JohnReid
A Fixture
Well thank you Tony for your kind remarks!I know some of you enjoy following this build and I certainly enjoy doing it and sharing with you guys! Cheers! John.
"Memories of Flight School"
- Thread starter JohnReid
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JohnReid
A Fixture
JohnReid
A Fixture
JohnReid
A Fixture
With a little work on the clothing these guys will become the seated figures in the Model T.
JohnReid
A Fixture
JohnReid
A Fixture
Oil pump,air pump and mags are now installed on the rear of the engine mount.The fire wall is next and will be installed on the front side of the engine mount between the engine and the aircraft structure.
I decided to stick with the olive green for the engine mount.Most of the the other components are a gunmetal color with the magneto support piece left black for a little contrast.These colors are no more than an educated guess on my part as I haven't been able to find a good reference for this.
When using gesso as an undercoat try to stay away from white, because if it chips or you have to remove paint in some areas for a good glue joint, little flecks of white gesso all over the place can be a nightmare.I use black or burnt umber gesso most of the time for any dark colored components.
If you look closely at the last pic you will see areas where a little burnt umber shows through the green color which actually adds to a more realistic weathered look.
Now it is on to the firewall.
I decided to stick with the olive green for the engine mount.Most of the the other components are a gunmetal color with the magneto support piece left black for a little contrast.These colors are no more than an educated guess on my part as I haven't been able to find a good reference for this.
When using gesso as an undercoat try to stay away from white, because if it chips or you have to remove paint in some areas for a good glue joint, little flecks of white gesso all over the place can be a nightmare.I use black or burnt umber gesso most of the time for any dark colored components.
If you look closely at the last pic you will see areas where a little burnt umber shows through the green color which actually adds to a more realistic weathered look.
Now it is on to the firewall.
JohnReid
A Fixture
JohnReid
A Fixture
Main fuel tank assembly.
Here is a perfect example of what is wrong with this kit,quality control!
The main fuel tank casting is in 3 pieces.The tank body is actually 2 left hand or 2 right hand pieces rather than a right and a left.Instead of trying to correct the problem they tried to smoke it through by having the builder correct the mistake.The whole casting requires so much work to look reasonable scratchbuilding it would have been a lot easier in the long run. The seam in the side of the tank is the size of the grand canyon and it took lots of super glue to fill.Fill and sand,fill and sand........
The aircraft structure is way too flimsy to support the weight of the tank so I modified it to be more like the real aircraft.(wouldn't want to pull any "G's" with that thing!!!!)
Now its on to painting it,to hide the mess!
Here is a perfect example of what is wrong with this kit,quality control!
The main fuel tank casting is in 3 pieces.The tank body is actually 2 left hand or 2 right hand pieces rather than a right and a left.Instead of trying to correct the problem they tried to smoke it through by having the builder correct the mistake.The whole casting requires so much work to look reasonable scratchbuilding it would have been a lot easier in the long run. The seam in the side of the tank is the size of the grand canyon and it took lots of super glue to fill.Fill and sand,fill and sand........
The aircraft structure is way too flimsy to support the weight of the tank so I modified it to be more like the real aircraft.(wouldn't want to pull any "G's" with that thing!!!!)
Now its on to painting it,to hide the mess!
JohnReid
A Fixture
JohnReid
A Fixture
Opinions please!
I am at a stage now with the Camel build where I have to finally decide whether to add the guns or not to the model.Up until now I was of the opinion that they would have been long removed from the aircraft but now I am having second thoughts.
The story is that it is being transported by road to a university in southern Ontario where it will be used for study and research purposes.(this actually happened after the war).
A asked a young friend of mine(13)what he thought and he said that it would be more attractive to the kids if I left them on. The Camel aircraft after all got its name from the hump created by the machine guns and they are a big part of its overall design.
Something tells me that in all likelihood the guns would have been removed ,but then again I am doing this diorama for the kids and I want to please them first and foremost.What do you guys think on or off?
I am at a stage now with the Camel build where I have to finally decide whether to add the guns or not to the model.Up until now I was of the opinion that they would have been long removed from the aircraft but now I am having second thoughts.
The story is that it is being transported by road to a university in southern Ontario where it will be used for study and research purposes.(this actually happened after the war).
A asked a young friend of mine(13)what he thought and he said that it would be more attractive to the kids if I left them on. The Camel aircraft after all got its name from the hump created by the machine guns and they are a big part of its overall design.
Something tells me that in all likelihood the guns would have been removed ,but then again I am doing this diorama for the kids and I want to please them first and foremost.What do you guys think on or off?
tonydawe
A Fixture
John
Leave them in mate!
Do it for the kids, small and large.
Cheers
Leave them in mate!
Do it for the kids, small and large.
Cheers
JohnReid
A Fixture
JohnReid
A Fixture
Wow! at this level of magnification every flaw sure shows.The things you never see at 1/16th.
The copper fittings were heated red hot with a butane lighter and then dunked in cold water to get the aged patina.Where the nails or screws go I just colored the holes black.With successive coats it will look better.
The lower wing root area is another figment of the kit designers imagination,so I attempted to make it look a little better using some extra fittings I had left over from Jenny(in the end however I will somehow cover this area)I added some extra brace wire fittings for the internal wires.
Some areas were weathered now while they are easily accessible .
Next will be the rudder bar and the installation of the main fuel tank.
Thanks to everyone who responded to my guns off or on question.Looks like 90% want them left on.My modeling bud,Stephen Lawson ,had a great idea.They could be fakes that were used in the air shows and movies of the era.I will have to research this angle and see if any Camels were used in this way in Canada .This would fit perfectly into my story line as a former movie prop airplane being donated to a university or museum.Movies were very important to this era as a means of promoting aviation to the general public. If anyone has any info on this please let me know.
The copper fittings were heated red hot with a butane lighter and then dunked in cold water to get the aged patina.Where the nails or screws go I just colored the holes black.With successive coats it will look better.
The lower wing root area is another figment of the kit designers imagination,so I attempted to make it look a little better using some extra fittings I had left over from Jenny(in the end however I will somehow cover this area)I added some extra brace wire fittings for the internal wires.
Some areas were weathered now while they are easily accessible .
Next will be the rudder bar and the installation of the main fuel tank.
Thanks to everyone who responded to my guns off or on question.Looks like 90% want them left on.My modeling bud,Stephen Lawson ,had a great idea.They could be fakes that were used in the air shows and movies of the era.I will have to research this angle and see if any Camels were used in this way in Canada .This would fit perfectly into my story line as a former movie prop airplane being donated to a university or museum.Movies were very important to this era as a means of promoting aviation to the general public. If anyone has any info on this please let me know.
JohnReid
A Fixture
JohnReid
A Fixture
JohnReid
A Fixture
JohnReid
A Fixture
You know the more I work with this kit the more it seems to grow on me!After all it is the only game in town in 1/16th unless you want to completely scratch build your own,which not many of us is ever very likely to do .It is a compromise between the two and like all compromises it does have its down side.It provides for a good introduction to scratch building in the larger scales and for dioramists like me it is a god send.Imagine almost 9 years of work building three 1/16th scale dioramas using these modified kits?If I had scratch build everything 29 years won't be long enough!
After the Jenny, I guess my expectations were set a little too high for the Camel.I am no businessman and have no idea of the needs of the marketplace in producing kits such as this.That being said quality control is still a major problem with every one of these kits, except the Jenny.
If you are willing to do some scratch building and have the proper independent references and drawings a decent job can be done with these kits.Jim Landon's Nieuport 28 is a great example.(see wwi-models.org)
Those who are used to step-by-step builds will find no comfort here.The information is available but you will have to dig for it.These kits are a challenge for even the most experienced modeler.
After the Jenny, I guess my expectations were set a little too high for the Camel.I am no businessman and have no idea of the needs of the marketplace in producing kits such as this.That being said quality control is still a major problem with every one of these kits, except the Jenny.
If you are willing to do some scratch building and have the proper independent references and drawings a decent job can be done with these kits.Jim Landon's Nieuport 28 is a great example.(see wwi-models.org)
Those who are used to step-by-step builds will find no comfort here.The information is available but you will have to dig for it.These kits are a challenge for even the most experienced modeler.
JohnReid
A Fixture
JohnReid
A Fixture
