LVG C.VI - Wingnut Wings - 1/32
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Hello,
This is a few pictures from my last built: LVG C.VI from Wingnut Wings, 1/32.
This was the last 1/32 kit of my stash… they are definitely too big for my display, and this one make no exception (something like 40cm width…).
However, I’ must admit that the 1/32 scale is the most appropriate when you want to build WW I biplane.
The Wingnut Wing kit is of high quality: very fine engraving and moulding, as well as good fitting.
I ‘should have spent more time studying the fuselage assembly. I’ had some problems when times came to close the fuselage, and this is most probably due to the fact that I’ did something wrong when building the internal structure. The problem when you make a mistake on the fuselage assembly of a biplane is that it has a cascade effect on the other parts assembly (wing alignment and engine position, etc..). No big deal, but it really annoyed me.
I’ read a lot of thing about the lozenge decals for the wing. The Wingnut instructions are really poor and do not give any relevant advice. The only recommendation is not to use any softener and to use a hair dryer instead, to make the decals fit the sharpest curvatures. My conclusion is the opposite: the hair dryer is a very risky option (irreversible on the sublayer paint and decals) and the classic decals softener (Tamiya strong or Microscale Red) gives pretty good results. Eventually I’ ve never used such an amount of decals softener for a kit….
Having a bottle of Tamiya Decal Adhesive ready, is also a good idea… in case of. It took me something like 5 or 6 hours to cover the 4 wings, the ailerons and the vertical and horizontal tails.
There was 3 options for the fuselage “wooden” texture:
· the oil brushing on an acrylic base
o Pro : very effective way to reproduce wood texture (assuming different acrylic base colour, to simulate different wood species)
o Cons : the wood texture remain “basic” and the technic needs to be really mastered to obtain a realistic effect
· the photoetched wood texture stencils
o Pro : very realistic effect, assuming that you have a few different templates, to vary the pattern which was not my case
o Cons : Pretty long process, since you must proceed “panel after panel” and apply some masking around each panel you are treating.
· the Uschi Wood grain effect decals
This is the solution I’ decided to use…. And my feedback is:
o Pro : the pattern is very realistic and the wooden texture eventually very convincing
o Cons : The decals are very fragile, and cutting the decal at the exact panel size is very tricky. It is also very difficult to make the decals fitting on the curved surface (like the around the cockpit hole). The application of the fuselage decals is also very long and requires several hours of work.
I’ used the Gaspatch turnbuckle, for the rigging. They are very nice and adapted to this kind of kit. You better have a few spares, in case you break one of them when detaching from the base, like I’ did.
Some of the turnbuckle were “home maid” with some metallic 0.2mm diam. Wire.
The gunner come from Wings cockpit figures. The moulding and the quality of this figurine is “average low” (I’ had to re-sculpt one arm..). I ’almost give up trying to fit it in the cockpit, but I’ wanted to bring a touch of life to the kit…. I’ don’t know if I’ succeed.
Eventually, this makes a pretty impressive (and unusual?) kit on the display…
Thanks for looking
Didier
