Indeed! Baal be praised...! Has he come to visit?

It must have been the halloween hobgoblins and ghouls on their annual round of hijinx and chicanery, not to mention the occasional spell!

Okay Folks:

A little Progress here, I managed to go back to the Eduard PE that I got 4 years ago, and used some pieces for the guns. Behold the Vickers:

And mister Lewis with the new front sight blade, and other items:


I put some of "Bob's Buckles" turnbuckls on the tail skid:

I also used the Eduard PE Inspection port framing on the tail plane:

And of course a little pre-shading

I also managed to use the hinges for the inspection door

And pinned the rudder assembly not sure how well this is going to turn out, but I pinned the rudder as from previous experience it is a real night mare trying to get this to stick once painted and decaled.


That's about it for now folks. More exciting news as it happens. Stand by.

Best

Mark

Greetings again:

One thing I did was I got ahead of myself with the tail section and elevators. I failed to install the control horns prior to assembly as seen on page 12. I assembled the assembly for ease of painting. The Control horns can be split and fixed that way. Just don't get too far ahead before checking this option out.


I left them out for ease of painting:


It is starting to take shape:

As I didn't plan on showing off the engine, I cemented the engine, radiator assembly, the cover and the engine valve cover covers. I will mask the exposed engine pieces for painting.

I am going to do the a/c in the markings of Capt. G.H. Lewis of 40 Squadron


That's about it for now folks.

Thanks for stopping by.

Best

Mark

Okay folks:

I got the scheme. Now, to decal the struts. WNW gives you the decals to do the struts but they aren't really tailored for the strut, so...what to do. Prior to decaling I painted the struts gloss white, drilled out the holes and am now ready to decal.
I outlined both sides of the strut on the back of the decal and did one side at a time.

Turned out real nice as you can see.

I applied the decals to the top wing first. I didn't put any of the parts to the under side of the wing as I knew I would trash them during the decaling, so the modeler should hold off on doing any assembly to the underside of the upper wing until it is painted and decaled. I did the aeleron portion first, figuring I could align the main portion of the cockade to the aeleron.


The upper wing now decaled.

And the port side of the fuselage


I will be finishing up the decal work, turnbuckles and then continue on with assembly and rigging.

Thanks for stopping by.

Best

Mark

Hi Mark,

Really nice progress! Press on!

Thanks For stopping by Fred:

I am really enjoying seeing this seemingly wreck come back to life.

Best
Mark

This is a great reminder as to how fine this kit really is. Model On Mark!

Hello Stephen:

It really is a fine kit. The aftermarket stuff is just icing on the cake, except for small details on the guns, the kit is great right out of the box. As we get caught up in the latest releases and what and when is coming up next, there is a vast array of great kits out there right now that build up quite nicely, this one included.

Thanks for stopping by

Best

Mark

Mark,

Good to see you back on this, to my shame mine which I started around the same time still sits unfinished... the old rigging horrors I used to suffer being to blame, Now just to many projects on the go to ever get one sorted. So don''t feel bad about it taking so long I remember the trials and tribulations you went through the first time well enough.

Now get her finished

Keith

Hello Keith:
I am girding my loins now to face the rigging horrors. Armed with "Bob's Buckles", I feel can accomplish the task with minor amounts of anquish.

I thought you did one? I remember seeing one and used the blog as a guide for preshading. I thought it was yours. Either way, finish that kit!

Thanks for stopping by

Mark

It was Mark, just stalled at the rigging stage, she suffered a little while lingering in the derelict pile on the corner of my workbench. To my shame.

Looking superb Mark a true Phoenix,you have inspired me to rebuild my frapped LVG
Andy

Hello Andy:

Thanks Andy and Good luck with your LVG. I think any model is salvageable, it just requires the motivation. That is a neat model to relegate the scrap heap.

A few updates. Spent most of the day decaling, doing small rigging like the tail skid and undercarriage. I dry fitted the top wing, with the striped struts to see the effect. I like it; I also painted the propeller covering Tamiya Sea Gray.

Another view.

Outlining the struts on the back side of the decal and cuttnig them in two worked pretty nicely for me. I was trying to figure out how to best put them on as they were, and this seemed to do the job satisfactorily.
As I had fixed the elevators prior to cementing the control horns on the elevators, I had to cut them in half, using MEK as my cement, glued them in place. They are quite firm and it sure eased and simplified the painting process.

That's it for now folks. With a backed up septic system, I took a day off work and will be awaiting the pumper and have time to work on this today.
Stay tuned for more.

Thanks for stopping by.

Best

Mark

Hello Keith: I enjoyed your blog and your simple but effective method of pre-shading. Your's was the inspiration for me to do this kit in the first place. I will be posting progress pictures soon as I have the rigging almost complete and pointers on how to ease the rigging and assembly.

Best

Mark

Okay, another installment as the Phoenix rises: I left off the landing gear, exhaust, tail, rudder, aileron control horns, and the 'things' on the top surface of the upper wing to ease the rigging. I drilled all the holes, insertd the Bobs Buckles eyelets, and rigged the upper wing. I taped the loose ends so they weren't in the way. I also pre rigged the interplane struts at the top for ease of rigging these. I fixed the upper wing and then began rigging starting with the cabane struts cusing the loop method. I also predrilled the holes and used the Bob's Buckles eyelets here too. It is important to not install the exhaust prior to rigging as it will be in the way and cause great consternation trying to rig the cabane struts plus they are in the way for handling purposes.
I also pre rigged the landing gear to ease the rigging there as well.

I then moved to the front of the airplane and rigged the cross bracing, moving from there to the wing bays. Working one side and then the other.

Once the wing bays and the interplane struts were rigged, I installed the landing gear.

I will now fix the four eyelets per side and rig and be ready to fix the exhaust and the other items.
More pics to follow.

Thanks for stopping by

Best
Mark

Hi Mark,
I just returned from a 10 day holiday, great progress on this one and really nice to see her not only rescued but also turning out so very well. The rigging is indeed a "bear", just take your time and a few breaks will help(perhaps working on the (*&*&^$%&$!!! Septic System - I can relate, been there several times! Joys of country living etc)
Nicely done!
Cheers,
Lance

Thanks Lance and welcome back. Yes, the joys of country living soon to be amplified with the onset of snow and windrows, that being said:
The Phoenix is risen, these aren't the greatest photos, light in the basement is horrible, but just to give you an idea, for those that remember my entry on this forum 4 years ago, it is nice to have this complete and looking mighty sporty I mmight ad.
The macro lens sure picks up the dust and flecks of the tail assembly. I fashioned a turnbuckle out of brass wire and Bob's Buckles for the rudder as the points are too fine to drill out. I am happy with the compromise. I used a combination of EZ line and Invisible thread.

The Lewis gun, I used Eduards PE and a tube from Bob's Buckles for the barrel.

The cockpit area, I used three different colors for the exhause to try to simulate the heat effect, I painted it black, then rust brown and mist sprayed it pink.

That's about it. The photos are bad, I know, I will take some in better light and post them.

Thanks for stopping by and the encouragement.

Best

Mark

Okay Folks:

Some updated better pictures of the completed model.




And I like this one too.


I am glad I didn't toss this four years ago, it turned into a pretty decent model.

Thanks for looking and your comments.

Best

Mark

Mark,

I'm glad you didn't toss it either. You did a fantastic job breathing life back into this stalled project. Without a doubt it's a keeper.

Great work,
Dwayne

Hello Dwayne:

Thanks for the kind words. It was fun and it didn't take that long, but I did work on it steadily.

Best

Mark

One very fine looking "failure/throwaway" Mark. Full marks for hanging in there and a truly impressive finish.....she's a beauty.
Cheers,
Lance

Hi Mark,

Great to see this one finally finished, such an epic build! – She is looking mighty fine too!

Congratulations! This deserves a few beers

Mikael

Thanks Lance and Mikael:

I am pretty pleased with it, my approach to assembly and rigging is the result of others here on this Forum. Hopefully my methods will help a future modeler with this kit.

Best

Mark

Mark , every project you do just keeps getting better and better !

You did a fantastic job on this build


Terri