Super Detailing S.E.5 Guillow's model

[Skyediamonds]

This is better. As can easily be seen, I've added some balsa supports on either side of the trough. Now I can close this portion of the fuselage up using the same lite ply. The next picture shows why I had to use much support for the trough,

 

[Skyediamonds]

As you can see, there is a lot of stress imposed upon the trough when pulling over the lite ply around the fuselage formers. Now I can see why I had to take a couple of steps back, so that I may move forward.

 

[Skyediamonds]

Here's another example of having to step back first. Before I could install the machine gun, I had to completely finish and detail the trough. I can't paint under the machine gun. So, I must paint and then detail everything around the trough first before even gluing the gun.

 

[Skyediamonds]

I'm jumping slightly ahead of myself, but you can see how the trough is the most completely detailed section. It's because of the machine gun that I had to finish everything off. Once the detailing was complete, then I could glue on the Vickers and from there, complete the fuselage section, by section.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Skyediamonds]

Now I started (again) with paper to use as my template for the final section of the paneling of the fuselage. The rear part of the fuselage will all be fabric covered. As you can see from the pictures, I had to really make several template patterns before I was satisfied of the end results. I would say, fit a piece near the front of the engine, only to discover the back part of the template was out of adjustment. So, I cut another piece to compensate for the back only to discover that the front piece was now out of place due to the revised cut on the rear and so it went back and forth. The last photo shows off the results and it was worth going through all that trouble. It's the small details that really counts in the larger scheme of things and it certainly paid off here.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Skyediamonds]

As I mentioned previously, I was jumping ahead of myself. The front section where the engine is located required several templates to get the final panel cover to fit very tight. I was fortunate to take this photo of the full sized S.E.5. As can be seen, the exhaust manifold and parts of the engine details are revealed here. I knew that there would be many people, especially fellow modelers, would look for some of the smallest details to see if they were replicated. I also decided to take it upon myself as a challenge to try to accomplish detailing as well. To do so, requires some careful planning and thoughts.

 

[Skyediamonds]

First, I had a conflict in front of me. I wanted to present portions of the engine that would be seen, even if only a small part under the paneling, but I also had many balsa formers that I could not cut away without compromising the integrity of the build. So, I arrived at a "solution" of the sorts. This first involved making sure that the front panel over the engine was exactly as what it should be. Then I started to cut away portions of the balsa formers to make room for the opening of the panel to reveal the engine. The first photo shows a portion of the balsa "engine block" to be placed along the formers. The second picture shows after the formers were cut away. The third photo shows what was ;left of the formers were painted flat black. The reason for painting them black was I did not wish for any light colored wood to shows through the engine that I was about to make. It would look silly for a black engine that was suppose to be made of metal to have light colored wood showing through. The final picture shows me laminating the balsa blocks, and painting the flat black to the formers to help hold the whole frame together.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Skyediamonds]

Thank you Wurger!

 

[Skyediamonds]

Again, using the b+w photo as reference, I made the sides of the engine using sheet of plastic cut to shape. I then cut out small pieces of plastic to simulate the exhaust manifold gaskets. The rings were purchased from a local arts and crafts store and were glued onto the small "gaskets." Then the whole side was cut along the lines where the balsa blocks are, forming slots. Then the slotted side was glued onto the engine blocks. The final picture shows the results. I was able to recreate an engine without having to remove any formers and compromising the integrity of the build. In essence, I built an engine around the wood frame.

 

[Wurger]

My pleasure.

However.. if I were you I would remove the parts of the bulkheads from the side stringer to the top one. The front one I would leave as it is . Then I would attched two walls ( the vertical and the horizontal one ) sticking them two with the 90 degrees. In the way I would obtain the proper integrity of the structure at the engine compartment. Also I would get quite a lot of room for the engine block. But it would be my way only.

 

[Skyediamonds]

I agree with you. I think that's a very good idea. Only reason why I didn't remove the top half of the formers to make room for one solid engine block was to preserve the rounded outlines of the formers themselves for the panels. In another words, I was thinking if I removed the top half of the formers, there would be nothing there to glue the panels & keep that rounded shape. I figured this was a compromise between the two. What do you think?

 

[Wurger]

The reason sounds good. But what did you use for the panels? some of thin balsa or cardboard?

 

[Papa Tango Whiskey]

I am really impressed by the stitching on the fuselage. Very realistic.

 

[Gnomey]

Great work so far!

 

[Skyediamonds]

Thank you very much for your observations and compliments! To Mr. Wuirger, I am grateful for you asking what did I use for cover. I apologize in advance for not mentioning this in my previous post. In this case, I used thin glossy paper.over lite ply. On the real aircraft, from this section forward to the nose, everything on the top decking was covered with metal paneling and not fabric. Therefore, it made sense to try to replicate this effect in modeling form. I could have use thin plastic and in fact, any sort of medium would suffice. I chose paper because of its simplicity and ease of use. Besides, it was laying around my home, I might as well put it to good use.

I was fortunate that the glossy paper was treated in a manner such that a light coat of paint would not cause the paper to winkle. The gloss itself is a chemically treated film that produces a smooth finish to the paper and also hides the paper grain too. Too much paint, yes it would eventually cause the paper to winkle. But I was careful not to overdo the paint.

I used two separate pieces of paper carefully cut to fit the each side of the fuselage. The edges would end up meeting just in the middle of the machine gun trough. I figured that the barrel of the gun would hide the edges. If you look on my previous post # 103 and at the last picture, look very carefully at the middle of the gun trough, and you will notice the edges are still separate, but close enough to hide under the barrel of the gun. The reason why the edges of the papers did not meet smoothly is because of the curvature of the trough itself. It's a double compound curve and paper isn't one of those mediums that will not conform to such curves without folding over itself.

First, I had to carefully place the lite ply on the fuselage and tape it down. This was to keep the lite ply in conformity to the curvature of the fuselage. Reason? I knew that if I were to lay the ply flat on the table and laminate the ply with paper, then try to bend the panel to the roundness of the fuselage, the laminated sides would resist and spring back to flat state. This, I found out the hard way! Lessons learned.

Sometimes I get so involved in building the model that I forget to take a few moments and document the build. I think I speak for many of us when we tend to think deeply and try out new ideas in replicating the details of the full sized article and we just simply forget to stop and take pictures or make notes.

After I learned my lesson, I then used a small hammer and dull needle and lightly tapped out big rivets on the main panel sides. Then the main panels were laminated to the taped down ply sides. The small straps were made from thin strips of plastic. For these small rivets, I used a novel decal from MicroMark. These decals actually stick out just like real rivets! They have dimensions and you can feel them sticking out. I still have the original sheet. I highly recommend these decals to almost anyone interested in simulating small scale rivets. They come in two sizes, but they're scaled for trains. They come in "O" gauge and "HO" gauge. I think the "O" gauge is 1/72nd scale and the "HO" gauge is 1/48th scale, but I could be wrong. Perhaps someone on this site could help?

Anyway, I'm jumping ahead of myself and enclosing a photo of the decal sheet. I will be mentioning the decals later in my post during the exhaust manifold build. This time, I remembered to take some photos and actually revealed how its done. Very easy.

 

[Wurger]

THX for your answer.

 

[Skyediamonds]

Thank you, sir for the question in the first place. This keeps me on my toes and know that I forgot to mention some of the smaller details. It's really appreciated and please feel free to comment or ask some more. I might've forgotten or else maybe I could have done something better. This way, we can bounce some ideas back and forth. I can always lean from this exchange. Thank you