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Kit: Copper State (1:48)
This is the 1/48 Copper State Models kit of the Dornier D.I (which should properly be called Zeppelin D.I) which was Eric's first attempt in kitdom. Basically accurate according to the MiniDataFile but needs lots of sanding to refine the shape and filling of air pockets. The inside was essentially solid resin--Eric provided a seat and an engine and that was it; so the interior was subjected to extensive Dremeling, sanding, and detailing. Visible elements of the aluminum structure and all the fiddly cockpit bits were scratched, with the addition of various PE bits and pieces from the spares boxes. The control cables still need to be added before the fuselage can be closed; the control stick and seat will be inserted after massive sanding and fitting of the wings, rudder, elevator, struts, and landing gear.
The kit engine is a Mercedes; the plane I'm doing had a BMWIIIa--which conveniently is provided in the Roden Fokker DVII box. (Why doesn't Roden sell these engines separately--they're beautiful!). An acute attack of AMS forced me to add all the pieces indicated--in my defense, the engine is pretty visible under normal cowling conditions and I'm leaving the port side cowling panel off.
The engine and accompanying parts are painted, wired, weathered, and ready to mount in the fuselage.
After massive battles with pinholes in the resin wings and fuselage, the parts are ready for the metal covering. I had originally intended to use Rub'n'Buff but could not get it to work for me; then I tried Bare Metal Foil but didn't like the effect. So the last resort was Testor's Model Master Metalizer in a rattle can. The upper wing went through *four* attempts to get this stuff to look good: each time I prepped the wing, primered it, then used the Metalizer; and each time some major flaw resulted--unseen pinholes suddenly appeared, fuzz and dust would sense the wet surface and rush in from every room in the house, I tried to blow the dust motes away before they settled and spit on the surface, etc. etc. etc. After each disaster, the wing was stripped down to the resin and I started over again--with much swearing. Stripping the wing would remove some of the filler in the pinholes; yes, it would have been faster to build the durned wing from scratch, but by this time it was a struggle twixt me and the resin and I was determined to beat it. The fuselage went through only two stripdowns...
At long last, the battle is over! A disappointing finale after such travail. The last disaster to happen was the accidental removal of the hex lozenge decal over the middle of the upper wing (during one of the last repaints of the Metalizer), at which point I discovered I had no more of the same color pattern to use for replacement. Being heartily sick of the whole thing, I used what I had just to get the wing surface covered. During all that stripping and re-painting, the panel lines which started as razor thin took on a life of their own and ended up several scale inches wide--I guess I could have stripped everything down to resin, filled and re-scribed the lines, primered and painted the surfaces, ordered new decals from Americal...NOT