Kit: Revell (1:28)
Well, sometimes you have to just start over again! Here you can see that I have stripped it down to bare plastic and have re-added the wing and tail rib detail with strip styrene. At this point, I have sanded a good deal of it away. After a few more primer coats and sanding, I should have a good working surface.
As we all know, good quality control, inspection, and management is essential to the completion of any project. Here, one of my cats, Hillairee, makes a cameo appearance, and is telling me that I missed a spot!
Here is an underside shot, mainly of the fuselage. You can easily see where I added some strip to add the structure of the fuselage, and how it is mostly sanded off. This effect should be quite subtle, or at least, that's what I'm hoping for! Once primed and painted, it should be barely visible. I am happy with how it looks!
This is a rear-view. This photo mainly shows the wire that I added to the turtledeck. Thanks to Paul Howard's Tripe, I realized how one gets that nice fabric over stringer finish back there - especially since the Revell kit has such a nasty seam on the fuselage. I'm psyched! I feel that I am on the path to something good here!
For some reason, I was destined to come across the old 1/28 Sopwith Camel by Revell. For some reason, this kit excited me, and I set out to detail the living snot out of it - and I'm not doing a half-bad job, either! First, I built the frame for the fuselage, added bracing wires, and then fuel tanks and lines (photo 1). Later, I added the fuel control system: the cutoff valve, the throttle quadrant, and tank selector. The excellent photoetch set from Copper State Models helped here, providing a real dandy of a throttle quadrant (photo 2). I made up a joystick and rudder pedals too, and added all of the control wires inside the cockpit.
This picture is of the instrument panel - it was again done with the great instrument set from Copper State, with added stuff like some switches and the oil level indicator (photo 3). The panel is a red mahogany veneer. I know that the breech slots are uneven, but you can't see anyway (curses!).
Here are three views of my famous wicker seat (photos 4, 5, and 6). It is made from brass, copper, and silver wire, with a styrene base, Milliput seat cushion, and a wire insulation pad on the rim. 4-5 hours, people. But I think that it looks passable.
Here's a view of the components laying about - you can see some of the work on the engine, the cockpit, and rudder bar (photo 7). Although the cylinder seams are visible in the pic, they've been dressed up. Also, not in the pic, are the push rods and ignition wiring. What you can see is the addition of new push rod guides in the crankcase.
...And the prop. Hand-carved, of course, and dolled up with more Copper State goodies, including the Prop Boss and the bolts. I build up the laminations myself, squeeze them in a vise, and then start to whacking on them (photo 8).
Here is my Aldis gunsight. I know that the photo doesn't show it, but there is epoxy in both ends that acts as a lens. The sight is aluminum tube, drafting tape, and brass wire.
