News Feed

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!

Moreno Baruffini
I have the Italeri decals for this! Well done!

gorby
Very nice work!

Curatorm
Very smart.

gorby
I think you win this weeks prize for most heavy duty modelling tool. 😄
Looks a very interesting conversion.

Lenny Li
I think that kind of set up can tool a real bogie!!

Neuling
Watching .....................

Jakko ‌
> I think you win this weeks prize for most heavy duty modelling tool. 😄

Probably, yeah 🙂 It's a metalworking lathe, so a bit overkill for just turning down the seam on those wheels, but I didn't feel like aching fingers from scraping them down with a knife — I get those even when I hold them in a modelling vice, never mind just between my fingers.

> that kind of set up can tool a real bogie!!

Having seen a disassembled Sherman bogie up close, I must say I think this one is a size too small for that 😉

Ben M
👀 fascinating vehicle.

Mr D
Looking good, weld's coming on nice 👍

Ben M
How did you hold the wheels in the lathe?

Jakko ‌
@Mr D: that's not the welds yet, it's just the filler needed to plug the gaps 🙁 I'm still debating how to add all the weld seams.

@Ben M: An M2 screw, about 2 cm long, through the hole in the wheel, with a nut to tighten it. It needs to be fairly tight else chances are the wheel will stop as soon as the chisel hits it. On Asuka two-piece wheels, you need to do this before assembling the parts, because the hole on the piece to be glued in is smaller than on the part that has the tyre moulded on it.

Ben M
Thank you, I can envision the setup. I have a small lathe and arthritis in my hands, this technique could help me a lot. Thanks!

Mr D
Regarding weld's l have seen super glue used through a fine tip, you need steady hand n move in pattern to create weld.
Sorry l was looking at the resin 🤔🤣.
Good stuff be keeping eye
On progress 👍👍

Jakko ‌
@Ben M: What also works is a modeller's vice. Clamp the wheel in that, scrape down the seam with a straight knife over a third or so of the wheel, then unclamp and turn it, and repeat. If I scrape more than about two or three wheels by hand, my fingers ache enough that I have to stop, so the vice helps a lot. But you also get a lot of plastic scrapings all over your modelling area, so this time, I figured I'd put those in someone else's hobby room instead for a change 😉

@Mr D: Hahaha! The ones on the resin were put there by Resicast 🙂 But I'll now have to make ones that look similar, or at least not out of place next to them. I'm thinking a thin string of two-part epoxy, textured with a sharp tool.

gorby
I've just seen an Uncle Nightshift vid on adding weld seams:
Youtube Video

Jakko ‌
Thanks for that.

Mr D
Good video 👍, the finish on the flat plate work looks authentic, l think it's had better rough cast look from the brush stippling before he added the putty coat.
Good idea on the weld , epoxy putty best as regular epoxy levels out again.

Jakko ‌
I've begun to add the weld seams now — see photo 23 🙂 Basically, Magic Sculp two-part epoxy putty that I mixed up a very small amount of, then took even smaller amounts from that and rolled it as thin as I could in my hand before pressing it into the join between the parts. Getting it to stick there is tricky, especially once I began texturing it with the tip of a knife — it wants to adhere to skin and steel much better than to plastic, unfortunately 🙁 But with a bit of perseverance it does eventually stick.

Pietro De Angelis
Fantastic work, congrats!

David Taylor
really coming along.

Jakko ‌
Thanks 🙂

Robert Podkoński
I see some heavy duty equipment here and a lot of elbow grease... Good job so far, Jakko! Keep it up!

Jakko ‌
Thanks, though this is fairly straightforward. The most difficult part was finding a good way to curve the splash plates, really.

Pepe
Looking

gorby
You're doing some excellent work on this.

Jakko ‌
Thanks 🙂

Guy Rump
Looking great, following. 👍

Jakko ‌
Cool, nice to have you along 🙂

Mr D
Taking shape now, the green welding joints are looking a better medium.
Interesting to see an adaptation taking place of the original.
Thanks for your posts, good to see steps
👍👍👍

Jakko ‌
Thanks. TBH, I don't really care to look at photos of finished models — I much prefer seeing how they got to be that way, after which the finished pics make sense 🙂 So I post in-progress photos instead of only what it looks like at the end.

Ben M
Looks great, what an interesting subject. I enjoy your in progress photos.

My favorite bit is the martini glass holder up there on the bridge.

Mr D
Hi Jakko👋
Very nice... great job, thanks for the uploads....be interesting to watch progress.
Like it 😁👍👍

Robert Podkoński
Great job, Jakko! You're a master!

Jakko ‌
Thanks, guys 🙂

> I enjoy your in progress photos.

Speaking for myself, I much prefer looking at how a model was built, than how it looks when it's finished 🙂

> My favorite bit is the martini glass holder up there on the bridge.

I take it you mean the No. 19 set 'B' aerial …

David Taylor
Brill.

Jakko ‌
Thanks 🙂

Guy Rump
Great job! 👍

Jakko ‌
Thank you too 🙂

Ben M
Wow, that took a lot of work. Great result, and such an interesting vehicle. I wonder how many of these conversion kits actually get built!

Mr D
Brilliant 👌 Well done a nice custom model 👍👍
All the work paid off now 👍👍

Jakko ‌
Thanks 🙂 It did take a good while, but I'm pretty happy with how it came out. And I agree with Ben, you have to wonder how many people actually build extensive resin conversion kits these days … they're definitely not for the modeller who just wants to put the parts together.

FWIW, I also have Resicast's Sherman V DD and Terrapin (both complete kits) in my stash, which will probably be even more work 🙂

Ben M
I've looked at an m33 conversion for an m3 along with a resin gun to go behind it but honestly builds like this convince me to save my money; I'm not likely to ever build it and it'd just sit in my stash. I like to spend money on things I'll actually build.

I can just vicariously enjoy builds like this! I also really enjoyed your CDL build, all the corrections you did to it were really amazing. I like how deeply you research these things.

Jakko ‌
Yes, an M33 would be a pretty intensive build, I would imagine 🙂 TBH, Resicast is probably one of the better "traditional" conversion-kit brands you could go for, but if you can't actually see yourself starting it at all then I agree it's just better to leave it. The main reason I had the BARV kit (and the Terrapin, DD, and some others) is because Resicast was going to close last year, and I don't see any plastic kits of any of these coming out in my lifetime …

As for research: I just want to build a model that's fairly accurate, and when the manufacturer gets it clearly wrong, I try and correct the kit 🙂 That's basically what lead to the detailling added to this model, but also the CDL modifications, adding a FULL set of deep-wading gear to a Churchill, etc. I couldn't have done any of these without being able to ask other people online about things I couldn't discover or work out on my own, though.

gorby
Fantastic result!

Jakko ‌
Thank you 🙂

S M
Nice clea building! Could you tell what is the purpose of that aluminium foil?

Maciej Bellos
Thank you for all the likes gentlemen!

S B, the aluminum foil was used to protect the underlying plastic from the sprue goo I used so as the sniper pylon fits better to the fuselage. All Sniper pylons I have are either for the Eagle or the Viper so one had to be modified to fit.

I will sort the photos and add some comments too.