Airco DH2

[Peter Marshall]

Started this today - first the box and sprue shots

Started with the wings, adding some rib tape effects to the upper surfaces, first masking off everywhere apart from the ribs. This takes a lot of jammydog tape and more time than you would expect.

Bottom Wing:

Top Wing:

I then sprayed the top of the wings with some Alclad Grey primer / micro filler, to built up a thin ridge on each rib.

One this has dried I will spray them black, to pre-shade the ribs.

I then only have to do something similar on the underside........ I must be mad.

Comments and suggestions welcome - particularly how to simulate a wicker seat in 1/48th scale ?

Peter

Edited April 5, 2009 by Peter Marshall

[Peter Marshall]

Ok - I found some inspiration on building the seat, so I decided to get some more done.

I sprayed the ribs black

The Kit seat:

used this as a template, to make a base from plasticard, drilled some holes and added some copper wire cut to the correct lengths to make the vertical spacers

Then glued some more copper wire across the top, section by section to build up the top of the seat

Then the knitting with fishing line, to make up the wicker background.

Unmasked the wings, and I now have pre-shaded rib tapes that are about 0.1mm proud of the wing surface.

Then sprayed the seat with Tamiya flat brown, which thickens up the fishing line nicely

Peter

[InFlames]

Nice start Peter! Can't wait to see more progress - I always love to watch people building biplanes but I never could find the courage to build one myself...

And I have Eduards Albatros DIII somewhere hidden in the stash...

[dylan the rabbit]

Yes, cracking start Peter.

Looking forward to seeing how this one progresses.

[Bobs_Buckles]

Peter,

Will you be using the plastic boom or will you scratch a new boom from brass rod?

Looking forward to seeing more progress.

Cheers,

Von Buckle

[Peter Marshall]

Peter,

Will you be using the plastic boom or will you scratch a new boom from brass rod?

Looking forward to seeing more progress.

Cheers,

Von Buckle

I plan on using the plastic boom right up until the point it breaks, as I don't have any brass rod. I have heard about the booms breaking, so will make up a template before they break, just in case I have to recreate them.

I need to fit a few more lengths of 'wicker' to the seat, as the gaps are still a bit big, but it is difficult to judge before they are thicked with paint.

Peter

[Peter Marshall]

Got a little more done today - basically tidied up the seat a bit , with a few more weaves, and added a cushion out of milliput

Then gave a quick spray with brown, once it's all dry I will pick out the cushion, and add some belts.

Peter

[PaulH]

Nice work - quite fancy doing this kit myself - Is it me or is the box art really nice

[Peter Marshall]

Quite a lot done this morning on the DH2, though I still haven't glued 2 kit parts together.

First up, I pre-shaded the underside ribs with Tamiya flat brown.

Then sprayed the Gunze Sail Colour thinned with cellulose thinners, which gave me this:

Which I think has worked well.

I then sprayed the Gunze H309 over the Top surfaces, once again thinned with cellulose thinners.

I think the Rib tapes look right, so I am well pleased with how it looks, and the well worth the effort.

Then out with the Oil paints (Raw umber), to dirty up the inside of the cockpit, and pick out the framing

Now leaving this to dry off, I have also sprayed all of the wood parts with a base coat of Vallejo Model Air Wood, ready for the oils over the top.

Peter

[AnonymousDFB1]

Looking very realistic Peter

[Peter Marshall]

Got a little more done today - finally started sticking bits of the kit together. I have mounted the seat and the control column, and fitted the compass to the

floor

Spend quite a lot of time adding the woodgrain to all of the struts and booms. Will need to do a bit more on that tomorrow.

Peter

[Guest snipersmudge]

that is looking most impressive peter loving this build

[Peter Marshall]

Todays update - first, build up the cockpit and add the instrument panel.

There were a couple of areas than needed a drop or two of Mr Surfacer 1000, but nothing major. So I had to remask and re-spray some of the grey and sail cloth areas once the surface was sanded smooth.

I then gave the stitching a wash with some raw umber oil wash, just to pick it out a bit.

Finally for today, I have finished painting the prop - complete with the brass tip plates. I now have to work out a rigging strategy.

Peter

[Peter Marshall]

Some more done today - started the prep for rigging, and finally making this a biplane.

First up - the star of the show, for those who don't know them Bob's Buckles, without which rigging within my lifetime would not be possible:

Then start drilling the 0.3mm holes for the buckles

Then glue them in, trimming them a little, with some CA

Same again for the upper wing, drill the holes

then glue in the buckles

Then the fun begins, I first slotted all of the struts into the lower wing, fuselage. I secured the centre fuselage struts with a little CA and the rest with some Ambroid to give a little wiggle.

Then place the top wing over , and gradually slot the struts into the holes in the ribs. Once in then a drop of Ambroid was added to glue it in place. As I was going I tension with tape, to hold everything in place and compress it, so that the struts stay in the hole. It's easier on the DH2 as there is no stagger on the wings, so I don't need to make a jig.

Then I added some more tape and left it for the day - this has to dry completely before I can start the rigging and touch up the struts.

Peter

[Bobs_Buckles]

Peter,

You mention "Ambroid" What is it and where does one buy it?

Nice work BTW. I'm amazed at your build speed. I can only dream of being as efficient with my time.

Cheers,

Bob

[Peter Marshall]

Ambroid is Ambroid Pro Weld - it's a fast plastic cement, you really need a touch n flow applicator to use it, but it is superb for this kind of thing as you position the part, add a drop of glue with the Touch N Flow and a couple of seconds later it's set.

I got mine from http://www.snmstuff.co.uk, but http://www.snchobbies.co.uk/ also sells it, and the applicator.

Glad you like it, i'm enjoying it immensely.

Peter

Edited April 12, 2009 by Peter Marshall

[p-26luvr]

What a superior build series of photos. Really an insperation. Will there be more, to the finish of the model.

[Peter Marshall]

Got a little bit done. I started cleaning up the booms, and as predicted one of them broke. So I broke out some of the brass rod I had purchased specifically for this contingency and made the bottom boom.

To keep things even, I have replaced the bottom boom on the other one as well.

Finally I have painted the lovely little engine, Vallejo Model Air Steel, with a black oil wash.

Peter

[Peter Marshall]

Kind of a mixed day today working on the DH2.

First I got the engine / prop fitted, and was ready to start working on the boom:

However when I started gluing the booms to the wings, I managed to drop the whole thing - oops - Cue profligate swearing down in the shed.

The plastic on the booms broke, and most of the main struts popped out. I also managed to get a CA fingerprint on the top wing....

So once again out with the Ambroid and fit everything together again, once again tape everything solid.

I then walked away and left it for a few hours to let it all dry, and to blow off some steam..

I came back to it, and made new rods for the top sections, and fitted the booms, working in the other direction from the previous attempt (top to bottom rather than bottom to top).

Then fitted the Fin, which has the tail skid.

Then a quick touch up spray to get the fingerprint sorted and the slight activator spray.

And it's back on track, so next weekend I will be painting the struts / boom and starting the rigging.

Peter

[Bobs_Buckles]

Peter,

Bloody marvelous, that's all I can say.

Von Buckle

[Peter Marshall]

Todays work - mostly rigging unsurprisingly - started on the booms.

For those who have asked how I rig, then the following is a walkthrough - Sorry it can't be more detailed, but without a third arm to hold the camera it's a bit difficult. Also the photos are from slightly different rigging stages, but you can get the idea.

First thread the rigging elastic through one buckle and secure with a tiny bit of CA. Don't worry about the small section of line protruding, once everything is set you simply trim it off.

Then thread through the other buckle and pull tight.

Then a small bit of CA to hold it, and then trim the excess thread.

So basically I spent 4 hours today repeating that process, first finishing the booms

Then working through the rigging on the wings.

Then finally so that I felt I had actually built something, I added the Lewis Gun.

I am now out of buckles, and need a break from rigging.

Peter

[dylan the rabbit]

Looks great Peter. Well done.

[Bobs_Buckles]

Peter,

How many more buckles do you need to finish off the spiders web?

Let me know, I'll sort you out for what you need.

Angel Von Buckles

[Peter Marshall]

A Tiny update, I did get the last of the kit parts on and made a loop for the elevator cables to run through.

Still need to make something for the rudder cables, but I will do that tomorrow.

I also fitted the extra ammunition panniers to the side of the cockpit, the pivot point for the Lewis gun, and the wheels.

Finally I painted the booms grey.

Peter

[Peter Marshall]

Quick update this morning, before going shopping.

I have got the decals on, though some of them have gone a little wierd with the colours going patchy. I will have to see how they look when dry.

Only a couple of bits of rigging and painting the rigging wires left.

Peter