the lack of integrated painting
information tiresome. I had to flick
back and forth to the illustration
of the final assembly to identify
which part needed to be which
colour, and even then the colours
of some items are not identified,
which led to some guesswork.
With the open nature of World
War I aircraft, it’s inevitable
that painting needs to be done
throughout the build process.
In this case, I sprayed the inner
fuselage halves with Tamiya XF-57
Buff to represent the doped linen,
and painted all the structural
parts a home-mixed wood brown
colour. The larger, flat wooden
items like the floor were painted
with Tamiya XF-60, adding a grain
effect using burnt umber oil paint.
Whilst the bending of the steel
photo-etch parts for rectilinear
bits like the racks went reasonably
well, as soon as any curves were
introduced I found it very difficult
to get smooth lines. Plus, the
previously applied primer paint
simply fell off. As an example,
getting the broad seatbelts to look
anything like draped fabric wasimpossible – I ended up painting
them three times. As the build
progressed, I found that masking
tape would pull even Halfords
primer off the metal surfaces!
Photo-etch trials
notwithstanding, all the sub-
assemblies fit very well into
the fuselage halves. I took the
opportunity to add some internal
bracing using elastic thread, and I
was particularly pleased with the
way the decals really enhanced
the look of the instrument panel.
With some careful manipulation,the fuselage halves and the
two upper deck panels close up
without any drama; only the flat
fuselage bottom needs some minor
filling to disguise the seam.
The engine bay structure can
now be rigged using Uschi van
der Rosten elastic thread, and
the etched side and upper panels
added. It appears that the panels
are produced to represent the
construction of the originals, and
(although not mentioned in the
instructions), it looks like the sideKIT DETAILS
MANUFACTURER: COPPER STATE
MODELS
SCALE: 1/48
PRODUCT CODE: K1030
PANEL LINES: RECESSED
PARTS: 102 PLASTIC, 14 RESIN, 82
PHOTO-ETCH. METAL EXHAUST
MANIFOLD.
TYPE: INJECTION-MOULDED
STATUS: NEW-TOOL
DECAL OPTIONS: 4, ALL PC10 OVER
DOPED LINEN.The instructions are in the form of coloured 3-D
design drawings, using blue to indicate parts to
be added at each stage. Painting instructions
are rather incomplete though.
Four schemes are offered, all with PC10 upper
surfaces and doped linen undersides.The decals are well printed by Cartograf and
look to have good colour density.“COPPER STATE’S ENGINEERING
IS EXCELLENT, WITH EXEMPLARY
FIT THROUGHOUT”
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