Thank You so very much DR1 ace – very appreciated!

Mikael

HI all,

Feels like I've dropped off the edge of the earth a bit with updating here... Life and work has been quite plentiful of late – mostly good things, but time has been a premium.

Work with the DVII has not stood still though – so I guess I owe you all a bit of an update and pictures. Last time we left off, I think we were pretty ready for the base coat, and beginnings of paint jobs. This is now mostly done, with (a lot) of decalling done as well. This is a thing to bear in mind when doing these kits – most of them are covered in decals – not paint. At least if you're opting for a streaky/lozenged fuselage.

Now, I think WNWs decals have their good sides, but I'm also not too happy with the very shiny surface of them. It makes the weathering a bit difficult in my opinion... I do have to commend them on the strength and the fit of the decals though. They are perfectly fitted for the surfaces – and takes a lot of abuse, without breaking. Also there is very minimal carrier film. Degelows stag is, for instance, almost without any "edges" at all, which looks very good once in place. The Lozenge is very bright in colour (as have been reported by others), and will have to be post shaded and weathered quite a lot. Colours look good to my eyes though...

Well enough rambling – here are pics of the progress:


Various bits base coated using "Sand" from a Tamiya rattle can


Awaiting pre-shading, I want to break up the rather uniform "black" surface.


Bright lozenge, and a finished tail.


Black body, that has hardly any black in it at all – mostly greys, and a tad brown as well.


Degelows stag is a most handsome insignia – and very well rendered by WNW/Cartograph


Engine finally in place – only some minor bits and pieces to still add. The very well engineered pieces here really have to be assembled true and straight – otherwise you will have trouble. Tight fit can be both a curse and a blessing...




I will leave the cockpit open like this.






All of the cowlings here will be left off – but I'll probably display it around the base.

Well there you have it – now you are as up to date on this build as I am – Next job will be weathering and toning down the Lozenge surfaces. I'm not going to dirty Degelows mount too much – just some dust and dirt – but the early 291/18 that I'm building behind the scenes will get quite a lot of abuse

Thank You for looking – all and any comments or questions are as usual most appreciated.

Mikael

Hi all,

– time for a short update, before mondays work is begun for real.

I spent the weekend giving the Lozenged parts treatment with filters and layers to tone down the fairly bright impression they left OOB.

My first action was to add a bit of shadow over the crosses, and the attachement points of the rudders. – For this I used Tamiya smoke, which left me with a noticable shadow, but not too much. After this a very diluted beige hue, to blend and tone everything together. I used clear laquer to dilute the beige with some 8 parts laquer and two parts paint + some thinner. This was left to dry for a while, before I added a filter of oils.

This was applied by dabbing small amounts of various hues all over the wing, evenly spaced – Yellow Ochra, Burned and Raw Sienna and some Naples Yellow. I then took a broad brush, moistened with thinner and dragged it along the wings moving in the direction of flight, slowly blending it all together. As a final step, a large and dry brush was used to blend the last of it together, knocking back any unwanted effects.

As this dried (and it did so fairly quickly) I sprayed some clear matte over the hole thing.

This was the result:


Remember – this? Its what I started with, very bright and shiny. But colours looks good to me.


And this is the result...


The undersides got the same treatment as well, but here I used more Burned Sienna, to simulate dirt and dust. I also left the "streaks" more visible.


Well there you are – I feel like I'm on the home stretch now, with final assembly about to start. Still some bits and pieces to do, and some more weathering as I assemble, but considering there is minimal rigging to do, It should be a quick process. All I have to do is find some time of course

All and any comments are as usual most welcome.

Mikael

Looks good!

Thank You Stephen

Mikael

Very Cool!
Great work on the engine detail and the pit looks amazing.
Mobious.

Thank You Mobious, very much appreciated

Mikael

Mikael, excellent execution of tried and true techniques to a stunning effect. Well done sir. And thanks for the reminder I need to do the bottoms of my wings

Mikael,

This is one of the most beautiful builds here at Aeroscale! I really marvel at your work!

All the best,
Entoni

Thank You so very much Marc and Entoni, always a pleasure showing builds here

All the best

Mikael

P.S. Entoni, your work is certainly some of the best around here!

Uau Mikael! Really surprising results with that decal weathering.

You are right, WingNuts decals are a bit bright (more even when you're actually seing them live), but your approach really tonned them down to a much more pleasant finishing, at least to my eye.
Now i know i'll use them on my next wingnut kit thanks!

Cheers
Pedro

Thank You very much Pedro. I think WNW intended us to choose how to treat the Loz, giving us the option of "factory finnish" or sun bleched and dirty I do think tough, that most builders want to tone things down a bit as they go.

Cheers Mikael

Like you Mikael, I'm not finding much time for modelling recently. Just checked up on this and, Wow! Lovely work and particularly on the cockpit and engine areas. Looking forward to more as you finish her off. I'll certainly be reviewing this Thread in detail before I start mine!
Cheers,
Lance

Hi Lance, very nice to hear from you – Thank You very much for your kind words. Yes, time is at a premium, which is not how I like it, still some building is better than none.

I look forward to your DVII build, I'm sure you'll enjoy the experience!

All the best – Mikael

Hi all,

Time for one final update, before the finished item is revealed

I've been busy fixing small bits all over and weathering the fuselage to my liking. Although I really like the clean look of Degelows plane, I could'nt resist dirying it up a bit. I also thought the "black" needed some more brown to it. The engine has recieved some last and final bits to it, so I think I'll call it done now (guess you could go on forever in that department)

Anyways – here a some pics:


Acually I'm starting by showing whats been going on in the background –the early Fokker 291/18 – ex Jasta 6. As you can probably see I really weathered this one. The markings were mostly masked and sprayed, which presented some problems over the streaky decals...


And here's the subject of the GB up on her legs.


Engine and guns up close, I've also added the gun syncro cables over the tank.









Well thats about it for this time – Next time it'll be finished.

All and any comments are as usual most welcome.

Mikael

Most impressive Mikael!

Wonderful colors, I can't get over the detail and "Chrismatic Application" in the mechanical areas. Amazingly realistic. Everything opened up looks super. The weathering, really cool. Colors all look great! Will be looking forward to updates.
Thanks

Looking good.
I like the exhausts, were they done with pigments or painted?

This is very nice Mikael, and the Jasta 6 Bird as well. The engine and exhaust are particularly well done and, as always with your work, the added detailling spectacular.(those Spandaus look very real indeed)
Beautiful work!
Cheers,
Lance

Stephen, Mobious, Stephen and Lance – thank You very much guys, I really appreciate your kind comments.

@ Stephen (the Phantom) – a bit of both actually – the main colours are oil, blended over an acrylic base, but the light rust patches are Mig pigments (medium rust I think). Generally I don't use much modern pigments – prefering oils.

Mikael

WOW Mikael. Really... just WOW.

Thank You very much Marc

Mikael

Mikael,

Very, very impressive! I like the weathering, and as I am approaching to the point with my build, I am so nervous and a bit affraid. I am not familiar with wwi weathering, but I will experiment a bit... oils, pastels, pigments... and also an interesting product of my own, i.e. finely grated chalk dilluted in distilled water...

All the best,
Entoni

Thank You so very much Entoni.

You should'nt be afraid of the weathering, its not really that different from how you would weather a later craft in my opinion. WWI planes tended to get rather oily and sun bleached, so you really only need to decide how much you want to apply.

Oils and thinners are my own preference. Much of what you see here is achieved with only some burned umber, and white spirits... The wings recieved some light ochra as well...

Mikael

This is a study of perfection my friend, I´m lost for words
Cheers
LarsaQ