Since I'm in the process of re-activating the 1st (Day) Bombardment Group, the 96th Aero Squadron was the first, literally...
For your reading pleasure, my version of the 96th Aero Squadron!
In the beginning…
Before trimming everything, give the parts a good bath to get rid of the mold release agents/oils
1. Glue fuselage sides together
a. Putty seams
b. Sand putty
c. Drill out hole in bottom for the peg
2. Glue lower wing to bottom of fuselage
3. Cut cabine struts from castings and glue them into slot in the bottom of the wing
4. Although the instruction say; “Cut, fold and glue the two wing jigs from the reverse side of this label’. I used the same technique as I did for the Hanroit HD-1 which was cut out the wing jigs from the instruction sheet, fold them over and use them separately; watch how you attach these to the wings – one of them has to be reversed to make the wings line up properly
5. Make interplace struts from .025 wire
a. Push the rode down through the hole in the top wing into the hole in the lower wing
b. Glue in place
c. cut to length
6. Use a Dremel tool with a cutting wheel to trim the wires, putty & sand flush
7. Glue vertical tail to stabilizer and elevator
8. Glue rear assembly to the tail of the aircraft
9. Assemble the landing gear and glue to the bottom wing & fuselage
10. Then add the wheels, Glue radiator assemble to the front of fuselage
11. Begin painting
a. Again wash the model to rid any oils & FOD
b. Prime with white
12. Color Scheme. Since I’m going with the 96th Aero Squadron (American), started with the light colors then added to darker colors
a. The following came from various website as to the color: dark green, an apple green, beige and chocolate brown and matt black, the under surfaces were light yellow
b. I found one site listing the Federal Standard Numbers:
i. Light Green – 34258
ii. Dark Green – 34096
iii. Light Brown – 30266
iv. Dark Brown – 20140
v. French Yellow – 13596
vi. Traditional Black.
c. Another site listed:
i. Black....*
ii. Chestnut Brown......30099
iii. Dark Green.....34096
iv. Light Green.....34258
v. Beige.....30266
vi. Underside Yellow....36415
d. However, I didn’t want to buy more paint so I settled for:
i. Light Green – Model Master’s Enamal Forest Green FS34127
ii. Dark Green – Model Master’s Acrylic Olive Drad
iii. Light Brown – Model Master’s Sandgelb RLM 79
iv. Dark Brown – American Acrylic Paint – Dark Chocolate
v. French Yellow – American Acrylic Paint – Sand for the undersides,
vi. Traditional Black – Polly Scale from Testors RLM 70 Black Green.
13. Trim the sprue from the bottom of the pilot & gunner
14. Push the prop though the center hole of the radiator
15. and matching card made using Photoshop and some of the blanks found in the File Section
Left rear quarter angle view
Right rear quarter angle view
The finished undersides
and for the matching cards: Custom made Back of Card: 96th Aero Sq
Crewdogs are based on real crewmembers from the 96th Bomb Squadron who served in Desert Storm
and for the Front: Breguet BR 14B2 96th Aero Sq
Ivan Ware is a buddy who introduced me to board games and loves playing Wings of War since I’ve introduced him to the miniatures!
Hope you enjoyed the process...
Cheers,
Andy
PS Decals provided by:
* WWI AEF Roundels by Dom Skelton
* Unit marking by 1/144 Direct on eBay
* Red/White numbers by 1/144 Direct on eBay
* Black number 1/144 Direct on eBay
* Red & White Stripes on the wing edge were custom built by me