WWI Digest 75 Topics covered in this issue include: 1) 1/144 scale aircraft by Jose Valenciano 2) Attn: All Eduard SSW D.3 constructors.... by Jose Valenciano 3) Re: 1/144 scale aircraft by "S.M. Head" 4) Re: 1/144 scale aircraft by Jose Valenciano 5) Re: Books in print by Charles Stephanian 6) Re: Rigging secrets of the stars by "Matt Bittner" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 25 Mar 1996 12:26:12 +0800 (HKT) From: Jose Valenciano To: wwi Subject: 1/144 scale aircraft Message-ID: Hi guys, I recently got this list of 1/144 scale aircraft from the web. It's from . I asked my local hobby shop if they can order any of the the three brands below. Not possible. Do you know where these kits can be had? Nice change of pace to build them I'd imagine, though lozenge fabric would be a problem. Do any of you know any other WWI kits in this scale? If so, why don't you post 'em? 1:144 Scale World War I Aircraft Manufacturer Codes: MO: Mamoli ST: Skytrex UP: UPC British: BE2C ST Bristol F.2B Fighter ST MO Bristol Scout ST De Havilland DH2 ST De Havilland DH4 ST MO F.E. 2B ST R.A.F. RE8 ST MO SE5A ST UP Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter ST Sopwith Camel ST Sopwith Pup ST Sopwith Snipe ST Sopwith Triplane ST French: Brequet 14B MO Hanriot HD 1 MO Morane-Saulnier A1 ST Nieuport 11 ST Nieuport 17 ST Nieuport 24 ST Nieuport 27 ST Nieuport 28 ST MO Spad VII ST Spad XIII UP German: Albatross DII ST Albatross DIII ST Aviatik DI ST Fokker DRI Triplane ST MO Fokker DVII ST Fokker EIII Eindecker ST Fokker EV/DVIII ST MO Gotha GIV ST Halberstadt CLII ST Hannover CLIIIA ST Hansa-Brandenburg C.1 MO Pfalz DIII Scout ST Pfalz DXII MO Roland CII ST MO Rumpler CIV ST Siemans Schuckert DIII ST Siemans Schuckert DIV ST Italian: Ansaldo A.1. ST Ansaldo SVA-5 MO Hanriot H.D.1. ST Nieuport 17 ST Nieuport 24 ST Spad VII ST Various: Balloon winch truck ST Balloon, basket, and crew ST Mobile 3" AA guns and crew ST Mobile AA guns and crew ST ********************************************************************* Joey Valenciano WW1 modeller, teacher, jazz musician, joeyval@pusit.admu.edu.ph sitarist tel. (632) 921-26-75 Metro-Manila, Philippines "The more you know, the more you don't know." ********************************************************************* ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Mar 1996 12:32:55 +0800 (HKT) From: Jose Valenciano To: wwi Subject: Attn: All Eduard SSW D.3 constructors.... Message-ID: Hello all, I've come along just a little more on the 1/48 Eduard Siemens- Schuckert D.III. Here's what happened: PROPELLER SPINNER: As stated previously I was planning to open up the cooling vents. Did it. This process goes for each cooling vent. I begun by pricking the point where the vent hole (which of course is still solid plastic) meets the spinner surface. Using this as a starting point, I drilled a hole with a #72 drill bit diagonally down into the spinner. Yes, some of the spinner surface got eaten up (and more will be) but that will be repaired later. With the smallest cutting burr I could find and with my mototool set at the slowest speed, I enlarged the hole until it reached the rim of the cooling vent. I also worked the burr from the inside of the spinner, hollowing out the vent even more. By now I had the vent opened up and with some of the spinner surface eaten away as well. To repair the damaged spinner surface, I got some sprue from the kit, carved it to a semicircular cross section that would fit the area of the spinner eaten away. The flat portion of the sprue should align with the base of the vent. I superglued the sprue into the hole. I used a lot of glue on the inside and a little (applied with a needle) on the outside join. Never mind if the sprue protrudes from the spinner. When the glue is dry, shave away unwanted sprue and finish off with fine sandpaper. The cooling vents should be looking good. PROPELLER BLADES AND ASSEMBLY: I freed the prop blades from the sprue with a cutting disk attached to the mototool (the safest way for delicate parts). I cleaned up the parts. After drilling out the blade location holes in the spinner, I find out, predictably enough, that the curve at the base of the blades don't match up with the curve of the spinner. I could have glued the blades as is and filled the gap up but the joint would have been too weak. Instead, I first penciled in a uniform prop blade angle in all four positions. Then I cut a furrow in the spinner for the blade to sit in. It turns out that more plastic has to be removed from the leading edge area so that the trailing edge area could at least lie flush with the spinner. I then positioned the blade in place and let liquid cement (chloroform) bleed into the join. This gave me some time to adjust blade alignment. I did this by drawing a 90 degree angled cross on an index card puncturing the cross in the middle and slipping the prop shaft into the hole (by now my prop had a syringe needle shaft). Those who don't want a twirly prop need only draw a circle the size of the spinner diameter on the cross center. I checked all the blades against the cross I drew on the card. You can check whether one of the blades is too forward or backward by lying the assembly face up on a hard surface and checking out blade height. Some molten plastic did bleed from the join. This will be cut away when the glue has set and the molten beads have hardened. My prop does turn. How this is done is another story, but I make kit props turn because I think it avoids possible damage situations. The prop shaft has a kind of lock built into it but the prop can be removed. In real life, the plane's Siemens-Halske engine was bi-rotational, the prop turned one way and the engine turned the other. I would have incorporated this little feature on my model but the elves that help me demured, so the engine stays stationary. BACKREST FAIRING: The only other thing I did for the kit was to attach the backrest fairing. After cleaning up the part, I noticed that the base, which will mate up with the round fuselage spine is flat. I made it concave by laying the part on a halfround needle file and pushing it with my thumb. I got a nice concave groove down the center. I lay it in place an bled some chloroform in. That's all for now. Dunno when ther'll be more. ********************************************************************* Joey Valenciano WW1 modeller, teacher, jazz musician, joeyval@pusit.admu.edu.ph sitarist tel. (632) 921-26-75 Metro-Manila, Philippines "The more you know, the more you don't know." ********************************************************************* ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Mar 1996 01:08:22 -0500 From: "S.M. Head" To: wwi Subject: Re: 1/144 scale aircraft Message-ID: <9603250005.aa05621@mail.iapc.net> >Hi guys, > >I recently got this list of 1/144 scale aircraft from the web. It's >from . I asked my local hobby shop if they can >order any of the the three brands below. Not possible. Do you know >where these kits can be had? Nice change of pace to build them I'd >imagine, though lozenge fabric would be a problem. > >Do any of you know any other WWI kits in this scale? If so, why >don't you post 'em? > >1:144 Scale World War I Aircraft > >Manufacturer Codes: > MO: Mamoli > ST: Skytrex > UP: UPC For what it's worth about Mamoli kits: As far as the Mamoli kits are concerned, they are all white metal and pretty rough. The wings are extremely thick, and substantial amounts of flash and poorly mating mold seams are present. I found that building the kits is just short of a scratchbuilding project, not too difficult in this scale as scratchbuilding goes, but too much work for any "kit". The subjects are nice, and a nice color 3 view comes with each. My method for completing these kits includes using the kit flying surfaces as templates to cut new ones from sheet, top and bottom connected at the LE, folded over a length of wire for dimension and dihedral where needed. My struts are fashioned from heat stretched Contrail strut, or photoetch frets. I don't worry much about the cockpits, a simple seat fashioned from sheet does it. Engines get a basic upgrade from various fiddly-bits and rigging is done with the thinnest fly fishing tippet I can find (about the width of a fine human hair). I built a Fokker D.VII and an Albatross D.V in 1/144 from scratch just before I learned of these kits, and I will probably just do the same in the future. Unless of course, the other brands are any better. Anyone have any thoughts? Scott Head Statement- "The internet is like an unending tree of sprue, linking one component to the next..." -- Newsgroup post Reply: "That's stretching it." -- Shot Cadet ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Mar 1996 15:12:34 +0800 (HKT) From: Jose Valenciano To: wwi Cc: Multiple recipients of list Subject: Re: 1/144 scale aircraft Message-ID: On Mon, 25 Mar 1996, S.M. Head wrote: > My method for completing these kits includes using the kit flying surfaces > as templates to cut new ones from sheet, top and bottom connected at the > LE, folded over a length of wire for dimension and dihedral where needed. > My struts are fashioned from heat stretched Contrail strut, or photoetch > frets. I don't worry much about the cockpits, a simple seat fashioned from > sheet does it. Engines get a basic upgrade from various fiddly-bits and > rigging is done with the thinnest fly fishing tippet I can find (about the > width of a fine human hair). Thanks for the scratchbuilding tips, Scott. ********************************************************************* Joey Valenciano WW1 modeller, teacher, jazz musician, joeyval@pusit.admu.edu.ph sitarist tel. (632) 921-26-75 Metro-Manila, Philippines "The more you know, the more you don't know." ********************************************************************* ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Mar 1996 09:49:24 -0800 (PST) From: Charles Stephanian To: wwi Subject: Re: Books in print Message-ID: On Thu, 21 Mar 1996, Charles Hart wrote: > As for buying books from Barnes and Noble, I had an interesting > experience there about 18 months ago. I was given a gift certificate to > them for my birthday. I saw this as an opportunity to expand my WW I > library. I went to the store in Boulder, Colorado and requested the > following: > > The clerk in the store kindly informed me that his computer indicated > that all of the books I requested were in print, but that he could not > obtain any of them for me because his distributor didn't handle them. He > said he would have to sent me to an "independent" (read: non-coporate) > bookstore to obtain these. > May I suggest another moral to this story - Please support your local independent book seller. This is a classic case of what's wrong with the large "super bookstores". These corporate super stores are driving small independents out of business and when they are gone it will be a lot more difficult to find the books we're looking for. Next time you're going to purchase a book, consider buying it from your local, independent book seller. Sorry for the non-modeling comments. Charles Stephanian (not a book store owner) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Mar 1996 11:07:32 -0500 From: "Matt Bittner" To: wwi Subject: Re: Rigging secrets of the stars Message-ID: <199603251108.LAA03058@cso.com> On 21 Mar 96 at 16:48, Carlos Valdes stirred up another hornet's nest: > Greetings all, > As very much a beginning modeler, I would be very interested to > hear from you old pros as to any aircraft rigging tips, tecniques, > and/or materials that are dear to your hearts and hands. Any suggestions > will be much appreciated. Now that you've seen some replies, here's what I use. For 1/72nd, there is a manufacturer of model railroad items called Detail Associates. They put out brass "pipe" that is .006" in diameter. I cut the piece to fit, using a pair of architecural dividers to measure, then "blacken it" (that is, chemically blacken it) with another model railroad item called (surprise!) "Blacken It". Then using superglue, mount the wire where it's supposed to be. For 1/48th - which I've only built one, by the way - I use approximately .010" diameter steel wire that I obtained *years* ago from my orthodontist. With the exception of "blackening it", I repeat the same process as I do for the 1/72nd jobs. I've found that you *never* have to worry about sag with wire. And if someone happens to put a finger on a wire, the worst that will happen is that the wire will bend (not break), and detach from the glue points. Take the wire off, roll it to straighten it, put it back on, and you're done! Good luck! Matt -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Matthew Bittner O- WW1 Modeler, ecto subscriber meba@cso.com PowerBuilder developer; Omaha, Nebraska Loreena McKennitt; Jewel; suddenly, tammy!; jehova waitresses Disclaimer: opinions expressed by me are mine, mine, mine! "Some people can tell what time it is by looking at the sun. But I have never been able to make out the numbers." - Anonymous -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ------------------------------ End of WWI Digest 75 ********************