Meng Fokker Dr.1

Started by Michael Turner · 80 · 2 years ago
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    Spiros Pendedekas said 2 years, 9 months ago:

    Wing color looks superb, very realistic, my friend @michaelt!

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    John vd Biggelaar said 2 years, 9 months ago:

    Results are awesome, Micahel @michaelt
    One of the nicest camouflages I've seen on a multi wing plane.

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    Michael Turner said 2 years, 8 months ago:

    There have been two problem fit areas with this build.

    The first is the lower fuselage seam. There is a step in both sides that is intended to accommodate the central insert that has the detail for the stitched join. These two steps are not the same depth making the joining surfaces minimal. Coupled with this is the fact that the central insert is thin and flexible, so great care needs to be taken in this area.

    The second area is the join between the fuselage and the under surface of the central wing root. It is not an easy area to get to due the the complex curvature of both the wing and fuselage.

    After a gloss coat and decaling the wings I sprayed a matt coat and weathered them with a brown wash underneath (Vallejo Brown 76.513) and a mix of khaki green and black wash on top (Vallejo Dark Khaki Green 76.520 and Black 76.518) to highlight the ribs.

    Then I attached the middle wing to the fuselage, although I had to touch up the upper wing centre section/fuselage joins with the main green paint.

    Then I tackled the under wing root gaps by brushing on white glue. This took a couple of applications.

    A delicate job of painting the underwing fairing green finished it off.

    Then I added the fuselage decals.

    The lower wing in the following photos is only fitted in place, with the lower cabane struts attached to the lower wing.

    The fit and alignment of these parts is great.

    You can also see the control cables in place on the tail and upper wings. These are from an old wire guitar high E string.

    The decals are fine except that the clear decal film over the serial number and data table below the port cockpit side is rather thick, giving an annoying silvering look when looking at them even slightly off vertical.

    I don't thing this is silvering and a friend had the same problem in spite of taking great care with gloss coats, etc. I think that the decals are just thick, rather like the old Dragon and Tamiya decals.

    5 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Michael Turner said 2 years, 8 months ago:

    I'm not sure that there is anything I can do about the clear decals...

    By the way, I decided to drill through the tail (before I attached it to the fuselage and painted it) in order to pass the control cable through. This required some difficult, low angle drilling with a fin bit/hand drill as the upper and lower holes are a couple of millimetres apart. It seemed like a good idea, but next time I wouldn't bother.

    The next step will be to weather the fuselage.

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    Michael Turner said 2 years, 8 months ago:

    When I added the middle wing I realised that the fuel filler caps, which are intended to poke through a couple of holes in the central upper fuselage section, were sitting a little to the rear.

    Looking at a number of photos, these caps often seemed to sit proud of the fuselage.

    So, while I still hadn't fitted the engine firewall, I decided to get in and cut these two parts off and position then so that they pocked through the holes.

    If you look at the photo below you can see what I've done on the inside of the fuselage.

    1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

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    Michael Turner said 2 years, 8 months ago:

    If you have been following this blog you would have seen the detailed research I undertook to understand what 'optional' parts apply to which aircraft (go have a look at the original thread here: https://imodeler.com/groups/work-in-progress-aircraft/forum/topic/meng-fokker-dr-i-1-32/?_wpnonce=5b7e1f64e4&topic_page=1&num=15

    In re-looking at pictures for the fuel cap mod above, I re-examined a photo of the aircraft that I'm building on the Wingnut Wings website.
    It show a close-up of the front fuselage of the crashed aircraft.
    I noticed something that I hadn't seen before: the aircraft did have the circular forward fuselage access panels!
    So, I now had to add these to the build rather late in the process.
    I used the brass etched parts, which Meng had cleverly engineered so that they don't have any attachment points to clean up.
    I bent them into a slight curve and attached them using white glue.
    As these were field modifications on the real aircraft, I think I'll paint them a slightly different green for a bit of contrast.

    Today was the original club competition deadline for this build but, thanks to Covid lockdown(s), it was decided a couple of weeks ago that everyone gets a 1 month extension.

    1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

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    John vd Biggelaar said 2 years, 8 months ago:

    This is very nice progress, Michael @michaelt
    The access panel on the fuselage is looking great.
    Decalling and weathering is also top notch.

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    Michael Turner said 2 years, 8 months ago:

    Thanks John (@johnb).
    I've been keeping tabs on the excellent progress you have been making on your Me 262 as well.

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    Michael Turner said 2 years, 8 months ago:

    I've made a bit of progress lately.

    She is up on her feet at last.

    I know it won't be seen, but it seems the oil stains on the firewall have worn off with too much handling.

    I'm very happy with the wire bracing for the undercarriage and the upper wing. They add much needed strength and stability to these two areas.

    I need to glue the engine and cowling on and then fit the top wing (plus aileron control wires near the rear cabane struts) and outer cabanes.

    The last major challenge will be the wood-effect on the prop.

    4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 2 years, 8 months ago:

    Looking super so far, my friend @michaelt!
    I believe no one would attempt to dismantle the model, in order to check the firewall staining status... 🙂
    It's true that bracing a biplane model results in the so much sought after strength...

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    Michael Turner said 2 years, 8 months ago:

    G'day Spiros (@fiveten),
    True, mate, but I think we all put that little bit of effort into builds that only we know is there.
    Thanks for your prompt response, as usual!

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    John vd Biggelaar said 2 years, 8 months ago:

    Beautiful progress, Michael @michaelt
    Agree with the bits of extras that you always want to add, although mostly only yourself will notice it is there.
    Wires look great as well.

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    Michael Turner said 2 years, 8 months ago:

    OK, I had to add the oil stains...

    1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

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    John vd Biggelaar said 2 years, 8 months ago:

    Looks great, Michael @michaelt

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 2 years, 8 months ago:

    Now you know they are there, my friend @michaelt!