and replaced the small engine parts
of plugs, valves, and lifters with
the Taurus replacements; these
are absolutely tiny so patience,
magniication, and perseverance
are useful here, but it’s worth
it in the end! If, however, you
want a quick, enjoyable build,
the supplied engine is more than
detailed enough on its own. It all
comes down to personal preference.
I also added some ignition
wiring and a few extra copper
pipes copied from photographs
of a Mercedes D.IIIa engine. The
parts were sprayed with Mr. Paints
(MRP) Fine Black Primer (new to
me and sprays beautifully) followed
by a quick burst of red, which was
then masked to represent the
rings around the cylinders. There
is a decal option here (if
you’d rather) but I think
you cannot quite beat
that painted-on look.
I painted the engine
with a mix of Alclad
metallic paints, dry-
brushing with Humbrol
Metalcote polished
steel and ending upwith a brown, oily ilter to blend
it all together. The cowlings
were planned to be of so all of
this will be clearly seen, and it is
worth spending a little time on.
The cockpit is a gem! Very
cleverly represented framework
that all clicks together. I would,
however, exercise a degree of
caution as the engine bearers’
arrangement takes a bit of
positioning to get right and
they are delicate. A few dry
runs here is time well spent.
I opted to use the photo-etch kit
seat belts, which scrub up nicely
under a lick of Vallejo Hemp and
a quick wash with Tamiya Light
Brown Accent Panel wash to bring
out the stitching detail. I usedthe kit decals for the individual
instruments, followed up by my
preferred method of applying a blob
of clear epoxy over the dials to glaze
them. A little bulbous perhaps,
but it really does look like glass.
Wingnuts also provide the
little photo-etch handles on the
instrument panel, and whilst they
are very easy to ping of and lose to
the carpet monster, they give a very
satisfying 3D look to the oice.
There is a little internal rigging
shown in the instructions for the
lying controls, which is fairly easily
replicated with elasticated thread
for the beginner. I opted to use my
usual method of monoilament
(ishing line) with ine brass
tubing for the turnbuckles. Oncebuilt, however, these are diicult
to see unless you are peering
into the cockpit with a torch and
magnifying glass, so if you’ve
bought this kit to enjoy the ease
of build, I wouldn’t get too hung
up about forgetting this step.
So on to the fuselage, and as
per usual the Wingnut kits have
such a perfect it that there is
absolutely no tolerance of paint,
or anything else for that matter,
on the mating surfaces. And yes,
I ended up with a slight gap on
the lower fuselage join. Totally
self induced. Designed by robots,
built by ham-isted modellers!
There are a lot of points of
contact with the framework and the
inner fuselage, and if I were doingit again I would take more care to
make sure everything was lined
up, in place and suitably sanded of
any ofending imperfections. No
harm was done though as I could
not really see the gap after a sliver
of putty and under a coat of paint.
Another aspect of Wingnuts
design is that they have the
modeller in mind; the fuselage
construction is carefully thought
out so that you don’t get an obvious
join along the top spine and bottom
half of the fuselage – just along
the natural join lines of the metal
sheet as on the real aircraft. I would
just advise that, with the complex
corrugated surface texture, you
use minimal glue here as you
really don’t want any oozing out“I COULDN’T BELIEVE HOW
QUICKLY THE BUILD HAD
COME TOGETHER – WHAT
WITH THE SIMPLE PAINT
SCHEME, NO DECALS, NO
STRUTS, AND NO RIGGING”
24 • DECEMBER 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL