Hey Steve, great to hear the weekend went well and good news that you got your 1/5 scale finished in time as well. Great that the boys were a hit

I've started painting my Tridecker and once that is in the air I'll be able to put more time once again back into pilot making.

cheers
Patti

I've finally finished painting my Tridecker and it's being assembled. I settled on the camouflage colour with the light blue under the wings and the messy, streaky green on the fuse and middle and lower wing tops and really enjoyed the process. It is covered in SIG coverall so rather than stickers which would have looked too shiny I cut masks for the iron crosses and lettering and it looks great, even if I do say so myself Now I have to finish Richthofen to go in it and I'm really looking forward to getting back to pilot making. I'll have some pics soon I hope of the progress.

cheers
Patti

Patti,

Have you seen the full scale tripe being built on the New Updates 1:1 scale Sopwith Pup and Fokker Triplane builds http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_91...m.htm#10497919

The middle of the Full Scale looks like what you descibe.

that camo job sounds like ernst udet's machine. did you paint eyes on the air holes at the front and a mustache
hope you and richard are well.

cheers

craig

Hi John, That's exactly the look except that mine is red instead of yellow. What a magnificent job they've done on that tripe.

And no, no eyes and moustache Craig! Will save that for inside cockpits. Richard and I are extremely well thanks, just the same old problem of not enough hours to fit in what the brain comes up with!

Made a mould of the new head with the cap attached tonight so progress on that front at last.

cheers
Patti

Hi again, just a couple of pics of the Fokker all painted up and it has now had 4 flights! It came in at 17lb so Richard was a bit nervous before the maiden but it flies beautifully. After the first 2 flights a very unscale tail wheel was added but at least now it's manoeuvrable on the ground. There are still lots of little things to be done - the machine guns mounted, Manfred needs a better seat belt so he sits up a bit higher and he needs a proper flying outfit. Just to have something in the cockpit I got his head and put it onto the body with Stew's uniform as it had the leather jacket and looked somewhat decent!

cheers
Patti

Looking great there Patti!!

Was flying at Twin Cities this weekend for their club event. I had both Cessna's present with mini and micro Steve's.

They both really do look the part even if I may say so myself.

Thanks again for all your efforts in making my pilots.

Cheers,
Steve

Hi Steve

It looks so real and I can recognize you even in that photo! Glad to hear you're all having fun

There's a lot to do on the Fokker still as you can see from the pics, no cockpit yet. For Manfred I'm making the big outer leather jacket with the fur collar first as that is all you'll see while he's in the plane and I'll probably do another head with a flying cap instead of the service cap although I rather like the look of the green and red cap!

Just for your interest, the 17lb Fokker is flying on 24 x A123 batteries arranged as a 12S -2P giving 40 volts and 4600 mAh. That gives 12 minute flights with a 20 minute recharge for under $200 of batteries and just the one pack charged in the plane. The A123's are way more robust and forgiving than lipos.

cheers
Patti

Very nicely rendered Tripe Patti, congrats. Mine will be Nr 152/17 which is done in a scheme very similar to your Nr 127/17. Hope it turns out half as good as yours..........John

Thanks John, I'm probably biased but I think they look great in the air and so easy to see in that colour scheme. Have fun with your build.

cheers
PAtti

Hi Patti and Richard,
'Brad' the Spitfire pilot should fly this week end for the first time.
I shall endeavour to post a picture or two.

Cheers,

Brad

Hi Brad

All the best with the flight and we look forward to some pics. How exciting after all the work!

cheers
PAtti

Hey Patti, The Tripe looks GREAT! and Manfred looks right at home in the cockpit. I know you will agree, no matter how good looking the model, they look like a model UNLESS the pilot is convincingly realistic. With the photos posted of your Tripe and your customer's Cessna, one has to do a double-take and look very carefully to see if they aren't an actual aircraft. That is because the pilots look so REAL!
Great job by you and your customers!
All the best!

Hi Fly4Real - thanks and better late than never for a reply! It's been a birthday week with 50th and 21st and the youngest moving out - again! Things are settling back to normal now. Do you have a new sculpt in the pipeline or are you still up to your eyeballs in orders from your latest magnificent figure? For those who don't know this guys work check out this forum on "Sculpting a 1/5 scale WWII British Pilot" http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_10...m.htm#10266476

As I continue on with the uniform for Manfred I'm starting the head of Erich Hartmann.

It's magnificent flying weather at last with no wind and finally no rain after that flooding summer, just a later start with the shorter days.

cheers
Patti

Hi Patti and guys,just wanted to let you know that 'Brad' has had two flights as of this morning when the Spitfire was test flown.
Did himself proud he did.
I will be uploading a vid soon so feel free to drop over to the Warbirds and Warplanes forum and check it out. I have a bit of a speel about the maiden flight there now.

Cheers Patti,

Brad

Hey Brad, FANTASTIC. Richard and I have been wondering if you'd maidened it yet (along with all the others on your forum by the sounds!). Just dropped in and had a read of the blow by blow account and so glad to hear it went so well. Congratulations. Looking forward to the vid now

cheers
Patti

Thanks Patti,,,, my mother took two pictures of the model and about ten of the pilot.

Cheers,

Brad

Hi Patti.

I have lurked around in this thread the last half year, and are mighty impressed with your pilots.They are SO lifelike - unlike all other "scale" pilots i have seen for sale so far.

I have just received a 1/6 Siemens Schuckert WW1 kit from Arizona Model Crafters (arizonamodels.com), and think that a pilot from you would be a perfect match.
I'll contact you through your website for details/order.

Best regards, Morten Masch, Norway.
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Hello again and yes, I am still alive! I didn't realize it was quite so long since I last posted. Lots of times I have been going to but just have been so busy doing things that it wasn’t top of the list.

Just this week I was so close to giving it all away because it was taking so much time – way more than was worth it as a business and the day job takes priority leaving just spare time for all the pilot stuff. It was also taking all the machining time producing the bits and pieces from heads, hands and boots to buckles, buttons and badges leaving no spare machine time for what it was originally built for – plane bits!

But now, at the 11th hour, our daughter wants to get involved and learn to do a lot of it so we have decided to buy a cnc milling machine for cutting the pilot bits which will free up the big machine for making the plane bits. It is something that can also be used for making retract gear but that wasn’t enough to justify buying it just for that. She can mould and cast and with a bit of practise, sew the uniforms. Hopefully too, she will learn how to model new heads and do some much needed work on the website, that’s the plan anyway. That frees me up to research uniforms and draft the patterns and do the painting as well as more of the plane projects that Richard and I have planned for ourselves. There’s quite a bucket list actually and they’ll be moulded composites using the machine to cut plug shapes and make panels with the rivets to stick onto the plug. Anyway, that’s another story.

On the pilot front, Manfred von Richthofen in both 1/4 and 1/3 are substantially finished. The service jacket has proven to be somewhat of a challenge to make and I’m at the final post just trying to get the collar to fit properly and meet in the middle and after several attempts have put it in the cupboard for a few days! Sometimes you just need a break and come back to it fresh.

The boots with the gaiters look terrific but they have taken time as they were cut as 2 separate parts – the boot itself and the long gaiter and then joined together. It was easier to machine them like this than the right angled shape of a long boot but it meant 4 cuts for each size. Then the wax has to be tidied, joined, re-tidied then moulded.

I made a flight jacket and on the quarter scale the leather looks good but a little bit stiff for the size to look great so I tried several different types of fabric to see if something else looks convincing and falls better. I haven’t made the 1/3 scale in the leather as yet, that will be interesting. Moulds for the buttons for the service uniform in both 1/4 and 1/3 have been made along with the iron cross, the pilots badge and the German Blue Max medal (Pour le Merite).

I have some pics taken a while ago, it shows the two scales of Manfred side by side. Big difference isn’t there?! There are actually 2 different heads and neither are finished - the big one looks like a zombie with those white eyes but that is the head we have decided to go with and has a separate service cap. The other head was a bit too lean and mean looking and had the cap moulded in all as one. With the larger scales like 1/4 and particularly 1/3, it is possible to make a flying cap and I’ve experimented using stretchy fabric for a better fit. The boots on the 1/4 scale are not the correct ones, they’re the RAF spitfire ones just put on for the moment. The 1/3 cap is in the foreground cut into the wax block and a closer picture shows some detail. The brim had to be carved out by hand. With something as thin as a brim it’s too easy to break or chip the wax so I moulded and cast the rough cap and then worked on this as a new plug. Far easier to sand and work the one cast from urethane.

I’ve just taken some pics of the moulded badges etc, all untrimmed and unpainted and there’s a line up of various stages of Manfreds – to prove something is still happening!!

Hopefully now that we have some help and a new machine on the way things will continue to progress.

I’ve also painted a 1/4 scale Fly Baby and made a pilot for it for myself and joined an indoor flying group once a month so lucky there are plenty of hours in a day.

Lynn, there’s now hope for the Erich Hartmann but probably not by the time you’ve painted his plane.

cheers for now and I’ll try and keep up some more regular postings!

Patti

Hi Morten

There seems to be a lot of WW1 pilot interest. The 1/6 is something that I haven't done yet but we tried some BBI 1/6 clothing on one of our 1/5 bodies and it basically fits except obviously for the length of everything. Their bodies are much bulkier than ours so the chest, waist, hips etc fit OK. The arms and legs would need to be trimmed but it means that we'd get away with that body and not have to make a new 1/6 body mould. Hopefully too, there would be 1/6 clothing available already which would fit our bodies and we could supply heads, hands and boots to fit. No-one is keen on making 1/6 size clothing but I'm happy to supply the patterns and material! All the best with your new kit.

cheers
Patti

Hi Patti,
Well, I'm glad you've decide to continue. I STILL would like to have a Hartmann in the 109, it deserves the BEST. It's not like the plane will be flying soon, so Patti, proceed with whatever speed you can muster. The cockpit will remain empty until YOU fill it.

Thanks for the update.

Regards,
Lynn

Your photos reveal meticulous attention to detail. Manfried looks almost ready to take flight............John

Thanks John, but he'll look better when he's painted Also once the red piping detail goes onto that service jacket it will make a huge difference. The collar has come out of the cupboard again! I've thought of a way to keep it perfectly in place thanks to another look at a photo of an original.

Lynn, it looks magnificent already. Can see why you call it "the Beast"!!

cheers
Patti

Hi Patti
Been scrolling through your thread again ( quite day at work) admiring the work, great job on your Fokker & Manfred looks awesome !.
Thanks for body, Pattern's & temp head esp with how busy you obvoiusly are.
Perhaps I can recruit my Daughter into helping me out but I wont hold my Breath, also good to know about the 1/6th Dragon clothing being a close fit as I have a lot Clothing & accessories that could be used to spec him up a bit.
Wonder if there are any dress makers in this backwater town we live in ?.
Be in touch again soon, once again thanks & all the best with everything.
Steffan.

Hey Steff

You need to take a sewing machine in to work for when it's quiet! I'm having a training session with my daughter Katherine in the morning to help her with the sewing. She has a late start at work so is coming round for a lesson. It's much easier to show someone than try and explain it all in writing.

I also found half a 1/6 body that was cut in wax ages ago, just the front half. It'd be good to have the right size body as the Dragon/BBI etc accessories are a bit short in the body. We're just a little concerned that the legs and arms of our model are so thin that our 3mm wire may not embed properly. Perhaps we could thicken them up a smidge.

The mill arrived and will be fantastic but unfortunately there's about a 6 week wait to get the cnc kit to go on it. Then it has to be installed so patience is the order of the day I'm afraid.

The oxygen mask is proving to be a real challenge. After producing one perfect one the first time we have not been able to repeat it again. The first one was too big, more like 13/ size so Richard recut the wax plug and so far I think I've made about 1/2 a dozen moulds. The silicon material we're using will no longer release from the mould and some of the earlier attempts I did use the wrong release agent but after waiting about 3 weeks to get the recommended release agent, even that didn't work! It means throwing away the stuck mould and starting again every time but we'll get there eventually.

cheers
Patti