Brad – Excellent behind the scene look, you make all this look almost easy and very, very good, all at the same time.

Thanks for sharing your hard work!

Mikael

Hey Brad!
your work is outstanding! and the tutorial you made is inspiring! I have saved your pictures as future reference!
ciao
Edo

Hi Brad:

Great job on the wood grain and the diamonds. The tutorial is very helpful and I will be trying your techniques on the DII I am building now as I am at the stage of applying the Yellow. Your build is truly outstanding.

Best
mark

Well done on the masking , this is not an easy task . your wood grainning just keeps getting better and better and 32 scale is a perfect canves for your skill to shine

Looking forward to your next up-date Brad

Brad,
Wow I just can't get passed your wood graining which is always excellent.But this latest effort appears darn near real.Absolutely stunning artistry my friend,and I don't mean just the wood graining but the total package.Construction,fit,details,and paint all outstanding.

I do have one question though.The two pipes or hoses that drape over the oil tank,what purpose do they serve?I'm looking forward to your next update.Keep up the great work.
Regards,
Gregory Jouette

The two pipes going over the tank are empty shell shoots and exit from the under side of the aircraft . Keith has done this on his buiild . Sorry Brad for the hijacking of the answer . I'll go to my room now

Ref the two pipes

I thought they were drain offs for the gun synch mechanisms, they dont seem to appear on all A/C though.

Keith

Now that makes more sense Keith, for some reason empty shell shoot was in my head .

They certainly are the empty shell chutes. The Maxim 08/15 pulls a loaded bullet from the belt at the top, lowers it down, pushes it into the breech and fires it, then pulls the empty shell out of the breech lowers it down and pushes it out the front of the casing under the barrel.

The tubes take the spent cases and drop them out the bottom of the aeroplane.

On a Fokker DR.I they sometimes fitted a little metal shield instead to carry the cases away out to the side of the aeroplane.

Guess who's just working on a pair of Maxims...

Richard

Boy, did I call that one, or what?

I considered trying this scheme, but dismissed it as being to difficult. Now I can't try it because it would never be as beautiful as what you have accomplished Brad. This is absolutely stunning.

There is a chute that leads up to the Maxims that is the ammo feed. Then there is a chute that leads out of the opposite side, Which I thought was the collection bin for the spent casings. (A valuable comodity in war time.) Those tubes are too small to collect casings, and seemingly would cause the Maxims to be prone to jaming. I thought they were some type of a lubricant drainage tube. I have no documentation to prove this, it is just a personal opinion. I checked my meeger references, and found nothing.

Sorry bit slow with this reply,
i have been practising doing the woodgrain effect on a cheap smer kit, which i can strip the paint down and have another go, how you are doing yours, is how i am trying to do mine, but just as i thought i was getting somewhere, i had to see your finish, and you are on another level, its like moving the goal post, its simply stunning!

CaptainA, the chute on the left side of the machine gun takes the empty ammunition belt down into a storage box. So belt goes through the gun right to left, bullet cases go through the gun top to bottom and get ejected out the front under the barrel.

I guess the Albatros chutes are there to stop you ending up ankle deep in hot, smoking, empty shell cases. Fokker pilots got them falling back towards their face. It's dangerous stuff this war business

Richard

well you learn something new every day

I was a tanker. Spent time an a tank with a 105mm Main Gun. I know all about being ankle deep in hot, smokin shells. Those 105s pile up real fast. Welcome to Aeroscale. Always happy to see a Neophyte joining in. Thanks for the info also. Are you going to join the build?

I was correct the first time , but do to being confused which happens very often , some times more then once a day !

Hi Carl, and thanks for the welcome.

I've got another build on the go at the moment, so I'll pass on this one. When I further through I'll start a thread on my DR.I



Richard

Ladies and Gents,

Richard and I have flown over the salient on many occassions. He's one of the few fellows who finished his Battle Axe Fokker D.VII (also in Jasta 7 markings). Always a pleasure to have you here old man. Model On!

Steady Old Man, the scars, remember?

Thanks Stephen

Richard

Well as expected, it didn't take me too long to get the rest of this build finished. So here she is:














With regards to the kit itself - I have never built a Wingnuts kit before, but I can certainly say that this is a stunning, comprehensive and well engineered model straight out of the box. There are some minor fit issues (i.e. getting all of those interior goodies in, for example), but these are very minor issues. The only other issue is the slightly bowed upper wing (which I may have "accidentally" straightened in some hot water). The decals are also excellent and respond well to decal setting solutions. The kit is indeed a real joy to build, and could easily be built by those with any level of experience. One nice extra would have been some lozenge decals, but I am sure these will come in future issues of the kit. I also would expect after market decal and detail set makers to start coming out with some goodies for this kit real soon.

Anyways, thanks to all for your very encouraging words throughout this build.. I am not used to having something this big in my little display case.... I think I will try something in 1:72 next...!

BC

Most Impressive Brad! You never disappoint with your builds. I imagine youe will be setting your sights on the new Roden 1:48 DH 9? You do know its been released. . .

Hi Brad

It's absolutely gorgeous! Let's get it onto the Frontpage asap! Just send pics and text to Jean-Luc or me and we'll do the rest.

All the best

Rowan

Beautiful build - sharp and clear, you really have raised the bar!

Cheers/Jan

In a word OUTSTANDING! Thanks for sharing your build and your techniques.

Best
Mark

Beautifully done Brad . The engine looks super with the cowlings off