dcaponeII Posted December 26, 2009 Report Share Posted December 26, 2009 I've gotten pretty far on my second commission build. This is the Encore Models 1/32 Albatros D-II. It's a companion to the SE-5A I posted earlier. The interior is quite tricky to get into the fuselage but I managed after a couple of false starts. The instructions are not the most obvious to follow but it does go together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted December 26, 2009 Report Share Posted December 26, 2009 (edited) That's looking very nice! Your engine coloring looks especially realistic; like cast aluminum. Exactly what metallic did you use? I also like your interior wood graining. Can't wait to see the finished model! GIL Edited December 26, 2009 by ghodges Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcaponeII Posted December 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2009 I sprayed regular ole' Testor's Modelmaster Aluminum enamel paint. I then did an acrylic wash using Black/brown on the lower casting and just Black on the cylinders. The cylinders are probably not quite as dark as they should be but I think they look the part nonetheless. The upper fuselage is on now but it has much masking tape to coax it into position. Fortunately all the molded fuselage external detail has to be removed and replaced with PE parts so I'll have a good opportunity to smooth any seam imperfections. I'm going to be using the new Aeromaster wood grain decals specifically designed for D-I through D-III fuselages. I'm looking forward to using it as my earlier 1/48 Albatros D-V came out great with the earlier wood grain decals material they made. The new set is pre cut to match the panel lines so I won't have to make paper templates to cut the decal materials like before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VonL Posted December 28, 2009 Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 This makes me wanna build one of these. What a great looking kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcaponeII Posted December 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 (edited) Here are a couple of shots with the model prepped for decaling. The colors are Testor's Modelmaster enamels. The light green is Field Green lightened with Flat White. The dark green is US Dark Green and the red brown is Burnt Sienna. The wood fuselage is Wood and will receive Aeromaster woodgrain decals tomorrow after the Clear Gloss Lacquer has a chance to cure overnight. Edited December 29, 2009 by dcaponeII Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted December 29, 2009 Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 Now there's a scheme you don't see every day! I'd also forgotten how square the -II wings were compared to the sesquiplane -III wings. Looking good! What blue is that on the undersurfaces? GIL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcaponeII Posted December 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 The blue is PRU Blue with a little bit of US Bright Blue added to match the color chip on the instructions. Now take a look at these Aeromaster wood grain decals!!! No gloss coat over the top yet but these decals fit like a glove. Each side around the tail consists of 5 pieces of decal on each side but they fit really well together. This is the "bad" side where I dinged the decal material in a couple spots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted December 31, 2009 Report Share Posted December 31, 2009 Nope. Sorry! Entirely too realistic! GIL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VonL Posted December 31, 2009 Report Share Posted December 31, 2009 Dumb question concerning the soft edges of the camo color demarcation on the wings: Did they spray the colors on in WWI, or would thist be feathering of hand-painted colors at the edges? Or maybe a hard line is accurate? OK, it's a geeky question too, but I'm curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcaponeII Posted December 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2009 The instructions clearly call for a feathered demarcation between the wing colors so I'll assume they sprayed them. Paint Spraying was already a common practice by the middle of WWI so I didn't think too much of the possibility that it was wrong. Since the customer wanted an OOB build I tried to stick fairly close to the kit instructions in all areas. I'll put some additional pictures up tomorrow now that the model is reading for rigging. The woodgrain looks very good with the clear coat over the top. If you're building an Albatros these decals are definitely the way to go in my book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcaponeII Posted December 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2009 I've got this one almost finished. Here are a couple of new shots I took while waiting for the rigging on the starboard side to dry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulD Posted December 31, 2009 Report Share Posted December 31, 2009 beautiful work! Is your rigging all steel? if steel wires, do you glue at both ends or leave one end loose? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcaponeII Posted December 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2009 The rigging is 0.004" steel wire. I have glued both ends using clear parts cement. It has a little give which tends to be enough to keep everything together at 1/48 scale. In this 1/32 scale bird I think you're suggestion of only gluing one end might have been a good one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted December 31, 2009 Report Share Posted December 31, 2009 Wow! That was fast! That came out very pretty. I'm also impressed with how realistic the wood grain decaling is. Nice build and thanks for sharing! GIL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcaponeII Posted December 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2009 I'm on vacation for the past couple of weeks and have plenty of time to build. Back to work on Monday however so I'll be back to 4 or 5 hours a week instead of 4 - 5 hours per day of build time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VonL Posted January 2, 2010 Report Share Posted January 2, 2010 Thanx for the intell on the paint. And the woodgrain is fantastic: It looks a lot better on the model than it does on the decal sheet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcaponeII Posted January 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2010 I thought the same thing when I saw the decal sheet. It looked too "striped" not sure that is the right word but it ends up looking pretty close to dead on once they are on the model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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