Thank You very much Stephen, Julian and Keith – much appreciated

@ Keith, ah yes "balance pipe" – that makes sense. You're right Roden picked this one out in their "softer" version of the DIII engine, though in general I would say the WNW merc is better in detail and accuracy. Though you can build a decent replica out of the Roden one as well.

I'm adding pipes and leads to the small bits at the moment, while looking at the mods needed for the generator mount (Keith – yours look superb by the way) I'm considering if I should put the generator in or not? Perhaps go with how the picture in the instructions look? (p.14 in the Albatros version) The driving gear and shaft in place, but the generator itself removed... BTW – I will probably go for all panels off, like in the picture: WNW(Alb) instructions.

This weekend I'll be going up to Oslo (Norway) for their annual IPMS comp, so I'll probably not get too much done building in the near future.

I'll post when I have some progress to show

Mikael

Mikael,
The beginnings of another Outstanding project my old friend.
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette

Hi Mikael,

I didn't have much time earlier to write, but I do follow your build as always. This one is informative and skilled as always. I am very much interested to see the aces up your sleeve

All the best,
Entoni

Gregory my good friend, Thank You so very much – its very nice to hear from you I hope life is treating you well.

Warmest regards

Mikael

Thank You Entoni, well – we'll see what's in the cards – I think you know most of the tricks yourself

Best Regards

Mikael

Hi all, well not much to show at the moment in terms of pics and progress. But there are some things going on behind the scene. Paint has been applied to plastic, and the engine mods are, well not finished, but on track so to speak.

I hope to be able to do some shots of whats on the desk in the next few days.

In the meantime – take care!

Best Regards

Mikael

Off to a good start Mikael. Watching with a lot of interest. I like seeing peoples builds of the Wingnut Wings kits, in the hope that one day I might get my mitts on one. I'm also finding their website and the aircraft walkarounds very useful reference for improving my smaller scale stuff.

Thank You Stephen, you woun't be sorry once you get stuck into a WNW kit, they are very pleasurable to build indeed!

Mikael

OK, I promised some pictures a bit earlier – time to make good!

I've been spending some time painting all interior bits and of corse the engine. I still have a lot of detail I want to include on the engine, but the basic structure is just about done... I've added the generator mount on the side, so I probably will not put the generator in – I guess I could have been a bit more accurate in the shape here, but It'll have to do.

Other than that, most parts are beginning to take shape, and it won't be long before I can start assembling the cockpit.

Here are the progress shots:


The tubular frame is really very detailed and delicate – I think it'll look good once its together.


I painted the tank using Valejo metallics, then used salt as a mask before painting a dark green hue. A bit much perhaps, but I wanted that feeling of paint worn off by spilled fuel...


Scratched Generator mount (Not as pretty as some), and a very annoying effect of the metallic paint, making it appear pixelated in the images (not in real life)...


Bits and pieces on and around the engine – those red bands are very attractive – will dull everything down with dirt and grime soon though...

Well there you have it for now – will update when I can.

Any and all comments are most welcome – Thank You for stopping by!

Mikael

Nicely done so far!

Looking good. The engines great, some weathering should help to give it a nice used look and bring out the finer details.

Stephen and Stephen – Thank You guys, much appreciated!

Looks gorgeous Mikael,
excellent work,
cheers,
Julian

Coming along just fine and dandy Mikael. Its fun seeing everyones different approach to the little challenges.

I see what you mean about the block. I'm no big fan of straight metallics, most my aluminum is done in shades of grey and drybrushed metallic. IMHO it gives a more inscale appearance.

I've been tinkering with mine, hope to get some pics up soon. a few days of relative freetime... YAY!

Keith

Thank You Keith for your kind comments, really apreciated.

Mmm, I may well go down the route of grey painting in future – I feel your results are more in scale, and I don't want to start using Alcalad or similar, because of the heavy solvent... We shall see!

Some updates are in the pipeline – I have more or less done most of the sub assemblies for the cockpit and the engine. Pics to follow

All the best, and a Happy Easter.

Mikael

Hi All,

Almost time for Easter eggs and a bit of time off work, which feels good (especially since I'll have to work double shifts in the coming months by the looks of things...)

But first another update on the DVII build. Progress has been pretty swift, the kit feels very easy to handle, but I have yet to put the cockpit together.

I've put most of the sub assemblies together on the internal bits, painted, detailed and weathered, this is one of the things I enjoy most! Engine has also been a bit more kitted out and weathered. Last night I added the Magnetos, and spark leads, + some plumbing. (After these shots though...)

OK – here we go:


I choose to dull down the lozenge screen behind the seat quite a lot, finding them pretty bright as they came.


I will dull down the sheen of the wrap around loz on the frame later on. Rigging here was done with EZ line, as was the control lines.


Engine again, with a bit more grime and oil in place. I've also added the pump and the plumbing to this up front.




The join of the two pipes up front, is a bit too thick, I'll fix this.

Well – there you have it, I hope to get some more things done over the Easter weekend – perhaps get the cockpit together.


Hope You'll have a nice Easter wherever in the world you reside and Thank You for stoping by. All and any comments are most welcome.

Mikael

Mikael,
The oil and grime applied to the engine really brings it into the totally real category, absolutely beautiful to behold! I was unsure about the Taurus engine parts but seeing them here I am certainly going to order them. This is looking like another outstanding Build from your magic modelling bench, I'll be following it closely.
Cheers,
Lance

Hello Lance, Great to hear from you and Thank You very much I do like my engines oily...

This weekend, I've had some time to pull together the sub assemblies into an almost complete cockpit and engine area. There are still some wires and tubes to add, but I'm certainly getting there.

Fit was very tight as expected, but I managed to squeeze everything in without too much surgery needed. The hardest bit will be fitting the moded engine in place.

Wot? No pics? Sorry, my internet at home has been coming and going in the past few days, so no chance to upload anything... Will try to get this fixed as soon as...

Mikael

Hello Michael:

You can almost 'smell' the oil and fuel on this engine. Really looks good and your salt method on the tank turned out quite well too. Not sure what you're talking about the front pipe, but I will take your word for it and watch for it. I have this and a DVII.F on the way so I will be scoping out the builds ahead of me to find the problem areas, which I gather are a few for the unwary.
As always, your cockpit looks outstanding and dulling down the lozenge definately has the look.

I like this Degelow too. I read the book, "Black Fokker Leader" about him and he was quite the guy. I did his Pfalz DIIIa. I just may have to do the Fokker DVII too.
Best

Mark

Thank You Mark, much appreciated – looking forward to what you will do with your D.VII, it is a very buildable kit for sure, so you're in for a real treat! Just beware of the very tight tolerances in the frame and cockpit sub assemblies, and you should be fine!

I agree – Degelow is a very interesting pilot, and the Stag emblem is very fetching!

All the best!

Mikael

P.S. will post some pics on progress this weekend – my internet connection has returned!

Hi all,

– well looks like spring is finally around the corner though not warm, at least its not below 0 anymore

I promised some pics of progress, so without further ado – here we go:


As you can see I put down a pretty "heavy" filter on the side Lozenge as well. For this I used W&N burnt Umber with lots of white spirit. I think the effect worked well, so I'll probably use it on the wings too!


The interior was a tight fit, as promised by Koornbeef. But careful dry fitting and cleaned up mating surfaces worked. The tubing and engine mounts are pretty delicate, and a bit hard to handle. Engineering is very precise though, but you have to be very careful dry fitting the engine, and outer panels to make sure everything lines up well! The black "tube" sticking out of the fire wall will form the engine linkage.


Engine, again, this time in a more finished stage. (Well this GB did have engines as its "theme")


I choose to add the "bands" holding the generator in place. Still to put in: Linkage around the magnetos, some fuel pipes (white here). Mmmm, after that I think, we're almost there...

After these were taken, I have since mated the fuselage, without any problems. I'm waiting to put the engine in until I've cleaned up the joins and getting closer to painting. Cleaning is very minimal tough – I've never built a kit where there's so little to do in this department.

Well there we are – making progress.

Hope you like what you see – any and all comments or questions are as usual most welcome!

Mikael

Mikael,

As always, I fall in love with your models! It is the modeling that is particularly worth its name. I really like your effects, and especially the worn out loz details on the fuselage. The engine stands on its own, and now I would urge you to leave the engine panels open. Are you considering a diorama? It would be nice to see that... However, it might be a bit easier in your scale, but I really admire your skills!

All the best,
Entoni

Looking just as great as I'd expected it to Mikael. Excellent work for certain, not that I doubted for one moment it wouldnt be.

One point to check though. The airpump pipework... does it clear the back of the radiator assembly, mines quite tight to the cylinder front.

Also any idea where the pipe runs from the balance bottle rearwards, I'm scratching my head over that as all my ref shows it disconnected. Though some pics of the opposite rear upper engine show a pipe appearing under the cam shaft behind the rear cylinder and eventually vanishing through the firewall. My assumption from this is it runs behind the carb body then rises to below the camshaft to cross. Any idea's Mikael... or anyone to that matter.

Keith

Hello,

Really Magnificent...!!!!

Thanks...

Diego

Thank You Entoni, very much appreciated

Yes, I will be leaving the engine panels off – all of them I think, I'm also probably leaving the upper decking off as well – not sure how much of this that will be seen under the wing...

And Yes, there is a diorama planned – I have done some work on an airfield hangar, and a derelict Pfalz DIII, that will be the setting for this:



Thanks – Mikael