WWI Aerial

[ZeroTwentythree]

I've decided to start a new project. I've played Blue Max & Canvas eagles for many (many) years, but I've decided to build my own collection of planes and accessories.

What is Blue Max/Canvas Eagles? Well...

Blue Max/Canvas Eagles is a fast paced multi-player World War I (1914 - 1918) aerial combat game that is played on a hex game mat. Each game depicts a single dogfight in which each player controls a single aircraft, and attempts to shoot down as many enemy planes as possible without being shot down themselves. There is no limit to the number of players that can play in a single game.

Blue Max/Canvas Eagles is played on a hex grid game mat, with the players, using an aircrfat maneuver chart decide which maneuver their aircraft will perform on the following move. After all players have decided their moves, all the aircraft are moved simultaneously on the game mat. Players can shoot at another plane only if the enemy aircraft is within their fire arc at a maximum distance of 3 hexes. The game rules are very simple with most being contained within the game components used for game play. Referencing the rules manual is rarely necessary. After playing a few games, you can start using the campaign rules, which adds more fun to the game.

It's a fun game, easy to learn, and great for a group of players. The rules are also free (at web site above.) We recently played, some photos are posted on my gaming blog.

I am going with the scale my friend, who usually hosts games, uses: 1/72. The kits are fairly inexpensive, but more detailed than 1/144. I've got a few already, and more in the mail right now.


So here's my first plane assembled, a Sopwith Pup. It's an old Airfix kit. I thought I would try assembling the whole thing first, then painting. In hindsight, I should have left the pilot out and painted him separately. But this is the first plastic non-GW kit I've done since I was a kid, so I was just following the instructions.



It was a little trickier than I thought. The cross-piece for the landing gear was missing, so I used brass rod and had to guess at the length. The upper wing was a pain in the ass to attach, as all its held on with are the struts connecting to the lower wing. But it turned out OK for a first try. I need to touch up the engine cowling a bit with some filing and maybe a bit of putty.

Unlike some of the other planes, this one is probably not going to be terribly interesting to paint.

I just cracked open what may be the next plane, a Fokker DR.1. It's another Airfix, but the quality is horrible compared to the Pup. More to come as I continue...

[Killshot]

Cool! I'll watch with interest!

[Ciaphas Cain]

So will I

Cheers

CC

[Col. Frost]

WW1 aircraft had interesting paint schemes, the idea of camouflage was yet to universally catch on.

Il be watching this with interest.

[ZeroTwentythree]

I've been working late at night, squeezing in an hour or two of hobby stuff after a long day of watching my daughter and work. Not that I mind either of those, I enjoy both my new role as father and my new job quite a bit. But my hobby (and other interests) time is more or less limited to the last hour or two of the day - late at night. So I didn't feel up to working on the Pup's rigging tonight.

Instead I assembled the Fokker DR.I. Like I said previously, it really isn't even close to the quality of the Pup. But it was still a pretty quick assembly. If it was molded better, it would have gone more quickly. But in the end it looks OK, as long as you don't examine the detail (like the guns or engine) too closely.





This time I did leave the pilot separate. Sadly, there are cockpit details, as there were on the Pup.

The third model I already have in my possession is one of my favorites (and I don't know why, exactly) in the game, an Albatross D.V. Again, another Airfix model, and again it's got some soft detail and mold lines, like the Fokker, and not near the quality of the Pup. Maybe this is a British bias against German planes showing through?


Over the weekend I hope to at least install the rigging on the Pup (none on the DR.I). With a little luck I will assemble the Albatross, too. Hopefully next week the next wave of planes will arrive here, as well as my first flight stand.

[Lars Porsenna]

For the Dr.1 see if you can get your hands on the Revell kit. Much better so I understand...

Damon.

[ZeroTwentythree]

I've heard that. I'm sure I will "need" a second one eventually.



I've started the rigging on the Pup. I've done the cross bracing so far. I've used 28 gauge steel wire. The rigidity helps make it easy to assemble. But it does look a bit thick.

In order to help work on it, I got impatient for working out a way of mounting. So I glued a small #40 nut on the bottom of the plane, roughly at the center of gravity. I then cut few 4" lengths of 1/2" wood dowel, with a small wood screw in each end. So I can use RE magnets to hold the plane on the dowel, and the dowel on my steel work table. Hopefully the nut works with the Omni-Stand I'd like to use. Based on the strong bond with the magnets I've already got, I think there are some other options as well.

[ZeroTwentythree]

Almost finished with the rigging on the Sopwith Pup. I screwed a few things up, and it's not the cleanest bit of modeling, but it's my first one and 1/72 scale isn't exactly large. I forgot a second (forward) tail stabilizer on each side. I will go back and finish that.





I also put together (minus pilot) the Albatross D.V. This is the last of the original 3 Airfix planes I had.





So, my question is... do I continue rigging all the planes? Some of them are far more involved than the pup. I'm trying to weigh the time & effort involved (which is significant, but not a horrible experience) with the fact that these are for playing games, not just display. So I've got some concerns about durability as well.

Here's a comparison shot.





Still waiting on the batch of allied planes. Lost out on the German planes I was hoping to get on eBay, but I did stop at the semi-local hobby shop (Wings Hobby Shop in Lakewood, OH -- no web page). Like just about everything else in this damned city, it's on the opposite side of town from where I live. The selection of 1/72 WWI planes was predictably small, but they did have some. I grabbed a Fokker D.VIIF and two more DR.1's (one for me, one for a friend.)

The manufacturers are Eduard and Roden, and I can already see that they are better than the Airfix DR.1 and Albatross. The Airfix Pup was really a nice plane and of similar quality to the new ones I got, though.


Ordering a (some) flight stand(s) tonight.

As I've been inhaling all nature of unhealthy fumes while working on that first plane, I've been wondering... Why does Snoopy fly a Camel rather than a Pup?

[ZeroTwentythree]

I received the two Omni-Stands I ordered from CorSec Engineering. I got the 5" bases. They are clear acrylic but come with paper backing on both sides -- which I suppose makes one of them "fronting" -- and a metal threaded receptor in the center. The paper is still on in the photos below. The two telescoping rods have spherical magnets on the top, one 1/4" and the other 3/8".

I had a chance to spend a couple hours at my stoodio between running errands today, and couldn't wait to test them out. They are exactly what I'm looking for.

I've used small nuts glued on the underside of the planes, as close to the center of gravity as I could get. I don't remember what size (saved the label in the container in which I'm storing them.) The smaller, 1/4" magnet is just strong enough to hold the planes in position. The larger magnet is almost a bit too strong, but I think I may keep a couple of those around in case I end up with some larger/heavier planes.

One mistake I made on the Fokker DR.1 was that I glued the nut appropriate for balance, but not far enough back from the plane that spans the landing struts. So it fits a little awkwardly. I'm not certain I can fix that at this point.








Almost done with the first DR.1. Not sure I got the colors & effect exactly right. Should look better with the markings on it.





So I'll definitely be picking up some more of the Omni-Stands.

I'm also looking into the hex map issue. The two current options under consideration are 72" x 48" felt European Field map from Hotz Mats, or having my own design printed locally on 72" x 48" outdoor banner vinyl. The former is about $60, the latter is $140.

[Crube]

Excellent and fascinating stuff zerotwentythree. I'm a big fan of 1:72 aircraft kits, so I'll keep an eye on this log.

My thoughts on the rigging are that it really does add a lot to potentially otherwise plain kits, so personally I'd carry on, however I would ask the question is the wire you used on the Pup a little too thick? On the pictures, it looks almostr the same thickness as the strutts?

[ZeroTwentythree]

The wire is extremely thin, but yes, I agree, I think it still looks a little too thick.

I'm going to paint the Pup before doing anything else, so I can see how it looks in completed form.

I did pick up some brass wire that I think may be just a tiny bit smaller, yet still rigid. (More so than the steel, actually.) If not, then I start looking at ultra thin thread or fishing line. But I'd really prefer sticking with something rigid.

[ZeroTwentythree]

Just noticed that CorSec also does hex mats. I will take them into consideration too.

[Crube]

I would say if you can go slightly thinner then it will look better... I reckon for gaming purposes then rigid is your best bet. If you were doing display peices, then the extra effort in atttaching line or thread is worth it, but the rigidity will help when they're being handled during a game.


Looking forward to seeing the pup painted... that was actually one of my first Airfix kits as a wee pup...

[ZeroTwentythree]

I picked up a couple of paints for the Pup today. I took the Airfix colors, looked up the equivalent Vallejo Colors on the The Ultimate Model Paint Conversion Chart and got something that looked not entirely dissimilar from what I expected based on illustrations, profiles, etc. Not really happy with the colors. The fuselage/wing color seems too light.





I haven't even bothered to show the bottom, as the color looks more "banana" and less "clear doped linen."

On the other hand, now that there's some paint in it, I like the rigging better. The glue joints are too pronounced, but I do like the rigging itself.

Still more touching up and finishing to do. And decals, of course. I'm not a huge fan of waterslide decals, so I'm probably going to postpone for a bit and then do several kits at once.


In other news...

I've started putting together the Eduard Fokker DR.1. for a friend and I've got to admit that it's a huge step up from the Airfix kit. Hopefully I can do it justice. I'm looking forward to working on the paint scheme (Lothar Von Richthofen)

[Crube]

Getting paint on does make the rigging seem a lot less pronounced... Nice one

[Captain Brown]

ZeroTwentythree,

Very nice aircraft there. I am assuming at some point you are going to move into doing the "Flying Circus" to do some of the fantastic paint schemes they used based on your most recent update. I know a gentleman in Prince Rupert BC who has a passion for WWI Aircraft paint schemes, and ironically helped me start on my corvette construction. His book: Aircraft of World War I, 1914-1918 (Essential Aircraft Identification Guide) is quite thorough.

One mistake I made on the Fokker DR.1 was that I glued the nut appropriate for balance, but not far enough back from the plane that spans the landing struts. So it fits a little awkwardly. I'm not certain I can fix that at this point.

Well I would just fill the hole made with green-stuff or other epoxy putty, let it set and sand it smooth and then drill another slightly further aft. I had to do something similar with a Forgeworld Vulture a few years ago.

Hope that helps,

CB

[ZeroTwentythree]

Managed to fix the nut location on the Fokker, and I also repainted the top fuselage and wings on the Pup with a darker brown that looks much better. Didn't have time to take pics, but I'm hoping to spend at least a little bit of time at the stoodio this weekend, in which case I will spend some of that time on planes. Next on the agenda is to look at rigging the Albatross and finishing the assembly on Lothar's DR.1.

[ZeroTwentythree]

ZeroTwentythree,
His book: Aircraft of World War I, 1914-1918 (Essential Aircraft Identification Guide) is quite thorough.

On your recommendation, I just bought the book.

When I looked it up, this was the first thing that showed up on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...pf_rd_i=507846



But there was a single used paperback copy available for $25 that is now on its way to me.

[ZeroTwentythree]

I actually did this earlier in the week, but haven't had time to take a photo. My weekend was more or less shot, so no work on anything. I'm lucky to get time to post this brief update.

[ZeroTwentythree]

My book (per Captain Brown's recommendation above) arrived today. Condition on Amazon was advertised as "Very Good" but the book that arrived was in virtually new condition. The spine hasn't even been bent. Bonus!



I looked up the illustrator (Bob Pearson) because the name sounded familiar. Found his web page with a CD of color illustrations for sale. Might look into purchasing that at some point.

http://www.cbrnp.com/RNP/CDv2/index.htm

I have also been following the blog (and referencing the web page) of W. I. Boucher.

http://wwiaviation.blogspot.com/
http://www.wwiaviation.com/