Tales from the Basement Lab by AndrewR

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splash
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Re: Tales from the Basement Lab by AndrewR

Post by splash »

Excellent work, that's turned brilliant.
My work bench is starting to look like Portsmouth Naval Dockyard.
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AndrewR
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Re: Tales from the Basement Lab by AndrewR

Post by AndrewR »

splash wrote:Excellent work, that's turned brilliant.
Thanks :) It's now in for matt varnish, as I've added as much rigging as I can without risking making a mess of the build.

So next up is the even more venerable Airfix Bristol Bulldog, the kit being very kindly supplied by Paul Bradley. Once again, it will be out of the box, apart from rigging and new decals. I'll be doing the scheme on the left in the picture.

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I've sprayed the interior with dark grey primer, and put the fuselage together. The interior has a seat and a floor, and nothing else, but you can't really see anything anyhow. The lower wing is not attached yet, as I want to paint it separately from the fuselage. There are two very small struts between fuselage and lower wing, and I'm not entirely convinced that I can spray around them and get decent coverage.

PS Sorry about the single photo - my phone is refusing to charge and I will probably have to go out and get a new one tomorrow :cry:
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AndrewR
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Re: Tales from the Basement Lab by AndrewR

Post by AndrewR »

Here is the completed Airfix Airco DH.4. The markings are for the aircraft piloted by Major E Cadbury (C/O of 212 Squadron, RFC) and with Major R Leckie (C/O of 228 Sqn, RFC) as observer, when they shot down the Zeppelin L.70 during a raid in the Lowestoft/Great Yarmouth area.

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This is out of box, apart from the rigging, and uses the same markings as the kit decals (they were still "transfers" then).

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Definitely one of the best Airfix biplanes to build, as the engineering of the struts, cabanes and upper wings is excellent. It's possible to put the upper wing on without glue.

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I do think the crew figures supplied at a bit on the diminutive side, and of course there's no interior apart from the seats.

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As usual, I have not done a full rigging job, just the most essential lines.

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Highly recommended, if you can find the kit.
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jssel
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Re: Tales from the Basement Lab by AndrewR

Post by jssel »

Nice one Andrew. Almost a Blitz.
Besting 60 years of mediocre building of average kits in the stand off scale
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iggie
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Re: Tales from the Basement Lab by AndrewR

Post by iggie »

Excellent build and tutorial 8-)

I have one winging it's way to me as I type :grin:
Best wishes

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AndrewR
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Re: Tales from the Basement Lab by AndrewR

Post by AndrewR »

jssel wrote:Nice one Andrew. Almost a Blitz.
Thanks Jeff. One of the few biplane that I think could be blitzed, with a fair chance of success. :grin:
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AndrewR
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Re: Tales from the Basement Lab by AndrewR

Post by AndrewR »

iggie wrote:Excellent build and tutorial 8-)

I have one winging it's way to me as I type :grin:
Thanks. And a good purchase. :grin:
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Softscience
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Re: Tales from the Basement Lab by AndrewR

Post by Softscience »

Nice to see you back, Andrew. I hope all is well in the Casa del Pair-O-Docs.

Nice looking DH. I'm almost tempted to try one, but I know better than to go down that dead end road again :)
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Re: Tales from the Basement Lab by AndrewR

Post by AndrewR »

Softscience wrote:Nice to see you back, Andrew. I hope all is well in the Casa del Pair-O-Docs.

Nice looking DH. I'm almost tempted to try one, but I know better than to go down that dead end road again :)
Easiest biplane build I've ever done. And thanks, we are doing alright. David is now seizure-free for over a year, due to three meds and some very good Docs.

Cheers

Andrew
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Re: Tales from the Basement Lab by AndrewR

Post by gnomemeansgnome »

Nice job.
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Re: Tales from the Basement Lab by AndrewR

Post by Stuart »

AndrewR wrote:
Softscience wrote:Nice to see you back, Andrew. I hope all is well in the Casa del Pair-O-Docs.

Nice looking DH. I'm almost tempted to try one, but I know better than to go down that dead end road again :)
Easiest biplane build I've ever done. And thanks, we are doing alright. David is now seizure-free for over a year, due to three meds and some very good Docs.

Cheers

Andrew
That's great news Andrew!

Nice looking bipe that - Great work!
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Re: Tales from the Basement Lab by AndrewR

Post by Clashcityrocker »

Nicely done Andrew, And good news about your son.

Nigel
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AndrewR
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Re: Tales from the Basement Lab by AndrewR

Post by AndrewR »

Clashcityrocker wrote:Nicely done Andrew, And good news about your son.

Nigel
Yes, he's doing well, but now we have to sort out the ADHD and hyperactivity! Poor lad is on a cocktail of 5 medications at the moment.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch bench:

The paint job on the Bristol Bulldog is mostly complete. I still have to paint the propeller and wheels.

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I've used Vallejo Metallic Dark Aluminium to represent the metal parts of the airframe. I reduced the shininess a little by using the regular Vallejo Acrylic Primer, rather then the special glossy black primer they recommend for maximum shine. Plus it also made the paint job much, much easier.

For the doped fabric, I've used my trusty old Vallejo Air Aluminium, which is a very nice paint because it brushes AND sprays well.
For the NIVO (Night Invisible Varnish) paint on the topsides, I went for Vallejo Air Dark Olive.

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There's a wee bit of tidying up to do on the NIVO/Aluminium line on the starboard side, which I'm hoping a bit of deft brushwork will fix. Assuming I'm capable of deft brushwork :ha:

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And there's a missing strut to put on. Fortunately, I haven't glues the lower wings in place yet, so that should be a reasonably easy, if fiddly, job.

cheers

Andrew
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Migrant
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Re: Tales from the Basement Lab by AndrewR

Post by Migrant »

Lovely work on the DH4 Andrew. Look forward to the Bulldog's progress.
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Re: Tales from the Basement Lab by AndrewR

Post by Narayan »

Nice work Andrew.

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