Eduard 1/48 Fokker D.VII

[Dave Ward]

Did the underside rib tapes this morning - music - Enigma - 'Screen Behind The Mirror & Voyageur'

Like yesterday, I'll give these a sealing coat of varnish & let dry overnight . Not quite finished with the rib tapes, I still have the ailerons to do, but they can wait until after the wings are on...........
Been pondering on what I should build next
Dave

[Allen Dewire]

That does look mighty fine Dave! I guess some relaxing music and time were all you needed. I looked at my Halberstadt CL II from WNW and the ribs are printed on the lozenge decals for the wings. A big sigh of relief on my part......

Prost
Allen

[Dave Ward]

The underside tapes were easier - I'd found out the problems & pitfalls yesterday, with the uppers, so I did the tapes in about half the time.
Dave

[Dave Ward]

Rudder, elevator & machine guns added

I finally fitted the bottom wing, allowing me to add the final patch of lozenge decals


The next part is adding the top wing - I'll check that all the location points are open & clear - this shouldn't be too difficult, as the D.VII had 'N' outer struts - meaning that you only have to juggle two parts, instead of four.
Dave

[Dave Ward]

The outer struts are added to the top wing & allowed to dry, then a drop of CA around the base, to give a bit more strength - The struts are at right angles to the wing, so this is painless.


No real way of taking a photograph when the top wing is placed - I need all three to get things lined up - using Contacta for initial grab. Then laid carefully laid on the cutting mat. I used whatever was handy to keep all things straight. It's useful to be able to turn the cutting mat without disturbing the 'jig', just to check on straightness & squareness...........................

I let this dry for an hour or so, then added a drop of CA on each strut base. The assembly is very fragile & wobbly, so great care is needed in handling - I let the CA go off, then added the centre section struts - not that bad, as long as you remembered to open all the mounting holes.

The struts fitted pretty well, but I managed to break two - luckily single struts, that I had to replace.
I'll leave this a few hours to dry, then again add a drop of CA to each strut mount. There's no way of rushing this, you have to wait to let the adhesives really go off. I'll probably let this sit overnight before moving onto the undercarriage, which, like the Fokker Dr.I, looks very spindly...........
Dave

[Dave Ward]

The final piece of assembly - and the trickiest - the undercarriage. Four thin struts to support the 'wing' axle, and no real positive locations.
A mater of holding your breath, until the cement starts to grab, then gently aligning the whole lot until it's square. I managed this on the third attempt! I'll leave this for a couple of hours, then add a drop of CA to each mounting point.
This is getting close to finishing - the next pictures will be appearing in the completed section..............
Dave

[Dave Ward]

Finito! https://www.scale-models.co.uk/threa...mpleted.36375/
Dave