DaveCov's Airfix 1/72 Airco DH4 1918 (01079)

[davecov]

Another little update.

I finished the rigging on the bottom of the lower wing but I have only half-rigged the last four pieces of rigging on the top of the wing. That will not be completed until the newly-ordered roundels arrive:


That is all for now.

Dave

[davecov]

Latest update.

The Almark Decals roundels have arrived. I have never used them before and I doubt that I will use them again. Annoyingly, they are slightly out of register, the carrier film covers the whole sheet and the white cirle surrounds are almost impossible to see. That makes trimming extremely difficult:


The old roundels were removed from the upper wings:


I sanded the damage on the top wings and repainted:


Roundels were applied to the top wings. The shade is slightly different to the fuselage and tail decals. Not sure what to do about that. There are three options, replace the kit decals with Almark decals, paint the decals, or leave them as it is:


Roundels were also removed from the bottom wings and the wings repainted. I will be sanding down the paintwork before applying roundels:


Roundels have been applied to the bottom wings. I still have to clean up the underside of the top wing but that can't be done until the final rigging has been done:


Last four bits of upper wing rigging have been glued in place, awaiting trimming:


Final rigging was the rudder lines. To make it easier to fit, I threaded a single piece of line through the fuselage:


Rigging is complete:


I have applied a little weathering behind the exhausts and on the wheels. I applied a coat of matt varnish even though I have the decal dilemma to sort out:


That is all for now.

Dave

[papa 695]

Great work Dave, even more so with having to replace the decals.

[davecov]

Thanks Ian. :thumb2:

Unfortunately, I am not happy with the replacement decals as the blue and red are too light for an RFC machine in the second half of 1918 which is when the kit scheme was set. I have another DH4 in my stash and will be removing the replacement decals and replacing with the donor kit ones! I will definitely NOT be changing them again after that.

Dave

[davecov]

My final report now.

I didn't bother to remove the old roundels. Instead I painted over them and then Kleared ready for the roundels from another DH4 kit:


Roundels applied on top:


And underneath. Final jobs will be to fit the skids, weather and varnish:


It is now finished:

















Once again, thanks to Ian () for setting up this GB.

Dave

[Mark1]

Nicely done :thumb2:

[Tim Marlow]

Despite the trials with the decals this old stager has come out very well Dave. She must have more rigging than any other plane in the group build.

[Neil Merryweather]

Ooh that looks good

[papa 695]

Great work Dave, it did put up a little fight, but you definitely got the better of it.

[Jim R]

Well Dave despite all the rigging and all the decals changes that's a cracking result. All credit to you for overcoming problems and sticking with it. The finished model is a testament to your patience and skill.

[JayCee]

Very nice, Dave. That is a serious amount of rigging.
John.

[Waspie]

Brilliant result. I think it’ll be while before I tackle rigging of any shape size or form. Top job.

[flyjoe180]

A lot of hard work by you Dave, and the result is fantastic.