Ares Games

Willi's Albums

Willi's Albums

  1. My Brother Bob acquired 4 old Airfix kits and he offered one to me. I chose a Sopwith Pup. After viewing photos of the Pup from various sources I knew I wanted mine fully rigged, so I built the model with that as the focus. I have posted my slides of the build in the Forum Hobby Room under normal threads. Photos in the album my show even more detail due to the size.

    Airfix 1/72 Sopwith Pup

    Photos
    30
    Last Photo
    04-06-2019, 06:26
  2. If interested in a complete description of the HMS Warspite construction see my Youtube video slide show. The 1:72 E.III and Nieuport 28 are 35 years old and recently rehabbed. Titanic was my first build in over 25 years. It was an eye opening experience with much experimentation on how to supplement photoetch brass with other materials to improve detail. Case in point was the use of aluminum window screen wire for the funnel stay cables. Only thread was supplied in the kit and the instructions suggested an extreme installation using sprue bits etc., not to mention having to straighten out monofilament thread. I thought, if a suitable scale wire could be found it would be easier to install the stay cables using the holes molded into the funnels and boat deck after installation of the deck and funnels instead of before (as the instructions suggested). I discovered that pulling and smoothing individual threads of wire from aluminum window screen would do the trick. Tedious work preparing the wire, but no worse that drilling out every port hole by hand, and I think it paid off. One other thing I decided in mid-build was to add some lighting, but how? I built a channel of cardboard with 11 LEDs (from Evans Designs) wire snaked into the hull through the forcastle deck and leads out the hull bottom. The effect turned out fairly well. Lessons learned carried over to the HMS Warspite where more improvisation got decent results. If you have seen this album before you might notice that the photos have changed. I had to delete some due to data limitations, but now I am a Silver member so I have added the first 5 photos back. I have not figured out the means to order the photos - maybe there is no way! Anyhow, the first five show various stages of the build of the bridge deck assembly. Other assemblies like this took place and then all were affixed to the deck. Like I say, planning ahead is essential. As noted above, if you need more see the YouTube video. To do over again I would search for wood decking for the Titanic - if ever I live that long! But one thing I did do was remove the kit supplied stairs and replace with PE stairs left over from my BB35 build (you can view my album of BB35 or go to William Blecke Youtube).

    Models - Warspite plus 1:72 rehabs and Titanic

    Photos
    42
    Last Photo
    02-26-2019, 08:42
  3. The 350 scale Trumpeter kit is my second vintage warship that distinguished herself by serving in both World Wars. Laid down in 1911 BB-35 underwent many re-fits and the kit represents a fall of 1944 overhaul, after serving in Operation Overlord. Prior to this refit she supported the landing of the US 29th Infantry Division at the western half of Omaha Beach, launching 255, 14 inch shells in 34 minutes - the longest sustained rate of fire for the ship during the war. After the refit she joined the Pacific Fleet and supported the landings on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. You will note the LIFE magazine photo of a Kamikaze shot down by The Texas. I began the build March 31, 2018 and completed this past Ground Hogs day (Feb. 2, 2019). She came with PE parts - railings, stairways, cranes etc. I added an after market wooden deck by Art Wox. and brass gun barrels for the 3 inch AA mounts. I published the build on YouTube as an instructional/review of the Trumpeter Kit. (William Blecke Youtube). If you ever get down to San Jacinto, Texas, stop in at the BB-35's slip at the Battleground Historic Site and walk her decks.

    BB-35 USS Texas

    Photos
    89
    Last Photo
    02-12-2019, 18:04
  4. The build is in the Forum/Hobby/Metal-Resin/Reviresco 144. Of course these slides are in reverse order of my presentation!

    SSDIII by Reviresco

    Photos
    18
    Last Photo
    09-19-2018, 12:13
  5. As I did with the HMS Warspite, I began my build of the Trumpeter BB35 - USS Texas, with it's catapult launched observation plane, the Vought Kingfisher. The nice thing about the Trumpeter kit is that the plane is molded in clear styrene, which adds detail due to the resulting clear canopy.

    Vought OS2U - 350 Scale

    Photos
    11
    Last Photo
    04-06-2018, 11:40
  6. While I had model trains as a kid I am not a Model Train guy - Yet - but I do have a Bachmann Train set (bought through Hawthorne Village - Thomas Kinkade) that I set up around the Tree at Christmas. Bachmann's On30 (O scale - narrow gauge) is perfect for use with Christmas Villages. The last two Christmas' we have had our Granddaughter who insists that the train be running when she is there! Well, that started it. The Thomas Kinkade set, while mostly a nice green, was no longer Christmassy enough for Grandpa! It started with finding a couple of additional Bachmann Christmas Coaches - Red cars - a Norman Rockwell "Santa" and Rudolf The Red Nose Reindeer "Elf" Coach. Then I wanted an older period Locomotive that I could customize - found a 4-4-0 in Canada! The pictures show what I did to the Loco, plus a rehab of the Thomas Kinkade Cargo Coach to replace the single burnt out incandescent bulb with 5 LEDs from Evans Design. Three 3mm and two 1.8mm all with their own bridge circuits that run on DC, 3-19 V - perfect! Wire in parallel to the two existing leads and your done! I had another Kinkade car to do, also the rehab of the Norman Rockwell with LEDs, a little paint and additional of cargo and figures. The Kincade coach was a bit o a problem since when I wired it and put it on the track- NO LIGHT. I now know everything there is about deconstructing a Bachmann coach. I took it down to the truck from which a soldiered lead had broken off. Once that was repaired and the car reassembled she lit right up - Whew! The first photo of the Loco now shows I painted the "E & N" on the cab and cleaned up the tender lettering Nov. 2016 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euMCnAmC3DQ&feature=youtu.be This is if you wish to see a short video shot 12-11-16 of the "Elf & Northern" run at the North Pole Village. Much work, but satisfying for my Granddaughter and the family. August 2017 - I found a Plasticville water tower on ebay that needed TLC and some custom work. Testor Metalizer, Dark Red and Tamiya weathering "makeup" along with some thread and 32 gauge wire and I have a nice HO gauge tanjk that will work nicely with my On30 Christmas trains.

    Christmas Train

    Photos
    29
    Last Photo
    09-10-2017, 12:40
  7. While not exactly WGS, it is only because the Rocket Ship is on the Planet Mongo fighting the minions of Ming and not Earth fighting Der Fuhrer. You can see a slide presentation of the Rocket in the Hobby Room, but here are pictures of the build of the 1-72 scale resin model.

    Flash Gordon Saves the Universe

    Photos
    30
    Last Photo
    09-01-2017, 12:39
  8. I put my Caudron journey in the Hobby Room also. Shapeways is a good source of minitures, but caution to all research others experiences before plunging in.

    Shapeways Caudron G4

    Photos
    22
    Last Photo
    09-01-2017, 12:22
  9. My Brother Bob ordered the Be2s for a home defense against the Zeps. Here is my version of F. Sowrey's craft. He did shoot down L 32! See my Shapeways Hobby Room presentation. I decided I had to rig the Be2 - It looked naked compared to my recently completed Caudron G4.

    Be2c Night Fighter - Shapeways

    Photos
    10
    Last Photo
    08-03-2017, 15:04
  10. The reason for repainting the Series 1 Red Triplane is that I wanted to create the most successful DR.1 for The Red Baron as opposed to the iconic "Death" DR.1. (in which MVR had but 2 victories). 477/17 was not a difficult repaint and is very similar to the DR1 found in the ARES Dual Pack. I put the slides on the DR1 repaint thread which I should not have done as the repaint thread is not the place for "how to" - Sorry! Since the Series 1 DR1 had no pilot I had to add The Baron. My Bandai warriors come in handy again!

    DR.1 - 425/17 to 477/17 repaint

    Photos
    9
    Last Photo
    06-19-2017, 14:49
  11. I have described the build in a PPT/slide format and it has also been placed in the Hobby Room - Metal and Resin Models. I reversed the PPT slides, saved as a JEPG exchanged format and when loaded they end up in the correct order. I have also added a photo with a paper "Wood" hanger. I had a development photo of roof, side, back and front walls which is for a 144 scale, so I printed it twice on heavy stock and zoomed up to a 1/72 scale. I glued the pieces back to back and put it together reinforcing (and giving relief) using crafting wood picks. My 3 volt LED chips arrived and I put two in the Hanger on the roof. Photos "at Dusk"! January 17, 2017 and I have uploaded my completed diorama pics. Simple Styrofoam base on which I glued - spray adhesive - a "summer grass" mat (from Hobby Lobby). I then glued down the hanger tent, shrubs (again, Hobby Lobby) and some play sand I already had. Tent was a tedious scratch build using muslin and craft picks. I diagramed to scale what I needed to do, then started a prosess of glue two picks together, wait a day and glue on another pick, etc. There are 27 picks in all. The muslin was applied by cutting a single piece and gluing and folding and gluing on the based structure. A second piece of muslin was then cut and seams folded and glued to the top structure and bottom structure edges. Prior to gluing down the top muslin I installed two battery powered LED chips as two hanging lanterns from the top structure cross brace. Ok, I'm done.

    Building the Roden 1/72 DR.1

    Photos
    43
    Last Photo
    06-17-2017, 13:31
  12. Here is my version of the Rumpler as specific as I can get. I saw a wonderful Grasse 1:48 scale Model and tried to emulate that work. I hope I was successful.

    Rumpler RePaint

    Photos
    9
    Last Photo
    06-15-2017, 13:30
  13. I think I put these slides up on the Aerodrome also, since I created slides. I will let the slides speak for themselves.

    DVa - Baumer Repaint

    Photos
    7
    Last Photo
    06-15-2017, 13:22
  14. Now I can show what I did with the first defective Shapeways Pfalz and the paper one I found online. I decided to create a wreak! Since I had salvaged the landing gear for a Albatros re-paint I took the old Albatros gear and crushed it and glued it to the Pfalz. Then a bit of destruction and paint - adding decals etc. and a piece of scrap plastic for a broken prop. and there you have it. The Paper Pfalz was printed on heavy stock and formed up, glued and painted. Not bad for paper!

    The Other Pfalz's

    Photos
    8
    Last Photo
    06-02-2017, 06:23
  15. I finally decided to order a Shapeways print. When it arrived it was missing the rudder (more about that later). Shapeways kindly replaced it with a complete print. Anyone familiar with Shapeways prints knows the challenge of creating smooth surfaces. You can see my process in the Shapeways Off Duty Forum. I was able to craft a spinning prop and added it weeks later.

    Shapeways Pfaltz DIII

    Photos
    13
    Last Photo
    06-02-2017, 05:47
  16. These are some recent re-paints based on interaction with my Brother Bob (BB401). First we both acquired the Series III Lufbery N17. Since he is keeping his I wanted to re-paint mine to another Lafayette Escadrille pilot. It so happens that my Valom N17 kit (See my Nungesser N17 build) box showed the Sgt. R. Soubrian scheme which seemed a fairly quick re-paint. Again, Bob led me to another re-paint by asking my opinion of his choices for the Lend Lease DVII donation he will be painting this coming January. While viewing his choices I saw an opportunity for a re-paint of my own. My first Ares purchase was the Rudolf Stark DVII. It seemed the perfect object for re-painting to (unknown to me at the time) Lt. Heinrich "Heinz" Drekmann. It seems that Drekmann was Ernst Udet's wingman in the fall of 1918. I had done an Udet from a Goering DVII, so it seemed a natural to have his wingman as well. I have included photos and the they both show up in their respective "Painting Showcase" threads.

    Some More Re-Paints

    Photos
    9
    Last Photo
    12-13-2016, 10:48
  17. My brother Bob (BB401) and I took a trip to Dayton OH 9/30 - 10/02/ 2016 for the Dawn Patrol Rendezvous. Met nice folks, saw cool stuff, and was blown away by the National Museum - a must see for all Americans. Got in some play time with the Buckeye club too.

    USAF Museum and WW1 Dawn Patrol Rendezvous

    Photos
    48
    Last Photo
    11-09-2016, 09:19
  18. Being somewhat difficult to obtain a Capt. Arthur Roy Brown Sopwith Camel, I decided to purchase an Aubrey Ellwood Camel as I appeared to be most similar and an easy re-paint. There is always trepidation when it comes to removal of roundels etc. but it worked out as you can see.

    Ellwood to Brown Re-Paint

    Photos
    7
    Last Photo
    08-19-2016, 08:28
  19. I wanted to add the wing bracing and some rigging to an already lovely model. Being used to using monofilament thread for rigging I thought this would be one of the easier rigging experiments - not so! I had some difficulty cutting the proper lengths and attaching/gluing to the proper attachment points. But in the end it turned out satisfactory for me.

    Detailing the ARES MACCHI 5

    Photos
    11
    Last Photo
    08-18-2016, 06:17
  20. When I built the Academy, 350 scale HMS Warspite, one of my first assemblies was of the catapult launched Supermarine Walrus. Warspite carried two but I mounted only one. The Academy sprues has solid squares as wing struts. I wanted more realism, so I heated and extruded lengths of sprue tree to create my own struts. I also had to carefully cut out material from the engine mounts to replicate a strut look. Close up Macro photos show the build steps. The 350 scale is Super fiddly! But the HMS Warspite build raised my confidence level and caused me to carefully plan my moves. Patience is the key as Rome was not built in a day!

    The 350 scale Supermarine Walrus

    Photos
    18
    Last Photo
    03-26-2016, 12:05
  21. My Brother is to blame for getting me started on the Udet journey. Ernst was quite a character and pilot who's life, unfortunately, came to an end in tragic fashion. I have included historical excerpts that I have found and created two separate word documents - WWI and WWII. I had tried bidding on a Nexes Series II Udet D.VII, but the bidding went high so I bailed and decided, let's try a repaint. The first thing to do was to take the Goering D.VII purchased and remove and cut down the existing cross decals on the fuselage and wings, respectively. I mixed a red, yellow, brown to get a more orange tinted red and worked on the cowling and undercarriage. The struts also needed painting according to numerous paintings and photos of other models researched. Tamiya masking tape, 6mm worked out well for 2 mm stripes. Trying to hand paint letters is, well, very trying! I know it's crude, but without decals I have to simply keep touching up until it looks reasonable. Once the Top of the upper wing stripes are completed it is move to the under side. After that it is a coat of dullcoat and then onto the fuselage cross decals and finally, with the help of Solvaset, the lower wing lozenge and under fuselage and elevator lozenge decals, crosses on the bottom wing.

    Ernst Udet

    Photos
    15
    Last Photo
    03-24-2016, 14:32
  22. This is my first experience with a Valom kit or any 144 scale model. The photos obviously don't appear in order, but each one has brief activity description as record of the build. the photo etch Lewis gun is very fiddly and does not attach as shown in the instructions, so beware :<) I decided to add rigging. The wings are first, next the landing gear and finally (after getting a new tiny pin drill bit) the stabilizer control cable. I had to do this now before may hands get too shaky :<)

    Valom N.17 - Nungesser

    Photos
    32
    Last Photo
    02-17-2016, 08:19
  23. My brother found a deal on EBay for a trio of DH.2s and offered one to me as payback for one of my Valom N.17 kits. When I saw it, it whispered to me "I need some rigging". The Ares fuselage (tubular steel in the real thing) is necessarily stout and therefore larger in scale, so I started with a 32 gauge wire for the fuselage. It is also "heavy" but sort of in scale with the fuselage itself (besides it is easy to work with). The rest is monofilament thread left over from my Minicraft Titanic kit. It was wound on a piece of card board and not a spool so that I have straight sections and not a continuous curve that I have to try and straighten out. It is fiddly gluing in these threads, but then what about 144 scale isn't. :<) I decided to pin drill the upper ailerons and insert a small bit of 32g in order to add some control wire. I am going to stop rigging at this point as I still want to have the Airco in the air. Adding more control wires would give me no place to grip the plane without tearing up something.

    Ares Airco DH.2 Rigging Experiment.

    Photos
    13
    Last Photo
    02-13-2016, 08:09
  24. These are Photos of my repaints. the only decals used were of the iron crosses on the wings of the Goering to Heidemann D.VII conversion. I have a post on the Drachen in the Hobby Room. The A.I.M. kit is simple, but the rigging was bugger. I also posted the Goering to Heidemann conversion in the Hobby Room D.VII painting thread; the Kirschstein to Klugermann (see separate album) and Manfred to Wolfram conversions to the DR.1 painting thread and the Udet E.III to the E.III painting thread.

    WWI Repaints - Few Decals

    Photos
    23
    Last Photo
    02-10-2016, 12:54
  25. I posted a couple of DR.1 repaints in the Hobby Room, but thought I would get a bit more organized with a dedicated album. I wanted to create a reasonable Blue Max Von Klugermann Tripe and being a total WoG novice I just stippled in a pattern that used the existing black and white. The dark green of the mid and bottom wing was fine with me and the underside a nice sky blue. It was later that the Crest idea formed.

    Kirschstein to Von Klugermann

    Photos
    10
    Last Photo
    02-09-2016, 13:37
  26. The photos in this album are from a driving trip we took to the Hudson Valley New York the second week of September 2015. It is worth a look see if you are in the area or making plans for a trip out east. If you are not familiar with the O R A, google the website and have fun. We took a trip in the Standard D.25 over the Hudson. Even my wife, Dayle wants to "Do It Again"!

    Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome

    Photos
    18
    Last Photo
    02-07-2016, 10:46