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Dave
Really nice diorama, great details.

Kesa Tiho
Very nice, how'd you do such a fantastic job on the landscape?

Cristian A
Taking a seat and popcorn 🍿

Skyhiker
Welcome Cristian A.

Dave Flitton
Watching

Robert Podkoński
Taking a seat too!

Skyhiker
Welcome gentlemen

Ben M
It is like a duck

Skyhiker
Yeah, it's a bit like the Su-34, just a little less flat.

DerMattes
Watching 👍

Skyhiker
Hi, DerMattes, welcome.

Guy Rump
Following. 👍

Skyhiker
Wings are on and surface details beginning.

Mr D
Coming along nicely 👍👍 More building 🤣 going ahead,
Smart and interesting aircraft, lm going to have to research n watch some YouTube videos on this aircraft.
Like the cockpit 👌

Trev
Nice. I'm definitely going to try the "pencils and tape in engine" trick, that looks really useful.

Jurica Antić
You need to make holders somehow 😄

Alec K
A biplane?!? Taking a seat for sure. Your engine looks nice and greasy 🙂 👍

Jakub Fiala
Thank you, Alec! Yes, this is my very first project of WWI plane 🙂

Mark Sherwood
Good luck. 🥸👍

Simon O'Gorman
Really impressive.

Jakub Fiala
Thank you, Mark and Simon!

Guy Rump
Looking good, following. 👍

Alec K
Cockpit looks excellent Jakube 👍

Ludvík Kružík
Jakub, the construction progress so far looks very good.
Maybe you'll find a liking in WWI models. 😉

Jakub Fiala
Thank you, mates!
Ludvíku, i must say, that i am enjoing it so far. But there will be more challenges later( riggings, lozenge....) So, i will see. But i believe, that WWII will remains my priority 🙂

bughunter
I'm a bit late in commenting do to my holiday - nice work so far!
Since there are some pitfalls: do you want a fun build or should it be correct?
Which specific serial do you plan to build?

Jakub Fiala
Thank you, Frank!
I want to build 8244/17 of Jasta 54. This marking is, according Eduard instructions, just a reconstruction based on the description in the flight log, revealed in the Jasta Color book. So, in my opinion it will be difficult to buid it 100% correct 🙂 However, I will of course be grateful for any advice and recommendations

bughunter
Ok, on a Pfalz D.IIIa the engine is different. The very simplified Eduard (the pipe work on the lower end of the cylinders is the water, what you have painted dark red - but this is not much visible later) engine shows a older 160hp Mercedes D.III. This is especially shown by the valve train, which can be seen on top of the engine.
Two bolts on top, and the valve in the middle: [img1]

The later 185hp Mercedes D.IIIa was also available for some Pfalz D.III, and nearly all of Pfalz D.IIIa pictures shows this stronger version. The drawings I know too. The engine is a little bit bigger, but the valve train looks very different - four bolts and the valves rockers comes out of the side:
[img1]

Roden has a better representation of this engine (same sprue on all kits), and it is also more correct in size. That means I cannot get it into this model 🙁

No worries mate, only an expert will notice on the finished model 🙂

And regarding the wings: I strongly recommend Aviattic decals. The ones printed on clear paper (normal) and the ones printed on white for rib tapes. Or you use the Eduard rib tapes. I have some build logs explaining the usage.

Jakub Fiala
Thank you very much, Frank, for your help!
While going through the photos and drawings of the engines, I noticed that each type is different, but I was quite confused as to which engine was the right one. In the end I didn't deal with it and just tried to scratchbuild some visible details that are missing from the kit. For example the air pump, pipes and hoses leading from the radiator on the upper wing etc. I use the WnW manual and kit ( borrowed from a friend of mine) as the main source of information 🙂

Thanks for the advice on decals. I'll try to get the Aviattic ones. But I don't know if it will be easier for me to use the lozenge decals from the kit, which are already prepared in the shape of a wing. I will see...

Alec K
Regardless the path you take, I am sure this will be a superb build 🙂👍

Michael Kohl
Following with interest.

Jakub Fiala
Thank you, Alec! I hope I won't disappoint you 🙂
Welcome here, Michael.

bughunter
Yes, the WNW manuals are a good source! You can download the manuals as PDF, the web site is still available.
But I suggest to download all what you need (also for other projects) soon. The site was away for a while already and I heard rumors that it was paid then for some additional time only.

For the Linux users among us, I suggest using "wget" with the recursive option so you can get all the PDFs, reference images and more to your hard drive without making millions of clicks,

CaptGPF
Ditto - following!

Jakub Fiala
I heard the same, bughunter. Nobody knows, how long the WnW site will be available.

Jakub Fiala
I added a few external details from PE, Evergreen, and my favourite plastic yogurt container 🙂
The fuselage with lower wing is almost ready to paint.

bughunter
Good progress!
It's nice to see some reused ideas! 😉

Jakub Fiala
Thanks!

René "Lord Bilbo" Bartholemy
Am I too late to take a seat? 😊

Guy Rump
Looking good, following. 👍

Jakub Fiala
Thanks and welcome here, guys!

gorby
Fantastic work so far.

Jakub Fiala
Thank you, Gorby!

Alec K
Superb progress Jakube. The tail skid looks very authentic, as do the rigging buckles 👍

Ben M
This sure looks nice!

Jakub Fiala
Thank you Alec and Ben

Spanjaard
looks really great so far

Ludvík Kružík
Jakub, you're doing a good job. All the detail you put into it looks very good and adds credibility to the model. 👍

Jakub Fiala
Thanks a lot Ludvíku and Spanjaard

Jakub Fiala
I sprayed the colors on the fuselage and applied the first layer of lozenge decal from Eduard. Unfortunately, I could not find those from Aviattic at any of the e-shops. I have to admit I'm too lazy to order them directly from the UK manufacturer 🙂

Mark Sherwood
The Pfalz is looking good Jakub, despite the mishaps. I have had similar problems, even though I de-tacked the tape. Still it looks like it's coming good. 🤘🥸🤟

Mr D
Looking great... Definitely a future model for me, lve not built an Eduard yet.
Good luck with next steps 😀👍

Ludvík Kružík
Accidents like this always hurt. But you did a great job fixing it.

What manufacturer did you use for the lozenge decals?

Tim
NIce

Villiers de Vos
Steady progress. Did you light the stern?

Thomas Wirsching
Great job so far! I would love to get an explanation about how to do these LED lighting in detail as I have no idea about this.

Hang Li
Thanks Tim, Villiers, and Thomas. I did put a led for the trolled sonar bay back at the stern. It is apparently not bright enough to be really visible. Probably not noticeable after finished.

I prefer to use Led tape light as it has build in resistors so I don't need do calculation to figure out the resistor value. Once that is sorted, what left is just connect the led unit with a battery and a switch. I think it is better to ask a trained electrician as the circiut I built don't last long and I don't really know why.

Michael Kohl
I expect modelling of the highest quality from your bench. So far I am not disappointed. 🙂
Keep it up.

Treehugger
Hm, how long did it take to make the nice looking ocean surface? It certainly looks like a fun project.
I wish I knew how to make such ocean surfaces, as it really seem to complete a model with such a diorama.

I am no expert on led's but my impression is that one has to be careful that the voltage to the led's is controlled to specs, so they don't burn out shortly after and end up being un-repairable inside the model. Also, something about connecting led's in parallel, pattern iirc, to avoid one dead led blacking out all the rest of the leds in a serial connection, iirc.

Thomas Wirsching
Your build is already mindblowing; 漂亮]!

Tim
Your sea base is looking really nice.

Hang Li
Thanks Treehugger, THomas and Tim.
As for the sea base, you can check a YouTube channel called ''studio blue ocean'', I basically followed his videos. And treehugger did a pretty good summary for LEDs. The voltages is very important and it is always needed to put some resistors in series to potect the LEDs. The size of the resistors can be calculated with ohms' law. There are small circuit boards for LEDs which can be used to make everything easier.

Rui S
Impressive work 👍

Villiers de Vos
Fantastic work with all the photoetch parts. Your attention to detail shows.

Thomas Wirsching
Getting better and better; can you please show us a detail picture from the inside of the hangar? Did you build this from scratch?

Hang Li
Thanks, Rui and Villiers. I just masked the hangar as I am going to paint the outside. I will get better hangar photos once finish. The trumpster kit comes with the hangar and the ceiling is in good detail (I only add LEDs to the ceiling). Only the walls need additional work to add details, like handrails, supports etc.

Ingmar Stöhr
Wow! Fantastic detail work and great job on the weathering and the base!

Gary Victory
Really nice work Hang. Looking like a great build.

Villiers de Vos
Fantastic finish.

Ingmar Stöhr
@Hang Li: For the 'oil canning' effect. Did you have accurate plans for the frame spacing or how did you come up with the pattern you used? I have to say that is look really convincing after some more weathering effects are applied on top.

Hang Li
thanks Ingmar, Gary and Villiers. As for the 'oil canning' effect, I found some photos which are somewhat visible for this effect as reference for the pattern and I have to simplifie the pattern to make it practical. So it is not quite accurate. I got some pre-cutted masking paper in 1mm, 2mm, and 3mm and I just picked one that I believe is most suitable.

Ingmar Stöhr
Thank you for the explanation! It looks convincing to me! Keep up the great work!

Michael Kohl
That oil can effect worked really great.

Miguel Vaquero
Amazing build!! Did you use resin for the sea base? If so, how did you manage to make that rough sea surface? It looks amazing

Jörg Schäfer
Great job. 👍

Thomas Wirsching
astonishing build and breathtaking seascape. Hats off to your talent!

Guy Rump
Looking great, following. 👍

Ingmar Stöhr
Looking really convincing so far!