Luckily for me, the Knights of the Sky GB 2011 allows in progress builds. So my entry is the WNW's Gotha G.IV. This is my 4th WNW's build, having done the LVG, Junkers J1 and the SE.5a.

Below is the progress after the first two weeks, i've slowed down over the last week whilst waiting for the turnbuckles to arrive from Bob's Buckles...there is no way that i was going to make the 150 or so little buggers myself! I'm far too lazy for that.

The airframe is together and interior mostly done. Sorry it's already masked off, so you have to wait a bit longer to see inside. Nothing much to report on the WNW's kit, so far it's been easy to assemble- no different to their smaller kits, just more of everything.

I did find a few mistakes in the instructions- wrong part callings, but have now forgotten what they were. I just remember the correct part was obvious if you just thought about it. I think one mistake was calling out the wrong engine cowling pieces for the LVG aircraft in the instructions. But it's simple really, the LVG versions have the extra louvres. This was important for me as i'm building an LVG aircraft.

The aiframe is together and primed, waiting for me to drill the rigging holes a bit deeper- then the main colours will be going on. Hopefully this weekend.
Anyone looking at the Gotha instructions will see that i've deviated significantly from the build order given in the instructions. WNW's ask you to assemble the middle wing section with the engine nacelles as a unit and then fit the outer wings. I'm doing it this way to save upon masking for the interior of the nacelles...hopefully this doesn't end up biting me.





Miscellaneous pieces also waiting for the main exterior colours.




Other bits that i did earlier.




I plan do one engine nacelle closed and one with both side panels off.



I just received my turnbuckles in the mail, so things should be progressing soonish.

Soon i'll be adding to this thread with my findings and feeling on the colours and camoflage of my subject aircraft: MoRoTAS

Andrew

WOW , she is a massive kit !

Looks like you have it well under control and progress coming along very well .
Nice job on the engines and props !

Thanks Terri.

Actually it's size is going to be a problem in one way. Taking photos of something this large and having it all in focus is going to be a problem for my cheap camera.

Andrew

Like i mentioned above, i'm building the LVG built Gotha "MoRoTAS". As well as the pics from WNW's instructions, i also have the excellent Datafile "Gotha!" as well. Obviously the Datafile is a bit older.

WNW's profile art by Ronny Bar:




And the same aircraft in "Gotha!"



So which is closer to the original? Well here's the main pics that helped me decide how to proceed:



This closeup of the gun shield position, clear up the first question...was it MoRoTA or MoRoTAS? Clearly i can see the outline of the beggining of the "S" So for me it's MoRoTAS. What colours? That's harder and really both options that WNW's give are just educated guesses really. But i like their reasoning on the black, white and red option and i'll be using that. Note that WNW's also include the decals for the red, white, yellow option if you prefer that interpretation.




Left and right sides of MoRoTAS. Judging by what i can see of the upper wings, i feel that Ronny Bar has interpreted the upper camoflage more accurately than the "Gotha!" profile.
My main question was "what colour are the undersides of the nacelles and gear struts?". Not much is visible of the gear. The kit instructions say to paint the landing gear struts pale green but i think that only applies to the pale blue Gotha aircraft and not camoflaged LVG aircraft. Once again the following pic of an LVG aircraft with a close serial number to MoRoTAS shows that Ronny Bar probably has it right again. He even picked that the "A" is upper case on the right side and lower case on the left.

This pic shows an LVG aircraft very close to the serial number of MoRoTAS



The undersides (horizontal part) of the nacelle and the struts appear to be the same shade as the lighter camoflage colour to me. The vertical parts of the nacelle are clearly darker- assumed to be the darker (purple) colour. I see no reason to suspect MoRoTAS to be different to this aircraft which is only 8 serial numbers away. Also closer inspection of the left hand nacelle of MoRoTAS seems to show a clear demarkation line on the lower nacelle.

So, despite my intial doubts about the WNW's profile, i now feel it's as accurate as reasonably possible unless new pictures turn up. My decisions made, i'm simply following Ronny Bar's profile to the letter with the exception of the bomb colours. The profile shows dark grey bombs instead of the more common pale blue ones. However the vast majority of bombed Gothas (even later G.V and G.Va aircraft) show very pale coloured bombs. Anyway i think the contrast will look better.

Now to start painting then...

Andrew

Will be following this build. Great looking kit.

It's always nice to have a few options when it comes to markings and ones interruption of them . Always check your ref's ............

With a kit this big , for me would be finding a place to display her when finished . I got a F-15 strick eagle in 48 scale for Christmas and that thing is huge compaired to my WW 1 48 scale and have no idea on where to display her when built .

Beautiful build and great research. The research is always as important as the actual gluing and painting of parts. Interpreting the research is probably the hardest thing to do in any build, and often the single area where most mistakes are made. Your reasoning seems sound and I think you are off to a great start. What color are you going to use for the "TAS"?

The differences in bomb colors-Might it be due to daylight or nighttime bombing? In any case, the bombs would change after every mission, so the color might also change.

Gotha Watch. I am anxious for one of my Gothas to show up. It seems there are two of them lost in the mail somewhere. I hope they come in sometime soon so I can do one as a second build. I figure I'm OK if the post office shows up sometime in the next few months. (The first one was due to be delivered from Tennessee to Indiana by January 18. Got lost, so my son ordered a second one.) This is a ding on the US Postal Service, not WNW.

I hope your Gotha turns up soon (one of them at least!). I know you'll like the kit. I'm probably going to get another one to someday do a blue day bomber...unless i find that WNW's plan to do a G.V, in which case i'd wait for that. There is nothing on any of the sprues that indicate later versions however, i'm just hoping. I'd really like a G.Va with the biplane tail.

I'll be doing the "TAS" in red, not yellow. You're probably right about the bombs, the darker ones no doubt became used for night operations. However looking at pics even of later G.V's that were almost entirely operating at night still show the lighter bombs loaded in most pics. So i don't see it as a big deal really, MoRoTAS probably carried both colours at some time.

Andrew

Hi Andrew:

Yours is the first WNW Gotha that I have seen a build blog on. Very interesting and I am looking forward to seeing you progress with the complex kit. I am still debating on getting one, albeit it doth beckon. I like the photo's you sent along as well. It is always fun to see photo's of the subject a/c.

Best

Mark

Mark, don't be fooled by how complex the kit looks, i've found it easier than both the LVG and Junkers J1. It's just that there is about three times as much of everything. In fact the Gotha seems to fit together easier than the earlier WNW's kits. I read somewhere that they were relaxing their tolerances to make fits less tight...i'm not sure if that was applied to the Gotha, but it feels like it to me

It should be getting it's main paint scheme this weekend.

Andrew

Hi Andrew:

What you have accomplished thus far looks good. I got a little Sony camera over the weekend, takes great macro shots, I think the whole works, I got suckered into buying the "package" was about $115.00 and change. I hope this technology will last me for awhile.

Looking forward to your weekend progress.

Best
Mark

Hi Andrew:

I too will be watching this build closely. It looks like you are off to an exceptionally fine start. Are you going to get the Windsock Modeling special?

There is a WNW Gotha in my house, but it leaves this weekend as my son picks it up for his birthday. I can't get mine till March (after funds are restocked).

You talked me into it, i just ordered it. Even though it's a bit late now, it's still a pretty good supplement to the Datafile.

I underestimated how long it takes to paint something this size. And how much paint it uses. It took several hours and 1 1/4 jars of blue paint, plus a good amount of the mauve mix as well. For the mauve i used the WNW's Tamiya mix.

Hopefully i should get it clear coated tomorrow, ready for decals during the week- then the post shading for the wing ribs etc. Plus a week or so for the rigging...
Still some way to go. Quite possible that the Windsock Modelling guide may turn up in the mail before it's finished yet.





Andrew

Wow, the Gotha is really BIG! Looking great, keep posting progress!

Looks like it is time to by another spool of fishing line.

Beautiful work Andrew! Minor typo in the instructions ". . .2x Daimler-Mercedes D.Va 260hp. . ."

Should be 2x Daimler-Mercedes D.VIa 260hp.

Hi Andrew:

It is amazing how much paint one of these can suck up. Seeing that upper wing on the table there with the bottle in the background really brings to bear the size of this thing. Good on yer with the painting. Looks neat.
Yes, it doth continue to beckon.

Best

Mark

Very nice paint work !

I finally got the time to get back to the Gotha today. I was a bit apprehensive about getting the engines and nacelles together because of my pretty big deviation from the instructions build sequence. I checked everything and was pretty sure that my method of completely assembling the wings and fuselage first would work, but i think we've all deviated from instructions build sequences and lived to regret it at one time or another.

Well not this time. The engineering of the nacelles is as perfect as you can get. My pre-painted assembly method worked fine as no filler is neccessary.

This pic is of an early stage of the nacelle build up. Everthing is notched in such a way that it really only fits one way. So "nuff nuffs" like me can do it. Well i did make one small mistake, the air pumps on the front (well aft actually- it's a pusher) cam shaft will not fit under the cowls. There's a note in the instructions saying as much, but i missed it. Simple fix, just pull them of or trim them down.



The front and aft cowls fit perfectly. Note that not as much can be seen inside as i initially assumed. Another important note is in the instructions about the forward cowl pieces...they are not the same like the aft cowls! You have to make sure the hatches face the fuselage on both sides. Once again i only read this after i glued the forward cowls in place. So i had a 50/50 chance of it being right or wrong. This turned out to be my lucky day




And with the side cowls all in place. Not only perfect fit, they are only a push fit. So if anyone was wondering if you can leave the nacelles with the option of opening or closing them up, yes you can. I'll be leaving the sides in place until after the decals and final satin coating, then probably display one side open and the other side closed.



That's probably it for another day or two whilst i finish off something else. Then it's decal time and detail painting of the airframe, then assembling the top wing and rigging. Still much to do.

Andrew

Nicely done!

Hi Andrew – I've been watching this one grow on your desk – I'm very impressed with what you're doing, and I'm getting keener on getting one for myself...

Best Regards

Mikael

Hi Andrew:

Nice job so far. The engines look good. Anxiously awaiting further pictures and updates. It seems as if you are enjoying the build, and that is what it is all about.

Best

Mark

Very nicely done so far Andrew !

You are making excellent progress on your project , engines are well done and is great that you will leave a panel off to show them off !

Most excellent work on the engines and nacelles. I also like how the colors turned out.

You must need a wide angle lens to take the photos of those wings

Keep the updates coming, sir.