Flute's Tiger Moth. Completed.

[Flute]

I'd say: also try a kettingpons.

Anyway to stay on topic: never saw you start with the topwings before the lower wings Paul. Any special reason for this?

Cheers, Nico

I wanted to do the fuel pipe and centre section rigging before the lower wings restricted access. The lower wings fit well enough that they won't need filling, so it doesn't complicate construction. The centre struts being 'n' shape means the only alignment needed is to have them vertical seen from the front, so this also means I can simply spring the interplane struts into place without having to bother with aligning them. I wanted to have a go at getting the lower dihedral right, this being the only major thing wrong with the kit, from what I've read, which entails shortening the interplane struts. I have measurements for that, but I'll check before messing with the struts by sliping the wings over their tabs and jigging the correct dihedral using a protractor and some pegs. Then I can measure the wing gap with dividers and decide whether IMO the difference is worth correcting. Messing about getting the measurements should only take a few minutes. Shortening the struts and putting a new locating pin in the end is harder bt again shouldn't take more than half an hour - repainting them is the pain, because this paint takes a day before you can safely handle it.

So, all the above guff has lead me to do it this way round. Probably doesn't make much difference in the end, and as usual iy takes more time to explain what I want to do than to actually do it. Remaining rigging (8 bracing wires and 4 more control lines and adding the undercarriage and remaining small details will take one more day, so I hope to be done before Nico arrives late on Thursday.


Paul.

[ShaunW]

Sounds complicated to a hamfisted bodger like me Paul, but you sound like you know what you're doing, so hurry along, there's a good chap and let us see this classic bipe in all its glory

[Flute]

Sounds complicated to a hamfisted bodger like me Paul, but you sound like you know what you're doing, so hurry along, there's a good chap and let us see this classic bipe in all its glory

If I have any skill at all, it's in making things sound more complicated than they are.

Paul.

[Ian]

Don't give away your tricks, Paul. Shaun is currently in awe of you. Don't blow it now!

[Martin R]

Good job, Flute - notwithstanding Dutch delicacies (or whatever)!

regards,

Martin

[Flute]

Good job, Flute - notwithstanding Dutch delicacies (or whatever)!

regards,

Martin

Thanks. 2 delicacies and a small tool for knocking a link out of a bicycle chain actually. doesn't really matter which is which.......

Nearly done, but she-type daughter thing still has the camera. Unless I drop the model though it will be finished tomorrow. It's just awaiting a few paint touch ups, 2 control wires, the prop assembly, and the 2 bits sticking out of the top of the fuel tank.

Paul.

[Flute]

Well, it's done - The Daughter kindly let me have the camera today, I finished the model half an hour ago, and have just taken advantage of a rare burst of Scottish sunshine to take some photos. What annoys me most here is the starboard intake on the cowl, which I'd totally ignored, yet could have been so much better for just a few seconds opening up with a knife. Oh well, I'll know next time. It leaps out at me because I spent a lot of time thinning every other edge and opening I could think of, most of which can't be seen from any sane viewing angle...........

The front pipe, whatever it is (an pressure safety valve maybe?) and sight tube on top of the fuel tank are far too large. That's because I firmly glued the front bit in place before thinking about it. I replaced the rear bit (fuel sight tube) with clear sprue, painted up to leave a clear bit, and made that about the right height compared to the front kit part. Then I engaged the brain. A 'doh' is in order. Doh!

I excelled myself with the tailplane braces - having moved the tailpane forward a tad I expected I'd have to trim the struts a bit, so I did. Seemed to need much more off than I'd expected, never mind, trundle on. Then when getting the undercarriage together I realised I'd used the front u/c struts for the tailplane braces. So, lucky I had a second kit to rob. Doh! Again.

Rigging is elastic thread painted with Modelmaster Metalizer stainless steel, and the guides for the control lines are hacked-about sections of Eduard turnbuckle PE - useless as turnbuckles but good for messing about with. For the rigging fixing points I've not tried to simulate the RAFwire fittings. They're hard to do convincingly. They are not, by the way, turnbuckles, which you only get on non-streamlined wires. Look completely different. I don't like PE turnbuckles, but used some anyway to attach the rudder lines to the ends of the rudder bar - where they're positioned makes their 2-D nature hard to see. Control lines should be round section, elastic thread isn't, but life's too short anyway, this is supposed to be fun, so I used the same stuff for all the rigging.

The decals are still badly silvered in places, but tolerable from some angles. Annoying because I'd expected it might happen and took pains to prevent it. Oh well.

I filed flats on the wheels, but they're free to rotate, so if you see any in the wrong place on the photos, please don't snigger too loudly.

The White ensign paint arrived today. Good job I didn't wait (not ther fault, I'd inadvertantly checked the box on the website to have everything sent together, so had to wait for it all to be in stock). The light earth I've used is too light compared to their's, but about the same shade. What I've used for the light green is quite different. I refuse to cry. Really.

Overall, the kit is very good for it's age. I'll build the other one as the seaplane version, and forwarned it should be a lot better. It's obvious which of my improvements are over scale, badly done, or just unimportant, but overal I'm happy with the result.










Paul.

[giulio_gobbi]

Beautiful, really nice.
I know the plane, I flew four times on it.

[splash]

Thanks. 2 delicacies and a small tool for knocking a link out of a bicycle chain actually. doesn't really matter which is which.......

It does if you are hungry and trying to take a link out of your bike chain, you could finish up with busted teeth and a messy chain

Great work on the Tiger Moth it looks brilliant. We all look forward to seeing you build the float version.

Regards Splash

[Old_Tonto]

Very nice build. Great work.

[ShaunW]

That looks great Paul - I'm still in awe

[PaulBradley]

Wonderful! Now, on with the floatie!!

[Titan]

Nice work Paul, what a great result you have there.

Regards
Mark

[Flute]

Thanks everyone.

Wonderful! Now, on with the floatie!!

Not for this Group Build though. I've a friend visiting, and even though he's a modeller it's asking a bit much if I totally ignore him for the next few days.

A fun group build, even though real-life distractions have kept me from posting much in other people's threads, and the Tiger Moth has been a really enjoyable kit that I'd reccommend to everyone. If the build went on another 2 weeks I'd be tempted to throw in a few more.

Cheers, Paul.

[Ian]

Stunning, Paul. Having seen one close up a few weeks ago it's great to see how much of the detail you've added.
Well done!