spikkkkkk

here are some pics of my latest build. its a VK DR1 with fully manual controls and hopefully a robotic pilot housing servos, RX etc. to fly it. i had to modify the build considerably, i went with a tube framework for most part. i also added sawtoothed leading edges scale horns, hinges etc. it's a pretty rugged kit and is probably heavier than it has to be if you built the stock version. ive already reduced the weight considerably. wish me luck because i'll need it when i get to the final stages of the build. BTW this will be an electric flyer and i went with pull pull cable controls on the alierons like the real plane. they seem to work quite well, very smooth.

spikkkkkk

a couple more pics.

squeakalong

My Feedback: (8)

VERY NICE!! I especially like the color scheme you chose...can I ask where you got the color picture? It's so much nicer than the standard red so often seen. I have the VK DR1 kit on the shelf and will be looking at your photos when (man...I know....) I get to building the model. Can we have some more pics, please?????

Here wishing a super nice maiden flight and....

Soft landings.

Joe

vertical grimmace

My Feedback: (1)

That is the problem, there was nothing standard about red. It was a personal, custom color. Now all we see is red to a large degree but that seems to be changing.

spikkkkkk

yes i got the pic at fokkerdr1.com. they have many pics of different color schemes and by different artists.

abufletcher

I'll definitely be stealing some ideas from you! For example, the aileron control cables!

squeakalong

My Feedback: (8)

Thanks, Spikkkkkk!

abufletcher

Nice work, BTW, with your modifications of the VK kit. You fuse looks great and I like the saw-toothed leading edge ply. I was really surprised to see that feature missing from the stock kit.

TFF

That is impressive. Do you have any non close up photos of the fuse? Im building a VK Dr1 now too but I am not going to stretch that far, keeping it mostly stock except for the most obvious stuff like the leading edges, ect. It is a tank of a plane being designed in '71, but you have to think the basic radio designs we are using today were less that 5 years old then. I cant wait to see your pilot; how are you going to do it?

spikkkkkk

here are some full pics of the fuse. i used a combo of 3/16 dowel and alum. tube and kept it 3/16 square where the stab sits. i started some of the cross rigging on the fuse and also built and installed my ammo shutes. i use the GTM and dels build thread it's proved invaluable to me, no one knows fokkers like glenn and del is one of the best builders ive seen. i just took a pic of del's shutes and used it as a bluprint. i scanned it into corel ( the flatter the image the better) and sized it to 4.25 inches to fit the VK and then with the biezer tool did a trace over the shute face. i then spray tacked a printout slapped it on some 1/32 ply as a template and cut it out with my scroll saw and basically used del's building tecniques. for width i measured the ammo belts i'm going to use and bingo it fit like a glove and lines up with the guns. as far as otto ( the pilot) all servos, reciever etc will be incoperated in him. left arm forw and rev for throttle, right arm forw and rev for elev. and left /right motion for aleirons on control stick. legs will be like a push pull on the rudder. when i build the pilot i'll post alot of pics on the progress. i built a small etching tank and this will help me make the custom parts for the robot. i can etch up to 20 mil brass or 12 mil stainless steel no problem, it's all in the artwork.

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

Wow! [X(]

abufletcher

I like the fact that you've only given "the full treatment" to the area around the cockpit. That's the sign of a practically-minded builder! I think I'll take this same approach. Thanks for the link to the site for turn-buckles. I have a couple I can use in the cockpit area but I'll need to order another supply or other things.

bobripley

Very impressive build. I agree with abufletcher, I like the way you concentrated your detail work around the cockpit area and used a more or less conventional build on the rest of the fuselage. Smart. I look forward to seeing the progress of your build.

abufletcher

Well, I'm not sure I'd want to go that far! I'm all in favor of going "whole hog" on scale structure (to the degree possible with different materials) on a scratch-built model. But no point completely trashing a good kit. But even on an "all-out" scale model, it can be a bit fool-hearty to put hours into cosmetic micro-detailing and painting of areas that will be covered and truly invisible. I'm not into that degree of "modeling for god." I was thinking in terms of the value of using the turnbuckles in the cockpit area but that I wouldn't want to "waste" them on the covered parts of the fuse.

The approach I'm trying to take on my DrI project to to build with scale structure because that's what worked on the original. For example, I built a box spar because if I hadn't I would probably have to make other scale compromises elsewhere to regain the strength. I might end up modeling an invisible feature or two just because I'm interested in how it actually worked. An example of this would be the oversized gap on the bottom of the fuse. Why model this? Why not just make the notch match the spar for a tight fit? Those are good questions. But by taking my approach, I expect I will learn some interesting historical lessons about the DrI and possibly push back the boundaries of my modeling skills.

spikkkkkk

i wanted to post a few more pics of the parts i etched and installed. i still make a lot of things by hand, things you cant do buy etching and vice versa. the detail you can get with etching is incredible, im still working at mastering the process. this weekend i got the belts hardware etched along with the throttle quadrant and i also finished my WB guns. i fabricated the control stick ( what a pain in the butt those football shaped handels are, i think anyone that works with detail at 1/6 or smaller can attest to this like les and fletch, im sure you guys have had your days. anyway this is where i'm at. i rigged the rest of the fuse but didn't use turnbuckles because it is going to be covered and i didn't want to waste them as it is i'll need eight 20 mm turnbuckles just for the control wires. in attempting what i'm trying to do the control cables are going to be very taught, far more tension than you could put on a servo. i noticed that the WB gun sights are so fragile and have to be cleaned up so much that they never look qrisp so i made my own by useing very fine music wire and sanding down some plastic tube to about a 1/32".

abufletcher

I've got no skill at all at this sort of detailing. My "scale building" is really much more related to scale structure. Maybe I need to build models then send them to spilkkkk for detailing!

TFF

can you give a demonstration of the etching process?

abufletcher

I second that.

Thinking of how technological advances impact on modeling. I can imagine a day not too far off when we'll be able to "print" parts like these with 3-D material printers which will lay down (metallic) chemical compounds instead of ink in layers to build up complex 3-D objects. I'm not sure how I feel about this. Part of me feels that every part has to be fabricated by hand. But then I don't do that now. For example, I use WB products and am going to have a set of 60 ribs cut for my DrI project, though I suppose I COULD cut them by hand. And I'm (half-way) comfortable with the idea of having laser cut details cut. And the idea of the modeler etching his or her own parts seems "fair." I'm less sure about the tend in plastic modeling of companies supplying photo-etched detailing sets for specific model kits. But change is inevitable and it will inevitably change the nature of the hobby.

spikkkkkk

i'm kinda on the same page as you, i love to fabricate by handbut i the other side of the coin i got the same gratifacation etching. many hrs go into art work and the process itself and to get 6 parts that are all exactly the same and to do things i couldn't do i my best day. it's like cutting ribs by hand theres no way there all exactly the same which down the line is gonna cause something problimatic. for instance i had so much trouble with this kit even though it was from proctor, pieces doubled when they were stamped out cookie cutter method and nothing fit proper. even the firewall is different than the piece behind it, it's suppose to be 1/16 all around but i get a variance from 1/32 to 1/8 terefore the ply sides are not going to line up properly and the whole kits been that way so i much would have rather sent out my own plans of my choice to cut the entire kit. theres no escaping technology and if i can produce better stuff i'm all for it so buy a kit or have your own cut, cut out parts by hand or etch it's all to the same end producing somthing we can be proud of.

abufletcher

So very true. And I know exactly how you feel. A while ago I spent almost three days painstakingly reproducing in Photoshop every last feature of the company decal found on German Integral propellers. The full-size decal was bout 2-3 inches across. On my 1/6 scale dummy prop it wouldn't be much more than a centimeter or so. But the point is that doing all that work in Photoshop sure seemed like modeling to me!

Still, I'll dread the day when all we do as modelers is sit behind a computer. [:@]

spikkkkkk

i'd be more than glad to, i'll be etching some more towards the weekend and i'll post a step by step of the process and my camera. thanks to to everyone for the compliments.

LesUyeda

Beautiful, Spikkk. I will be looking forward to your etching seminar. I have heard good and bad things about the system.

Abu. Look at it this way. The computer doesn't design for you, it is only a tool, and we use all the tools that we have.

Les

KitBuilder

Real nice... I'm building the VK 1/6 Nieuport and struggling with it a bit but seeing this has given me incentive to get off my arse and get back to building. (what look anyting like this work of art though).
Mike

summerwind

Rob,

i said it before, and i'll say it again.................you are truly an artist. i'm finally going into the build/photo process of my Proctor Nieuport N28 and will be posting a build thread, but the detailing will be nothing like yours..............your topic here has inspired me to get things going again...................excellent work my man.

TFF

What are you going to do with the cowl and forward fuselage; build your own or use the plastic?