Scratch Building WWI , A Beginners Guide
A beginner guide written by a beginner ? Well this should be good !

This thread will be about scratchbuilding a WWI airplane or parts of an airplane to use with kit models plastic or otherwise. Yes ,I am a beginner too, as this will be my first attempt to completely build a model from scratch doing my own research, drawings,plans etc. . .

It will be multi-media wood,plastic,brass etc....I also want to try different ways of doing things. I hope you guys enjoy this ! If I fall flat on my face trying this,then you can enjoy watching it in real time !

John,
Having studied your diorama work here I highly doubt you'll "fall flat on your face"!!
As a recent returnee to the hobby I am looking forward to following this thread and learning from your efforts and experience, which is what this is all about in my humble estimation.
As we used to say in my corner of our shared previous occupation, "go for the gold"!

Cheers,

My chair is pulled up and a cup o coffee with 3 @ #2 pencils and a 200 page note pad. Go ahead Professor Reid I am all ears.

Hi John,

This is going to be a very interesting thread to follow  – I really look forward to watching it unfold, and I'l no doubt learn a lot in the process.

Best Regards

Mikael

Thumbs up Fokker D.VIII
I don't know about you guys but the holy grail of modeling for me has always been to scratch build a model airplane #1 and #2 learn how to carve and paint scale figures so that they actually look like the subject.
Well I have come close to the first goal but the second is still way far off in the distance .
The subject matter for this build will be the Fokker D.VIII.Nice design,one wing (swept and tapered), simple construction,lots of research material and loads of construction pics of the real thing are out there,good availability of materials for the build etc...etc.... All in all a good first subject for a WW1 scratch build.

Thank you des (beeza) for the suggestion !

Research Materials
Well here is the research that I have gathered up until now.

-Datafile Fokker E.V (thanks tw)

-Drawings and plans Achim Engles from all of his websites (thanks Achim)

-Scale Aircraft Drawings Vol #1 (check reliability with above plans and drawings)

-Scratch Built book by John Alcorn, for general information.

-On Miniature Wings NASA for visual reference.

-Model kit 8480 eduard 1/72 for visual reference.

Here is where it stands right now.
-the build will be skeletal or partially so.
-it will be basswood and tupelo for the major parts
-it will be multi-media wood ,plastic,brass etc......
-it will incorporate some hand made ,compound curve tupelo parts carved very thin to scale and then soaked in CA.
-it will be plastic tube over brass( or other metal )and have glued joints.
-their will be no fabric to hide the work, one wing will be covered or partially covered with a plywood skin.
-it will be a vignette using some artistic license.
-it will be principally be a storyboard art piece used for teaching purposes.
-it will be an "under construction "type model that will give me the freedom of what to leave in and what to leave out.
-It will be worked on ,as time permits, over a long period , as I have two dioramas yet to be finished.

What I have learned about scratchbuilding so far.
-For early work especially ,be careful to select the right project.Wing ribs especially in the smaller scales can be a problem.
-double-check your references, even experts make mistakes.
-be creative,try new things and don't be afraid to ask for help.
-keep finished stuff handy, pics,models etc... for study and encouragement.
-consider building a kit first(I recommend the Model Expo Jenny) and then partially scratch build it ,to help build your confidence in your techniques.Metal kit parts often make nice 3D parts as examples for scratch building your own.
-have the right tools for the job both for building and painting,buy the best that you can afford.

There are many more that I can't think of right now but they are sure to come up during the course of the build.

Wood
My advise,stay away from balsa period !too soft,large grain,easily broken,hard to finish,difficult to bend.........
Why do modelers keep using this stuff? Maybe it is tradition or a hold over from flying models ,I don't really know but it is not for modern static type decorative models.
Basswood is your best all round choice. ,in my opinion.It is everything that balsa isn't.The thing to know about basswood is that properly selected it is extremely forgiving especially for the beginner.
Their are two types of basswood available upland or lowland,light in weight and color or heavier in weight and darker in color.The upland or light in weight and color is the way to go.The light colored basswood usually has little grain at all but here again it is important to hand select your wood.Don't just send away for some but examine each piece before buying it.
Hobby store basswood is usually very good stuff,especially the stuff they make for the RR guys and it is available in the smallest of sizes.Check it out !
Birch,cherry,mahogany,walnut are also readily available and have varying good and bad points about them.(does anything look nicer than a hardwood instrument panel? I have used on occasion even hard maple which is extremely strong and properly selected it can have almost no visible grain as well.

Plywood ? birch is the best, but here again select your own stuff for grain.
Good hobby stores usually have the best stuff for small scale work.

Now we come to tupelo. I got used to using this stuff during my bird carving days.Again properly selected,and using power tools (rotary bits etc..)it can be carved paper thin.The direction of grain means almost nothing,end grain is just as strong as the length.It is great for compound curve work and soaked in thin CA it becomes rock hard.In its natural state it is too soft for hand tools although I have seen some guys work miracles with it especially the Cajun carvers, but for beginners it is power tools only.

These are the wood materials that I have experience with ,I am sure that there are many others available for model work.

For dimension lumber in very small scales it really isn't worth it for the average guy to make at home.A few of you wood experts out there I am sure
could prove that it can be done but I have neither the time or tools to try to accomplish this.
If there is absolutely no way that you can select your own wood then I would trust the Model Expo stuff.I have used a lot of their stuff building their model kits and the wood supplied is generally good but it too can vary.
I have also used some Arizona Models wood and it too is very good.
Hope this helps !
____

Tools
Nothing special really.I assume that most of the guys reading this have most of the basic modeling tools anyway.
-xacto knife with #11 blade.Buy in quantity as it is not worth trying to sharpen them.Try to get one with the tightening part at the bottom.Xacto brand blades are a little more flexible than other types.
-sanding -they sell small sanding tools that can be quite handy.It has a narrow sand paper belt that can be moved so that you always have fresh grit to work with.Any flat wood stick or dowel down to the smallest stuff, can be covered with the belt type cloth sandpaper and glued(I use epoxy)They last forever.Make lots of types from various grits.
-Miter saw and miter box medium or fine blades.
-clothes pegs of all sizes.The nose of the pegs can be sawn off flush for better holding power.
-small C clamps of various sizes and types.You can never have enough.
-small pins of various sizes,steel or brass.
-piece of pink insulation for making a building board.
-piece of plywood to glue the insulation board to.Thick and flat to ensure that there is no twisting .
-glues ,all the usual glues plus carpenters glue for the wood.
-brass tubing and rod,I will be buying some plastic tubing to experiment with.

to be continued.......

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Already learning

Here are my list of references on the subject.

Aerodrome Modeller, Vol.3, #3, P.125.
Eindeckers of World War I by D. Pardee, Cross & Cockade USA Vol.22, #4, Pp.331-343,1981.
Fokker D.VIII by J.M.Bruce, Profile Pub. #67, 1966.
Fokker D.VIII by P.M.Grosz, Windsock Datafile #25, Albatros Pub. Ltd. 1991.
Fokker D.VIII by P.M.Grosz, World War One Aero #86, September 1980.
Fokker E.V./ D.VIII by R. Rimell, Warpaint #5 Scale Models May 1979.
Fokker Fighters of WWI by A. Imrie, Osprey, Vintage Warbirds #6, Pp.53-55, 58-59, 1986.
Fokker’s D.VIII ...Reluctant Razor by P. Grosz, Air Enthusiast 17 Pp.61-73, 1980.
Fokker D.VIII Wing and Airfoils by C. Cash et al, World War One Aero #79, May 1980.
German Army Air Service in WWI, Osprey, Vintage Warbirds #2,Pp.26-27, 1985.
Info from Dan-San Abbott, unpublished.
Pictorial History of the German Army Air Service by A. Imrie, Ian Allen Pub. 1971.
Report on the Fokker Monoplane Type E.V, Report I.M.1015 Air Ministry June, 1920.
Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel Nr.36 by S.T.Lawson, Cross & Cockade Int. Vol.20, #1, Pp. 1989.
Scale Model Aircraft in Plastic Card by H.Woodman, Model & Allied Pub., 1975.
Serendipity at Aerdrome 92' by P.M.Grosz, World War One Aero, Pp.64-66, 1993.
U.S. Air Service’s Fokker D.VIII Monoplanes by B.Flanagan, Cross & Cockade USA, Vol.16, #1, Pp.83-92, 1975. (Fokker E.V P165 and P169 were tested at McCook Field 1920-22.)
World War One in Plastic by Brad Hansen, Great Auk Pub. Pp.25,52 1979 & update 3/79.
World War One in the Air by R. Rimell, Osprey Pub. Vintage Warbirds #9, p.35,1988.

As a beginner avoid this type of construction !

Oh wow ! thanks Stephen.

Wood suppliers
Another good modeling bud of mine Ken Foran sent this ! thanks Ken.Re: Scratch Building,a beginners guide.
John & others, here is a link to another great source wood scale lumber. I use their stuff as well as Model Expo's. Explore their offering.

Midwest Products

Ken

PS. You may want to bookmark this one.

Now here is a much simpler method of wing construction,one that I would recommend for a beginners project.Solid ribs (or ribs with round lightning holes) that can be slid in place right over the wing spar

What I have learned about scratchbuilding so far.(2)
My experience with scratch building has been limited so far to parts and pieces of the airplane.I did scratch the tail assembly of the Jenny though ,changing it from a JN4 to a Canuck.Here is how I did it.
A note about the pictures first.These were taken before I had a digital camera when pics cost about a buck each,so I limited myself to only a few under construction sessions of pic taking.

This is an example of where I am now with my own experiences building scratch parts for WW1 type airplanes.

The following are pics of a tail feathers conversion of a Jenny JN4 to a Canuck.

-1" foam glued to a plywood backing (in this case flat particle board)

-the Canuck drawing was enlarged to 1/16th scale and pinned down.

-over the drawing I taped down some wax paper.

-the raw brass and basswood pieces were then pinned down and bent right on the drawing and glued.Nothing was pre-formed. CA glue was used throughout so there was no waiting to dry.If you plan to water stain your wood do it prior to gluing to avoid those ugly glue marks.

Pretty simple huh!

I know the pic is pretty lousy but I will be posting others, in more of a step by step method ,as we get into this project.
A note about the tail feathers on my Jenny Canuck.The construction is a bit of a ******* case in that the real Canuck tail feathers were not made this way.I show wood where there should be steel but I did it this way to show how the old barnstormers were really made.There were no air regs in those days so the builders pretty much did as they liked to get the old girl into the air.

The drawing on the right is from the kit and the drawing on the left is my own obtained from a book of drawings and blown up to 1/16th scale.
Everything was built from raw materials right on the building board.If you use long,strong steel pins and 1" pink foam board is very easy to bend the raw materials to the required shape.If you are worried about spring back you can slightly overbend to release the tension and relieve any pressure on the CA glue joint.(you could use epoxy instead if you are willing to wait out the longer cure time)
The perimeter of the complete assembly is brass and also the tube joining the elevator and the horizontal stab together,the rest is basswood.
The wax paper makes removing the assembly from the board easy with only a little cleanup required for the joints.
I really like this method as it eliminates the hassles involved with soldering and is much more user friendly for a beginner like me.