Bloody hell Brad! Steely eyed is right!

Is it any reason that modellers look to you for inspiration and advice?

Every monthy IPMS meeting, Rene de Koening and I have a vibrant discussion as to what you are up to and how the hell you achieve such amasing results.

Keep it up.

Cheers,

Hugh

Absolutely amazing Brad ! You are a big inspiration to me on improving my skills ( even if I do things at a snails pace ) .
Thanks for sharing your work with all of us !

Small update to show I am still making some progress. The fuselage is now together and it's starting to look more like a Snipe. Had a few unexpected difficulties trying to get the upper decking on (just as I predicted!) but with the liberal use of superglue and Mr Surfacer, plus some re-scribing (whoops), I managed to get it all on. Also added stitching from the Eduard 1/72 scale stitching set, as well as a few other bits from the spares box.

The cowling needed extensive modification to get it to fit, especially around the upper rounded cutout. I ended up having to glue in some plastic as filler and sand it to the appropriate shape. I also re-fashioned the stiffening strips around the edge.

The keen-eyed will notice the extra hatch under the shell extraction chute. I have scans of the 4AFC war diary, including a technical report from the 4AFC technical officer stating the field modifications the Aussies did to their Snipes - one was the addition of two small access doors on the fuselage sides to gain access to the magazines for re-loading, thus avoiding having to take off the whole fuselage side panel to re-load the guns. These doors are elusive in photos, however the location of the magazines themselves is known, so I decided to use some artistic lisence and add them in the logical position.

Here it is with the cowl and engine dry-fitted to make sure they all fit together - thankfully they do, with only some small gaps (liberal use of glue should fix that when it comes to assembly time).




Next is on to thinning down the flying surfaces - fun.

BC

WOW! 1/16th...........right?

I absolutely LOVE the wood frame and support wires...........and all the "other" stuff too.

Regards
Steve

Excellent Brad. Model on!

Brad,

Actually speechless! Just amazing craftsmanship at all levels. I find it hard how you can top your previous work but then you roll out something new like this and BAMM!!!!! You've done it again. A pleasure to watch, thanks for sharing.

Healthy holidays and hardy cheers to you and yours, Dwayne

More progress, although nothing too exciting. She's slowly comin together. Lower wings and talplane are now glued on the fuselage. I separated the elevators and re-attached them to reflect the control column deflections. The rudder was also removed for the same purpose, but will be re-attached after painting. Upper wings are together (these were in three pieces, which I attached with stiff wire to allow the dihedral to be adjusted and to allow for the small gap between the centre section and outer wing sections). Tail skid is done, and main undercarriage legs are together. Here it is with the cowling, main undercarriage, wheels and rudder dry fitted. As you can see I am going for the earlier Snipe which saw service during the last months of the war and shortly thereafter.





Next is onto cutting all of the struts. Joy.

BC

Shaping up very nicely Brad . Are you going to use the supplied materails in the kit for the struts or are you going to be using another medium for this ?

Brad, Love your work.

I used the kit strut material on mine. It worked OK. I used timber for the cabane struts though.

This is gunna be another one to watch out for at Model Expo, I can tell.

Cheers,

Hugh

My sincere thanks for your continued posting! This is a real treat!

Hey there Terri - yep, I have used the kit supplied strut material. Unlike the strut material supplied in some of their earlier Kits, this strut material was cut in short lengths so it could fit in the box, as such, the material is stil straight.

Struts (all 12) are now cut and shaped, and wire inserted into each end to allow for ease of attachment. Struts and prop are also painted (will have to wait a week or two for the oils to dry yet again... still, lots on over X-mas so this should not be too much of a problem )

Cheers,

BC

Spent a little while priming, finishig cleanup and then preshading.



Have started adding the colour coats now (yay!). So far the underside CDL is painted.



BC

I see Humbroltins, and I like it. This build is awesome Brad, just another BC standard.

Larsa

I like that Larsa.....the BC standard. I love the "depth" in that paintjob.

Regards
Steve

Excellent Brad looking good!

I'm with the other guys Brad , very nicely done ! Looking forward to seeing more .

I hop Brad not get annoyed but the “BC-Standard” is what we all trying to accomplish.





Larsa

Thanks guys

Larsa - don't worry, it is I who often look to your work for inspiration!
I always like the way you do your pre-shading and I have tried to emulate your work in my build here.

BC

I think I have settled on a final colour scheme. I am looking at modelling E8082 "X" of 4SQN Australian Flying Corps. The aircraft arrived at 4AFC on 7 Oct 18. 2 victories were claimed by her, one by 2/Lt E.J. Richards on 26 Oct 18 and one by Capt T.C.R Baker on 29 Oct 18 (one of 4AFCs busiest days with the Snipe). The aircraft survived the war and went with the SQN to Bickendorf for ocupational duties.

I have noticed in the below photos that at some stage after the war, most likely whilst stationed in Germany in early 1919, this aircraft picked up a coloured nose. Judging by the tonality of the photos, it looks as though the nose was coloured blue. I am not sure why this aircraft was chosen for special treatment.

Here she is the second aircraft in the line up (looks like perhaps Nov / Dec 18 before the winter snow, or maybe Apr 19 after the thaw?). This is at Bicknedorf during occupational duties.


Here she is the first aircraft in the line up (looks like Jan/Feb 19 in the winter). Also at Bickendorf (note the same hangar in the background).


Should make for an interesting paint scheme from the standard "drab" Snipes

BC

I would agree with that. I cannot think why it would be Red (which would have been the other likely contender in my opinion).

By the way, your Linnen came up a treat!

Cheers,

Hugh

Paint, decals, wash and most of the weathering is now done. The Blue Max decals shattered on me so I had to dive into the spares box to find alternatives (and of course I couldn't match any of the colours in the roundels!). All of the markings are a mix of various bits and pieces. Here are some pics.






Here she is with her "legs" dry fitted:


And a close up of the guns.


Next is the fun part - mounting the wing... eek!

BC

WOW! love your weathering!




Do you have any idea why Brad? Age related perhaps? I have a Blue Max Camel still in my stash and a couple of sheets of Roundels, maybe I need to keep this in mind.




I'm trying to remember how I did this when I built mine. I have never used jig. I think I might have fitted the outer bay interplane struts first and then done the inner bay and the cabane when that was cured (and rigged)... My memory is hazy.

Cheers,

Hugh

I must say Brad , this is fantastic craftmanship !

Did you free hand the brown trim on the under side of the wings or was this done with masking tape ?

Forgot to say Brad. Love your PC10.

I know you are a fan of Gunze... What's your recipe?

Cheers,

Hugh

I Love it Brad. Most impressive.