Allen's 1/32 WnW Hansa-Brandenburg W.12 (early)

[Allen Dewire]

Happy 2024 to all and here is my entry into Ian's Bi-plane GB. Been a crappy end of the year for me, but it is time to look ahead to what the new one brings...

The kit,


The destructions and decals,



With an etch fret and clear parts that are in the bag somewhere. I will only be using a couple of the etch pieces. Decals are from Cartograph and include markings for 5 wing thingy's,


Not sure which one I will be building yet. The sprues,


Motor and beaching dollies and supports,



Yeah, the pilot had doors to use, like a '67 Buick,




All very cleanly molded with plenty of optional parts included. The wings are molded in one piece, so no need to glue halves together,




That does make life a whole lot better. A peek at the destructions,




Nicely done and I have learned enough New Zealandish from my Halberstadt CI.II build to overcome any probs with them. The rigging diagram,


12 total, including control surfaces, struts and floats. I'll be using my Gaspatch turnbuckles/eyelets and Infini elastic rigging for it. I will also be using some of the following items in place of the etch,


Seat belts for sure and probably a couple of the MG's if bending the kit's etch should go south on me...

I might even start playing today, but first I have to finish some plastic strip gluing. I also need to ketchup with so much great work on here too...

Prost
Allen

 

[papa 695]

Looks like a cracking kit Allen.

 

[Andy the Sheep]

Those WW1 flying machines are fascinating, outside my main area of interest but fascinating.
Count me in, Allen.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Looks good, even if the tail has been put on upside down……

 

[Jim R]

As Andrea said those early planes are fascinating. They just look so fragile and unsafe - perhaps they were.
The kit looks superb, as expected from WNW. Here's hoping for a better new year and this should set you off on the right foot

 

[Allen Dewire]

Thanks so much for the interest Guys! The kit is top quality and I have started nipping some plastic from it. Old Ernst did come up with an odd looking bird here and the upside down tail worked so well, he incorporated it into his W.29 mono wing thingy later. They were actually pretty well built and stable. The biggest prob was the floats though, as the salt water rotted the glued seams quickly and they tended to leak. To combat this, they used a tar coating to seal them better. I do hope every one had a great New Years...

Back to playing with the Benz Bz.III 150 hp motor sitting on the mat......

Prost
Allen

 

[therapy]

Nice to see you back Allen....

Nick

 

[Andy T]

Count me in.

Sorry to hear that you've had a bad time of late, hopefully this build will be just the tonic you need

 

[yak face]

Fantastic kit allen and a great subject ,looking forward to this . Sorry to hear its not been a good time lately , hopefully this new year will be better , cheers tony

 

[colin m]

A brilliant choice for a GB. But that must have been a pig to fly with those giant floats stuck on the bottom.

 

[Steve-the-Duck]

Are you still intending, eventually, to hang it from that crane?

 

[scottie3158]

Good to see you again Dude I have my chair pulled up for this.

 

[Allen Dewire]

Even Folks,

Thank you all for the concern and I think I have my 4.7 brain cells working again. This time of the year is always crappy melon wise, with dark dreary days, endless rain and the holidays too. Anywho, now I seem to have been afflicted with a bout of Sinusitis in my right forehead over the eye. Wearing the optivisor is a real beatch too!!! I can't win for losing, but I will drive on with the build anyway.......

Nice to see you back Allen....

Nick

Thanks Nick and hope you had a Happy New Year...

Count me in.

Sorry to hear that you've had a bad time of late, hopefully this build will be just the tonic you need

Thank You Andy! It definitely is the tonic I need as I have wanted to build this wing thingy for a long while. I'm excited Sir!!!

Fantastic kit allen and a great subject ,looking forward to this . Sorry to hear its not been a good time lately , hopefully this new year will be better , cheers tony

Thanks so much Tony! Sorry to hear you have had a few downs yourself of late, but glad to see you back posting with another 'off the wall', eastern kit.

A brilliant choice for a GB. But that must have been a pig to fly with those giant floats stuck on the bottom.

Thanks too Colin! I can't say for sure as they flew a few years before my time. I imagine the pilot wasn't doing barrel rolls or the like in it though. It was very stable when landing on rough(er) seas due to the rigid strut construction on the floats. Other floaty planes did tend to go nose into the water or break struts/floats when the seas weren't so calm...

Are you still intending, eventually, to hang it from that crane?

That was a plan Chris, but it might be too heavy for the crane, unless I nail the crane to the table. I'm working on another plan too and that will go into the proper thread if it works out...

Good to see you again Dude I have my chair pulled up for this.

Thanks Bro! I just saw you finished your Centaur. Got so much kechup to do. I Hope you and B had a great holiday my friend...

I mentioned that I had the Benz B.III 150 hp motor on the mat. I started to test assemble it and noticed it was lacking (a bit) when it was molded. Two of my brain cells kept telling me I had a replacement motor somewhere. I rummaged through some storage drawers and sure enough, I did. It's a 3D resin printed piece I bought from Lukgraph last October at the show, along with a resin 160 hp one. Here are the two and I think you can see what I mean,


The biggest headache would be trying to trim off the rocker arm shafts and make new ones with all the detail on them. WnW's did the best with their motor in 2014, but the 3D motor (L), is incredibly more detailed using today's technology,


The downside to this is going to be painting a completely built motor, making sure you get in all the nook's and cranny's. Doing the spark plug wires will also be a bit more trying, as the magnetos are printed in place. The other side,


Here too, the details are super fine. When I did a test fit on the the kits motor mount plate, the fit was almost perfect. I just need to round the rear of the plate about 0.2 mm and widen the inside lip in a couple of places. The kit's exhaust header pipes fit the cylinder heads perfectly too!!! I am a happy puppy about this and you know how I love my Benz motors in my wing thingy's...

If I can wear the optivisor in the morn, then I can start the fun. I finally got all the plastic strips cut and glued together, but that is for another time and post. Time to take my pills and go to sleep. Gotta get rid of this crap.......

Thank you for looking in and I'll be trying to ketchup with all your great builds ASAP! Stay safe and stay dry, if possible with this weather.......

Prost
Allen

 

[Steve-the-Duck]

With the crane thing, you could always have the 'plane in the water, as if it's just been lowered, or just about to be lifted
But that would depend on whether you're up for water or not!

And that engine does look pretty damn good

 

[adt70hk]

Sorry I'm late to the party Allen! The engine does look very nice!

 

[tr1ckey66]

Cracking subject for the GB build Allen. Having seen previous builds of yours, I’m absolutely certain that this will be yet another masterpiece with exceptional detail and interesting build techniques.
Hope 2024 is a good year for you
See you on the GB!
Paul

 

[Allen Dewire]

Late evening good people,

So sorry for the late replies as the sinus infection has put me down for the last 9 days, but it is finally going away. The headaches have subsided and I can wear the optivisor without pain again...

With the crane thing, you could always have the 'plane in the water, as if it's just been lowered, or just about to be lifted
But that would depend on whether you're up for water or not!

And that engine does look pretty damn good

Thanks Chris and water is in the mix of things too. I really don't want to let the cat out of the bag yet, so you will have to be patient for a while. I have to get all the elements together and get the plane finished too. I am able to play again and after the cockpit, that motor is next in line. I hope I can do it justice with a steady hand...

Sorry I'm late to the party Allen! The engine does look very nice!

Thank you Andrew and no need to be sorry either my friend. I am even later than you on keeping up with the builds on here. Hope all is well with you and the family and the new year brings you more time at the table Buddy...

Cracking subject for the GB build Allen. Having seen previous builds of yours, I’m absolutely certain that this will be yet another masterpiece with exceptional detail and interesting build techniques.
Hope 2024 is a good year for you
See you on the GB!
Paul

You are too kind Paul!!! I'm just an old git that loves to build models between cold ones. I really do enjoy the WnW kitsets and they build up almost by themselves. As written above, 2024 definitely started out on the wrong foot my friend. Now that I can again wear the optivisor without pain, I really have to get crackin' on this one...

I have been making progress, somewhat, over the past few days, headache willing. I have cleaned up a lot of parts and today, been working/painting on the cockpit. As usual, I always forget to take pics of the progress. I will try to remember in the morn and then post them up for your perusal. I can't apologize enough to you great folks here for my lack of comments on your great builds. I'm gonna do my best to try and ketchup, even if it takes a month.......

Prost
Allen

 

[Allen Dewire]

Evening good People,

I have been actually been able to work at the table and wear the Optivisor without a hitch. The damn infection is gone, as well as the headaches too. Great to be human again and the build has made some progress!!! I started building up the pit and have had to paint so many little things along the way for it. Did the wood look on a lot of parts. It's still not finished, but I managed to get it glued together to do a test fit in the fusi,


I rigged up the control wires for the for the rear flappys and steering fin. That was the hardest part of it all...Another pic,


As you can see, the W.12 had a window in the floor for the observer and a window between him and the pilot. He also had a folding table for his maps/charts so he could study them or make notes while underway. I just added the two support wires from some stretched sprue,



There were 3 little decals to add. 2 on the fuel tank and 1 for the throttle. The decal sheet also includes a couple of maps for the observer to have on his table. I didn't detail the oil tank as it is covered by the engine support frame plate. Some other bits in progress,


Pilot and observer's seat, camera, steering wheel and IP. Not sure if I will wrap the steering wheel rim with ribbing yet. There are also a lot of decals (10+) to add to the IP after I paint the bezel rims in chrome. Now, for the test fit,


There won't be a whole lot seen...Typical for a WWI wing thingy,



The pit fits into the fusi 99% perfectly. I just had to scrape the rim over the observer's window and some paint off a few places to close the tiny gap over it. Again, Wingnut's kitset engineering is wonderful and the fit is excellent...

More to come and have a great weekend everybody...

Prost
Allen

 

[Andy T]

Beautiful work Allen. Great to hear you are feeling better.

 

[Steve-the-Duck]

Outstanding. Good to see you back to it and progressing apace