In the mean time I'll keep working on the 8001 kit and posting it here.

Additionally on the new kit. Here is another bit of an irritation. Remember whe pilot figures came with the severe holes in them? We called that a sucking chest wound. It looks like Eduard's kit engine has developed on on the boss plate of the crankshaft. The cylinder profiles are a bit dubious as well. The pushrods look like they are better used as plumbing for a furnace. No wonder Eduard is offering a Brassin motor as a replacement (at additional cost).

Also as Terri can vouch for, This kits firewall is solid with one curved hole for venting on the kit part but there were 2 vent holes at the bottom on the original. Terri got it right. See the build here at Aweoscale.

Hi Stephen

The Brassin engine is in a different league - as you'd hope and expect with resin vs. injected.

All the best

Rowan

Plastic vs resin does not excuse bad treatment of camouflage, sinkholes or overly thick parts. Not when you pay 35.00 for a kit. Now as I said back to my build of the early kit.

Hi Stephen

To be fair, you've got to remember that the first thing you did in this build of the old kit was replace the engine. So, perhaps credit's due to Eduard for consistency. LOL!

But, seriously, full marks for staying focused on your build.

Hopefully, once you've cleared your workbench, we'll see you in the Canvas Falcons series of Campaigns as Michael seeks to maintain the momentum you worked so hard to build up for WW1 modelling on Aeroscale. (Aweoscale? - I'm not sure where that typo came from? LOL! It's good to know you hold your old flock in such high regard. .)

All the best

Rowan

Here is the fuselage about two weeks ago. The HDW wood grain looks very decent to my eye. I will close up the gap on the lower wing with one more section of lozenge. Since I began there I wanted to save the last bit so I could finish the wood grain without fudging. Next time do the fuselage first.

Hi Stephen


I , will say that Rowan is correct about the engine . At least Eduard is consistent . Fire wall is a let down considering the info is so readily available . I also think your wood grain using the decals turned out super ! Looking forward to seeing how the dark staining is going to turn out .



Terri

Thanks Terri. I had a request to see how the modified Karaya SH.IIIa engine turned out. Here she is so far.

Ribtapes in place for the wings. Ailerons and edging tapes next. Then the fretted gun jackets. Bit of a touch up and the uniting of the wing to the airframe. Rigging and landing gear. Elevator and rudder and the markings. Still tempted to cut my own propeller from wood.

Still working on this. I wish Brengun would do a 1/48 PE set for the SSW D.III lots of nice details could be added quicker.

On the new mold #8256. Here is the Eduard aftermarket resin 1/48 SH III rotary parts from #648166. Fresh off the molding blocks, no real clean up yet. You must use a large amount of caution when cutting the parts free.

Hi Stephen

Looking ahead to tacking the beastie one day, I was wondering why you've highlighted the push-rods in brass? All the reference photos I've found seem to show steel, which I'd have thought more likely - wouldn't brass be too soft a metal?

All the best

Rowan

While solid brass was never used for the shaft of the SH III or IIIa push rods. The steel push rods were sheathed in brass on some examples. The reasoning could simply be that some motors had rods with smaller diameter and the brass was a method to bring them up to factory sized specs.

Cheers Stephen

Do you have a link for any examples? - I'd love to try to figure out what was going on. It does sound crackers as a "fix" - I think modern-day quality controllers would have a fit! The extra messing about would also probably be less efficient in terms of cost and man-power than replacing the parts - no small consideration with a war on...

All the best

Rowan

Let us not forget the peculiar taste for acres of polishable brass within certain examples of the military mind.

Hi Jessie

Nice one! Mere engineers and quality controllers wouldn't stand a chance.

Seriously, though, if someone with practical knowledge of metallurgy could verify that was a workable solution, it'd be great - I'm only guessing as a layman that it'd be better to scrap the offending items. One thing that struck me looking at reference photos was just how thin the pushrods really were - it underlines just how overscale they are in most kits.

All the best

Rowan

Don't forget that the 3.5 year war for the Germans created embargoes and shortages that had lead to problems with all kinds of materials. If the items in question could not be "thrown away" (at the company level restrictions) they would have to find a way to visually fix the problems.

Now for my use here, I am replacing the old plastic kit struts for the #8001 build with extruded and shaped brass material.

Eduard 1/48 kit #8001, SSW D.III one bay rigged.

Aeroclub brass "STRUTZ" basic cuts for replacement landing gear.



Aeroclub brass "STRUTZ" for replacement landing gear.

Ailerons & Landing gear attached. Kit about 80% rigged.





Next basic color to landing gear, its rigging, wheels , new tail skid, tail rigging, touch up and final decal markings. Last I add the propeller. . .not long now.

Ok! All parts are in place. National markings & unit markings decals and touch up are what is left.

Added the last upper surface edging strip to the center section cutout. All total only 13 decals left to apply. These are the under surface edging strips for the ailerons and elevators and the lower wing crosses.

Eduard kit #8001 1/48 SSW D.III 1991.
HGW drk wood panels 2012.
W&W /Old Propeller lozenge decals 2011.
Aeromaster 1/48 SSW D.III decals 2004.
My own resin poured wheels 2007.
Koster wood laminate propeller decals and white metal propeller/spinner 1995.
Aeroclub extruded brass "STRUTZ" (landing gear & interplane struts) 2013.
Karaya resin Siemens Halske Sh.IIIa (modified) 2009.

Originally this was a partial kit with the strut trees missing. I was going to build it as a wrecked bird for a background item in a diorama. I will have put about 45 hours into the build beginning in March 2013.

I'll call this one done. Eduard 1.48 kit #8001, SSW D.III as D.3025/18. One last note is that I added the Eduard PE child's soldier doll from the new kit #8256 that is appropriate to this profile.

Outstanding! Thanks for the pics demonstrating your undercarriage strut fabrication, this will come in handy Im sure