The filling and sanding will always get you , does for at times . Neet way on doing the nose and the rivet detail is a nice touch as well . Your project is shaping up very nicely .

Mikael,
The nose job just gets better and better with each new update.The nose cap itself came out excellent.Have you decided on which marking you'll be using? At any rate keep up the excellent progress my friend.Can't wait to see the next update.
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette

Thank You all for your kind and encouraging words, they mean a lot, and makes me put in that little extra effort

Mark: – Yep you got to really, really, really want an Austrian DIII to fork out $100. Im ending up chucking most of what was in that box out though, including wings and fuselage, and exchanging most for Roden bits and pieces.

Even though I got the Roden kit cheapish and the B.A. at half price – it's still going to be an expensive experience... Shhhh don't tell the wife

Terri: Thank You So much

Mikael

Thank You so much Gregory, glad you like the work. Also glad you asked about the marking. I have given it some thought

I could ofcourse go for one of the options included in the B.A. kit, which is either one of Brunowsksis Red paintjobs with a deadhead on the side, or an all over dapple kammo... I don't really fancy the Red one though – looks to much like Snoopy and the Red Baron in "Peanuts" to me... Besides I don't have any good experiences with B.A. decals.

Sooo, it's going to be another route where I have to paint the markings, and right now these two are the ones I'm playing around with: (I mocked these up at the computor earlier to see how they worked)



I really fancy the arrow (guess it appeals to the graphic designer in me), but masking and painting this one would be a pain... If its even within my capabilities?

The stripe is nice, and simple, which seems to have been the case for most of these planes when in service. I like this one too.

Well what do the community think? Which one should I go for?

Best Regards

Mikael

Mikael,

Excellent progress! I'd say go for the arrow. It would definitely match an already great build.

Mark

I'm with Mark on the arrow marking , it will give the aircraft an pleasing apperance setting it off just right to a awesome build

Mikael,
I'll go with Terri and Mark on this one.The Arrow is the way to go.
Regards,
Gregory Jouette

Hi Mikael:

I do like the arrow scheme, but the red stripe is nice as well. The arrow looks a little too busy for my tastes, whereas the stripe is simple, but adds a dash of color. The arrow would certainly be a striking scheme and make for an interesting model.

Good Luck in your decision making process.

Mark

Thanks Everyone for the vote of confidence I kind of thought the arrow would come out the winner here...

Althogh I share the sentimnet of Mgunns, (will it look to busy?). And I'm not entirely sure I can pull the masking off – the Arrow it'll be (Big Gulp). If I feel the masking is not working out, I'll resort to plan B – the simple stripe...

Best Regards

Mikael

Mikael, best of luck on the arrow (gulp). What does the fletch (feathers) do? Do they continue onto the horizontal and end or merge into another arrow?

Mikael,
Why not make your own decal for the arrow.It's not really very difficult to do .Just make a pattern from paper to test fit to the fuselage,once you've good sizing use the pattern to cut a stencil.One for each color used,then airbrush onto clear decal film.
Regards,
Gregory Jouette

Now that is a neet idea , no use of a printer at all .
Would you have to clear coat after wards ?

Terri,
I seal the work all together with a couple of misted coats of Testor's Clear Cote.Very much old school way of makeing decals but it's always worked for me.
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette

Mark – Yep you got it – the arrow merges on top and bottom of the fuselage and duplicate itself on both sides... And thank You for the best whishes this'll be fun

Gregory – Very neat tip my friend – Thank You I'll give this a go I think, as I'm half way there with the papermask which I've quietly done and tested out already. How do you get the mask to "stay" on the decal sheet while you spray? I guess it needs to be pretty tight to avoid overspray... Spraymount glue perhaps?

Best Regards

Mikael

Mikael,
Once I've got the pattern right I transfer it to thin clear plastic sheet to make my stencil. I simplely tape the stencil to the clear decal sheet and paint away.You'll need a stencil for each color so don't forget to add registration marks to help you get everything lined up.I spray tight and at low pressure for making my decals.Hope this helps you.
Regards,
Gregory Jouette

Aha!

Thank You very much Gregory, this does help me a lot. I have a scheduled trip to my local hobbyshop later in the week – think I can pick up some decal film there.

Best Regards

Mikael

Hi Everyone

Time for a short update. Before I can start applying the arrows to the fuselage, I need to get the wooden panels painted and done.

So, last night I burned some midnight oil and did it in one sitting – here's how she turned out.



I may or may not do an overspray clear yellow or or do a wash with oils after this has dried. Not quite sure if I think the wooden effect works or if the contrasts are a bit to much and needs toned down... Well I guess I have about a week to think about it while the slow oils dry

I use Winsor & Newton oils on an acrylic base, giving different panels one of about three various "dark" and "light" tones before applying the oils, using Yellow Ochre and Burnt Sienna mostly. I will put a clear gloss varnish on, and do some dark washes to simulate dirt ect.

Til next time – Thank You for looking, please feel free to comment.

Mikael

Mikael. I know theres mixd opinions on wood grain, some say that the grain would be undicernable at 1/32, possibly right but modellers licence adds it for realism at scale. What would be visible is tonal changes and differences in the ply and you have captured that very well.

I'm really looking forward to seeing her finished, hopefully a manufacturer will produce this variant of Albi in 1/32 as I would love one but shy away from the work you have done. Unless the engine is available in resin it would be a hard road.

Beautiful work marrying the two kits though.

Keith

Keith – Thank You for your kind words, they are really apreciated

You also touch on an interesting topic that I have given a lot of thought to as well: Modellers licence, or perhaps artistic licence. Are we artists making things look pleasing or are we history buffs sticking to whats historically accurate? Perhaps a topic for discussion under another thread.

The oils have not dried quite yet, but I hope to be able to put the clear varnish on sometime next week. I'm more pleased with the effect now thogh, so I'll probably leave the wood it as is, only adding some dirt and staines.

Best Regards

Mikael

Hi Mikael , nothing wrong with your wood grain at all my friend . The different tones of variations is very convincing . A clear coat will tie all this in just nicely .
You could add a little Tamiya clear smoke to the clear yellow which will give you a nice honey shade . This can be built up to the effect which is pleasing to you .

Artistic license is the key here . So many different ways for doing the wood grain and opinions on it one has many different options to apply it . So really there is no right or wrong way of doing it .

Hi Mikael:

I like your wood grain. It is subtle yet realistic. Yes, at 1/32nd it is doubtful that the grain would be noticeable, however, it adds to the interest of the model, and you have captured an element of interest quite well.
I applaud your efforts in this conversion and look forward to your continued progress.

Best
Mark

Hi Mark and Terri

Your kind comments are most apreciated, making me more pleased with my wood effort

– Terri: I'll look into the smoke idea – I also bought Tamyia clear varnish yesterday, that I guess could be tinted anyway you wanted really, for various effects...

 – Mark: Have you hathced a plan to smuggle a B.A. kit into the house as yet or are you waiting for a sale I think Kornbeef is onto something, if there was an aftermarket engine, and perhaps a cockpit set, we would see more conversions to Austrian Albies...

Mind you I guess about the time I finish this one, some manufacturer will make an annoncement

All the Best

Mikael

Hi everyone

Time for another update on the Austrian Albatros. It’s been a few busy weeks both on and off the hobbydesk. While the oils were drying on this one I’ve been spraying kammo on my DI, but that’s another story. Once the oils finally dried I got some clear coats on to get a shine. Then details like panels and nose got painted, and some washes applied until...

... well, the arrow marking just couldn’t wait any longer... Masks were cut and applied to decal paper, but after testing this out I was not happy with the result... I still think this is a neat idea, but the flimsy tail of the feathers did’nt work out for me this way.

Scratching my head I took a deep breath, cut new masks for the second time, this time using sticky airbrush film, and applied them directly onto the fuselage – very old school, and a bit risky I did’nt really fancy stripping the wood and start it all again.

Here’s the sequence of masking and spraying:


It was very difficult to see the clear masking film, and to judge the ”negative” space of the arrow on the fuselage. But it was also giving me a chance to correct the slightly complex shape of the arrows wrapping around the fuselage, using the panel lines as my guide to get it similar on both sides.

After applying black, for the outline, I masked this off uing 0.75 mm tape. I should’ve been more careful at this stage and put a second line of tape, overlapping the outline with the mask. As it is now I have to do some touchups of red overspray here and there.

Then a coat of Tamiya flat red – the black undercoat making it slighly rust/dull red, which is what I wanted.


Shaking hands stripped the masks off, and... Yep ladies and gents we have arrows Huge sigh of relief, althogh there is some touching up to do before it’s all looking OK. I am quite happy with the result so far.




The feathers of the arrow will need some more work...


The finished and now painted Austrian nose.


Well there you have it, the final big hurdle is behind me (I hope) Thanks everyone for nudging me out of my comfortzone, choosing the arrow!

Next thing will be making an engine panel, the plan being to leave one side uncovered to show the engine off. I’m thinkng thin plastic sheet – but I think Kornbeef did panels for an SE5a out of a soda can once? Well any suggestions on this would be most welcome.

Til next time

Thank You for watching – As always – all kinds of comments are most welcome

Mikael

Mikael,
The arrow looks fantastic my friend.I'm glad plan B worked out so well.Outstanding project as a whole.
Regards,
Gregory Jouette