Fokker DVII Upper Wing [Archive]

nx13688

01-30-2006, 12:18 PM

Sounds like you aren't pre-forming the top surface of the wing. Pull the top surface of the wing across the edge of a table until it develops a pronounced curve. When you fold the top and bottom surfaces together, the top trailing edge should now be AHEAD OF the bottom trailing edge. Apply glue to the bottom of the top trailing edge, lay the wing down on your work surface, and gently press down on the top surface until the trailing edges line up. Use a ruler to press the trailing edges together until the glue grabs.
Here's a simple diagram to illustrate:

Redwulf

01-30-2006, 02:14 PM

Thanks, I didn't form it this way using a table. I'll give that a try it seems to make good sense. It does look like there is supposed to be a slight undercamber in the airfoil. Do you score the leading edge?

nx13688

01-30-2006, 02:35 PM

Yes, most FG models need to have the leading edges scored.

Jim Krauzlis

01-30-2006, 10:18 PM

Hi, Redwolf!

I just happen to be building this kit myself, and had built one previously...the trick I found to work nicely is to use a bamboo skewer under the top part of the upper wing and use it to put a curve into that part. The upper wing is purposely made a bit longer than the bottom to account for the extra curve you need to put into her. The curve that is required is created by lining up the after edges of both the top and bottom halves, with something like the skewer to help introduce the curve.

Here's a photo of the upper wing:

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/2348/anotherviewofupperwing3yb.jpg

I've reduced the model to 1/72 scale, but the technique is the same. What I did was trim the after edges of the top and bottom halves before folding up to the tips of the scalloped edges...I aligned the edges after scoring the leading edge and putting a skewer in between the halves to get the curve I wanted. That's the skewer in the foreground of the photo. The bottom edge was flat on the table as I did this.

I put a bead of glue along the inside of the after edges and pressed them together with the skewer still inside the two halves to keep the curve. After the glue set, I removed the skewer and the curve held, even imparting a slight curve to the lover half. I then worked the top ends down to the bottom half, putting glue on the lower half of the ends, and taking my time to gently coax the end parts down and into place.

It actually is a bit curved as you will see in the photo. In the end, it came out fine. The key is putting the curve into the upper half and lining up the after edges, that ensures you get the right curve in the wing. I did the same thing to the lower wing too, but it was not as pronounced a curve.

Here's a view from the end of the wing:

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/7962/endviewofwing1qg.jpg

As you'll see, it has a curve in both the top and bottom...perhaps too much of a curve, but practice makes almost perfect.:grin:

I sure would like to see some photos of your build, if you can. This is my favorite plane of WWI, and I plan on building all of the Dell series at 1/72 scale. I've learned a bit on the two builds, one thing is the struts are not the right length and you need to make them a bit longer. I also will make them a bit thinner on the next model, as they look a bit out of scale the way I did them this time. I might do a build thread when I start the next one, but I'm not sure when that will be.

Anyway, I hope some of this is helpful.

Cheers!
Jim

Redwulf

01-31-2006, 01:11 PM

Thanks Jim, The pictures were very helpful! Your DVII looks very nice. I"ll try to get some pictures of mine up soon. I haven't had a lot of luck with close up pictures. What did you use for your struts?

Jim Krauzlis

01-31-2006, 02:17 PM

You're more than welcome, Redwulf, and thanks for the very kind words about my build so far.

I love the Fokker DVII, as I mentioned, and wish there were more models of her available; I have one out of print version in Polish markings from I forget who, but except for the occassional smaller and simplier scale version, nothing else...go figure, one of the more famous fighters and yet no one has offered a decent detailed version of her yet.:cry:

Oh, my little effort here leaves a lot to be desired...the wing curve is too much, the bottom shouldn't really be that curved, based on photos of her from museums, the struts are too thick and too wide, they should be narrowed down a bit at both ends (where it attaches to the wing/fuselage), which this build does not do properly, etc. By the way, the struts were made of two plys of 67# card with a thin wire sandwiched in the middle. For the next build I will either leave it at one ply or substitute thin wooden struts instead of cardboard, but I really would like to keep it paper if I can; either way, I will try to remember to make the ends of the struts a bit more narrowed/pointy like the photos suggest it should look like, and try not to go overboard with the wing cambers.:roll:

Anyway, it's a fun build, and even though I built the "LO!" version, the original FG model, not the re-designed and more accurte Dell version, I am still learning how to build these bi-planes...it helps if the struts are uniform lengths and in scale, though...not sure if it was the extra curve, my bad construction technique or what, but the strut templates Dell shows for this version were all a tad too short, something I found out too late in the process and had to remove and start over again. Shows the basic rule that you need to fit before gluing is really important, something that I occassionally forget to do, usually with bad results.:oops:

I am looking forward to seeing photos of your build...maybe we should start a build thread and show the build of each of our Fokker's in it...that might be fun and interesting, no? Well, just an ambitious thought this raining afternoon in New York.:grin:

Cheers!
Jim

RINGMASTER

01-31-2006, 03:39 PM

Help is on the way

http://www.paperwarbirds.net/content.do;jsessionid=5441DF0AE63FE05F176360E41C98 3E06?page=page.1_monthpic

Jim Krauzlis

01-31-2006, 04:00 PM

That will be one awesome model!

I have one or two of his Dr1s, and the graphics are extraordinary!!

You know, once the first one is available there will be many, many skins produced to go with them, which is excellent.

Thanks for the info!

Cheers!

Jim

Redwulf

02-05-2006, 01:35 PM

Hey Jim,
I had the flew along with the rest of the family here! My wife was the only one to stay healthy. Good thing too! Well, pictures are hard for me but here is one of my DVII. Next step to put on the vertical stab and rudder. Not quite sure how it resolves with the back of the fuselage. Trying to figure that out a bit. Hope the pictures are ok. I'll get a few more when she starts looking like something.

http://www.alumbaughforge.com/Pics/DVII.jpg

http://www.alumbaughforge.com/Pics/DVIIa.jpg

Jim Krauzlis

02-05-2006, 02:02 PM

Hi, Redwulf!

Well, I sure hope you and your family are resting easy and getting better. I have been fighting a head cold for the last few days myself, something we passed around in our household last week.

Your build is looking great! I noticed this seems to be the original FG Fokker DVII offering; the Dell collection has another "LO!" which is colored slightly different for the upper wing and horizontal stabilizer.

I was able to get a few things done on my Fokker, however. I pretty much have her done, save for the control surface details and some other odds and ends. This is what she looks like today:

http://img324.imageshack.us/img324/8445/fokkerdviisofarfeb520067tt.jpg

I think the struts are a bit overscale, so next time around I will try and correct that. Here's a view from the rear:

http://img324.imageshack.us/img324/1277/fokkerdviifromtherear2ce.jpg

I also found a few things are probably better installed before the top wing is installed, such as the machine guns and marking the points for the control surface wire entry into the fuselage...live and learn! Here's another view from the rear:

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/6576/fokkerdviifromtherearanothervi.jpg

Since I hope to make the others from this series by FG as well, this one was a learning experience on what to watch out for in the future. I also have some of Zio's models which I will also try to print out in the same scale, which is 1/72, and he offers different color schemes than the FG line, so that should make for quite a nice little collection, if I eventually see it through. Here's a final view of what she looks like so far:

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/2793/fokkerdviifromthefront8wy.jpg

These are so much fun to build, I recommend them to anybody who wants a few nights of fun building a pretty nice looking model.

Hope to get a chance to finish her up this week, so I'll post some more photos then.

Take care,

Jim

Redwulf

02-05-2006, 02:32 PM

Look great Jim. Mine is a total learning experience too. My fuselage is not straight. I debated on pulling it apart and fixing it but hey it's the first attempt. I'm learning on this one. My goal is to build a few of these DVII's and a couple of Camels or Neiports and hang them from the boys room. It can be their little dogfight above the beds! I'll post more too when I get some.

Again, yours looks real nice. Keep it up!

Jim Krauzlis

02-05-2006, 02:46 PM

Thanks, Redwulf!

Yeah, I had the same problem with the fuselage on the first build I did of this model, the version you are building in fact. I found that you have to be very careful in lining up the after edges of the fuselage, were the vertical stabilizer goes later, or it will skew one way or the other. I also learned it was easier, at least for me, to not keep the bottom part attached when building, but to add it later as I felt in trying to fit it while attached it pulls the sides one way or the other out of line unless you are really very careful.

So, on this model I cut off the bottom and assembled the rest of the fuselage without it, and clipped the back when I had the ends lined up right. I used the lines on the work board to check for plumb fore and aft while clipping. Once the upper parts had dried, I attached the top part that goes on behind the cockpit next, again trying to keep the whole fuselage plumb along a centerline, and then added the bottom, gluing up the forward part first, then working my way back, letting the first parts set with the glue before continuing towards the back.

It's a bit tricky, particularly without any internal formers to keep things straight, but it finally worked out.:grin: I felt the key was checking the plumb through out using the lines on the work board to check that at each step of the assembly it kept straight...a lesson I learned the hard way on the first build of "LO!".:roll:

I'm looking forward to more pictures as you go along, you build is looking great!

Cheers!

Jim

Texman

02-05-2006, 03:07 PM

Hey Jim,

Very nice build. I think it turned out very well. Only thing I have to add,
instead of the struts being overscale, I believe the whole plane, if it is
1/72, is 50% overscale! Hee hee, ha ha, I kill my little 1/144 building self!

No really, it looks great. Good to see it.

Ray

Redwulf

02-12-2006, 07:00 PM

Hey Jim,

I found this on the net. Anyone who like the DVII and modeling it needs to see these pics.
http://www.wwi-models.org/app/album/Acn.php?base=%2FPhotos%2FGer%2FFok_DVII%2FRAFM&hdr=RAF+Museum&picInx=1

Bengt F

02-12-2006, 07:12 PM

Hi Ryan, Redwolf and Jim!

Here´s what I tried while making the large upper (and only) wing for the Fokker D VIII monoplane from Fiddhttp://www.cardmodels.net/forum/images/editor/menupop.giflers Green:
On the sheet with the wing it was suggested that you should score, bend and glue the LOWER part of the wing - but I didn´t do that, because I thought that it would make more sense to score and bend the UPPER part, since this part should be rounded and formed to create the proper airfoil form anyway. In addition, a bent form is also much stronger! So, step by step:
1. I first gently rolled the whole sheet (just where the upper wing is) over the sharp edge on my cutting mat, before cutting the wings out. This leaves you ample space to hold the sheet firmly with your free hand. I did this several times (being very careful to pull straight and not break the paper) until I was pleased with the form.
2. I then gave the LOWER wing part just a light touch of the same treatment, once or twice, on the printed side (to get the slight camber form).
3. Then on to the scoring; and here I used a trick that I read somewhere - for the UPPER wing LEADING edge I scored lightly on the BACKSIDE! This gives a bend that is much rounder and smoother - the printed paper doesn´t crack and leave a white line that have to be retouched. Having had success with this simple but very good looking method, I will apply this to every leading edge on every wing from now on. The TRAILING edge I scored as usual, on the printed side, which gave the usual sharp end with cracked paper, which in turn means I now have to do a great deal of touching up with coloured marker pens (VERY carefully...) or water colours.
4. Then I cut out both parts, leaving as much material as possible around them for handling, especially for the glueing flaps - which I cut with a sharp scalpel blade to about a 3/4 of an inch or 15 mm width.
5. The lower wing part (having been slightly pre-formed) was then cut just slightly WITHIN the black contour line (which I always do to get rid of them on the model!) to make a nice fit to the rounded upper part. They look perfect together! And, the good bonus you get with this technique is that the wing dihedral (which is accentuated on the lower part of the Fokker D VIII) comes automatically!

6. The rest is just careful forming, shaping and glueing, which I always do on large scrap paper sheets (which I discard once the glueing is finished) on top of the cutting mat!
I might just also insert some wing formers and spars just like Jim, to keep the nice rounded wing form for a long time...

Sometimes it´s good to use your head and think in new ways (and not just blindly follow instructions)

Good Night from Sweden (it´s one o´clock in the morning here now...)
Bengt Fredén:wink:

RINGMASTER

02-13-2006, 12:14 AM

If I understand what Dick Doll said about the DVIII, you shoud use the underwing serfice from his version on the origioal as there should not be any ribs showing from the bottom, which is covered in plywood. Can any windsocks types clarify that.
I built the Dell Fat Cat DVII as a birthday request and ran into the strut problem. I had run out of material and time, so I held my nose and pulled a lot of dihedral into the lower wing to make it fit. Everybody loves the model, but I crenge everytime I see it.

Jim Krauzlis

02-13-2006, 07:40 AM

Hi, everyone!:)

Thanks for the great link, Redwulf! It's always nice to have a photo reference when building to check some details against the model, and that site has a lot of very nice photos.

Thanks for the superb discussion of curving the upper wing, Bengt! I'll have to try the interior scoring method for the upper curved surface, sounds like a great way to impart that nice, easy curve but I hadn't thought of using something like that for the leading edge. That sounds like it will give you a nice curve at the edge without a break in the paper surface, so it probably looks much more realistic than the way I did mine on the DVII. You are right, it's a great idea to not just blindly follow instructions and to try different methods. Great tips! Thanks!

Thanks, Ringmaster, I hadn't seen the comment about the lower wing before...who, by the way, is Dick Doll? I was looking at the photos from the link posted by Redwulf and I see there is no distinct rib curves on the lower wing, but there does seem to be some color changes in the areas where the lower part of the wings are located in the camo pattern. I have considered the lower part of the wings as fairly flat from other photos and illustrations so I usually don't impart any extreme curve to that lower wing surface on this model, any curve you might see on my model was created by the gluing process and luckily provided a slight curve, mostly by accident. :oops: I know the FG sheets show a cross section of the wing with a very pronounced curve to the lower part of the wings, but I hadn't seen that extreme curve on any other photo sources, so I didn't purposely curve the lower part of the wing on my model...I gather from Bengt that the lower part of the wing on the DVIII is also slightly curved. By the way, I gather that the camo patterns are sometimes different shades on different planes, although I'm certainly no expert, and the Dell versions seem to follow that pattern on the different models fairly well from what I've seen comparing to some other artistic portrayals of the same airplane on the web.

Oh, and just to note, paperwarbirds is, indeed, coming out with a DVII in a few months, based on an email I received from Roman Seissler, and based on their DRI series, one of which I have, the graphics will be extraordinary, so I expect their DVII will be outstanding! One of the areas lacking in the FG model is the engine details, so I have a good feeling Roman is going to give us a superb model when it's released.

I would love to see some more photos of other models being built, if possible.:grin:

Cheers to all!
Jim

Bengt F

02-13-2006, 11:06 AM

Hi Jim,

I´m glad you liked my view on how to form the wing surfaces - now I only have to gain some of your skills when it comes to the wing tips (the really hard part)!
Have you noticed that there is a beautiful ENGINE paper model FOR FREE DOWNLOAD on the Paperwarbirds site for the Fokker D VII?

Just warm your hands and get yor magnifying glass ready (you might want to reduce the size...)!
By the way, talking about working with very small parts - here´s another useful tip:
I use a very handy double magnifying glass "cap", which was recommended to me by a friend who works with tiny silver jewellery.
Here´s how it works: You just put it over your head and pull it down (even over your reading glasses) for greatly improved micro-nearsight - comes with TWO magnifications, 2,2 and 3,3 X, using a double pair of in-built lenses. All in plastic, very cheap ("Head-wearing magnifying glass P-23" made in Taiwan, no brand). I just can´t do without it now (I´m 52) and it also gives me a very modern "cyber look"!
I can tell you, a lot of heads turn when they pass by my window..!

The laughs are on me:grin:

best regards,
Bengt

Bengt F

02-13-2006, 11:25 AM

Hey Redwulf!

What a very good link - really very useful!!!
I found my favourite - the Fokker D VIII/E. V monoplane, which I´m building at the moment. Here are colour pictures of the real full-scale thing!
And, there´s also a very impressive and extensive LINK PAGE:
how about this one
http://www.fokker-team.de (Fokker-team-Schorndorf/F-T-S.)
Try it, I know you´ll like it! They´ve even got full scale downloadable drawings/building plans for sale for the Fokker D VII, if you (or Jim!) should ever consider building the real plane!
In addition, they have 60 sample download drawing plans FOR FREE (out of 200) for the real full scale Fokker Dr 1 Triplane!
Makes you think - maybe it´s not too late to start studying for a Sport Pilot´s Licence..!
I´d like to play "Baron Manfred von Richthoven or Werner Voss" and find out really how difficult it is to manouver the Dr 1...
Have you seen the movie "Blue Max", where a Dr 1 crashes as the pilot tries to fly under a train bridge? Awesome!

It´s never too late... (only if you´re in a crate six feet under)

Bengt:twisted:

Jim Krauzlis

02-13-2006, 12:35 PM

Good one, Bengt!

I had not considered reducing the free engine model, though you've now got me thinking...could be trouble.:wink: Not sure how much detail I would consider for this scale, but I'm sure the cockpit could use a bit more detail work.

I use a clip-on magnifier that fits onto my reading glasses...it has the ability to be flipped up when necessary, and has been my "eyes" for quite a time, now...sad to say.:cry: I couldn't cut a straight line without them these days (turned 50 last September, but the ol' eyes were going down hill for at least a decade before that). Sure, I look like something out of a B horror movie probably, but it helps get the job done.:grin:

I saw that "build your own" site (actually, they are apparently building one, not sure how far they got), but I doubt my wife would humor me and allow me to start building a DVII in the garage.:grin:

I saw a show a few weeks ago comparing the DRI to the Sopwith Camel, and they commented not only on the handling difficulties that took a bit to master, but also the line of sight reduction on take off and landing...very interesting, never considered those things before that show. It does make one wonder how these birds were handled by the aces...certainly required quite a bit of skill to last more than a few days, I imagine.

Cheers!
Jim

Redwulf

02-13-2006, 12:40 PM

Thanks Bengt. I have seen the Schorndoff site! I have downloaded the drawings too! I have also been eyeing up some property big enough to put a nice heated "hanger" and a nice grass strip suitable for landing. I only need to talk my wife into it now!!!!!!!! Her hangup right now is only one seat in the DVII!

Bengt F

02-13-2006, 03:28 PM

Hey Baron Redwulf!

I´m sure that the Fokker D VII can be modified into a two-seater (something like the Curtiss Jenny), so you don´t have to leave your wife standing alone on the Flughafen while you´re up in the skies having fun, doing an Immelman dive or a loop...
provided of course that you´re not a whole-hearted puritan and want your Fokker D VII to be as true to the original as possible?

However, sometimes you have to make some small sacrifices to get what you want..!

Bengt :twisted:

Redwulf

02-13-2006, 04:22 PM

Or I could build two versions! :twisted:

Jim Krauzlis

02-13-2006, 05:02 PM

I've got dibs on Ltn. Ernst Udet's color scheme.:grin:

http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/1672/fokkerdviiudet1vn.jpg

This picture and more by the amazing artist Bob Pearson can be found here:

http://www.cbrnp.com/profiles/quarter1/fokker-dvii.htm

Cheers!

Herr Krauzlis

Bengt F

02-13-2006, 06:15 PM

Guten Abend, Herr Krauzlis!

Bob Pearson´s site is a fine one, indeed!
Here´s a link-page with some "goodies" for the avid aero modeller:

http://www.web-birds.com/av_links.html

Enjoy!

signing off,
Herr Fredén, Stockholm.:wink:

RINGMASTER

02-13-2006, 11:28 PM

Don't know Dick Doll, but this is what he said:
http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/AC/aircraft/Fokker-DVIII/fok_d8.php

Bengt F

02-14-2006, 04:44 AM

Hi there Ringmaster!

Thanks for the additional info - Yes, this is the model from FG I´m building at the noment (the LARGE one with the grinning eyes and the red dragon on the sides of the fuselage).
Quite a nice and colourful little bird!

Up, up and away!
Bengt Fredén, Stockholm :roll:

Bengt F

02-14-2006, 06:44 AM

Hey Redwulf!

Check out this interesting site, if you haven´t seen it already:

http://www.oldrhinebeck.org/ - lots of nice pictures of antique planes!

-here you can take your wife up in a biplane to get her in the right mood for your project..!

Tallyho!
Bengt:twisted:

Bengt F

02-14-2006, 07:01 AM

Hey Jim!

You should see this:
http://www.oldrhinebeck.org/action_fokker_movie.htm
(requires QuickTime)
credits/source: Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome - Action Footage

Nice, eh?
Bengt:twisted:

Redwulf

02-14-2006, 08:12 AM

Thanks Bengt. I do have that site. I have been meaning to post that link for Jim. I love to watch that DVII video. As soon as I finish the FG DVII I'm workin on I am going to build a much larger one for my 4 year old. I have been collecting "huge" pieces of cardboard from my work for it. I don't know how large I'll have to scale it up but my intent is to for him to be able to sit in the cockpit. My wife is not real happy about how big this thing is going to be in the house. But hey, my son will love it!

Jim Krauzlis

02-14-2006, 09:27 AM

Thanks, Ringmaster!:)

I appreciate the link...Ringmaster, have you since tried to rebuild the model? It might be worth trying again, now that you know the strut length problem...she's a nice looking model in that color scheme.

What I ended up doing, and it really just more of a annoyance at having to make new struts than anything else, is mounting the wing using the "N" shaped struts in place and measured the distance from the wing points to the fuselage using the old, short struts and then guesstimated the proper lengths, final fitted for the actual length and that was that. As I said, more annoyance than real trouble, actually. Just not sure why there is that error in the strut templates...the "N" struts were fine, just the ones that attached to the fuselage. From this I learned that next time I will make them a bit longer than needed and trim to the final shape before installing...it's just a little tricky mounting them in place with the top wing already installed, but I can't imagine how else to do it. I actually tried to put the struts in place and then put the top wing on, but it was a circus trying to get the ends of all the struts to meet the underside of the wing properly, not to mention the revelation that the fuselage struts were too short to begin with, so I figure having the "N" struts in place and the top wing installed made it a bit easier anyway to just insert the fuselage struts...at least I then didn't have to juggle the top wing and all the struts at the same time. I'm sure the more experienced bi-plane makers will get a good laugh out of my dilemna, but, hey, live and learn. I choice to just not get too bent out of shape out of the whole affair because I figure any and all mistakes eventually lead to a solution and a lesson learned for next time. Now, dropping the plane while adding some of the smaller stuff, well, that's a moment I would just assume forget.:roll: Must say something about the design by FG, because she survived the fall with no apparent problem, save for what I think caused the wheel strut rigging to become slack and askew. But I digress....:grin:

Redwulf and Bengt, thanks for the link, I did see the Old Rhineback site, but I had trouble watching the video...I will try it again later when I have more time, should be a blast. Redwulf, you WILL have to post pictures of your Son's Fokker when you get around to it, please! That is an awesome idea! Can you build one for me...uh, I mean, my daughter?:-D

Gruß!
Herr Krauzlis

Texman

02-14-2006, 12:14 PM

Apparantly, the engine you mentioned is no longer available on
the paperwarbird site, but then, neither are any of the other free
models Marcus offered. He states that unauthorized hot linking
to the files caused them to be removed. To bad, I would have loved
to have that engine to put in my planes.

Ray

Jim Krauzlis

02-14-2006, 12:48 PM

Hi, Ray!:)

I found the engine here:
http://www.paperwarbirds.net/content.do?page=page.1_tools
Look at the bottom of the page; I just downloaded a copy without any problems.
Let me know if you still have trouble getting it.
Cheers!
Jim

Texman

02-14-2006, 01:41 PM

DOH!!! I went to the wrong paper warbird site. I thought it was Marcus Harmon's place (paperwarbirds.COM, instead of Sero's paperwarbirds.NET)
My bad. Thanks for showing me Jim!

Ray

Jim Krauzlis

02-14-2006, 02:11 PM

Ain't no big thang, Ray!

Cheers!
Jim

Bowdenja

02-14-2006, 02:16 PM

Boy........... don't cha hate it when your brain says one thing and the fingers go off and do a completely different thing!:grin:

john

Jim Krauzlis

02-14-2006, 02:39 PM

Oh, that movie is sweet!:grin:

Only wish I could save it and play it at my leisure...and that it was a longer movie!

Cheers!
Jim

Redwulf

02-14-2006, 07:00 PM

I found this http://www.aeroconservancy.com/fokker6746fabric.htm

Bengt F

02-22-2006, 08:08 AM

Hi Jim, Redwulf and all of you other WW I aces!

For those of you who are into WW I airplanes, here´s another sister Forum I can really recommend:
http://theaerodrome.com/

I just became a member. Here´s a lot to learn about WW I aircraft (and their pilots)! "The Aerodrome Gallery" (a member gallery of artworks) contains 251 pictures, showing for example extremely detailed structures of a complete Fokker D. VII or Albatross, or closeups of the Mercedes (D. VII), Le Rhone or Oberursel (Dr. 1) engines! What a gem for the aero modeller!!!

Take a look - I guarantee you´ll like it!

best,
Bengt:twisted:

Redwulf

04-15-2006, 05:31 PM

Well, I got back on it some after a long long vacation! It still has some details to be added. The inner struts, the MG's need some barrels inserted. But its coming some. Thought you guys would like to see.

http://www.alumbaughforge.com/Pics/fok.jpg

Jim Krauzlis

04-15-2006, 06:16 PM

Indeed we do!:grin:

Looking great! Nice job on the wing tips.

Looking forward to more when you can.

Cheers!
Jim

Bengt F

04-15-2006, 07:12 PM

Good work, Redwulf!

And yes, very nice wing tips. She´s looking very 'scale' out in the bright sunlight. Might I suggest some touching up on the white paper edges..?
I know it´s not finished.

Great plane in a very fine colour scheme!
best,
Bengt:wink:

Redwulf

04-15-2006, 07:39 PM

Yeah, see the white edges real bad in the pictures. I havent perfected that skill yet! Will try to mess around with them in the finishing touches. The wingtips did come out ok. Not perfect but ok.

Thanks guys! She will look good hanging in the boys room. Going to build 3 or 4 DVIIs and 3 or 4 Sopwiths. Will hang them in a nice dogfight above the beds! I would have loved it when I was a kid. I'm sure they will too!
:twisted:

Bowdenja

04-15-2006, 08:07 PM

Looks great!

I did have a dog-fight above my bed............ a looooong time ago. My sister now confesses to making them move with a broom stick when I wasn't around. Sure explains why those plastic birds always had small stuff coming off them!:grin: Guess having to put up with me was punishment enough.
Don't think the wife would like it now though. Hope your kids enjoy it!
Oh and your model looks way better than those old plastic kits I used some 40 years ago.

john

Bengt F

04-15-2006, 08:09 PM

You´re probably still a kid, Redwulf! - That´s a compliment!
Bengt:grin:

I love your new avatar!

Redwulf

04-15-2006, 08:19 PM

Well, Bengt. I agree. So does my wife!!!!!!!!!!!! She is always on me for my "childish" projects! Except now I'm big enough to make them "BIG" childish projects!!!!!!!!!

I am getting ready to build a swingset for the boys. I am thinking of building the nose section of a DVII "jutting" out of the tower. Basically cockpit and wings complete with machine guns. The kids will love getting inside up high! I may just build it big enough for me to get in!!

Bengt F

04-16-2006, 07:11 PM

Redwulf,

What a great idea - that sounds really fun!
Post a picture of it some time!

Kids are wonderful - I have two daughters, 15 and 12. Little darlings, they are . . .
Bengt:roll:

Bengt F

04-18-2006, 07:28 PM

Hi Redwulf!

Look what I found, searching the web for larger RC scale models - a fantastic 1/4th scale model of Ernst Udet´s 'illegal' Fokker D. VIII airshow plane, in which he performed after the war, in the fall of 1918 and in the spring and summer of 1919. It was dedicated, as were many of his aeroplanes, to his lovely girl friend, Lola Zink, whom he later married.
Ernst Udet, btw, is the true ace behind the "Ernst Kessler" character in the movie "The Great Waldo Pepper", starring Robert Redford and the Swede Bo Brundin as Ernst Kessler, the WW I flying ace.

The aeroplane model:
http://members.aol.com/KMyersEFO/ksdviii.htm

And, here´s the intriguing (true) story of Ernst Udet´s life and career as a WW I flying 'ace' up to his tragic end in 1941, under the command of Hermann Göring:
http://historynet.com/ahi/blernstudet/index2.html

Enjoy!
Bengt:wink: