SPA Modeler

Not to hijack your thread, but I've read with great interest as I learn different things. I built a plane [Yes, it's technically a plane] from Dave Deal's Deal's Wheels line of kits from the 70's. I've built many and this reissue of Der Baron has a wooden prop. I looked on line for a tutorial on the painting of one and then tried this. It is oil paint in small dots that are streaked rather dryly and with a very light touch. If it's something you want to try is for you to decide of course, but I think it came out convincingly.

I love this thread and Jkim's as well. I'm watching with great interest.

Looks good to me Bruce. A little progress, or a lot of progress doesn’t matter, it’s still progress towards completion.

Bob, the Deals Wheels Funfdecker is quite welcome here. I’d love to see more photos of it, just for laughs. Those Deals Wheels kits have something that today’s egg kits lack, a bit of 60’s & 70’s insolent irreverence in their humor. They take a stereotype and have fun with it, instead of cutesy non offensive bland attempts at humor.

Bob, that’s a fantastic model and I would love to see more photos. Never worry about the concept of hijacking a thread here. A completed model of that caliber is a pleasure to see. I have thought about making the “Flapper” or whatever it is called often. I appreciate the dichotomy between the fanciful design and the professionalism of your execution.





I’m toying with the idea of adding a quick piece of silver at the front of the cockpit to duplicate the cover for the threading mechanism (Help!) which feeds the guns. I found a rare production photo on an Eastern European site of a factory photo (upper right corner of my collage), which I am including with color restoration photos. The aircraft itself has no instrument panel, something I learned while building! The compass sits on a cigar stand (really the interior is designed like a smoking room with a leather armchair) and the instruments are hung on tensioned spring cables from the interior frame.

Bruce, are you referring to the chute that guides the ammo belts from the ammunition box up to the machine gun feed trays?

One small update from yesterday’s work:
I forgot to get a better shot to show the sidewall wood grain effort



and now that the oil wash on the engine has dried and I do not need to worry about it staining my photo booth, here’s a photo of the engine

interesting photos, Bruce. Very inTeresting!

Carlos, that looks great.

When I was in A&P school in 67 I built the Revell 1/28 Dr.1 and my room mate Paul Wagner built the Camel. Can't remember any dogfights, but in the eternal dogfight of time, the Dr.1 is the victor over the Camel, as last time I discussed it with Paul Wagner his Camel was long gone. Somehow the upper right interplane strut and tail skid have gone missing, maybe Paul's Camel shot them off.

Don't bother me with the paint scheme, its what happens when the only reference is the box art, the only paints are Testors square bottles, and the painter is colorblind. It was the Voss boxing. Lozenges lovingly painted freehand with a bad brush, prop grain streaking by same method.

Now that one is a survivor! 50+ years and counting!

Now, that is simply awesome!

A true survivor indeed. Such a shame at any air show I’ve attended over the years, I never see a WW 1 era biplane. I would love to see one though. I know they’re pretty frequent in the UK circuits.