1/32 Albatros BII – Wingnut Wings
Maybe I should have titled this submission "Avon Sabre begets Albatros BII". To explain:
In mid-2016 I travelled to the Australian Model Expo in Melbourne, where highly gifted modeller Eric Galliers unveiled his superb 1/32 scale model of the Avon Sabre I flew as a junior pilot in No 77 Squadron at RAAF Base Butterworth in the then Malaya in the early 1960s. I can tell you that it was quite an emotional moment for me when I saw this superb piece of craftsmanship for the first time, a scale recreation of an aircraft I flew over half a century ago. Quite an honour.
Anyway, Eric is quite used to winning prizes at these events, and one of the prizes he won on that occasion was a Wingnut Wings Albatros BII kit. Since he already had this kit in his stash, he very kindly gave it to me. I started work on it in late 2016, but other matters halted progress until quite recently, when I was able to return to the modelling bench at long last.
I used Uschi van der Rosten fine veneer plywood decal sheets on the fuselage and Aviattic doped linen-effect decals on the flying surfaces. Apart from that and the Gaspatch turnbuckles, it's all pretty much OOB.
Incidentally, I've thrown in an image of the Avon Sabre model that led to all this. And if you would like to see how an expert modeller goes about building such a masterpiece, there's an e-book of the build log here:
Really nice job here, very clean. Well done!
Beautiful work, sir...just beautiful.
Excellent! Great build, great paint job and decals and great rigging.
K.J. that is a real beauty! Well done.
Brilliant work, absolutely amazing sir!
That’s really well done. I looked at your gallery and like the Buffalo a lot too. How did that kit build?
Very straightforward build, John. No issues of any consequence.
Wonderful work - love the fabric effect!
That's a beautiful piece of work (love) there! Excellent craftsmanship all the way around.
It's amazing, these models get a lot of work and patience to get to place the wiring and mount the two parts of the wings and align everything.
Congratulations, great work
Awesome WNW build! You did the kit real justice and she is a masterpiece model!
Great job!
Fantastic work on the Albatros, stunning details and the wing surfaces look amazing. Great story too on the Sabre and how one thing led to another.
In terms of commitment, focus, and patience alone this is outstanding. That you have also created such a beautifully rendered work also, is just amazing.
Superb.
outstanding
I got my Albatros D.V in today. Now I need some practice to do as well as you did on the rigging.
Hello Paul. I've found that some Gaspatch turnbuckles and eyelets, coupled with some Fine EZ Line Charcoal from Wingnut Wings, reduces the pain to a (barely) tolerable level.
Beautiful work mate!
Beautiful work. Have you posted this on FB? Looks like one I at at Great War in 32nd Scale. Really nice, gotta pull out my Dolphin. That or the second R.E.8
This is pretty inspirational.
Funny you should mention the Dolphin, Tom, because I've got my eye on that as well. But first I must somewhat belatedly address the 1/32 Italeri Mirage IIIE, as a IIIO, for reasons which may be quite obvious ?
Masterpiece !
Love the linen, wheels and wood, one of the most realistic works i've ever seen.
Congratulations !
Just stunning work K.J. Glad you posted it for all of us to see. Nicely done sir.
Looks like some expert work on that Albatross! Flying the Sabre must have been awesome.
This is an amazing build... everything about it looks fantastic. This is one of those planes that just begs to be built as a 1/6 scale RC plane. I especially like the canvas wing covering decal as it's effects are convincing.
It must have been a blast piloting a Saber Jet.
My Dad told me about a story where he got a short ride in one once... Apparently Dad gave a Sabre pilot a ride in his US Army tank in Korea during the War. Dad never went into the details about how they picked the pilot up, but my Dad was a tank commander in both Sherman's and Pershing's during the War. Dad held two different MOS's, with one being "Heavy Weapons, Infantry", and the other as a "Tanker".
As part of the "deal" he made with the pilot, he was supposed to get a ride in a Sabre jet in return. Somehow Dad was barely able to squeak in behind the pilots seat, on top of the radio, just under the bubble. He told me they were just barely able to close the canopy, and that it was the most uncomfortable ride of his life !
They made a short hop and quickly landed...
Absolutely gorgeous, K.J.!
Louis, a ride in a Sabre isn't a bad trade for being picked up in a tank. But I sure bet it was uncomfortable, to say the least!
Great Build !
I'm really impressed by the way you realize wing's linen with Aviattic decals. Shading/tranparency is brilliant. I am at this point in the building of my BII, just ordered CDL decals. You're model inspires me much, hoping to make it as well. Congratulations.