Alright! The biplane campaign has kicked off! There are plenty of seats available for late entrants, just announce to the world your interest in fabric and bracing wires.

What are some of the entries being considered by the participants? I'm going back and forth between the An-2 Colt (Trumpeter 1/72) and something from WW1... Final decision has yet to be made.

Looking forward to progress,
Mika

Wonderfull.. expect the Roden 1/48 Gloster Gladiator from me

I'm joining the flight formation with this beauty:
The 1/32 Nieuport 17 from Academy!



Paul

Haven't made my finaldecision, but I have a Vickers Vimy Commercial (Maquette) that I am looking at. Not a military plane, though, so I don't know if it would be allowed. Otherwise, Iwill be getting a bunchof Roden and Eduard WW1 aircraft. I wouldlike to find a unique subject for this one.

DaveMan,

The only requirement is that it's a biplane - commercial, military, even an experimental like what the Wright brothers cobbled together.

I also have that commercial Vimy kit (built the original bomber version years ago) but the completely hollow fuselage has me daunted. It needs something to dress it up, I just don't know what.

I'm looking forward to some progress shots from the entrants. Again, welcome aboard!

Mika

Target selection is finalized: I'll be building Roden's 1/72 Fokker D.VII - camo scheme is yet to be decided.

Construction should begin sometime next week, work willing.

Anyone else have topics chosen?

Mika

Hi all!

It's my first campaign and I have a few questions maybe someone could answer.

1- Can we submit more than one plane?
2- Are already finished kits allowed?
3- Must we post "in progress" pics?
4- When posting, do we need to create a new topic or do we post here?

About question 2, I personally think it should be a new kit (isn't a campaign about modelling together on a same subject) so it would answer question 3!

I think I'll do an Accurate Miniature polikarpov I-153 or an AM-Tech Henshel Hs-123 (maybe both... question 1)

Jean-Luc

PS: Maybe the answers are somwhere in a FAQ but if someone would be so kind

Hey Jean-Luc,

Welcome on Armorama and on this campaign!!!
Here are some answers, as far as I'm not wrong:

1- Yes, (but you only recieve 1 ribbon :-) )
2- No, not as far as I can remember
3- Is prefered (I always like them!) It's also handy if you have questions or want to show a special detail.
4- Post it here, or when you want to show something to whole Armorama, make a new topic.

I like the models you chose. Looking forward to see them built

Thanks Paul for the quick answers!

All is clear now!

Jean-Luc

Jean-Luc, welcome to the campaign. Our participant list now stands at thirteen - have other joiners decided on their build yet?

I've started on the D.VII, with the engine put together, and the fuselage interior painted. Next up is to put the cockpit together, which has some nice detail for this scale. Unfortunately, I think the Roden Brittle Plastic (tm) will ensure that much of the fiddly stuff will be scratchbuilt from Evergreen. I'll post some in-progress shots tonight.

Mika

OK, here is the promised progress photo. The cockpit went together smoothly, with only one part requiring to be scratched. I've included a universal scale (our European brethren will undoubtedly scratch their heads if I had placed a quarter there).

Next the metal bits will be drybrushed for some contrast, followed by gluing the fuelage together. There seems to be some issue with fitting the bottom wing to the fuselage, so the latter needs to be solid prior to filing these pieces to fit.



Mika

Mika,

That looks like it's gonna be a great little plane.
I like the variation in colours of the interior and I love that propellor.
How did you get that beautiful wooden look of the propellor? Did you painted the woodnerves on it?

Paul

The prop was painted with a base of Tamiya Desert Yellow, and the layering (dark stripes) were painted with a slightly thinned (just to give it a better flow) raw umber. Final coat was clear yellow. The cocpit walls were painted the same way, but the raw umber was drybrushed on to leave irregular streaks.

Tonight, I'll assemble the fuselage and tackle the bottom wing.

Mika

Mika,
Thanks for that paint tip about the propellor. The clear yellow is the trick, haven't tried it, but I will on the Nieuport!

This is not an entry for this campaign, but I just wanted to share this biplane with you all.
It's my entry for the 'Air over the Sea' campaign.
Just a little bit left to do on it, like placing the cockpit clear parts, decals on the propellor, finishing the water etc..
Tell me what you all think of it.

It's funny I just happen to read about this campaign when I come back home with 4 biplane kits !

I'll be building one ! But I just need to think a bit first... to choose !

Welcome aboard, penpen! What are the kits you're weighing out?

Mika

007, I've been following your build in the other topics - that plane looks sweet.

Not much progress on the D.VII last night, as it took a bit more effort than expected to fit the radiator and top coaming to sit right, after which I found out the engine seems to sit too low in the fuselage. If the engine is mounted where the prop shaft goes through the radiator then the cylinders won't clear sides, and there won't be a way to fit the exhaust.

I think the solution will be to raise the prop shaft hole in the radiator to allow the engine to sit level with the cylinder tops visible, that will be for tonight.

Mika

I have quite a bit of choice : eduard nieuport 11 and 17... roden nieuport 28... classic airframe curtis hawk II... eduard pfalz DIII... roden gladiator... high tech breguet XiV... and others ! Now you see why my wife is upset at my stash...

I'm thinking seriously of building the pfalz... and maybe the nieuport 28 too !

Hello all two wings builders...

I made my choice, it will be the Polikarpov I-153



It seems to be a nice little kit with plastic, resin and photoeched parts... and an interesting camo scheme!

I think I'll start this week, as soon as my FW 190 F-8 will be finished (see my gallery). The Henshel HS 123 will have to stay a little longer in my stash (must have the panel lines rescribed... will take time!)

A bientôt, Jean-Luc

Good choice Jean-Luc! I like those Russian planes!
Bon soir! (or was it sior?) :-)

Bonsoir! Paul!

The plane will be overall aluminium with little green spottings on the upper side of the wings... it'll be fun to paint

How do you say bonsoir in Dutch?

Jean-luc

Bonsoir = Goede avond.

I like that spotted colourscheme. Pixilater aka Bill Lachance had posted some pictures of his Classic Airframes 1/48 Polikarpov I-153 Chaika.
I know he had some difficulties with his decals, so perhaps nice to compare with
This is the link to it

Still, I have not find time for my 1:32 Nieuport yet...

Paul

Thanks Paul!

Bill's comments will be usefull!

Goede avond!

Jean-Luc

Some progress has been made on the D.VII... Funny how much better things fit when you actually pay attention to the instructions! In my case, I had skipped the step that showed where to cut down the right side of the fuselage so that the exhaust will properly clear the side! When that was rectified, the engine was mounted back into the fuselage (I popped it out when I had to do the surgery), the fuselage was closed up, and the bottom wing was glued on. Last nights construction ended while waiting for the putty to dry on the fuselage.

For tonight, I'll get the cockpit glued inside the fuselage, touch up some of the paint, and then attach to coaming in front of the cockpit and putty it all up again.

When that has been completed, it will be just about time to start painting the kit. I have a few options on what to do here. The majority of the fuselage / wings are covered with a lozenge decal simplifying the paint. My current thought is to prime all of the bits, and then hit everything with Future to give it a gloss base, apply decals, Future again, and then paint the relevant colors. The other option would be to paint, future, and trim the lozenge to leave the fuselage stripe exposed. I haven't mad a final decision on which I want to do yet.

I'll post a progress pic tonight.

Mika

Well i just opened the box for my build, a Nichimo Tachikawa ki9 Spruce. I nearly shut it again but i persevered. There is a lot of flash on it, the fuselage just about goes together, i haven't tried the wings yet, but worst of all its moulded in bright orange. BRIGHT ORANGE for christ sake, what were the thinking . Now i have got that rant out off the way, it should be a challenging and hopefully an enjoyable build