abufletcher

I agree with you completely! What's the point of building a scale model if the outlines are not 100% scale? I'm sure Frank Mizer did the best job possible with the reference he had available at the time he drew the plans. What I can't understand is why so many model plans don't even seem to come close. And it's not purposeful alterations to make a better flying model that bother me.

Again, I agree completely. Why compromise unless you don't absolutely have to for practical reasons?

I was just curious. The outlines in the Datafiles are usually pretty good.

abufletcher

Anyway, maybe it's better to turn this back into an Albatros CI build thread which means I need to do some building! (But I'd like to see a LVG/Halberstadt thread). Here are the finished hinges. Well, almost finished. The aileron moves freely, but I'm wondering just how much travel the geometry of this lower wing servo setup is going to allow.

gabriel voisin

About the LVG model plan:
I can't understand why was glued another 4 square cuts on the frames , why is that?
I think it's better to do it of the same way as the original.

@GianFrancesco:
Thanks, but I need the Halberstadt CV Datafile with the No.69

Don, I agree with you,....we going back to the Albatros and the LVG / Halberstadt is now ready.
But I don't think, I will write a thread, ....so much work with words and photos,...lol.

You think the hinges hold on the balsa?

Matz

abufletcher

Remember that the brass tube will be wrapped with the Koverall so there's little chance that the tube could pull loose from the aileron. As for the hardwood blocks in the wing, I think those are as strong as any hinge I've ever used on a 1/6 scale model.

abufletcher

Now that I know how to do it, the second aileron is going a lot faster!

gabriel voisin

abufletcher

...

Flying Fox

I know what you mean, I’ve hardly been up n the air and we’re half way through October. Partly due to work obligations and partly bad weather – too windy & rainy. I need some ‘therapy’ before the weather completely closes in. Last October I was up twice a week for the entire month! Yesterday we had a friendly aerobatic competition at our club – 15 guys doing a sequence of four manoeuvres: roll, reverse Cuban eight, tail stall turn, loop, land. Lots of fun and laughs, we were all so nervous on first flight. I managed a tie for fifth, so that ‘therapy’ was good for me.

This is a great idea Don. I am extremely interested in this, and sorry for taking up your thread space with LVG talk (but you and Matz keep bringing it back up! ha,ha LOL)
I must admit I’m a little timid/reserved as I’m no where near as experienced a builder as either you or Matz. I will try to prove myself with my Morane Saulnier build. With all the detailed photos available we could certainly work up a beautiful fully scale model of the LVG. I am still infatuated with ‘Elenor’ and would love to create a 1/5 or1/4 scale model. I thought the Mizer plans were fairly accurate scale wise, after all he won the Toledo show back then, but now Matz has proven this wrong so it kind of takes away from scaling up those plans, burst the bubble. I guess we will have to redraft it all rather than mostly scale it up.

Matz, the Halberstadt is another neat two-seater, early on in 1916 isn't it? And a wooden trailing edge - not wire. It too uses the Benz Bz IVu engine, right? Don't the red rings painted on the cylinders indicate high/over (uber) compression or high altitude engine?

I agree, it is 1/6 size so you should be fine. That is a really neat and scale way of hinging the ailerons.

Are you talking about the LVG or the Halberstat?

Cheers,
Bri

gabriel voisin

@Brian,
yes it's a two seater, the last and only Halberstadtaircraft in original.
Have a look at the photo, that's the wood trailing edge of the Halberstadt C.V

About your Morane,
you doing a good job, all is well.

Yes the red rings show there is a "Ü" engine / cylinder.
The "Ü" stands for "ÜBERKOMPRIMIERT" which means that it's an engine with a highly compressed piston / cylinder. The base of the Benz III or of the Mercedes III engine is ever the same, but the pistons and the cylinder are different.
But there are exceptions, for example, the Mercedes engine DIIIav who again other components.

@Don,
I think you're right, with Koverall it's ok.

I hope I could explain it well.

Matz

abufletcher

Definitely, a world-class model. I don't think there's any need to delete these photos since they were published in a magazine and I think posting them here would be considered "fair use."

abufletcher

Unfortunately, for insurance reasons, our club now only allows flying on the weekends (from 9am to 5pm). So at best that's eight flying days per month. But the reality with weather is usually half that. And then occasionally I have other things to do on a weekend.

Flying Fox

Yep - I just checked my flight log and yesteray was the first time up this month - not good at all. No wonder my first fligth in the friendly aerobatic contest was so terrible!

Sorry to hear about the flying on weekends only - that's brutal! Really limits things doesn't it? Any lawyers or insurance guys in the club? What do they say? What's the rationalle for weekends only?

I am very fortunate to belong to a small club and our field is out in the country in a very pastoral setting. We rent from a farmer and the only thing we have to worry about is the river floodoing the field in the early spring after snow melt. This is usually not too bad and in fact really adds nutrients to the field so the grass strip is alwayd lush. Biggest worries are to not hit a big willow tree, plough into a cow, or crash into the river which is immediately beyond the grass landing strip.

The natural landscape of Japan certainly is a distraction from flyiong isn't it? Where is this beautiful 'staircase to the heavens'?

I finished my tachometer tonight and will post in a few minutes.
Cheers,
Bri

vertical grimmace

My Feedback: (1)

Abu, slight diversion. I know CD Scale designs is not selling kits/ in business anymore. Did he not have a model of a JU 88? I am interested in this model and wondering if he may be talked out of a set of plans? Any assistance in acquiring contact info would be greatly appreciated.

abufletcher

I'm not quite sure. It has something to do with insurance and negotiations with the farmer who owns the terraced rice field our field is located on. Since almost no one who flies during the week, it wasn't worth the additional costs. A couple of years ago, before they made the change, I went all out and spent several months flying every single day that it was possible. This is what really moved me from a beginner to an intermediate flier. I'd need hundreds of additional hours to move up to "advanced." []

Sounds very bucolic. My club and our field is much the same...though Japan is a bit more compact that Canada. Below are a few photos from my field at various times of the year. Sometimes I go there and just read! The biggest dangers are not making back to the "carrier deck" and figuring out how to get models down from the tops of the bamboo.

This is the summit of Mt. Ishizuchi on my island of Shikoku. It's about a three hour drive from where I live and then the hike takes about 6-7 hour round trip.

abufletcher

Yeah, he was working on the prototype and I even took some photos of the extensive (and expensive) molds he had done for the various canopies and cowls. I'll try to contact him. It seems a shame to allow such outstanding design work to just disappear.

Frank Sopwith

You're right Don,
Chris asked me to model the canopies in Solidworks and it really took an incredible amount of time to get al these shapes right,
I think I still have a complete set of plans and samples (first 'draw') of most of the canopy parts, not planning to build one though,

Frank

abufletcher

You did some pretty amazing work, Frank! Maybe you and Vertical Grimmace (above) could work something out on the plans and/or canopies. The thing with Chris' designs is that the parts really have to fit together precisely almost like a 3D puzzle. I can't imagine trying to cut parts for one of these myself.

Flying Fox

I had to go and look that one up!

Great photos, I remember the hunt for the SE5a in the bamboo. That 'grass' is quite a spectacular plant when it gets to be tree size. A member of our club seems to have a willow tree magnet in his plane. He's been hung up in it numerous times and keeps a long extention pole handy for mishaps. I do like the 'carrier deck' analogy although it must be aweful when you lose a plane below eyelevel of the deck and it is still flying around!

Here's two photos of our field: the first taken late November from my flight camera looking over the river, the landing strip is lower right, the willow tree top center. Second shows the field in better light.

Cheers,
Bri

abufletcher

I'd love to fly of such a beautiful grass field. They seem almost unknown in Japan. I guess we all come to love the quirks of our own little fields.

vertical grimmace

My Feedback: (1)

Just curious, what was the size of this JU 88? I am really more interested in just the plans and not how the structure was engineered to be assembled. If I were to scratch build it, I would not attempt all of the mortise and tenon joinery used in a CNC cut kit. Not practical with a bandsaw. I am more in need of the outline of the aircraft, then I can engineer the internals to suit my building requirements.
So, any help with a set of plans would be awesome. I am really looking for something around 90", but I am sure I can blow them up or down depending on my needs here as well.

abufletcher

I don't recall at the moment, but it was on the "large" side...certainly over 2 meters and maybe more like 2.5m+ so that's in your 90" range. By the way, I'm shocked, SHOCKED that you have wandered away from the TRUE CALLING of building WWI models. [X(]

vertical grimmace

My Feedback: (1)

Oh, I have been busy with the heavy metal lately. I do plan to build a 1/3rd scale tripe this winter. Got this cool pic of my DVII the other day. Amazing how many pictures get taken at these warbird events. Nice to get a hold of one once in a while!
I have been honing the airbrush skills lately. I am thinking that is one tool that is imperative to scale modeling.

abufletcher

I'll ignore that first sentence.

In the past, I always thought of the airbrush more as a tool for plastic modeling...and for weathering WWII warbirds and jets. Not my scene. I always just figured that in WWI aircraft were hand-painted (actually even during WWII many aircraft markings where still applied with by a skilled hand)...though apparently spray technology did exist back then and was used in some instances. But I've come to realize that at least some airbrushing is unavoidable. So I now have a cheap airbrush and used it, for example, on the Benz dummy.

vertical grimmace

My Feedback: (1)

I like the airbrush for the layering of weathering and such. I am having a lot of fun with it. It is great for painting insignia as well. Using low tack shelf paper as cheap friskett. This definately has WW1 implications.

abufletcher

For the most part "weathering" on WWI aircraft seemed to be amount to making them dirty. Stuff like fabric stains and grit from grimy boots and hands. But a little selective rubbing with graphite or a dab of crusty paint can often too the trick for these things. They typically didn't last long enough to get "weather-worn" in the WWII sense. And the markings were often a little irregular looking so with an airbrush (and frisket) there's a danger of having the markings come out too crisp. I really like the look of my hand-painted roundels and don't think I would ever consider spraying them on any future model. But my hand is definitely not up to painting aircraft numbers and the like so there it's either friskets and airbrushing or decals and I think I'd prefer airbrushing.

On the Benz dummy I needed the airbrush to apply the metalizer and Al-clad paints. I also used it to good effect to get a "burnt" look to the top of the exhaust stack. And ultimately, it's silly to using a brush to paint stuff like the guns. So, yes, I know I need to learn to use my airbrush more efficiently...and more frequently. At this point, I'm just using a cheap hobby airbrush with air canisters.