Late production build needing some gauges, and the cockpit coaming. Maybe a facade for the fuel tank behind the firewall. There should be tubes for the spent shells as well.

Looking really good Stephen



Terri

Thanks Terri.

Minor question on a VERY NICE looking build. this is actually only on terminology....

IS A WALL WITH HOLES IN IT, ACTUALLY CALLED A FIREWALL?

Captn Tommy

And yes I am an Engineer and a Tech Writer...

WAAAA Ha, Ha, Ha...

I was a surprise to me as well but I have seen some factory images where there are three cooling holes. The actual firewall could be noted as coming in 2 parts.

1. the wall behind the motor.

2. The tray below the center of the main wall that kept the rotary exhaust out of the interior of the cockpit.

The cooling holes in the main wall were designed for air flow cooling the cylinders. Since the exhaust was set at the 4,5, & 6 O'clock positions the vented chin cowl was of course to spill the exhaust under the belly of the fuselage. The oil / main fuel & reserve tanks were kept from the build up of heat off the motor by the circulating air. The image below will illustrate this.



I have seen one reserve tank for sure and am suspicious there was another. One for fuel, one for oil. The main tank was internally divided for fuel & oil.

Interiors almost complete. Starting to add HGW dark wood decal over basic grey. It gets pretty dark almost like the "piano" finish described in the Swiss reports of the interned birds.

I will be adding this motor to the late production build.



Beginning some separations of the resin parts from their resin bases


The parts are so close to the bases its essential to use a razor saw to avoid damaging some of the fine details. A hand saw gives you more control too.


These two parts mate together and flush surfaces are essential.

Sure hope the it will fit inside the cowl , be a shame if not .




Terri

Nice one Stephen

With that much detail, it'll almost be a shame to cowl it, so it wouldn't be the end of the world if it didn't fit.

The sight of all that hazardous resin dust makes me think we should add a word of caution for readers who are new to the material - always wear a proper dust mask and ensure adequate ventilation for work like this. Wet-sanding is a good precaution too.

All the best

Rowan

One of the finer points of this resin motor kit is "Aviattic" owner has included a bit of forthought into that subject. Richard was kind enough to toss some info my way.

When I decided to use this resin motor I had already chose to do an uncowled version.




Absolutely, one of the precautions with resin and the dust produced when cutting parts from the bases is a breather mask. Usually a simple paper version is adequate. But also one of the ways to keep dust down is to used a hand held saw blade chucked into your Xacto handle. See the 2nd & 3rd images of four on this subject of the Aviattic motor.

Moving on to the detailed late production build. This is the Old Propeller / wood & wire 5 color lozenge. Very similar to the the HGW but a bit less user friendly.



In the later production SSW D.III airframes the control yoke was changed to a Fokker type product. single handle with the auxilary throttle on the left side of the control column.

Stephen , I'm really enjoying watching this build unfold . Also glad that you mentioned the yoke . Not many folks are a aware with this .

I do have a question in regards to the guns . Were the spent shells collected ? Shouldn't there be a access hatch on the underside of the aircraft or was this on early airframes only ?

Eduards new kit has the tubes . {Part A43 } fitting into the upper portion of the floor just over the cool vents .



Terri

Teri!

Thanks for saying hey to me! Eduard has it right according to Dick Bennett (aknowlegded authority on the SSW D.III) The empty belts were always collected but empty shells were kicked out through the ejectors to the pipes you mentioned and dropped out of the underside through the two cupped vents. See the image below comcerning Brengun PE. The cupped louvres need to fit in the openings provided.



On the early production there was a simple hatch to retrieve the empty shells from the collection area at the bottom of the pipes. This was later deleted and the exit ports / louvres installed as one of the modifications that was made after the initial reports by frontline pilots. Mr. Bennett's scrap drawing below illustrates this.

The Avaittic crankcase being dry fitted to the Roden late production build. Modifications were made to the mounting base to match the Roden spindle.

Stock from the kit the overall diameter was too big by 1/32. So I cut the cylinder base down according to the instructions and used the image on the Avittic box top as a visual guide.







Now here I cut a smaller hole.I will put a stem of plastic sprue inside the Roden kit mounting spindle. The plastic sprue will act as further support for the rotary.

So far so good! I have to raise one aileron. The brass pins make that easy. Some minor touch ups and the engine cage dry fits pretty well too. Also som oil exhaust stains.

Here it is. Just some touch ups and a couple minor details. The Aviattic SH.III resin motor went in with out too much fuss.





This Roden kit was detailed to one of the late production machines. It was probably 1609/18 and was assigned to ZAK 3 in Berlin for tests. It was photographed with a unique propeller that was considered experimental. It was made up of two dual bladed propellers that were notched and bolted together at the center hub. ( Fitting like like Lincoln Logs).

Lozenge wing camouflage decals from Old Propeller / Wood & Wire.
Wood grain for interior & exterior surfaces from HGW.
Natural linen ribtapes laid under the lozenge to add rib detail from HGW.
Detailing resin set from Loon Models a Roll Models subsidiary. (Various types of late cowlings, engine support cage, horizontal stabilizer, elevator). LO32007.
Brass PE detail set from Brengun. An excellent product. BRL32014.
Instrument Gauge faces from Airscale.uk.co.
Instrument Bezels from HGW.
Lap & shoulder harness' from HGW.
Spandau guns detailed with Karaya PE brass sets.
National markings from the Roden kit.
Rigging is "Toothy Critter" leader material. Set #15.

Jackflash

Did your use a miter box ...OR, How did you get a straight cut across the cylinders on the Resin engines?

Captn Tommy

Measure 3 or 4 times, then cut. Knowing the distance from prop hub to the rim inside the cowling I had to make a bit of a short cut at the base of each cylinder. It was actually a little more than 1/32" per cylinder. Even then I had to thin the four support arms of the cage for the clearance of the cylinder heads. IPMS judges get persnickety when the clyinders make contact with the cowing or its supports.

Beautiful build Stephen, that engine looks like a superb addition to the kit! Makes med want to take my two Siemens out of the stash...

Cheers Mikael

Thanks Mikael! Model on!