Zio Prudenzio Model Cards - My 5th Project - Albatros D V - Schleich
OK,
This is the 4th build post, but Nelson's Camel has been sidelined. He was a third of the way to being done, when I signed up for the campaign. And the build will be the same as the 1st and 3rd Projects, so I won't post more of the same stuff. I will link album pictures to the other threads, though.
The DV was a really daunting project, as the fuselage is a double compound curve. It was why I was originally going to finish the Fokker D VII first. But the upcoming campaign needs some earlier aircraft to start. And my minis are lost in the snow somewhere in the Great White North.
The solution to the compound curves was to use frame formers. Pictures attempt to show what I tried:
This shows a 1:48th scale drawing of a model, and I printed it to 1:144th
Then, I tried to cut out formers to match where the folds and transitions in the model required some stiffening. This would allow me to roll the card around the former and edge glue the skin. It almost worked as planned.
The empannage was actually really good. If you follow the plan, you have four little pointy pieces of paper that taper into a point. I fit the elevator into the cut slots, and just glued the bottom halves together. After I was happy with this joint, I glued the elevator into place. Once that was dry, and it looked level and properly positioned, I glued the top two edges and the tail/rudder into place. Down below, I took a picture of nose, showing the cutting grid behind the fuselage. It shows how straight this ended up. Not like previous models which took some fiddling to get level and straight, this turned out great first try.
I'd like to say the rest of the fuselage was as easy, but the formers were not the same in this model, as the drawing. The engine compartment former and the prop former were way too big. I had to remove them and re-cut them. The engine compartment one worked, but the prop one was too small, on the third try. I did without it, as the glue on the seams by the third try were holding together well without it. So, perhaps, it did work. Also, I was planning to pin through the prop disk, into the engine compartment, but decided to glue the prop directly to the fuselage. By this point, I had formed the prop hub and glued it to the disk, and it was staying really well. So, what the heck. No pin (prop shaft).
Above is the plane with the prop hub and disk glued to the fuselage. This actually worked out much better than I thought it would. Just so you know, the ring that was supposed to go around the back of the prop was actually glued to the front of the fuselage, and the hub and disk was glued directly onto the prop ring/fuselage. I took a marker to the joints before gluing the prop disk on, just in case the fuselage ring was bigger that the prop hub. This would hopefully hide the white interior ring. It worked.
The lower wing hole was trimmed to fit the large chorded, cardboard filled wing, and the wing fitted. I drilled a hole in the fuselage for the stand, as the prop disk was now too big to let the plane sit on the table without stress or potential damage. The above shot is the one I mentioned above showing the grid in the background. The wings and horizontal stabilizer are almost perfect. You can just see the tail through the prop disk poking up above the fuselage, if you look close. It is actually vertical, too. This is Zio's model pattern, not necessarily my skill.
Last thing to mention, and something I have been using throughout the model work is the fine tipped markers. The colors aren't perfect, but darn! They are close enough. When I cut out the radiator parts, I realized that coloring them once on the wing would be next to impossible without messing up the wing. Do them first! Great idea, and the edge color work well.
The above shot shows the cut radiator, and the edge colored radiator, with the grey marker in the background. The lower picture shows the upper radiator glued in place. Also, the dark green and the purple markers were used to color the fold edge on the wing, where the white cracks of the fold were rather significant on the 65 lb paper. The markers make the wings look pretty good.
So, that's it, so far. Next are the really fiddly bits on the engine, wing struts, and the landing gear. Still a ways to go on this one.
Mike
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To you and all the people with this different kind of skill, and the deftness to carry out the production of these paper masterpieces.
That brings a tear to my eye.
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