Steve's Models

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

The wings, struts, wheels etc were from injection-molded kits by Monogram. The bodies were from a vacuum-formed plastic replacement kit by RarePlanes. I had to change each body to match the original. The radiator exhaust scoops under the nose were cut from paper. The rigging (wires) were a very fine monofilament thread I picked up at a fabric shop. It's like a very fine fishing line.

Really faithfully done,

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Sometime in the 1970s I began to develop a desire to build prototypes. I knew about the P-51D, but what about the P-51A? What about the P-1? I knew there had to be such a thing, so I started collecting books. I found what I wanted, and used the old Monogram P-6E kit as a basis for conversion. I built the XPW-8B, which was the prototype, and then the P-1 and P-1B. The first one is missing and I converted the other two for wargaming. After my friend Rocky died his oldest son donated all of his models to our gaming group. This included a bunch of my stuff which had been at his house. Today I took pictures of them for a friend to see what my hobbies were, and thought I'd post them here. The propellors are broken and they's seen thirty-six years of wear and tear, but they still survive. I didn't even wipe the dust off, but the original work is still holding up.

Looks like you put some serious work into the wiring

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

Looks like you put some serious work into the wiring

It's my opinion that biplanes, like ships, are incomplete without the rigging.

That's why I'm so proud of my scratchbuilt gaming models.

[Jimbuna]

I especially like that Caudron g4

[Sailor Steve]

It's getting close, so I thought it was time to revive this thread.

I have three goals. First is to start making 1/2400 scale ship models for my game I've been working on forever. My friends say that they're ready to start playing whenever I am, so it's up to me. With that in mind I purchased a basic resin casting kit.
http://www.amazon.com/Alumilite-Corp...ni+casting+kit

I had one of these starter kits several years ago. It provides the two-step putty which hardens to make the mold, and the two-step resin mix, plus stir sticks and mixing cups. Since I already made a couple of plastic mold boxes back then, I just have to tape them up and I'm ready to start making my own ships.

Second goal is to repair my models for the airplane game. During the years I spent unable to play because I was homeless I left my cases of models at the hobby shop so others could use them, and several got broken, some badly. A part of that will be to start building new planes again. First in line will be a Voisin La.3, from a vac kit. More on that later.

Third is to start building the awesome Combrig 1/700 scale Pre-Dreadnought and WW1 ships I started this thread with.

I'm going hobby shopping for paint and supplies tomorrow, since six years in storage kind of dried everything out.

[Cybermat47]

Good luck!

[Sailor Steve]

Well, the lamp is assembled and I have all the tools I need, so I'm ready to go. First project is 1/72 wargaming plane repairs. I'll post pictures as I go. First, here is the table itself, with the models that need fixing.

[Jimbuna]

You shold have collected diecast.....usually much tougher

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

You shold have collected diecast.....usually much tougher

Does anyone make a diecast Voisin LA.III? Oeffag-Albatros 253 series? If they did, would the models be light enough for our clothespin clips to hold them?

[Sailor Steve]

First one finished. It's a Morane 'P' two-seat parasol fighter, converted from a couple of the old Revell Morane 'N' kits. It's at least ten years old. I did it first because all that was wrong was a couple of broken rigging wires. It turned out that replacing them was too hard, given that the original rigging was done as three pieces of monofiliment line, running through and around. It turned out the only way to do it was to cut away all the wire and start from scratch. It took about an hour.







It's a little rough around the edges, but it is a wargaming toy and sees a lot of use.

[edit] The joke's on me. It wasn't until I looked at the pictures that I realized the rudder is missing! I guess it's not done after all. I can't find it among the junk, so I'll have to make a new one.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Does anyone make a diecast Voisin LA.III? Oeffag-Albatros 253 series? If they did, would the models be light enough for our clothespin clips to hold them?

Doubtful at best

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

Doubtful at best

It doesn't matter. The real bottom line is that having models is great, but it's the building itself that gets me off. I can't even remember how many planes I've built, put on display in hobby shops and then sold. Back in those days I didn't have a real camera, so there are no pictures, no records. So I keep building.

[Sailor Steve]

This is weird. The rudder from the Morane was missing, so I was going to build a new one. I got a rudder from another Eindekker kit and was ready to start carving it to the correct shape when I dropped it on the floor. I got down under the table and found it...sitting right next to the original one! So the eindekker rudder went back into the spares box and the original went back on the plane.





The next step was an easy one. My kitbashed Morane 'G' had lost a stabilizer, but I had it with the other missing pieces and it was a 30-second repair.

The 'G' was the 80-horsepower predecessor to the famous 'N', commonly known as the 'Bullet', because they thought that giving the fuselage a round shape would make it faster. Of course adding a 110-hp engine didn't hurt.





When you build models for as long as I have you tend to buy, trade and collect a lot of stuff, including decal sheets. I have a couple of WW1 sheets with lots of logos, including a Mann-Edgerton builders label for the Sopwith 1-1/2 Strutter. I like this model because I also have a nose logo for this particular Morane-Saulier.



Of course looking at that picture showed me a couple of rigging wires on that one that were loose. They aren't actually broken so I'm putting off re-rigging it until later.

[Cybermat47]

Nice job Steve! When you've done all that, you might consider building a 1/32 Gotha G.IV

[nikimcbee]

That looks a lot like an Eindecker, other than the tail.