Steve's Models

[Sailor Steve]

Well, it's finished. The model represents one of the first 10 built, serial 61.58. It's one of the few that didn't have a balanced rudder, which would be recognizable by it's overhang in front of the rudder post, and it's early enough that it doesn't have a forward-firing gun.

Front quarter view, as usual.


Rear quarter view.


Rear close-up, showing serial number and the interesting aft control rigging. The top line goes to the lower elevator horn, the middle line goes to the rudder horn and the bottom line goes to the upper elevator horn, passing through a cutout in the stabilizer along the way.


Starboard rear quarter view.


Front close-up, showing radiator and gravity fuel tank mountings.


Next I'll be finishing the other Hansa C.I, the one with the machine-gun tower. Unless the Albatros I have on order shows up first, then everything changes.

[Sailor Steve]

One of the things I forgot to mention: The fuselage crosses, with the white outline? I noticed from photographs that the white part tapers to fit the taper of the flat fuselage sides. I didn't cut them to match. The decals came from an Eduard Fokker E.III kit, and it was a little scary to find that they were a perfect fit right off the sheet.

[Sailor Steve]

As shown before, I had originally started building two at the same time, but got bogged down with the task of sanding eight wing sections instead of four, which would have totalled sixteen for the two kits. Now for one of the 'Tower' versions. The problem here is that while it is claimed that several were built for experimental purposes, no one knows exactly how many. I have so far been unable to find a single photograph of one, but there are a couple of references I do consider reliable. The next problem is that those references only state that one or two existed, but not what they looked like. I don't know where the existing information comes from and haven't been able to verify anything at all. It is accepted that none of them was likely to have seen combat.

So why bother to build one at all? Rocky had a model of one and wanted them in the game, so they do appear in the rules. I also picked up the kit at one point or another, so I figured I might as well build it. It was a nice idea for having a forward-firing gun, whether it worked or not, and it only appears in the very first period of the game, so it doesn't really hurt anything.

Rocky built his model a long time ago. It represents the UFAG (Ungarische Flugzeugfabrik Alles Gesellshaft) version that comes with the kit. I could have built the same thing, and in fact I think it's better looking than the Phönix version, but I like to have some variety and looks aren't everything. This means I need to convert this


into this.


Or better, this


into something along the lines of this.


Of course I'll be starting where I left off...

[Sailor Steve]

Tower rebuilt, windows added.

[Jimbuna]

Yet no response....I'm surprised.

Keep it up and I'm over on Skype when you wake up

[Buddahaid]

Victorian Batboat........

[Sailor Steve]

Lower wings cut out, sanded and mounted.




I think I mentioned some time earlier that these wings take between two and four hours each. In most vac kits you only have the top half of the wings. If you're working on a first-class display model you need to fill in the bottom ribs, but the cutting and sanding doesn't take a lot of time. You only have to get a razor-like trailing edge and round out the leading edge. With a model just for gaming I don't usually worry about the bottom parts, as nobody notices anyway. These double-sided ones are new to me. They're easier to get a full shape in the long run, but the sanding takes a lot longer, since the halves have to be precise, and they have to be thin. I counted this time. Fifteen hundred strokes with a coarse 100-grain sandpaper just for the trailing edge of one wing, and about a thousand each for the leading edge. Once they're down to what they should be the middle of each half is in the way, so I had to scrape them down with the X-Acto knife. Every hundred strokes I would stop and check the fit. All told it took about the same - about two hours for each top and each bottom, so eight hours total. I did one wing yesterday and one today, and still have the top wing to do.

I checked the locations and glued them on. The H-B had a very slight dihedral. The tweezers are holding the wings in the correct place while they dry.

I'll probably do landing gear tomorrow, if shaping the fuselage doesn't take too much time.

It sounds tedious, and it is, but once the sanding is all done it gets fun again.

[Jimbuna]

You managed then

[Sailor Steve]

I still have the top wings to go. Hopefully today...

[Sailor Steve]

Landing gear and cabanes mounted. Primer coat applied.

[Jimbuna]

Shouldn't be long now

[Oberon]

Looks a bit like it might be a license built Brandenburg C1.

Just found this...
http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=163011

Looks like only three of the UFAG turret Brandenburgs were made, presumably they went over to interrupter gear after that.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Oberon

Looks a bit like it might be a license built Brandenburg C1.

I think I've already mentioned that.
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...&postcount=251

Looks like only three of the UFAG turret Brandenburgs were made, presumably they went over to interrupter gear after that.

I think he may be wrong, in either direction. I have read numbers ranging from one to ten, and there are eight serial numbers supposedly associated with the ones built by Phönix, one of which is the one I'm building. My problem is still that it all seems to be speculation and no one seems to know anything for certain.

As for the interrupter gear, the inconstant rate of fire on the Schwarzlose made that difficult to do for another year or more. The Austrians had to mount the pilot's gun on top of the upper wing to fire over the propellor, at least until the gear problem could be sorted out.

My friend said he'd look in the Austro-Hungarian book for me (the cheapest copy I've found online is over $400, so that option is out), and I'm waiting to hear back from him. Until then I know exactly nothing for sure.

[Sailor Steve]

Upper wing is finished. I'll be painting and doing final assembly today. It should be done by tomorrow night.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

I think I've already mentioned that.
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...&postcount=251


I think he may be wrong, in either direction. I have read numbers ranging from one to ten, and there are eight serial numbers supposedly associated with the ones built by Phönix, one of which is the one I'm building. My problem is still that it all seems to be speculation and no one seems to know anything for certain.

As for the interrupter gear, the inconstant rate of fire on the Schwarzlose made that difficult to do for another year or more. The Austrians had to mount the pilot's gun on top of the upper wing to fire over the propellor, at least until the gear problem could be sorted out.

My friend said he'd look in the Austro-Hungarian book for me (the cheapest copy I've found online is over $400, so that option is out), and I'm waiting to hear back from him. Until then I know exactly nothing for sure.

D'oh! I didn't scroll back that far. I've probably asked this already, but have you done any Sopwith Pups? My favourite WWI fighter.

To be honest, it's been a brief learning experience early in the morning for me, I didn't even know that the Austria-Hungarians had much in the way of an airforce, it's not something that comes up much in the usual WWI air war books that focus on the western front.