I've got to say, if there was an award for the most built, most photographed airplane model for the past year I think the Wingnut LVG would be the winner!
Some of you may have seen these pics on other forums but I thought I'd share my latest pride and joy here too. This was only my second serious attempt at a WWI aircraft, the first being a 1/48 DML Fokker Dr.1. I don't usually build 1/32 kits anymore, and a year ago, I'd never even HEARD of an LVG. Then, when Wingnut exploded on the scene last year, and I took a look at their site to see what all the fuss was about, it was love at first sight.
This build spanned roughly 9 months, with only a 1 month break taken to do a quick project to avoid burnout.
A few additional details were added to what came in the box, those being the ignition wire assemblies on the engine, the pull ring for the radiator flaps,
a Tom's Modelworks photo-etch cooling jacket on the pilot's Spandau, and the brace wire on the observer's Parabellum. Rigging was done with a combination of Bob's Buckles, stainless hypodermic tubing for the turnbuckle bodies, and 2 lb fishing line painted with Humbrol Polished Steel. I learned about using the stainless tubing from one of the build threads right here on Aeroscale, by a gentleman named Mark Hamrick. Mark, if you are reading this, thank you so much for the excellent WIP thread you did on your LVG! I referred to it often and also pointed a number of people to it, especially the parts about using the hypo tubing.
Finally, the wood grain was done using artist's oils over Tamiya acrylics, pretty much as described by Wingnut in their instructions. I took it a little further than they show by using finer brushes to work the grain patterns.
Cheers,
Eric
