Great work all around Mikael. The front of the interior observers station is quite convincing. Looks like strips to me.

Mark

Hey Mike!
the engine is super!
what did you use as copper colour?
ciao
Edo

Beautiful start Mikael! Really like the cockpit nacelle, nice details, clean and crisp, very impressive and knowing your work much more to come.

Cheers,
Lance

Thank you Mark, Eduardo and Lance for your very kind comments , they are much apreciated.

@Eduardo - I find copper quite difficult to achieve, so this time I had a different approach than usual. I started with a flat red brown. This was followed by a coat of Tamiya copper (not a very good paint but with a bit of thinning it worked). I then sprayed a bit of lifghyer copper, followed by Tamiya clear orange. Done hope this helps.

Mikael

Taking a peek of your latest up-date on progress , looking very sharp so far ! Really like the look of the weathering on the rad turned out exceptionally well !

Hi Terri – nice to see you stopped by Thank You for your kind comments, they are really appreciated.

Mikael

Mikael,
WOW the 3/9 update was excellent my friend. Outstanding work on her interior and very realistic.But I believe your Beardmore is the crown jewel of this latest update.It's just plain awesome in additional details to the paint.I can really appreciate how difficult getting the copper color to look so well,you've nailed it perfectly. Not too dark or too coppery but just right,Bravo.
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette

Thank You Gregory my friend – high praise indeed – I really appreciate your comments

My Best Regards

Mikael back!

Quick update,

Last night the various sub assemblies of the cockpit and observers office came together. Thanks to the great engineering this was pretty painless. I will now do some more detailing, adding some tubes and various other items before doing som post shading. Oh, and also rig the frame up. After this time for closure of the nacelle...

Pics to be published once I've done a bit more.

Mikael

Hello everyone,

Update time – the interior is pretty much all together now – sans the seat belts that are drying.

Everything has been pretty painless, and I've enjoyed doing some extra bit of detailing – mostly wires and tubes. There are a couple of levers that WNW has omitted, so I added these as well – next job will be putting the nacelle together – which will have to wait a bit, as I'll be doing some late season skiing this weekend.

I also got some more reading inspiration from Amazon in the mailbox yesterday:



Derek Robinson is one of my favourite writers on aviation ficton. He also wrote "Goshawk squadron", and " A piece of cake" which is about the battle of France and Britain during WWII – brilliant in my opinion. This one is apparently abouta FE 2b sqn during the summer of 1916 – very appropriate Though this cover also shows a FE 2 d...

Now – som pics of the build:


I decided to ad the Sterling wireless set for some more visual interest – though I have no idea if it was in real life.






Close up of some of the levels and tubes I've added – the level to the left was included, wonder why the right one was'nt?


The metal tube bowing up, is the drive for the tachometer – and will attach into the oil pump housig




Dry fitting of the interior into the nacelle – all seems well.

Thats about it for now

Thank You for looking – any and all comments are most welcome!

Mikael

Mikael,

Admiration would be a serious understatement for the feelings I have with each update you make! Really, really nice work there! I bet it's a bit easier in that scale, but for me '48 is still huge enough... I just wanted to say TYVM for this wonderful learning opportunity!

All the best,
Entoni

Hello Mikael:

Truly outstanding work. Check your front cross braces on the left side, it looks like the brass tubes have slid down. A touch of Super Glue might be needed. Otherwise, your wood grain, attention to detail is outstanding. Very nice and clean. It looks busy but not cluttered.

Best
Mark

Greetings Mikael,
I can only restate the obvious; truly superb work and, as per your "trademark" style, very clean yet busy and realistic in appearance. As for the sliding tubes; take it from my (old Guy's) comments earlier regarding the "forest from the trees" syndrome.
Very very nice!
Cheers,
Lance

Hello Everyone  – and Thank You for your wonderful comments, I'm glad you're enjoying my build as much as I do!

@ Entoni – Thank You so very much – although – looking at your own build I think there is not much I can teach you at all my friend

@ Mark – Thank You – I'll have a look at the sliding brass tubes

@ Lance much appreciated my friend.

Best Regards

Mikael

Almost forgot...

I've been contracted for some work in april that probably will keep me away a lot from the hobby desk and this blog – so if I go quiet for a while – its only because I'm busy with work.

Kind Regards

Mikael

Hello everybody,

Well, next week will be all work and no play – but before this, I have an update to post – so here goes.

Interior is now finished off, and nacelle is closed up. This went pretty smoothly, but I ended up with some pretty ugly gaps (probably my own fault). So I'll have to bring out the old putty. I've also progressed on the engine. This one is a very busy engine once you look a bit deeper, with piping everywhere. This also makes it very fun to build. I've had great help with this from looking at Jamos pictures of the TVAL Beardmore. He has certainly covered every angle and then some – here's a link to his photos: James Fahes Beardmore pics

Now – here are some pictures of my own:




Bad gap that'll need some work.


From the inside the problem is a bit more severe – because if I put putty in from the front, it will be very visible from the inside. At the moment I'm planning to put a small strip in, simulating a wooden former.


Now this gap was self inflicted from messing with the back panel – I'll form and lay in a plastic strip in this gap and carefully sand everything to shape before I paint it all up.




No matter how I try with my camera I can't get the "bounce" out of the metallics on the engine – sorry. The pipes on the oil pump (shiny square box behind last cylinder) were cast into the sides by WNW. I removed these and let the pipes from the side continue and bend in as on the original. It's perhaps a bit over scale  – but I like the general impression.


Another not so very clear image... Intakes and carbs in place with additional tubes installed. There are still more of these to go in. Like I said a very busy engine.

Another note on the engine is that the copper water outlet plumbing is cast bit too long to fit into the radiator. In order to make it fit you need to cut it down, at about a centimeter I guess... Also be careful to dry fit the engine in place when you're doing this.

Here's how mine look in place:

The wrapping on the tachometer cable is a bit over scale as well - I might fix this as I progress.

Well thats about it for now

Thank You for looking – any and all comments are most welcome.

Mikael

Hello Mikael:

Bummer about those gaps. They always seem to appear and have a ripple effect as well. Just some extra time and effort. The engine looks outstanding, nice and busy, but clean, all the wires, cables and piping is paying off.

Best
Mark

Very nicely done Mikael. I really like your "mods". Subtle but very effective.

Oh, dear! Do I have to comment Mikael, I very much like what you've done. There are some gaps, indeed... I don't know much about the structure of the airframe itself, but I like your idea to give it atry with a tiny strip of styrene.

All the best,
Entoni

Looking very impressive. Every morning when I get on my computer, the first thing I do now is go to this site and see if you've posted more progress. I can't wait to see how it comes out.

On my early Fee, I too had a tough time getting the nacelle sides to mesh; the side frames have to go all the way against the floor or they'll cause fit issues.

One thing I came across that I wanted to point out. Where the innermost flying wires attach to the nacelle, there are no locating holes provided for the rear pair. The front wires attach to part of the undercarriage where it joins the nacelle, and the location holes are provided. But not for the rear pair. It will be much easier to drill those holes BEFORE attaching the lower wings to the nacelle.

Thank you everybody for your kind comments!

@ Mark, I guess some elbow grease will do the job, luckily the fuselage is pretty small so, I woun't complain, and Ive done a lot worse before

@ Stephen, Thank You, the small mods is probably what I enjoy most in these projects.

@ Entoni Thank you - I'll let you know how the strip works out.

@ Jocatheny Thank You for the heads up on the rigging holes - I'll follow your advice. I often stop by your build to see how you're getting on. Hope to see more.

@ Hello Terri!!!

Mikael this is superb work!I`m speechless.Your wood grain effect, the engine... Damn I just hope to get closer a little bit to your modelling skills. It`s a pleasure to stare, glare and gaze. I`m your fan;)

Hello Filip, thank you for your very kind comments. Hope to see some of your builds on the forum in future.

Mikael