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farmroad38 · Posted: Fri 08 Feb 2008 11:22 am Post subject:

Well, now that my rigging thread has arrived, I can start to think about this some more.

I dry fitted the top wing last night - fits fairly nicely, but a little low at the rear end. I've popped in a small shim of plastic card to raise it up and have painted the roof lining in cream.

I think before I fit the wing, I'm going to paint the fuselage, in order to overcome the masking problems that have been mentioned. However, the main colour in the (it would seem slightly contentious!) Royal Flight scheme is 109 WW1 Blue and I don't have that one, so work will go one hold until I can get to a model shop and find a tin.
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Cheers,

Adrian

farmroad38 · Posted: Tue 12 Feb 2008 09:04 am Post subject:

My WW1 Blue is on the way from Vince as I can't get to my LMS at the moment, but I've started painting the red instead. Gone on quite nicely!

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Cheers,

Adrian

farmroad38 · Posted: Fri 15 Feb 2008 20:11 pm Post subject:

So, 1 month in, a quick review of progress.

I set myself a target of completing the basic construction by the halfway point, leaving me with one month to finish the final construction, painting and decalling. I'd say I'm slightly behind that schedule, but as I'm going to be painting as I go, I'm happy with where I'm at. The only slight fly in the ointment is the rigging - I intend to do it as detailed in the instructions, which could be a bit of a laugh!

My WW1 Blue has arrived so I'm going to mask off the red tonight and then paint the lower half of the fuselage. Once that's done, I can add the wings and it will start to look like a proper aeroplane!
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Cheers,

Adrian

farmroad38 · Posted: Tue 19 Feb 2008 09:42 am Post subject:

Right, coat of WW1 Blue duly applied to the bottom half.

I now have to paint the aluminium window framing, apply the side stripe decal and then I'm ready to put the upper wing on.

I dry-fitted the canopy over the weekend, and it has an alarming gap at the front end - it's long enough, but the profile of the canopy seems much more V-shaped than the nose. Has anyone else found the same?
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Cheers,

Adrian

farmroad38 · Posted: Sun 24 Feb 2008 10:10 am Post subject:

Progress has slowed somewhat on this build, but I'm plodding along.

The cockpit glass is now on - not a fabulous fit, I must admit. It's slightly wonky, which coupled with the fit of the top wing leads me to believe that the fuselage may be slightly twisted.

Here's a picture showing the gap that I mentioned in the previous post:

Looking at reference pics, the kit nose is far too rounded. Whilst I have sanded it down, I don't think I would have made that much difference to the profile. Going to have to build it up a little with some Milliput.
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Cheers,

Adrian

Sgt.Squarehead · Posted: Sun 24 Feb 2008 18:49 pm Post subject:

My cockpit is exactly the same.....I was tring to make my mind up whether to use plastic card shims or Milliput to fix it. I think I shall follow your advice and use the putty.

My canopy also had a rather ugly sprue attachment point and one of those excess plastic 'widgets' opposite. Removing them was messy and I had to polish the transparency back up with a motor tool, reducing some of the canopy framing into the bargain.

For what it's worth

farmroad38 · Posted: Mon 03 Mar 2008 10:14 am Post subject:

I seem to have gone from having a month left and progress being good, to having less than two weeks and progress being slow...

Anyway, forging on, I've put on the decals for the white stripes along the side, and then attached the top wing. Despite fitting flush before I glued it, after applying clamps whilst the glue dried, it has ended up with a step between the fuselage and the wing so I've bunged on a bit of filler.

I've also started on the rigging, following the instructions given. Three pieces of rigging thread have been added on each wing, and a dab of superglue added to stop them all falling out again.

Next step is to rub down the filler, then attach the bottoms of the upper wings.
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Cheers,

Adrian

Sgt.Squarehead · Posted: Mon 03 Mar 2008 15:12 pm Post subject:

If it's anything like mine, you may find you have to repeat the fill and sand process more than a few times on the fuselage top.....I created so much putty dust last night it made me break out in hives and I'm still itching now!

All the best

farmroad38 · Posted: Mon 03 Mar 2008 15:26 pm Post subject:

The rear was okay, as I'd added a plastic card shim to raise the wing up a bit - the filler is more to fill a slight gap. Iit's the front that had a step. I'm hoping it won't be too bad.
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Cheers,

Adrian

Sgt.Squarehead · Posted: Mon 03 Mar 2008 16:13 pm Post subject:

Have you checked the alignment of the lower wing halves with the small section of wing root that is moulded onto the upper fuselage yet?

This was the trickiest bit to fill & sand on mine, if not the area that required the heaviest work. I think a plasticard insert attached to the upper wing might well have saved me a lot of grief!

For what it's worth, all the best

farmroad38 · Posted: Mon 03 Mar 2008 16:27 pm Post subject:

Not tried that bit yet, and if it's bad then it could cause me a real problem, having already painted and applied the decal. Knowing me, I may very well take the viewpoint that as its the underside of the wing, you won't see it anyway

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Cheers,

Adrian

Sgt.Squarehead · Posted: Mon 03 Mar 2008 16:34 pm Post subject:

The leading edge of the wing root on mine had an ugly step that took some sorting out. I also managed to damage my fuselage glazing while cleaning up the gap along the root.....I've polished the windows back up a bit with an electric toothbrush and whitening toothpaste.....my Rapide now smells minty fresh!

All the best

farmroad38 · Posted: Sat 08 Mar 2008 12:55 pm Post subject:

Just a week left and still only one wing on!

Here's how she looks at the moment:

The step in the wing has been filled and sanded, and a coat of red over the top seems to show that it's turned out okay. The lower halves of the upper wing are on - fit wasn't too bad, and the wing root doesn't have that large a gap. Still got several plates of spaghetti hanging out to deal with!

The nose has been filled to join up with the canopy. As you can see in this photo, the white stripe decal broke up around the nose, so I'll have to touch that up nearer the end.

One worrying aspect is that the top wing is a bit bendy on one side - going to have to apply some local heat to try to straighten it up. I've noticed that the bottom wing is a bit curved too.

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Cheers,

Adrian

farmroad38 · Posted: Sun 09 Mar 2008 22:09 pm Post subject:

I could have sworn I'd posted in here this evening... must have forgotten to press the 'Submit' button

Anyway, I've been busy knitting the spaghetti into something resembling rigging:

I've since snipped off the ends of those pieces of thread which aren't going anywhere else.

One thing to note for those who haven't got this far yet, is that on my kit, the rear of the pair of struts nearest the fuselage are too short (or the front ones too long!). When I dry-fitted the bottom wing, it meant that the rear struts just dangled in mid-air. Going to have to come up with a cunning plan to overcome that little opportunity!
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Cheers,

Adrian

farmroad38 · Posted: Fri 14 Mar 2008 13:31 pm Post subject:

Final day of the build, and here's where I'm at:

Will be sticking the bottom wing on soon - dry fitting has shown that it's snug but fits fairly well. Once that's done, the final bit of rigging can be secured, then I just have to finish the painting.

Shouldn't think it will be finished today, but I should get it done over the weekend.
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Cheers,

Adrian

Ratch · Posted: Fri 14 Mar 2008 13:33 pm Post subject:

So close Ade Nailbiting

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farmroad38 · Posted: Sat 15 Mar 2008 09:14 am Post subject:

I think I need to borrow Sgt Squarehead's wood-chipper...

It's all gone a bit pear-shaped fitting the lower wing. I've managed to snap three(!) of the support struts - one each of the outer, middle and inner. Other than complete stupidity, this is mostly down to the struts not being a consistent length.

I've still got all of the bits, so I'm going to have to fit the various halves separately and then join them together, but it's left me feeling a bit disheartened

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Cheers,

Adrian

Sgt.Squarehead · Posted: Sat 15 Mar 2008 20:28 pm Post subject:

farmroad38 · Posted: Sat 15 Mar 2008 20:43 pm Post subject:

I think I just lack a certain amount of experience when it comes to building biplanes - I've not made that many, and I'm still struggling to work out the sequence of assembly.

Having said that, though, I think there are problems with the kit - I've now glued both halves of the broken middle strut in, and they overlap by a good 1.5mm. That's a pretty big margin of error!
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Cheers,

Adrian