Halberstadt Cl.IV

[jimkrauzlis]

Wonderfully done explanation which will surely be highly valuable when I tackle this model in the future. Great photos make the process quite easily followed. Thank you so very much!

Cheers!
Jim

[Don Boose]

A great step-by-step illustrated tutorial on how to get smooth and accurate joins.

Don

[DrLaser]

Thanks guys.

Now that the fuselage is done I want to add the lower wings. The design includes a support strip, but a single strip of cardstock is not much support. So I added a bamboo skewer to give the wing structure rigidity. Since this model is 1/72 scale the diameter of the skewer is too large for the wings. I had to sand down the thickness of the skewer until it's cross-section is a half circle. The flat surface gives it a good glue joint with the paper. Good idea to dry fit all the parts to make sure it all fits well.

Now I have to add the slots in the fuselage for the support structure. The way I do this is to use my needle tool and poke a series of holes where the slot is to be cut. This is easy to do with no mistakes. Then use a knife to connect the dots forming the slot. Here I also have to create a hole for the bamboo support.

I slide the support part into the fuselage (dry), align everything, then glue it in place from the inside.

Now I dry fit one wing. I notice a gap in the fit because the top apex of the wing is preventing the lower wing surface from meeting the fuselage. This is no big deal. I just sand the wing at an angle, alittle at a time between dry fittings until the wing fits tight.

Then I glue the wing into place, being a bit stingy on the glue. The wing has to be slid over the support very quickly and aligned very quickly, before the glue sets to make it impossible to move the parts. I had about 5 seconds to get it right. Repeat with the other side.

Next I want to complete the empenage so it will look like an airplane.

[Don Boose]

It's a great pleasure to see you put this colorful model together, John.

Don

[Paperwarrior]

Excellent fit and good tips. Thank you.

Jeff

[DrLaser]

And let me say - It is a great pleasure to document the building of this excellent model.

Okay, when looking at the tail, I am worried about the rear turtle deck bulge. It looks too large, and when dry fitting the horizontal stabilizer, I'm worried about the fit.

So I decided to put back the missing piece in the underside of the stabilizer - and I'm thinking I wasn't suppose to cut it out in the first place. Doh!

I also added a shelf to the rear fuselage where the stab goes. This lifts the stab some more and provides an ideal glue surface.

Now it is very simple to glue the stab onto the shelf. It looks okay to me.

Now the rudder is carefully glued in place. I use a right angled guide to check it while the glue sets.

Finally the tail skid.

Now this is looking like an airplane.

I'm thinking I'll need to install the forward firing gun and the engine next. The gun will be a bit tricky if I wait until after the top wing in installed, and maybe the engine will too. I just know it will be a lot easier to do it now.

[DrLaser]

Starting the engine now.

The engine block is one part, folded and wrapped around. When I don't want a 90-deg bend to cause a crack in the color, I usually sand the fold line to remove material, making it thinner. I'll do that here.

Then I need to curve the ends and bend the block together. I also will add a curved splice to make it easier to assemble. Also shown is the engine build bulkhead. When the engine block is fully built, I perfectly flatten the bottom it by running it over an emery board.

Next there is to top of the block to add to finish the basic block.

There is a build bulkhead that should be placed just forward of the cockpit, and the engine block bulkhead attaches to it. In truth, the cockpit is so phenominally strong and fixes the fuselage shape, that I don't think the fuselage bulkhead is really needed - so I won't use it. But I still need to attach the engine block bulkhead to something. By looking things over, I think I can easily attach the engine bulkhead to the cockpit at the interior shelf created near the top (see an earlier picture of the completed cockpit). But to do this I need to extend the engine bulkhead to catch this shelf. Here is what it looks like, and I'll have to fit it as needed later.


More tomorrow. . .

[DrLaser]

I just to mention the three bulkheads that come with the model. They form the front fuselage support that holds the engine in place. There obviously a large slot in "B" for the machine gun and I probably should have kept a large auxillery tab on the gun to slide into it (if I used the bulkhead). You can see that I back up bulkheads with cardboard - the kind on backs of pads of paper. That cardboard is think and porous, unlike carton cardboard.


After seeing that I could not mount the engine before the top wing, I realized I could not mount the gun before the engine. Nevertheless I made the gun, so will report on that now. I also cut the fuselage mounting for the gun to form a flat shelf ready to receive the gun. Easier to cut that shelf now.


The Spandau aircraft machine gun designed for this model is very good with nice barrel detailing. Starting with the barrel, I like to roll paper, not cardstock, when so small. Instead of printing the gun out again but on paper, I thin out the cardstock by slicing the thickness in half with a sharp scapel. It's a lot easier to roll up when thin. I finish the barrel by adding the front plate, trim the front plate with scissors and an emery board, punch a hole in it to add the muzzel - which is a 0.7mm piece of pencil lead.


The gun stock is a simple box. When building a box this small, I usually fill it with cardboard/cardstock to the right thickness. I find it easier to assemble a small box when it is a solid part. I'm using a "holding onto tab", always a good idea when working with small parts. After I assembled all the sides but the bottom, I clean it up with an emery board and colored pencil. Then cut off the tab (should've saved some of it!)


I researched the Spandau to find out what it really looked like. The gun is not a simple box, but a bit more complex. Sooo, I had to adapt my box structure to look a bit more correct by using a Xacto saw and file to remove material. I'm glad I built it up as a solid block now! The new surfaces are easily formed and colored with my black pencil.
I'm satisfied with the results at 1/72 scale.
(Just a note: I only use colored pencils for all my coloring needs. If I wanted to use paint, I'd build in plastic.)


Now I put these pieces aside and will start on the top wing assembly and report on that next time.

[Alcides]

Fantastic work John. Your spandau looks great, oustanding work in a very small scale.
BTW I've seen in the last models from Roman the "box" for the gun is like the one you build. Seems he improve the design in the last ones.

Regards
Alcides

[jagolden01]

Beautiful work, John. The gun and engine look gtreat.
The extra research on the gun really paid off and the detail shows.

Joe