SPA Modeler

Nice work on the tail wheel!

Thank guys!

Floki wrote:That really looks good John, what size tubing are you using and how are you cutting it?

I used a really thin brass tube for the axle (0.4mm) and 0.80mm (I believe) for the connection between the yoke and the strut. To cut brass tubing, I just roll it using the edge of an x-acto blade. The scoring is enough to cut the tube in a few back and forth motions. This also leads to small pieces of brass shooting off into the distance so I fold a piece of Post-IT into a "z" shape with the top of the "z" overhanging the cut end to prevent it from flying off.

Not really doing much on the Dora during the Tempest painting stage. Did some more fuselage thinning and washed the parts with a toothbrush and dish soap to get rid as much of the pastel wash as I could.


Despite the little niggling issues here and there, the Eagle Editions cockpit is nicely detailed and should look the part after painting. The instrument panel bevels are crisply cast and they will be populated with Airscale instrument decals since Eagle Editions does not supply any. You can glimpse the detail provided in the compartment behind the pilot seat. This area could be viewed if one were to pose the hatch on the starboard side open. I'm gonna leave it closed and not spend too much time painting back there.



I feel pretty good about the fit of the cockpit into the fuselage so once I start this build up again, I can work on assembling the cockpit components and painting.



Another preliminary check of the windshield and canopy fit... no issues here.

Good stuff!

Beautiful work!

Gotta love it when the canopy fits without issue.

A very minor update on the Dora... I got the replacement tail wheel from Eagle Editions. You can see the difference in tire styles.


The photoetch foot pedals have been folded up and mounted. I cut off the very thin straps and replaced them with a little wider strip of thin brass sheeting.


The Eagle Edition resin set comes with a PE/resin replacement for the canopy crank wheel.


That's it for now!

Instead of gluing the tail assembly, as a whole, into the fuselage, I thought it would make for a better joint if the tail was attached to the fuselage while the fuselage is still separated. Fit was very good and no putty was required... just some sanding, re-scribing and riveting.

Sad to continue with the Dora build after the recent passing of Mr. Jerry Crandall, who was such a great authority on Luftwaffe aircraft and had a great love for the Dora in particular. I'm dedicating this build to his memory.



I started painting the instrument panel on the Dora. The body is RLM 66 Dark Grey and I've highlighted the bezels in black. Some of the instrument bezels were made of brownish bakelite and so I've painted the largest bezel in brown.


Each instrument will be populated individually using decals from Airscale. The trickiest thing about this operation is centering the small circular decals in the punch... kinda like peering down an anthole. I got this far when I noticed that I was missing some of the needed instruments and had to put in a Sprue Brothers order.



Looking at my instrument panel references, I noticed a discrepancy. The photo below is of the D-9 that belongs to the National Air and Space Museum. The largest instrument is the artificial horizon. To the right of that, appears to be the compass, with the variometer next to it.


The Vintage Eagle website has two vintage D-9 main panels which show the compass and variometer switched.



Which one is correct? Or were they interchangeable?

You’re a madman John…