BLACK VIKING

I think that's why he hyphenated it Carl....probably thought that it all wouldn't fit there.   from the sites that I read,  it was though that he had been wounded and kept out of the sky for a bit.........it would take finding out what plane he flew before the Dr 1  to put any validity in that statement.  the Hobby craft model was worse than this kit,  in building it........very thick plastic and nothing really fit well.  the center wing root and the top part of the fuselage was assembled differently than the Roden kit,  although,  there was still somewhat of a 'top' for the center wing root.  rigging it was easier though.......I was able to run the 'cables' through the holes before assembling the wing....all the holes being pre-formed.  I don't consider the model to be a true representative of the Dr 1 due to the raised rib lines....looks to klunky. 
 
not to say that other nations didn't revere their pilots,  but the Germans perhaps went a little overboard with their adulations.  the color red was a badge of honor...how much one had on his plane,  denoted how fearless he was.  injuries were common with these early planes........either by becoming wounded,  or too rough a landing {these planes were not kind to their pilots}.  German pilots who performed well in battle also got free reign on the camo of their plane.......most came off the assembly line already decked out in military camo.......some four color camo,  some with five color.....the speckled lozenge was particularly interesting.   one must remember too,  that these planes were not tested as they are today.........they would likely fail a wind tunnel test.....or even be torn apart  
 
thanks to all who commented.......you all have the patience of a saint.   thanks for the likes as well.  to go a bit further on this build,  I took a look at the underside of the top wing.   the holes for the cables were drilled out,  and the same wire I use for the landing gear will be used.  the hole on the fuselage were also drilled out.   the cabane struts are removed from the sprue and cleaned up.........note the absence of slots for them on the top wing.....just those four pins {?}   I have no clue what they were thinking here.  the top root of the strut does not fit in between them.  I've yet to dry fit the wing again in place and attempt a dry fit of the struts...that will be my next step.   

I still need to add the levers for the ailerons and elevators.......go from there   

there was a sense of doom of late for our great war bird.   I decided to try and tidy up the nose panels.   the first problem was the decals........I looked through the 'now' immense collection of 1:72 B 17 decals I've acquired during the B 17 glut.......and I don't have another pair of 'babes' in the event I can't save them.  so I tried.......got a large piece of used decal paper from the trash and got it wet,  hoping that there is enough adhesive on the paper to be able to put them back on with no trouble.  this part was relatively easy...they came off even though they have been on there a while.   I don't have the ball turret guns or the tail guns in place yet,  but the waist, nose and top guns are there........just waiting to be knocked off {Murphy waits with bated breath}.   the port side was a no go for the removal prospects.......it was firmly cemented in place.  what I did was scrape down the edges that were raised......to my shame,  there was even some flash that I had missed.

sanding it down to make it look better,  it was touched up with paint.........I tried putting more along the top to fill in the thin gap that is there.  it didn't totally work,  but it does look a little better.  the decals are back on now and there is some improvement  
  
the norden bomb sight fell victim to brash handling.......knocked out of place.   I also noticed that the bombardier's seat was at an angle too...looks as though it got pushed by the port gun when the halves were cemented together...had to fix that.   I wasn't going to do much with the starboard side panel........thinking that it would be impossible to remove as well.  but I tried anyway.  all went well until I got to the lower corner aftward....the panel snapped off leaving it there    I wasn't going to try to remove it,  but I did and......of course Murphy saw his chance..........it popped off onto the floor!  I searched for a while.....not having much success.  then things got a little more complicated.........Gibbs came over seeing his chance for a 'cuddlefest'.  we had given him a bath the other day,  so { as all American Eskimos are} he was 'extra' fluffy.  this is bad,  because if he lays on the floor,  the I fear all will be lost!  the part may stick to his fur,  and god knows where it will end up!  but Murphy miscalculated the telemetry of the flying part.........it had landed on my seat cushion...between my legs   
  
in the picture to the left,  the broken piece is the triangular looking blotch next to the other olive blotches.   apparently,  the big difference in the many variants of the B 17,  is this starboard side window arrangement.  I dug out the other variants and noticed that they are all shaped the same way.  the gun cold be centralized as I have it here..........or it could be centrally raised,  or raised toward the front of the panel
  
I put on the maskings when I did all the other parts....guess that was smart on my part    I'm going to confirm that I'm using the right panel.........but in the meantime,  I will repair the one I took off.

Looking forward to seeing this get your treatment. 
She is a beautiful yacht.

Looks like that will make a very nice model, Kevin.
 
John

Welcome to my latest Build
 
This was presented to me by MSW a few months ago as a retirement present, for which i am extremely grateful, this actual kit was kit reviewed by @James H
so i have put the link in, i hope to do  the kit justice, and of course i will do things different, as i make her my own, im already thinking of a royal blue hull 
 

NOW the stern decking is finished with the addition of the two railings shown here.  The resin pillars have nice detailing.
 
Regards,
David

thanks all......it's been some good progress moving forward.  at the moment,  I'm trying to get more decals on her.   I'm finding the areas in question easier to handle.   looking in further on the vertical stabilizer,  I've yet to find another picture showing that painted over blotch.   I got a copy of the documentary {or the air force release} along with the Memphis Belle movie......I've yet to pull it back out to review it again.  I'm certain though that it was the 'A' code letter though.......there were a few planes to sport it along with the Bomber Group triangle.
 
the correction on the port letters......
I was able to remove the decals and reposition them.
the glass parts were added to the top of her nose......there were other versions in the kit.   it looked terrible.....took a bit of work to get it straightened out.

I'm still not completely happy with those side panels........terrible fit.   the insignias were added to the wings

you might see other small decals her and there........there are quite a few to go yet.  her number was added to the vertical stabilizer.
  
I added some decals at the nose.........I may remove the panels and try to repair them.  I've compounded the issue though....
  
a little more was done on top of the nose....after touch up paint,  I added the silver rectangular decals.......not sure what they are for.........fake windows perhaps.

more soon......thanks for look'in in and the likes!  
 

It will indeed Mark,  have it in my head how I want to set it up - the idea (plan)   is that the crew  have been  driven out  to mossie in the jeep, they have got out  hanging around near the plane  - one of the pilots is on the entrance ladder the other is behind,  the  plane has been having some minor repairs  (me dad still up one of the ladders near mossie)   some other staff milling around, in the trailor there is a work bench and some other stuff packed ready to go back to the hanger, the dog is standing on the back seat of the jeep  - all jolly.
 
Well thats just an idea.
 
OC.

Thanks Halfdan. More bulkheads would be nice.
 
Well I had to put on the brakes yesterday and reassess this planking job. The planks at the bow were not laying flat as l planked down and the edge bending was becoming way too severe. I removed two planks on the starboard side then just bent a plank with the bow curve and clamped it where it wanted to lay flat. I will have to plank around this one with some drop and added planks and maybe some spieled ones too. I am going to work on just the starboard side for now to see if I can get it planked without crazy plank bends. This morning I added another plank on the starboard side again letting it go where it wanted to. I guess this is the Zen method of planking. I am happier with these two planks and I think filling in between them will be a lot better. We shall see...

I am still in shock   😃😃😃
 
OC.

How very nice of someone.  Despite what you hear nowadays,there are still plenty of caring people in the world.
 
Mark

Yep, there certainly are..... there is hope for us yet....

So  - I feel a dio  coming on...........
 
OC.

Hi all,
 
Post man arrived this morning with the normal junk,  but there was also a  larger parcel that I/we was not expecting  so I opened it  and these were inside  with  a note  - I was  truly choked and supprised.
 
Dont know who its off  but a huge thanks is due to them.
 
OC.

Continuing on with bringing this old model back to life. I trimmed and filed the aft deck panels to match to contours of the boat. Other than that it's been a lot of filling and sanding , then filling more spots and sanding just to get the little imperfections out from some cracking edges over the years. Other than that, I'm waiting on the decking walnut strips to come in. I didn't realize I ordered from overseas (modelers central) to USA when I ordered, so it may be a little while.

I added this filler brace to the front access panel cavity because it was teetering on the middle brace, and panel wouldn't always sit flush. This assures a flush fit every time its installed.

 
I need to make a little filler triangle here where walnut decking will be. I'm not very happy with how you had to cut the plastic formed cowl pieces out of the model kit. There's not a good guide where the exact cut should have been. I'll still use the pieces (because I really have no choice), but for what's going to be a nice wooden sturdy boat, these flimsy plastic cowl pieces are not going to be the best. Although I have no plans to make this RC controlled, I'm still leaving access just in case I change my mind.

¨Nightmare number one........How the stanchions are fixed to the frames?
 
Here the answer......book Ships of the Pharaoh
 

same picture is coming with details about my “second” nightmare......How the frames are fixed to the planks.....
 
”Nightmare” number three......how the planks are sewed one each other?...... Well.......
 
We can se some “V” channels (Number 2) in the picture above....those were used to pass through the rope...so....
 
HOW TO MAKE THEM? If in the scale I am working on the plank width are only 4.2 mm?  (In scale 1:1 are 14 - 17 cm)....... well..... we will see.
 
 

Ok an update, basic painting done..... 
 

As you can see the grey has taken on a bluish tint, that is cause when I started looking at colors I realized that the light aircraft grey was just too light, almost whitish in appearance. so I went and bought a bottle of plain aircraft grey, gloss and repainted, the gloss helps with the decals and is a much more accurate color and flattens out well... I used olive drab for the seat cover and dark euro green for the survival pack. the Red is Insignia Red slightly darkened....
 
Anyway, decals up next then the PE, then we get to figure out the paper retaining straps....
 
Onwards....

Yes, Ages of Sail contacted me a couple of weeks ago, and it all moved pretty fast from there.
 
I have been quiet as I am working on finishing Flirt and also in the middle of designs for the 6th kit.
 
I have also given my castor all 3-d files for all sizes of cannon barrels, so I will have samples of each (9, 12, 18, 24 and 32 pounders) next month.

Evening all,   got some more good progress today   - despite it taking what seemed like ages to put thin paint layers on with hairdryer between each coat,  so  I put the HUD  on the pe frame  (fiddly is not the word)  as you can imagine not getting glue on the clear part was mission inpossible,  after it had  set  I tried to sand the glue out on the one side I could get to - then I tried the old method of polishing the plastic with tooth past (as you do with canopies,  it did a fairly good job  but still left behind some marks  (not a problem as the front screen will mostly hide this).
 
So  - the tub is finished  with the seat glued down.
 
OC.

Evening all  - so glad to see our refreshments have turned  up  - building is so much more fun on popcorn,    so  work continues  with the  cockpit tub  -  I gave the bang seat  a bit more weathering  really starting to bring the details out now,    next off was  the tub its self  -  I painted the side walls in flat alum  then gave the rest of it a mid sea grey wash in watery coats,  then I used a mixture of Black and  alum high lighting to bring the details out, same principle with the instrument panel and the rear plate,  I then glued them together  and dry fitted the seat  to check it out.
 
Still needs the HUD, and a few other fittings.
 
OC.

I can't believe the wind and rain continues to happen 30hrs now of rain 7.9" and winds from 25-48mph and of that probably 15/20hrs was 30/48mph lot more significant than Hurricane Nate a couple years ago!Well you can see the trip to head out got cancelled due to the weather just as bad in Gainesville rain wise if not worst so figured could get some time in the shop so we have progress I like the black base panel lines in the Neutral Grey show up well and got the uneven coverage like weathered some.It's starting to look the part Kevin

Thank you all very much for the kind words!
Of course Mark. See the photos of the stands below. I loved working with the soapstone. It carves so easily and holds detail so well that I decided to use it much more going forward, beginning with the stands for this ship.
After sanding the stone had gotten a bit dull, so I used on it the same tung oil I use on wood.

 
 

2nd strake added more beveling. 


Adding seam battens for the lap joints for the 3rd strake. 

ready for the 4th strake


I’m going to call it a night, good progress today. 

Dear all,
the first picture shows how and where the holes for the beams of the upper deck were opened;
the second, shows the upper deck in its initial appearance,
the third shows the insertion of Water Ways ( done on both the decks),
the fourth shows the addition of new frames among the older ones,
the fifth shows the upper deck almost finished,
and finally the hawse holes.
 
Good sawdust!
 
Rodolfo

No more woodworking with, among other things, the doors, which I find quite nice! A photo version with closed doors to start with.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Then we'll move on to the roofs! And finally, there will be the aging for this village entrance.
 
 
Small inventory of fixtures of the village:
 

 

 

 

 
 
An idea from the reference docs...