decals as soon as the stupid confinement is over.


For the scale of 1/8, I could not get an HELLER kit at a decent price and thus fell back on the MPC kit. Both Tamiya and MPC are depicting the original K0 version of the CB750, with its sleek air box and its lack of the small lights dashboard, available on later model K1 to K4 as well as the later CB 550K bike. 




As indicated before, I am going to try to build the two kits at the same time. I have never done that before and I honestly think it is crazy. However, it will be interesting to compare the excellent and extremely detailed Tamiya kit with the more common and affordable MPC kit and appreciate the different sizes of the parts and sub-assemblies.
 
Progress will be slow as I still have to finish my submarine.
 
Yves
 
 
 

I had previously already made the masts, and now I attached the big block for the main stay. This is a 12 mm block. I used big rope to attach it to the mast, using both a clamp and a winding to secure it. At the back of the mast, I used again a winding and then two clamps to make sure that it stayed at the mast. I had seen this in the build-log of md1400cs, where I also found a reference to the Vasa museum discussion in which it was explained that for the Vasa, the foremast was made of one pole. So, no windings around the foremast.

Next step at the foremast: making and attaching the tackles. The Corel instructions mention that backstays are attached to the eyes on the channel, but the museum and the 1/10 model in the museum have tackles here. So, I chose tackles, and attached the end of the rope on the block, as I had seen on a Vasa museum photo.
A tedious job to make the tackles. I used violin blocks, and 7 mm blocks. I used windings to create some distance between the block and the hook.



 

Working on the underwater hull so I can start planking. Because I was not only reconstructing the ship but changing the hull shape, there was a fair bit of trial and error involved.
 
I used battens to get the curves as close as I could

I've had to build up some of the frames (you can see open space between the frame and the top batten in the photo below).

I cut strips of sheet balsa to make the additions, bending them to follow the curve, gluing them in place then trimming them to shape. I haven't been too careful with the glue because it'll all be hidden by the planking.

and I had to shave others

Almost ready to start planking.
 
Steven
 
 
 

Denis: yes and the jungle has gotten confusing
 
E.J: thanks again, you are always so kind with your comments. Your thoughts were sort of my intentions - to give each deck a different perspective – so glad that you liked the concept.
your thoughts are so encouraging -- This build was, for me,  a great learning experience.
Your skill sets are way up there – A cross section would be right up your alley indeed. I have learned a lot following your work. The lights idea, for example, came from following one of your builds.
=========
But now having a bit of grief with OCree rigging instructions.
When I built the pin rails, I counted the “numbers” on the instruction sheet and drilled accordingly the same amount of pin-holes per railing side.
 
Now it turns out that lower and top sails have four bunt lines per yard seemed just about right when I rigged the sails (didn’t think about this current issue.
I assumed (that famous word) that each number for pin rail on the illustration sheet stood for an individual rope location on the rail.
 
Now in the process of locating the ropes in the correct places – the instruction sheet only references only two pin locations per yard for 220 and 221 -- need four location.
 
And NOW looking even more carefully it appears as if locations numbers 212, and 220 drop into a same single hole. So need to find/invent four extra pin locations  -- Need to figure out how to “fix” this grrrr.
 

Almost done (well for me this will still be some time later) - all rigging installed. Need to spool 40+ coils to wrap at pins, then untangle and install lines -
wall display case is also being made.   thankfully all lanterns still OK.
 

So that’s the 3 Russian ships done now, parked in the digital graveyard 

it looks like the kit......I do believe I saw that one,  but the one I saw was out of stock { new item}.   at least it's a correct model........the only two that got the F1 was Voss and wolff.......Werner Voss got 103/17.   he died less than a month later.   the kit I have has an MSRP of around $60.00....so the site listed........I didn't pay that much for it from OMKs.   I did bookmark the military model site.......there is information on becoming a distributor.......should I ever retire,  I'd like to look into something like that.   might be something good.......I even have a name picked out.........'Mantel Models'        pipe dream.............
 
the Roden kits are good to a point.  they are molded well,  but the hardness of the plastic and the varied thickness can be a bother.   the absence of locator tabs is another bother,  wondering if the part is in the proper place.
 
more was done yesterday......the assembly is going fairly well with the cockpit.......trying not to break the darn thing.  I started to do some painting as it was assembled.

I looked in my odds and ends to see if I had anything to reinforce the frame........I didn't think of it at the time,  but I do have some Plastruct thin stuff kick'in 'round.  where I can reinforce it,  it will never be seen,  so that's a good thing.   I also did some small parts painting.

the props were painted in a wood color and allowed to dry.

looking at the cockpit frame.....say a lot about the comfort in flying one of these planes.   pilots found it hard to see down the runway,  sitting in such an upward angle.  it was fairly cramped in the cockpit as well,  almost to the point of claustrophobia.  head trauma was common during a bad landing........even worse in a crash........the machine gun breeches were situated so close to the pilot,  that a good jolt would cause them to headbutt them.   I added a couple of things here......one addition was to the compass.   I looked on the decal sheet,  but there no face to give it some detail.   one of the first decal sheets I printed,  was a sheet of dials and gauges for light Balsa aircraft......Cessna's and such.  I dug it out of the inventory.

I should locate it in my files and do another one...perhaps when I get a new ink cartridge.   finding the suitable correct size,  it was cut out and applied.    more painting was done to the frame.   there really isn't a color chart  for painting this........what there is...sure,  what there isn't...I'm just going with what looks logical.   came to the seat.......no color suggested,  except that where the pilot sits should be red leather.   I went a little bit further here and  cut out a piece of leather that I bought for the stage coach model..........glued that in for the seat padding.

I have to have at least one blooper in my session........somewhere   sometimes it's minor and not worth mentioning.......and other time,  just to show that I'm human.   I painted the cabane and interplane struts,  accenting  the brackets with flat steel.  if I was building Richthofen's plane,  it would have been alright......but I'm building Kempf's plane and the color for his is gray.

....guess I'll be changing the color.  even if I changed my mind.......I would have to change the color of the cowl.   Kempf's is black,  while Richthofen's cowl is red.......already painted the cowl flat black   I painted the undersides of the wings while I was play'in a computer game.......a little hack 'n slash was in order 

the session ended with accenting the props with some darker brown and flat steel.
  
looking at the kit box that CW posted,  the prop on the left would be used for the F1........I'll be using the prop on the right.     hope you have fun with the kit Craig......if you really want a clunky kit.......look for a HobbyCraft kit.   you won't believe the thickness of the plastic.   builds into quite the paperweight   

They look very nice to me Michael stunning work.
Martyn

The next three ones, made of paper and wire. The lockdown in Germany is continued but with relaxed measures - more people go back to work and a lot of shops are reopened but you still have to wear protective masks there. Most schools are still closed or restricted to higher classes. So plenty of time. Meanwhile I start to get used to paper flowers - but still have a lot of respect for modellers who work with paper and card - I feel much more comfortable with wood. For size comparison my reading glasses in the background.

I have decided not to bend sails at this time, although I may reconsider this at a later date.
I will have to make a display case for it.
Dick

Rudder and tiller finished....finally. My scratch built rudder came out pretty good. I traced out the basic rudder pattern on that same sheet of basswood that became available and sanded out the edges. Then I traced it out again, then sanded out the second piece. Then I glued the two patterns together and with a lot more sanding it was a twin with the original laser cut piece. Four coats of white paint, then let dry for 2+ days, then conditioned and stained. Finally, I added the previously made tiller. And red at the top of the tiller.

The practicum calls for whittling the very end of the tiller into a round dowel type protuberance which would then fit into a drilled hole into the top of the rudder front to back. My end-of-tiller dowel was not perfect and a bit off center. I found it much better to lop off the whittled dowel and then drill a hole in the back end of the tiller and add the dowel. This looks nice as what the tiller would have looked like through and through. Then I pinned the now flat back of the tiller and inserted into the front of the rudder.

I decided to do a bit more on mossie as the tv was rubbish,   so  I thought I would have a go at the props and spinners, these are a Three piece  unit considting of the prop  a backing plate and the spinner cap,  first I  cleaned up the prop  and discovered it was a bit to thick  and lacking shape,  simple adjustment  by samding it to reduce its thickness  while also giving it some shape.
I then dry fitted  it.
 
OC.

Hi all,    thank you for all the likes and comments,    so  while waiting for the paint on the fuselage to harden,  I decided to do a bit more detailing on the wings  with shading and highlighting  to give it a bit of realism.
 
OC.

The flowers are also made of thin colored paper and paper covered wire. I made the first three ones with supplied flowerpots.

Following capstan...