Classic Biplane Duelists

[Stikpusher]

Wow... y'all are doing really good. I am curious on what's your plan for rigging time. Are you going to use AM rigging points or make your own?
I've got a 1/32 Sopwith Camel in my stash. I'm also planning on buying AM seat, MGs, EZ line and rig points.

I’m going to use some very fine gauge wire to rig my Camel.

[speedgraflex]

Upper surfaces of the wings will have thin streaks of green camouflage. I was waiting on turquoise blue paint to cover the undersides first before camouflage begins, but maybe I will begin once I have coated the interior cowling with UV Gloss Clear.

[jeaton01]

Pretty involved painting, Bruce! I'd have to practice a lot before I could do that kind of streaking.

Haven't accomplished much on the SE5, just painting on the roundels. Put the white on for the fuselage roundels this evening. The dark green is Tamiya Dark Green 81, which is supposed to be a good substitute for NIVO, which this airplane was painted with. As you know, I can't really judge that. The upper wing roundels were fun, with the thin white outline. I used Model Master True Blue for the roundels, and it may be a bit dark for WW I British Roundels, but it is a lot lighter than insignia blue. It did go down over a white substrate so it wasn't the dark green that did any shifting of the color.

[BlackSheep214]

When I do my Sopwith Camel kit, my paint choice would be from Drooling Bulldog. They have the best colors for WW1 era biplanes. Their site is down but they have a facebook page.


https://www.facebook.com/Drooling-Bulld ... 547776521/

[jeaton01]

The last post was in April on the Facebook page. It looks like the pandemic has taken it's toll there. But thanks for the info, maybe he will revive.

[speedgraflex]

Richard of Aviattic makes wonderful decals in 1:48 for the Fokker Dr.1, both interior paneling, control surfaces and exterior streaks. I own then and will try them at some point.

Hmm.

I went away to plan my next move in an online chess game with my buddy Matt (if anyone here plays chess online, let me know if you want to play) and thought a bit about trying the decals. At the moment I feel inclined to try painting first. Tomorrow I plan to clear coat the central cowling. I also took a few minutes of quiet time to mask and retouch areas with more oil paint. Since the cowling is made of stamped sheet metal I used a different color green and oil wash over what essentially would be a surface that would see some stress from the firing of the weapons to the reloading as well as the engine leaks over the edge of its adjacent cowling (as seen in many of the photos).

[jeaton01]

I would be tempted to go the the decal route on that kind of paint scheme, just to avoid the learning curve on painting it. And the fear that I would use the wrong colors and people would ask me why may airplane was pink.

On the rotaries and oil, they don't really leak, it's that they throw oil. I was amazed at the workmanship when I looked at the parts of one up close. Very fine machine work and good iron.

[speedgraflex]

I am tempted too. Richard’s decals are quite beautiful. He has very precise instructions for using them as well. Still considering, actually from two points of view: practical as well as visual.

Thank you for correcting me about the engine in operation! You can see the splatter effects from operation very clearly on this full size restoration.



Today I plan to paint the engine as well as the firewall. I am using the actual crashed Red Baron’s engine from the museum as a role model.



I would like to share this beautiful closeup of one used in a restoration; the highly unusual orientation of the shot itself emphasizes the aesthetics of craftsmanship to a high degree. These engines are very beautiful. I hope I do this justice in miniature. We shall see.



I wanted to thank you for your previous post. I started to read up on the subject of roundels, and learned many things.

Put the white on for the fuselage roundels this evening. The dark green is Tamiya Dark Green 81, which is supposed to be a good substitute for NIVO, which this airplane was painted with. As you know, I can't really judge that. The upper wing roundels were fun, with the thin white outline. I used Model Master True Blue for the roundels, and it may be a bit dark for WW I British Roundels, but it is a lot lighter than insignia white. It did go down over a white substrate so it wasn't the dark green that did any shifting of the color.

[jeaton01]

The story is you didn't want to be between a WW I pilot and the toilet when he landed after flying a rotary. That castor oil was apparently an effective laxative.

[speedgraflex]

John! Just finished painting the engine and guns. Thankfully no laxatives were involved. Very thin applications of Gunze only.

Post image is not working... a photo needs to go here of the engine.

Test





Now Post image is working...



The plastic for the Eduard kit is dark blue. The plastic for the Aurora SMER kit is light gray. I sprayed Gunze Silver on both (top photo). I was using light pressure and a thin mixture. Then after I established two coats I waited a few minutes and made another pass. This I let dry. Then I used Tamiya Copper (bottom photo) for the details. This is the same color I use for the TOS Enterprise deflector.

Forgot to remove the stubs!



Ahhh. Removed and repainted.