Unarmed Fokker Dr.1 Trainer: Revell 1/28

Started by George R Blair Jr · 219 · 1 week ago · 1/28, Dr-1, Fokker, Revell, trainer
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    George R Blair Jr said 2 months, 2 weeks ago:

    I will be the first to admit that I don't know much about WW1 airplanes, although I always thought they were cool. My experience with multi-wing planes is limited to the ones I fly in a game for my VR glasses. For my first experience building something with more than one wing, I decided I wanted something in a larger scale that would perhaps make it easier for me to see the parts and add the rigging. I have been dragging an old Revell 1/28 Fokker Dr.1 around for many years, so I thought this might be a fun plane to start with. I was looking at my limited research material for WW1 planes, and I came across two photos in the Squadron Fokker Dr.1 in Action book. It was a photo of an unarmed plane used in training. It appears to be in a standard camouflage, but it also has a really cool number painted on the side. The second photo shows a little bit of the deck where the machine guns would be located, so I can get a little idea of what the changes there might be. With these two photos in hand, I am ready to fearlessly jump into building this model. I want to add some details to the model, especially in the cockpit. I want to add the tubular frame to the inside of the cockpit, as well as add the fuel tank, which I think might be visible in the forward fuselage. I hope to design and then 3D print the frame and the fuel tank. I also want to try to make some more accurate gauges in the cockpit. For the exterior, I don't know that I will do much other than convert the deck in front of the pilot to one that is gun-less. I suspect that just doing the limited rigging on this model might be all that I can handle for my first multi-wing plane. Of course, there is that streaky camo to take care of, but one problem at a time. Cheers.

    7 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 2 months, 2 weeks ago:

    Fantastic entry, my friend @gblair! Very interesting trainer version. Looking forward to it!

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    John vd Biggelaar said 2 months, 2 weeks ago:

    Excellent choice, George @gblair
    Looking forward to see this progressing and your approach on the interior.

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    Carl Smoot said 2 months, 2 weeks ago:

    well George (@gblair), when you dive in, you start at the deep end of the pool!. Not just two wings, but three! I remember these WWI kits from my childhood as well. I think I built the SPAD kit at some point, of course with no rigging. But with the addition of the 3D parts, and your abilities in painting and weathering, I expect this will be a great addition to your collection.

    I am not all that knowledgeable about biplanes building, but the few that I have done, benefited greatly from having a jog to align the wings. So I can recommend working out something in that regard. I went the lazy (and somewhat expensive) route of buying a laser cut wooden jig from Ukraine, but there are other methods I've seen online that are doable at lower costs.

    Looking forward to seeing this progress.

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    George R Blair Jr said 2 months, 2 weeks ago:

    Thanks, Spiros (@fiveten), John (@johnb), and Carl (@clipper). I think this one will be fun and not too demanding. One of the reasons I like this model is that the bottom two wings are attached to the fuselage, so no alignment problems there. That just leaves the top wing to get aligned.

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    IAN Convey said 2 months, 2 weeks ago:

    Great choice George, with just a twist of difference. The wing alignment should not be to bad as Dr1's have the big struts going thru the centre wing. I am interested to see how your cockpit detail works out.

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    George R Blair Jr said 2 months, 2 weeks ago:

    Hi, Ian (@firelockg). Ease of adding the extra wings is the main reason I wanted to start with a Dr.1. This will be my first multi-wing plane, so I don't think you will be able to learn much from me. I have taking notes on yours, however. I did manage to get a trial framework for the cockpit cobbled together in TinkerCad (a free design program) and I got a trial print done. I still need to cure the parts and clean them up, then check sizes. We spend most of each Sunday at my Daughter's house playing board games and playing with my 4 year old granddaughter, so I won't have time to do much.

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    George R Blair Jr said 2 months, 2 weeks ago:

    I used my modeling time to examine the parts in the Revell kit and come up with a game plane for what I want to do. Hand-in-hand with that, I spent some time doing research trying to figure out what the interior looks like. From the photos I have found, it appears there was a lot of variation as to the configuration of the cockpit. So, more research needed. I also spent some time trying to figure out rib tapes. There is a lot of discussion online about the tapes, if they should be depicted, and how. I also spent some time looking online for a free font that I can use for the large numbers on the fuselage. When I started the search, I would have been will to bet that I wouldn't find a similar font. It took a couple of hours, but I think I have found a font that is almost an exact match. My Karma must be in sync with the universe. Yeah. More fun.

    My actual work on the plane was limited to using my Dremel tool to grind away the interior detail, followed by some sanding to smooth everything out. I designed some of the interior frame on TinkerCad (a free online design program) and then printed them on my 3D printer. I took measurements for the frame from a Roden 1/32 Dr.1. I increased their size by 14% to bring them up to 1/28. We'll see if my math works. My wife used to be a math teacher, so it will be embarrassing if it doesn't. I still need to cure the parts and check them for size. In this case, it would probably be easier simply to build the frame directly inside the fuselage using round sprue. I wanted to try designing and printing them mainly to gain experience using the design software, but once designed, it is easy to make changes in the program and reprint.

    Probably not a lot of work on the plane tomorrow, but I am anxious to get into the cockpit build. Cheers.

    4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    IAN Convey said 2 months, 2 weeks ago:

    Nice progress George, the interior of the German A/C always looks haphazard to me, no instrument panel as such , just stick the instruments where there is a gap, but as an A/C instrument fitter I like to see them in a designated panel, I reckon the pilots would prefer that to.

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    John vd Biggelaar said 2 months, 2 weeks ago:

    Very nice start, George @gblair
    Looking forward to the interior which for sure will look much more detailed in the end.

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    George R Blair Jr said 2 months, 2 weeks ago:

    Thanks, Ian (@firelockg) and John (@johnb). The instruments are an interesting subject. WW1 photos of the interior are difficult to find, but there are a lot of photos from planes in museums. Revell depicts the instruments on a bar that goes across the cockpit in front of the pilot, but I haven't found any photos that show that. I have found photos that show instruments mounted singly in several places in the cockpit, including the floor. Other photos show a few instruments sitting on a simple piece of plywood in front of the pilot. The photos I have found photos of cockpits that people have put into their Dr.1 models and also found a wide variety of instruments. I found a book on Amazon that is supposed to have some good interior photos, so I have my fingers crossed. Having been an instrument technician, Ian, I know you have much more knowledge about this than I do. I was an instructor pilot in the Air Force, but for me instruments either worked or they didn't, and not much I could do about them in flight. The instrument techs were the guys that made sure we had safe and reliable equipment to use. Cheers.

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    Brian Ruffier said 2 months, 2 weeks ago:

    Here's a link to a discussion of another DR I with that engine... appears there might be a difference in air intakes between the Goebel-engined type and the others.
    https://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50036

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    IAN Convey said 2 months, 2 weeks ago:

    George, I guess that with all the alternatives you cannot get it wrong no mater how the cockpit is done. Your correct about instruments being right or U/S in flight , but you may be surprised at some stories aircrew said they did and on testing they were ok.

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    George R Blair Jr said 2 months, 1 week ago:

    Thanks, Brian (@wyvern1965) and Ian (@firelockg). I am thinking about that different engine. The article I read said that only a handful of Dr.1s had this different engine, so I am sure that some of the unarmed trainers still retained the original engine. I hope to find some files to print the engine on my 3D printer, but it might be a little obscure. I found a book on Amazon that is supposed to have some really good diagrams of the interior and exterior. Maybe that will give me something definitive I can use. I worry that some of the photos of the interior I have found are museum aircraft that might not have an original cockpit. Thanks for the link, Brian. I am off to look around at "The Aerodrome". Cheers.

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    George R Blair Jr said 2 months, 1 week ago:

    I had a lot of family things today, but I had a little time to work on the plane. I got the framework cured and cleaned up. A quick test fit looks good for the fit. I will also have to replace the cockpit floor, which only sort of looks like the photos I have. I thought it might be fun to use one of the kit figures from the kit. There are three figures, and they are really sad looking. The pieces are more than a little bit warped and it is taking some major clamping to get the figure halves to fit together. I hope everyone had a great weekend.

    2 attached images. Click to enlarge.