Ian M's De Havilland Tiger Moth. Airfix 1/48

[Ian M]

Heard a lot of good things about this and after some of the other newer toolings from Airfix.... why not.

Decal sheet. well printed and colourful.

The destructions are of the newer type as well. AND have directions for rigging! yay!

I'm so glad it is 1/48 and NOT 1/72. this thing is tiny. lol

Så the cock-pit parts ready for a bit of paint befor the close up.

I must say that the fit thus far is excellent and the detail crisp and clear.
Cant find my old Airfix colour chart, so I am having to look up the colours as I find them in the instructions. lol

 

[OldWalrus]

Got one in the Airfix 'free' offer at the end of last year, it looks a good kit although biplanes scare me... I have got some aftermarket FAA markings to make something similar to what my father learned in, sadly although going solo he was then grounded by his colour blindness. I think they do the medical first these days!

 

[papa 695]

Nice one Ian, I’ve got this kit, I’m thinking of turning it into Thunderbird 6 when I finally get around to it.
Thanks for joining in, and a nice start.

 

[Ian M]

I’m thinking of turning it into Thunderbird 6 when I finally get around to it

Say what?!?!

 

[Ian M]

Wondering as to paint the chequer board or chicken out and decal them.

 

[Jim R]

Such an iconic little aircraft. Looks a great kit, up to modern Airfix standard.
Painting the chequer board would be a challenge but in all probability would look better.

 

[JR]

Go on Ian, show us the painted chequer board.

 

[Ian M]

Did I say its tiny?

The fit is pretty good, the only iffy bit is under the cock pit area but that is probably my doing... I thought that the square bit was to be covered by the wing. Alas no. Need to buy or make some filler. I floated some CA over the offending step and sanded that back once set.
Worked OK. (As good as my normal filler efforts).

The massive motor, a Gipsy III with a monster 130 hp., is well represented and the kit allows for the cowling panels to be shown open. Mine are being closed, hence not bothering with it that much.

Well pleased to find the wings are one piece... well two but you know what I mean. No faffing about with leading edge seams and all that!
Only problem is how to plant the rigging..? I can't exactly drill my normal hole through the wing to stick the rigging in...... Hmm

Oh! the boss has said its lunch time. Laters.

 

[Ian M]

Anywho...
I was having a think and found some multi-strand cable. knocked off a dozen or two eyelets....

With the aid of the rigging guide I was able to drill some holes into the wings and fuselage where the 'wires' need to be placed.

Odd that all had a tiny pin mark on the wings to mark the position but nothing on the fuselage, so the hole in that are best guestimate.

Looking at the artwork for the box, the fuselage looks to be Aluminium with the fabric covered wings... Off to have a dig for info.

Cheers

 

[Tim Marlow]

Did I say its tiny?
View attachment 499342
The fit is pretty good, the only iffy bit is under the cock pit area but that is probably my doing... I thought that the square bit was to be covered by the wing. Alas no. Need to buy or make some filler. I floated some CA over the offending step and sanded that back once set.
Worked OK. (As good as my normal filler efforts).
View attachment 499341
The massive motor, a Gipsy III with a monster 130 hp., is well represented and the kit allows for the cowling panels to be shown open. Mine are being closed, hence not bothering with it that much.

Well pleased to find the wings are one piece... well two but you know what I mean. No faffing about with leading edge seams and all that!
Only problem is how to plant the rigging..? I can't exactly drill my normal hole through the wing to stick the rigging in...... Hmm

Oh! the boss has said its lunch time. Laters.

Good progress Ian. These biplanes are tiny aren’t they. Interested to see how you deal with the rigging on the eyelets…….

 

[papa 695]

Great work so far Ian.

 

[Waspie]

Some amazing improvisation going on Ian. Would never have thought of eyelets!!

 

[The Smythe Meister]

Anywho...
I was having a think and found some multi-strand cable. knocked off a dozen or two eyelets....
View attachment 499362
With the aid of the rigging guide I was able to drill some holes into the wings and fuselage where the 'wires' need to be placed.
View attachment 499363
Odd that all had a tiny pin mark on the wings to mark the position but nothing on the fuselage, so the hole in that are best guestimate.

Looking at the artwork for the box, the fuselage looks to be Aluminium with the fabric covered wings... Off to have a dig for info.

Cheers

Blimey,that`s some cracking work there!!
I`m scouring all the threads of this GB for ideas of how to go about rigging my Albatros,(no assistance in the destructions whatsoever ),and this method looks most interesting Ian,..............really fiddly mind!

 

[flyjoe180]

Looking good Ian. The eyelets are a nice touch. I think painting the chequer patterns would be better than the decals

 

[Ian M]

Interested to see how you deal with the rigging on the eyelets…….

Me too mate !

Great work so far Ian.

Thank you.

Some amazing improvisation going on Ian. Would never have thought of eyelets!!

So far all my biplane builds, all three of them,lol. The wings have been hollow top and bottom parts, so I just drill a hole and stick the rigging wire in. These buggers are solid so had to thing of something. The eyelets are a boat thing.

Blimey,that`s some cracking work there!!
I`m scouring all the threads of this GB for ideas of how to go about rigging my Albatros,(no assistance in the destructions whatsoever ),

Thanks. It's not often they are there. Nice when they are though.

Looking good Ian. The eyelets are a nice touch. I think painting the chequer patterns would be better than the decals

Cheers Joe, still thinking about the paint job...lol

 

[colin m]

Nice to see this being built. I like the Tiger Moth and built Airfix's 1:72 when it came out. So when a 1:48 was announced, that caught my attention, but I still haven't got one.

 

[Ian M]

No picture but an update.
It is now primed in black. Hard to see anything lol.
I'll give it a couple of days to cure 110% then some "silver"

 

[Ian M]

Right then A few days have past and I owe an update or two.
The Silvers have on. Two different. One for the fuselage which should be a bit shinny and a more dull one for the wings as they where cloth covers with dope finish. (I hope lol ).

So these got left for a bit then Got masked up for the red on the fuselage. Found that the center bit of the top wing was red as well. Think its a petrol tank....

Once painted the tape was removed pretty much right after...A few places will need a touch up with the silver here and there...Bit clumsy. (and multi tasking....)

So thats it for today. I will try to post an update in a day or two...

Comments as always are welcome.

 

[Jim R]

Eyelets seem a good idea. Thats a very nice paint job. Red is not an easy colour to paint.

 

[Ian M]

Sorry Mr. Race. I went with the decals. They where fun to apply. in a strange way. . .... who am I kidding. they where a pain in the butt. Mind you the quality is top $ Very thin and quite robust. I discovered that my water was maybe a bit cold which made the decals a bit stubborn.


Now if I had known (aka read the painting plans) I would have held off putting the eyelets in place until after the decal was down. Due to piddling around with getting the decal to conform, I shot on of the aforementioned eyelets to infinity and beyond. So I'll need to do another one of them!

The chequerboard is now recovering from an overdose of Micro-Sol. If it has calmed down enough I will put the roundels on the wing tomorrow...

Cheers.