Skeletal Fokker
I've always had a phobia about photo-etched parts. Paint won't stick to them, they fly off into oblivion when picked up with tweezers, they bend where they shouldn't and you can't sand them to shape; it's a pretty unforgiving medium. I hoped this build of Eduard's 'strip-down' 1/72 Fokker triplane would help me get over my fears.
The Eduard kit is superbly engineered, though perhaps a little overly complicated. They even supply resin formers to help bend the leading edge strips and the spoked wheels to the correct shapes. Despite this I managed to twist the leading edges, a problem compounded when I tried to manually bend them back to shape.
To be honest the model fought me all the way, most of the issues being self induced. For instance I didn't study the assembly diagram closely enough and folded the entire fuselage back-to-front, then superglued it together. It took some very careful de-bonding and re-bending to correct this when I realized my error. I also knocked the almost-completed model flying across my workbench – twice – causing irreparable damage to the wings.
The cowling, prop, wing spars, wheels and a few other parts are styrene (in fact Eduard supply a complete 1/72 injection-moulded triplane although most of the parts go unused). I painted the model to loosely replicate the original materials.
It was a challenge, and the end result is tiny, but largely due to Eduard's superb engineering it came out OK. Apparently they've released a 'strip-down' DH-2 as well. I'll be giving that one a miss 😉
Looks like you won your war with PE Mike. A person wouldn't realize how tiny this is without the paint bottle reference.
Did I see this in a magazine?
Thanks Al. Yes, a full-build article was published in 'Airfix Model World' last month.
The following attributes are to be commended:
Your diligence
Your patience
Your modeling talent(s)
Your photography
and lastly...whatever medication you were (or are) taking to even consider a build such as this. Congratulations on a stellar piece of work, sir.
Cheers Craig. There were definitely times when medication would have been most welcome 🙂
One question Mike, Did you get over your trepidation?
Not fully, Paul; I'll still choose styrene (or resin) over PE any day, although I realize there are times when nothing can match PE for fidelity of detail. I can say I'm not quite as terrified as I was 😉
WOW! just plain WOW! I wouldn't be game to tackle this in 1/32 let alone 1/72. I presume you are on first name terms with your optometrist? Just fantastic work Mike.
Thanks Tony, I did use my Optivisor a lot on this build...
that's amazing...love those bending pliers too
Thank you Bob. I do have one of those fancy bending tools but for 90% of this build, those Tamiya bending pliers did the trick.
Fantastic, like it very much
Thanks Milan.
Incredible, Mike, I can't believe it's so tiny.
Thank you George.
That is a damn good job there Mike, I read the write up in AMW and all I can say is Wow .
A very well done mate.
Thanks for commenting Simon (and for reading the magazine article).
Pretty cool, Mike. I just went back through a load of bookmarked sites in search of a Camel in 1/16 I've told myself I'll explore at some future date. No doubt now you've whetted your appetite for bone planes you'll want to dive into this:
http://www.modelexpo-online.com/product.asp?ITEMNO=MA1030
Thanks Rob. Your post led me to some reviews of the Hasegawa 1/16 Camel, which looks pretty cool. It's styrene, not photo-etch, and at a size I might be able to see without eyewear.
sounds like a nightmare but looks like a dream - great work!
Thanks Ramon.
I've a couple of those strip downs in my 'shelf of doom', congrats on having the courage and tenacity to tackle one!
Cheers Merrill 🙂
Your fortitude, gumption and skill are almost unbelievable. Wow, what a project. I'll keep the seat belt on my rocker buckled. I would be off said rocker to even think of trying this - thanks for sharing and congratulations on the result!
Thanks for the kind words, Ralph, glad you like it.
For me, this is the highest form of masochism, but also the highest form of modelling. You definitely deserve big applaus for this mastery. The best model I found here in last month...
Thanks Martin, much appreciated.
What a delightful little build and a fantastic achievment in 1:72...Love it! Your award is truly deserved!
Mike,
I am in awe of this model. In my dreams I may attempt to do this but would quickly regain my scenses
Wow, what more can I say. Wonderful.