Classic Biplane Duelists

[LyleW]

Bruce that is a beauty! And, indeed small. Flying those took guts, flying those into battle took even more!


Bro. Eaton, wow, that is looking great.

[BlackSheep214]

We have paint on the kazoo! Let's see more, Bruce! Looking fantastic so far.

[Floki]

It's looking really good Bruce!

[speedgraflex]

Polished.

[KennyX]

And looking sexy, smooth, and luxurious!

[speedgraflex]

... and oily, too. The engines leaked fluids all over the place. Truly though thank you so much, Ken. Sincerely.

Thanks, Lyle; thanks, Tom (I have more to show later today, working on wings); thanks, Clint!

[KSaarni]

Bruce,

watching the last building episode, I just tell this once.
The paintwork so far on the Triplane is probably your best paintwork so far of all the builds I have seen.
It is outstanding, it looks authentic, it's like done 100 years ago, the nuance, all of it

This is to be a masterbuild Bruce, it is, keep the speed on! :-)

- Kari

[speedgraflex]

Kari! What you wrote above means the world to me. I knew from the start assembly would be the lesser challenge; the major challenge would be painting. I revere your work both as a builder and as a painter. I have kept copies of your cockpit and exterior work, and I would state for the record that my ability was strengthened directly from contact with your projects. I believe like you like many here I devote myself to a private goal within the work itself, and here for me it is to recreate the softly casual blending of colors used to paint the canvas and linen.

Center Wing & Supports

Please correct me, I think the upper “gun area” is a “fairing, cowling” forward of the cockpit. I have attempted to smooth the form Aurora created which looks nothing like the actual piece. I believe once the guns are mounted this will be acceptable. Not accurate. Acceptable.



Working on the “gun area” necessitated me to go back and forth between construction and painting. I switched from Tamiya Deck Tan (XF-55) to Gunze Tan. Gunze is tougher. Priming was very important as I am combining layers of paint. I am using Mr Base White with literally a few drops of Mr Leveling thinner as a primer—like gessoing canvas.



For the moment, I settled on the Eduard cowling with the Eduard engine combination. Both cowlings fit. When I adjusted the inner struts, I chipped some paint.



I know the inner struts are too beefy, and I am debating whether I should remove them (one end was glued down to facilitate alignment) and thin them to scale. All along I have been engaged in this accuracy debate with the kit.

[Stikpusher]

That’s a good looking little Fokker Bruce.

[jeaton01]

At least he's not flying a Messerschmitt!

Fine work, Bruce.