Full scratched cockpit from wood and metal
Yorumlar
87 9 September 2022, 17:29

To recover my mojo I scratched instrument panels and related parts for a future project in scale 1:48.
The only used plastic parts are stretched clear sprue, the rest is real wood and metal!
I have not mentioned the type of aircraft, perhaps some of you will recognise this design.
And I hope, this time it is spectacular enough for Greg 😉 , because I was not able to do it more real and precise. That is damn small! I can take it with me to Ried next month and show it as WIP.
9 September 2022, 17:49

Thank you Spanjaard! In the macro shots it looks a bit coarse, but with naked eye I like the outcome.
No one an idea regarding the type?
10 September 2022, 10:09

Maybe an early SPAD - S.A.2 or 4? Whatever it is, the work is just brilliant!
10 September 2022, 13:45

Thank you very much!
Good catch Uwe! Not SPAD, but you are right with french.
So now also some struts in french blue. With some more parts the cockpit framework is mounted together. Need to add more details: engine control, seat, stick and rudder pedals ...
Such scratch work is a lot of fun for me 😉
10 September 2022, 14:28

Thank you mates!
David, the Nieuports do not have this wooden layer on top, as visible on my Nieuport 11
Nieuport Ni-11 | Project by bughunter (1:48)
It will evolve into a Morane-Saulnier 😉
10 September 2022, 18:50

Thank you very much for your comments and likes mates!
Now I was wondering if I can spray Alclad metallic paint on decals without protective coat? Why the hell you want to do that?
The answer are the pictures 21 and 22. Note: the difference is only the direction of light during photography!
The upper side will later be painted in camouflage colours together with the fuselage. And yes, that is the first kit part involved here 😉
11 September 2022, 10:16

Yes David, full hit! I linked already the existing project to this album.
It has been on my wish list to build this kit for a long time, but the Gnome N 160hp is a rotary engine which is not on the Small Stuff product list. However, Eduard released this type as a 3D print in the context of the new Camel kit 👍 So I bought some of these engines for other projects than Camels 😉
11 September 2022, 12:14

A little late, but taking a seat and watching with interest. Fantastic work so far!
11 September 2022, 12:38

You are welcome Robert! You are not late, yesterday I put the the first pictures online 😉
11 September 2022, 12:53

Q. When you attach the aerilons are they movable? or do you glue them in place ?
11 September 2022, 12:59

The ailerons (and the control surfaces at the tail) are removed only for a more realistic look. Modern kits provides them often as individual parts. So I add hinges, but keep them separate for easier painting and handling. Finally I will glue them into a non-straight position matching the stick position in the cockpit.
11 September 2022, 13:06

Just uploaded a picture of my cockpit on a reference picture (yesterday it failed, so I took a new shot today).
There was no survivor of this aircraft type, but a framework of the fuselage. So this was enhanced with new parts according to drawings to an new aircraft in airworthiness condition. First flight 1993.
storage.mfa.free.fr/MoraneAIuk.html
11 September 2022, 18:27

Added today pictures of the airscrew made again from real wood. The metal hub plates are not yet added.
Creating a new propeller is definitely necessary here, because the two airscrews from the kit turn the wrong way round 🙁
12 September 2022, 16:23

Thank you very much mates!
After I know the final position of the engine I will add a little piece of tubing in the middle of the airscrew.
13 September 2022, 15:31

WOW! Next step is a fully scratch built aircraft. 🙂
I know you can do it - for Bughunter it'll be easy.
13 September 2022, 16:16

You'll laugh, I really have an idea. In my bookcase there is a book with great coloured 3D views and plans about a rare WWI aircraft that has no chance of being realised as a kit. Even with a rotary engine! 😉 That would be a good candidate for a scratch build.
But I really have to think about how to realise it, because it's not that easy. A few experiments have already failed.
But until then, I still have a lot of kits to build from stash!
13 September 2022, 16:51

If it was easy, it wouldn't be worth doing. Go for it Frank, you've got the skills. 🙂
14 September 2022, 10:06

The new batch of pictures shows my new aluminium cowling. My previous created cowlings are polished in natur metal, but here I need to paint it. I experimented with Hammerite "Spezial Haftgrund" and Gunze Mr. Metal Primer. Since the Gunze product will dry to a thin film I think I will go with that one.
14 September 2022, 12:03

Hi Bughunter, it's looking beautiful. The cowling especially... really nice! Looking forward to seeing more.
Cheers! F_IV aka Feathered_IV 🙂
14 September 2022, 13:38

Thank you very much for such nice words, from the master of the smallest biplanes 👍
14 September 2022, 18:52

I've said it before - at some point you won't need kits any more. 😄 Great work! 👍
15 September 2022, 13:35

Thank you mates!
Erik, some small parts are somehow easy, but wings and fuselage from a kit are always great help.
15 September 2022, 15:02

I'm not 100% sure about the next created parts of pic 41-43.
There were at least three main variants: the MoS.27C1 fighter with one Vickers, the MoS.29C1 with two Vickers MGs (both with typically the 150hp Gnome N engine) and an unarmed MoS.30C1 trainer (with 110hp Le Rhone engine).
The rebuilt flying aircraft (using original parts) is using a Clerget rotary. I will do the MoS.29C1.
So the different engines and variants causes different panel layouts and intakes, where the assignment to the variants is not clear. But since I've mostly had round intake tubes in the showcase so far, I'm taking the artistic freedom and using the beautiful variant with the oval intakes here.
15 September 2022, 15:59

What?! A build album with no plastic in sight until pic 14… must be a Bughunter extravaganza! Following, of course 🙂 👍
16 September 2022, 12:11

Thank you Kyle! I'm glad that you love it!
Sometime I ask myself, if this is going to far ... but what me invited to this build was the walk around on Primeportal linked here in SM, especially the struts. There is a lot of work in front of me!!!
[img1]
16 September 2022, 12:12

Oh, I missed your post Alec! Welcome to the show!
To be fair: the level indicators on picture 4 are plastic and not glass 😉
16 September 2022, 12:16

If I haven't forgotten anything, the cockpit is complete. I have just uploaded more photos.
16 September 2022, 17:49

Incredible job and very inspiring! The cockpit looks very complete.
Small omissions are easy to do though. I spent 8 months doing a DH.2 from scratch and at the end realised I forgot to make a control stick.. 😅
17 September 2022, 08:44

That isn't surprising for one of your builds F_IV. In 1/144 you have to have pretty good eyesight to see the aircraft let alone the details. 😄
17 September 2022, 08:59

As usual a work of art in the making. I admire your skills and talent bughunter. Always a pleasure to see your ww1 models.
17 September 2022, 10:12

Great work as we all expected from you, since i started same kit and stuck with parasol wing , can't wait for that part to come,all that kit's struts and suports are a bit hard to handle, they are to small to drill and a very fragile. I supose, as i follow your work for a time, that you are planing a scratch build there,am I correct?
17 September 2022, 13:09

Oh yes, I will definitely not use the kit struts! The struts will be done with a brass core, as developed during the DH-2 build this year. I'm not sure yet if I'm doing the struts and glue the structure together, or soldering a brass framework and plate that with wood, at least for the main struts.
In this respect, this type of aircraft is really a challenge, but has the potential to look absolutely impressive if the build succeeds. Of course I will not paint the struts so it should look like the actual flying one (see walk around above). If you want to have it easier: 100 years ago on some planes the struts were painted in the lower surface color.
BTW: There is a really wounderful painted WWI comic in 3 books by Roman Hugault "Der Pilot mit dem Edelweiß". In the 3rd book "Walburga" this plane plays an important role and is wonderfully drawn on 4 pages! And yes, also with wooden struts 👍
[img1]
[img2]
[img3]
17 September 2022, 13:43

Today some (damn small!) scratch work in plastic. The struts has some special mount points on the wing. The kit has nothing like that.
[img1]
I was just flowing so nicely and wanted to mount the four outer ones as well. Just in time I noticed that the cockades were still missing and stopped early enough 😉
18 September 2022, 20:22

That's damn impressive work on those mounting points Frank.
Do those single blade nippers leave a completely flat surface/cut?
19 September 2022, 13:17

Thank you very much gorby! With every working step I lost one/some of those little buggers, but luckily I started with enough parts.
To gut the heads I used my sprue cutting tool (please note: there is a version 3.0 out now)
Single Blade Nipper 2.0 (DSPIAE ST-A 2.0, No)
Yes, it leaves a flat surface since it cuts only from one side, please see the linked reviews.
But in my case I was not able to cut them in same thickness, so I sanded them a bit further (moved on sanding paper with finger head).
I experimented a bit to create this mounts, until I was happy with the result.
19 September 2022, 15:49

Thanks Frank. Those cutters are a bit too far out of my budget. I might be able to afford them if it wasn't for all that packaging. 😄
19 September 2022, 16:15

I had bought mine in 2019, since then the price has almost doubled on ebay! + tax and customs on top.
Very bad with the logistic problems and inflation. Some importer in NL mentioned on his page, that the company in China was affected by lock downs and this year no cutters were produced. May be the prices are going down a bit if we come into normal business again.
BTW about packaging: DSPIAE had problems with cheap illegal copies, so there were special markings on the box to detect a real product.
19 September 2022, 16:34

Now the cockades are done! That was a lot of masking work. Special care was needed due to the decals below.
19 September 2022, 17:28

I am a bit pissed off!
There was a colour research by a French modeler, but I had a totally different result. What the hell happened? Gunze changed a colour! There are two different H58 !!! The new one is much brighter, which has of course ruined the mixing guide.
24 September 2022, 10:23

Deep breath, Bughunter..... I'm sure your experienced 'eye' will guide you.
24 September 2022, 11:14

Thank you Bruce! After the color looks the strange I looked into the famous internet and found this picture on britmodeller. I'm not the first to get screwed over. [img1]
24 September 2022, 11:55

Amazing work, sir!
Love it all but the cowling work is beautiful, and the soldering at that size, wow, that's some skill.
25 September 2022, 13:11

Thank you John! Oh yes, soldering is pure fun for me 😉
In my projects you can find also some of the nice Eduard Stripdown planes in 1:72, which are soldered too.
25 September 2022, 14:13

The tail skid: Well, was it probably made of wood? Or tubular steel? I already have many in the display case. You can't usually make out anything under the dark tail in reference pictures, but several of today's pictures show a perforated hollow profile. That's something different, even if only today's machines might have it.
And yes, 50% of the camouflage painting is done 😉
5 October 2022, 18:39

Step by step, she comes to life ... Pure perfection in your creation's every component. As always, so much to enjoy 🙂👍
5 October 2022, 19:24

Thank you Bruce!
Pure perfection: at least not for the paint job! Such camouflage painting is another thing I have never done.
Today I ran into trouble: I masked off the light green with "Mr Maskol" and applied the next colour. Afterwards I removed it again, but the masking fluid attacked the 24-hour-old paint underneath within half an hour! Luckily there will be a decal later.
I had a small hope to get this plane ready for the exhibition in Ried next week, but it will be very tight! Already because of the drying times of the colours, decals etc.
6 October 2022, 16:28

I agree with B. Huxtable - a joy to watch and see how it all comes together perfect 👍 Thx for the show!
9 October 2022, 20:36

Thanks Juergen! See you next week in Ried 👍 This bird will also be there, but may be not yet complete.
I think I should take care of the undercarriage so that the thing can get on its own feet. I experimented with it before my summer holiday, but I didn't like the result yet.
9 October 2022, 20:46

My new possibly masterpiece now has an appealing and robust undercarriage that matches the original. That was some heavy special work (after some failed ideas) based on a contemporary sketch in the Datafile: [img1]
See also the walkaround pics in comparison:
[img1]
[img2]
11 October 2022, 19:26

Thank you gorby! I wasn't sure if my new pictures were visible until your response.
That was the most complicated undercarriage I have ever done. Three tries to solve this problem failed, but I learned with every try to do the final one 😉
12 October 2022, 17:17

Thx Christian! I guess you are not in Ried this Weekend? Then you have to wait until March for the EME in Lingen to see this bird in real 😉
12 October 2022, 19:53

Neat scratch building. The painting is also coming along nicely.
12 October 2022, 21:05

Thank you Villiers! The painting could be done better, I need to improve here. All the many colour borders allow for a large number of faults. I have never made such camouflage painting.
May be I have another update later today.
13 October 2022, 12:37

Wing and fuselage are married now. That's the look I was hoping for! 👍
13 October 2022, 18:58

Loooking all great - can't wait to see the bird in real, See you tomorrow at the show.
14 October 2022, 06:55

I am glad that you like it too!
All models are safely packed now. Juergen, see you tomorrow at a great show 👍
14 October 2022, 13:42

She is a thing of great beauty, in this fine livery 🙂 I'm sure she will draw lots of attention at the show. Have a great day out, both of you 🙂
14 October 2022, 14:09

Glad you made it, and best of luck at the exhibition. She is a beauty 👍
14 October 2022, 16:27

Thank you mates!
@Neuling Not in this unfinished state as Work In Progress, may be next year. At least the jury would notice the missing tailplane 😉
14 October 2022, 17:57

Thank you very much Chris and Elias!
Chris, maybe I am insane, but I suffer from AMS (Advanced Modeling Syndrome). And it gets worse with every model!
As I'm working on the struts my wife is saying I'm a "Streber" (in German language). That means someone is working on struts but also swotter 😉
18 October 2022, 19:05

Thank you Kyle!
What is typically part of an aircraft of this era that puts many modellers off? Correct, the rigging!
I'm happy, that this is done now.
23 October 2022, 17:21

Everything is as should be, when Mr. Bughunter make models. Thank you for a god reference, now i should try to get closest to your work as i can . Your work is a great inspiration for WWI modelers, keep it going!!
24 October 2022, 17:38

It's always a pleasure to read you nice comments mates 👍 Thanks!
gorby, the great look of this aircraft with the wooden struts in the walkaround appealed to me and made me start this project.
Predrag, that is a high praise, thx! But even that could be improved, I need to improve my masking and painting skills when it comes to those camouflage livres. The wing is ok as I could used masks (cutting plotter), but the fuselage is not perfect. I have now masking putty, may be this works better.
But the main modeling rule is still valid: there is no perfect model, and the next one will be better. 😉
24 October 2022, 19:34

When I prepared the wing for the rib bands some time ago, I had removed moulded details - the details of the strut holders on the upper side. Actually my model should also show these details, if even already shown in the kit.
I had then also shaped 12 metal sheets as shown in a photo of an original wing, but they had become too large (already the hole too large) and I did not attach them. I didn't feel like making them again and continued the construction.
Now the AMS has won and I have started another attempt ...
And yes, this would have been easier before the wing was mounted than on the finished model, but what one doesn't do for beautiful details 😉
25 October 2022, 17:14

Thank you gorby and Alec!
Now some attention to the tail and I'm done with details. Then only a bit of paint for weathering etc and this project come to the end.
26 October 2022, 18:45

It is done! 😎 It was a very special and extremely work intensive project, but it was worth it, because I am happy with the result.
The final pictures for the gallery album will hopefully follow in the next few days, if there is good weather and I have time.
Thank you very much for following and your comments!
27 October 2022, 18:41

Unbelievable what you have conjured up again in terms of details 👍
28 October 2022, 08:18

Wow mates, thank you very much for your nice comments!
Don't miss the chance to see the new reference pictures, äh, no , my model outdoor pictures, which I uploaded to a new album: Morane-Saulnier Type AI | Album by bughunter (1:48)
28 October 2022, 16:46

Dankeschön! Das ist schon ein besonderes Stück in meiner Sammlung 😉
1 December 2022, 18:28

A masterpiece by the man who utilizes real trees as "3D printers" for his modeling parts... 😉 👍 👍 👍
Probably worth a book, so many techniques in this one - fascinating work, and again this unique handwriting where the super-detail and the whole are in this rare perfect balance...
True top masterclass + the reason why Chuck Norris avoids building WWI scale models... 😉
17 March 2023, 19:34

Thank you very much!
Slavo, your wonderful comment put a smile on my face! 👍
19 March 2023, 21:10
Album info
Tried a scratched little instrument panel and cockpit parts. Scale is 1:48, and a WWI fighter.