Not Plane Sailing

I love the look of early aircraft. The string, the open cockpits, the propellers. The flowing scarfs. Knights of the Air and all that. The pre-carpet bombing and blitzkrieg innocence (which is nonsense of course, but, y'know).

I needed some aircraft for my RCW project. I was thinking of getting more Tumbling Dice mini-planes, but as I already have a few 1/144th Skytrex models already, I thought why not add to them?

Well...of course I'd forgotten how damn fiddly the wretched things are. I ordered in a couple of RE 8s, a pair of Nieuport 17s and an extra Sopwith Camel from Red Eagle Miniatures who now stock the Skytrex range, after rooting around and not finding any alternative.

The instructions on assembly are quite clear. Some of the struts are a bit ill-formed (at least to me) and I replaced a number of then on the Nieuport with plastic rod. What I'd forgotten was how much of a nightmare it is putting them together, and getting the bits all lined up.

I started with the RE 8, and cleaned out all the locating holes with variously a knife and pin drill. Then I put the struts in the lower wing, and super glued them in place. Once I'd got them all lined up, I was able to do a dry fit on the upper wing to ensure I'd got them right. The cockpit wing support struts were a bit more awkward, but I got them in eventually.

Once it was all set I was able to file down where the locating pins of the struts stuck through the wings, and fit the rear gunner. I'd had an issue with the locating pin for the propeller, so I had to glue that flush. Once it was all finished and set, I started with the fresh hell that was the under carriage. Would it glue? Would it b*gg*ry. Eventually I left it all balanced precariously in place, dropped some super glue on the points where it touched, and then left it to set overnight. It took me about three days to get it fully assembled and stuck, as I had to leave it frequently to set, and then find bits had dropped off.

Then came the painting. I should probably drilled a hole in the underside and stuck in a wire pole to hold it whilst I daubed the colours on. In the end I went for holding the tail, then painting the tail when everything else had dried. I'm really rubbish at this stuff. 

I adopted a simple paint scheme - all over green with sand coloured struts - and then applied the decals. It looks okay, I guess.

And it stands on its wheels without falling over. Which is a bonus.

I thought the Nieuport would be easier, it being smaller, and me having practiced on the RE 8.

Yeah. Well. Hmm. I followed the strut method from the previous build, attaching to the bottom wing, and allowing the glue to set. I discarded the cockpit struts and drilled out the wings to take plastic rod, as I thought those supplied weren't up to the job.

Once the struts had set, I realised they were asymmetric and I'd put them in back to front. And this time they'd stuck hard. Like really hard. And unlike the RE 8, the two struts for each wing are cast as a single V shape. Blast. That meant that when I fitted the top wing it was about 5mm closer to the back of the plane than it should be. When I pushed it forwards it went to a funny angle. Not happy. 

Ah well, it looks alright if you don't know. I fitted the propeller okay, and then discovered I'd lost the wheels and axle for the under carriage. Searched everywhere, couldn't find them. Undaunted I cut some plastic rod as an axle, and then rolled out some Miliput and cut some circles out using a plastic coffee stirrer with the correct diameter. Assembling them was a bit awkward, but I got them sorted, and left them to set overnight.

When I came to undercoat the thing in the morning, I found the original wheels hiding under a paint pot on my desk. So I removed my ersatz assembly and replaced it with the supplied version.

As my Camels I already have are done up in British markings, I decided to do this one as a Red aircraft. Red Eagle give you a choice of roundels when you purchase, but not Red stars, so I had to do them freehand. I baulked at the fancy fuselage art the Red pilots favoured.

Apart from the fact it has been put together wrong, it looks okay. Problem is, should I build the other one the same way, or correctly?

Answers on a postcard.

Perhaps we'll see them all in the next game. 

Actually, after all that faff, I'm sure we will.