Eduard 1/48 OEFFAG Albatros 153

[elarson]

I've got this little project underway. Really nice kit.

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P1160030.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P1290002.jpg

Wood grain effect applied to the fuselage just last night. Oil paints over Tamiya Buff base.

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P2040017.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P2040019.jpg

Cheers,
Eric

[Santimor]

Amazing wood grain effect! did you just applied it with a painbrush?

[BLOWHARD]

I second, very nice wood! :D

[albatros1234]

very nice job so far. like the color of your wood. its a great kit i just finished the 253. the only thing i feel could be better is the lower wing joins. not that i had a problem. it just felt flimst when i glue them on. which scheme will you do?

[transitmek]

Very nice job so far.
Nate

[terri werner]

I second, very nice wood! :D


I third , ver well done !

[Scimitar]

Excellent so far... Nice work!

[Kaiser Bill]

Congratulations on a great looking finish. I'm sure the rest will be as good. Excellent work.

[elarson]

Amazing wood grain effect! did you just applied it with a painbrush?

Thank you for those kind words.

Yes, actually a series of paintbrushes, and a bit of sponge. :)

Rather than going in to details here, this is a link to an article I wrote on the technique.

Woodgrain Painting Technique by Eric Larson (http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/woodgrainel_1.htm)

Nothing new, really. Just my version of a popular method of wood simulation. It's easy, fun, and messy! The choice of base paint and oil colors, as well as the oil mix rations, controls the shade of the wood.

For the Albatros, instead of the dark yellow I used in the above article, I used Tamiya Buff (XF-57) lightened about 50/50 with Flat White (XF-2) as the base color. For the grain effect, Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber, Yellow Ochre, and a bit of Naples Yellow oil paints were mixed to a color that resembled milk chocolate frosting!

Cheers,
Eric

[elarson]

very nice job so far. like the color of your wood. its a great kit i just finished the 253. the only thing i feel could be better is the lower wing joins. not that i had a problem. it just felt flimst when i glue them on. which scheme will you do?

Thank you.

I noticed the potential weakness with the lower wing joints. If you look closely at the photos, you'll see where I drilled holes near both ends of the wing tab slot, into which brass wire reinforcing pins fit. One pin is already in place in the front holes. Corresponding holes are drilled into the wing roots and the other pins have been glued into the rear holes in the wings. This is a delicate task as the wings are quite thin. Very little margin for error!

I'll be doing Eugen Bonsch's plane, one of the kit options. It's got the big red arrows on the fuselage.

[gustav_novak]

Just adding a link to some photos of Eugen...

KRKONO?E - m?sí?ník o p?írod? a lidech (http://www.freiheit.cz/11-krkonose--mesicnik-o-prirode-a-lidech/45-plachty-a-kridla-ve-vetru-nad-bilou-loukou.html)

The third one....

All the best

Mirko

[elarson]

Thank you, Mirko!

I have not seen that photo before.

Cheers,
Eric

[albatros1234]

i bought a few of these kits , i will do this scheme as well. and then a brumoski, and a polish one with printed fabric sworls on upper surfaces. i lucked out by having left over polish decals from karaya. i will use doug baumann sworl decals i bought last year.

WINGS PALETTE - Oeffag D.III/Ba.153/Ba.253 - Poland (http://wp.scn.ru/en/ww1/f/175/29/0/7)

http://wp.scn.ru/en/ww1/f/175/29/0/1_b1_a1

last i want to bash an eduard dii with an oef to make one of the only 16 oef dii albatros. i will have to pin the wings with brass rod like you did for that one. the wings seems to stay on fine it was just hard to get them lined up right. initially they didnt want to stay in the slots, one thing i dont like is the control column steering handles are too big. i may scratch the rest of them, it just bothers me .

[coyotemagic]

Beautiful job on the woodgrain, Eric. This is such a sweet little kit. I'm delighted to see something in 1/48 again.
:cheers:,
Bud

[elarson]

A quick Albatros update.

Almost ready for decals. Got a few fuselage details (hatches, vents, etc.) to paint aluminum.

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P2170001.jpg

Wings and tail parts have all had their translucent clear doped linen effect completed and a light oil paint filter wash applied. Next will be a clear gloss coat in prep for decals.

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P2170003.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P2170002.jpg

Cheers,
Eric

[MikkoH]

Looks very good Eric. Love that woodgrain effect.:)

[elarson]

Continued progress on my Albatros.

Wings have been completed and decals applied to them as well as the fuselage. Let me tell you, that red arrow wrapped around the fuselage was a quite a challenge! It is one big decal and while I considered cutting it into two or three pieces, I was concerned with alignment issues so I applied it as it came - one big floppy decal. Thankfully, Cartograf decals are very forgiving and sturdy, allowing much fiddling and fussing before it was all settled in place.

I attempted to simulate the look of the machine polishing marks (don't know if that is a correct description) on the cowling and other metal fairings by dabbing the base aluminum paint with a slightly darker metalic paint - in this case, Citadel's "Chain Mail" - using a fine pointed paint brush. Period photos of different aircraft show some variation in this area so I just wanted an effect that kinda' sorta' gave the impression of the real thing. If you look at it from a couple feet away, squint, and hold your head just right, I think it looks OK. ;)

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P2250014.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P2250018.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P2250015.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P2250012.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P2250011.jpg

Cheers,
Eric

[coyotemagic]

Absolutely gorgeous, Eric. The arrow decal looks awesome and the painting is superb. What oil colors did you use over the Tamiya buff. It looks spot on, to my eye.
:cheers:,
Bud

[lamarzocco]

If you look at it from a couple feet away, squint, and hold your head just right, I think it looks OK.
Cheers,
Eric


Wow.. I like a lot about this build from the scheme (sucker for AH), your variation on the metal surfaces, the wood...but actually what stands out to me is the linen coloured flying surfaces. Clean but not too clean...Shaded but understated. Quite nice! Thanks!

[Geek44]

It's a beautiful model to look at especially with that wonderful wood effect, I really like that for 1/48. Those big red arrows really give it some punch too.
Just a 'noob' question about the colour of your seat harnesses. What were they made of to be that pink colour? Thanks.
Peace.

[JohnReid]

Great stuff!

[terri werner]

Coming along very well !

[elarson]

Absolutely gorgeous, Eric. The arrow decal looks awesome and the painting is superb. What oil colors did you use over the Tamiya buff. It looks spot on, to my eye.
:cheers:,
Bud

Thank you for those kind words!

The oil paint mix I used is:

1 part Burnt Sienna
1 part Yellow Ochre
2 parts Raw Umber
A small dab of Naples Yellow to lighten

Mixed together it looks like chocolate fudge. :)

I keep thinking that I got the "wood" a little too dark but I can live with it.

Cheers,
Eric

[elarson]

It's a beautiful model to look at especially with that wonderful wood effect, I really like that for 1/48. Those big red arrows really give it some punch too.
Just a 'noob' question about the colour of your seat harnesses. What were they made of to be that pink colour? Thanks.
Peace.

Thank you!

Hehe..you're not the first person to mention the harness colour. :)

The funny thing is, since I'm red/green colorblind, I don't see the pink shade. They look brown or tan to me. Regardless, they come with the kit that way. They're coloured photo-etch.

Cheers,
Eric

[elarson]

Wow.. I like a lot about this build from the scheme (sucker for AH), your variation on the metal surfaces, the wood...but actually what stands out to me is the linen coloured flying surfaces. Clean but not too clean...Shaded but understated. Quite nice! Thanks!

Thank you so much for those comments! This was my first attempt at doing linen surfaces and I am relieved it turned out as well as it did. I couldn't have done it without advice and tips I received from some folks here on Aerodrome.

Cheers,
Eric

[elarson]

I had a near disaster last night. The one really weak point in the engineering on this kit is the pitiful little slots and tabs for attaching the lower wings to the fuselage. My first attempt at doing that was with regular plastic tube cement in the slots and some super glue on the reinforcing pins I added. I tried to do both wings at once and while pressing the wings into the slots to close up the gap between them and the fuselage, the whole assembly twisted and wrenched the wire pins out of their holes, slightly damaging the wing roots. After the blue air cleared over my work bench, I managed to get them back in place but the joints looked horrible. My wife suggested I remove the wings and try again but I was afraid that would make things worse.

After staring at it for a few minutes, I decided to heed her advice. There was no way I could live with it the way it was. So, I removed the wings, cleaned up the joint area, removed two of the pins that were more hindrance than a help, and re-attached the wings (one at a time) with thick super glue. MUCH better fit and a joint that is actually holding.

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P3030020.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P3030024.jpg

Time to start the rigging. I have drilled holes, using a #80 bit, and inserted 1/48 Bob's Buckles into the various attachment points. For the rigging itself, I'm using .004" nylon fly-fishing tippet line and 1.5mm lengths of .010" ID polyimide tubing for the turnbuckle bodies. Here you see the lines attached to one of the ailerons. The line and buckle bodies will eventually be painted a more appropriate color.

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P3030022.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P3030026.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P3030031.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P3030029.jpg

All I can say is, thank God for the invention of the Optivisor!

Cheers,
Eric

[albatros1234]

i like you knew this was a weak point with the lower wings. i just glued them with liquid cement, but tryed just as you did to push both wings in simultaniously and the same thing happened the fuselage twisted and went flying. i ended up glueing them again but putting it on a table so it couldnt twist .after a while i kept checking on it and making sure they were tight. and they have held on alot better than i thought they would. i shouldve posted my whole story when i first mentioned the wing root issue and maybe i couldve warned you not to push both wings in at the same time, for that i'm sorry.at least she looks great now.

[Doug Baumann]

looks GREAT :D love the cdl and the wood grain:D

Doug

[coyotemagic]

Great save, Eric! Your CDL is superb. In fact, the entire paint job is excellent. Congratulations.
:cheers:,
Bud

[JohnReid]

Damn you guys are getting good at this wood grain stuff !:)

[berman]

Eric,
What is your source for the polyimide tubing?

[elarson]

Eric,
What is your source for the polyimide tubing?

Small Parts.com.

Translucent Amber Miniature Polyimide Tubing | SmallParts.com (http://www.smallparts.com/translucent-amber-miniature-polyimide-tubing/dp/B003TLNL5I/ref=sr_1_1?sr=1-1&qid=1299252491&filterBy.material_browse=160493011)

[coyotemagic]

Good Lord, Eric, that stuff's pricey, but very cool! How do you cut it?
:cheers:,
Bud

[elarson]

Good Lord, Eric, that stuff's pricey, but very cool! How do you cut it?
:cheers:,
Bud

Well, yes and no. I have yet to understand the mysterious pricing Small Parts has on its stuff. The selection and prices can vary widely, within a given diameter, almost on a daily basis. You just have to do learn how to use their search feature and do some careful shopping.

Take this, for example. Say, you want some .0100" Inside Diameter (30 gauge) tubing, like what I used above. Setting that size in the drop-down, at this moment, results in 8 options with two different wall thicknesses.
One choice is a package of 2 pieces, 12" in length, for $9.20. Look down a bit and you can get a single 30" piece for $5.48. Go down a little further and you'll see another, still 30 gauge but with slightly thicker walls, at $1.84 for a 30" piece! That will give you over 500 1.5mm buckle bodies for less than $2.

The same thing applies to stainless steel hypodermic tubing. Last year, I stocked up on thin SS tubing, one size costing $0.89 for a 5 FOOT length! Shorter lengths of the exact same tubing were going for several dollars. Go figure.

Cutting the polyimide tubing is easy. A sharp Xacto knife works fine. To get consistent lengths, I use a dual-blade Olfa SC-1 stencil knife. It uses a pair of blades, mounted parallel, in a special spacer holder. It comes with 3 different size spacers in 1.0mm, 1.5mm, and 2.0mm widths. For some reason, the SC-1 is not available on Olfa's site, although the replacement blades are. I got mine from this stencil supply shop:

Olfa Double Bladed Stencil Cutter RETAIL ONLY (http://quiltingstencils.com/olfadoublebladedstencilcutterretailonly.aspx)

I did just find that olfatools.eu has it as well.
OLFA SC-1 stencil cutter (http://www.olfatools.eu/product.php?id_product=78)

Cheers,
Eric

[coyotemagic]

Thanks, Eric. Do you roll the tubing under the blade, like we do with brass or ss, or just press down? I've just started work on the same kit, so I'm really enjoying this build and appreciate all the tips. I'll be using Rowan's decals, 153.06 with the Brumowski distribution. I'll also be doing one of Bonsch's kites later on. You're so right about this being an excellent kit. It remind's me of a scaled down WNW kit.
:cheers:,
Bud

[elarson]

Thanks, Eric. Do you roll the tubing under the blade, like we do with brass or ss, or just press down? I've just started work on the same kit, so I'm really enjoying this build and appreciate all the tips. I'll be using Rowan's decals, 153.06 with the Brumowski distribution. I'll also be doing one of Bonsch's kites later on. You're so right about this being an excellent kit. It remind's me of a scaled down WNW kit.
:cheers:,
Bud

You're welcome.

Just a gentle press is all it takes to cut. In fact, the tubing is so light that you have to be careful that the little cut piece doesn't go flying off into Never-Never land! I lost a couple until I got the idea of laying the tubing on a piece of painters tape - sticky side up. Then, I just sliced away and soon had a nice little row of 1.5mm buckle bodies.

By the way, I found a good way to handle the little buggers is with a small blob of poster putty (Blue Tak or other brand) stuck on the end of a toothpick.

All the best on your build! I hope you will be posting some pictures. Just watch that lower wing joint.

Cheers,
Eric

[elarson]

i like you knew this was a weak point with the lower wings. i just glued them with liquid cement, but tryed just as you did to push both wings in simultaniously and the same thing happened the fuselage twisted and went flying. i ended up glueing them again but putting it on a table so it couldnt twist .after a while i kept checking on it and making sure they were tight. and they have held on alot better than i thought they would. i shouldve posted my whole story when i first mentioned the wing root issue and maybe i couldve warned you not to push both wings in at the same time, for that i'm sorry.at least she looks great now.

No apology necessary! I might not have remembered even if you had. :)
I sometimes get in a hurry and ignore that still small voice in my head that says "don't do that!". Oh, if I could just learn to listen to that voice!

Hopefully, our warnings will help others.

Cheers,
Eric

[terri werner]

Most impressive Eric !

['14-'18aviationcollector]

Great save, Eric! Your CDL is superb. In fact, the entire paint job is excellent. Congratulations.
:cheers:,
Bud

I have to agree, the depiction of CDL is one of the most realistic I have seen! The way the wing spars "show" through it makes the wings look very authentic.

Fantastic effort!

Regards,

David.

[elarson]

Terri, David, Bud, John, and others,

You all don't know how much your kind words and encouragement mean to me. While I do consider myself an experienced modeler overall, I am still quite the rookie when it comes to WWI aircraft. There are so many techniques unique to this era of modeling that I find myself learning something new at almost every step of the way.

There is no earthly way that I could produce the results you see here without the advice and help I have received from the kind folks on this forum. The wealth of experience and information to be found here is vast.

David, my CDL simulation is a technique I learned from Des Delatorre (Beeza). I'm sure most everyone here has visited his incredible web site. If not, wait no longer! I used his "Pre-Shading the Easy Way" method you can see here:

Page 8 (http://ww1aircraftmodels.com/page9.html)

OK, back to the workbench!

Cheers,
Eric

[curtisswright]

Elarson, this is a seriously great job on a great kit. I bought four of these. I think it is one of Eduards finest to date.

Your suggestion of mixing the artists oils for the grain effect is a great one. I'm going to give it a try. Also, don't fret that your grain is too dark. The color choice is perfect for the sublety of the grain for 1/48th. Super-difficult to do in 1/48. Anyway, there is no standard for plywood colors and it looks simply awesome. Great job!!!

[elarson]

The finish line is in sight! These are from a few days ago. The undercarriage and control surfaces have since been attached. Just a few more fiddly bits to attach, some touch up painting, and it will be ready to start collecting dust on my shelf. :)

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P3050011.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P3060014.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P3060015.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P3060016.jpg

Cheers,
Eric

[coyotemagic]

She's really coming along beautifully, Eric. I love the CDL wings and tail surfaces. I'll have to do that on the next one I build.
:cheers:,
Bud

[Von Schlepp]

The wood tutorial makes it all look so damn easy. What a beautiful kit.

Thank you for the inspiration

[Dances With Wolves]

Absolutely Von Lovely Eric!

Steve :)

[Starflyer]

Fantastic!!:D

[elarson]

Done and done! Just applied the finishing touches a couple hours ago.

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P3120005.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P3120002.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P3120011.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P3120010.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P3120013.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P3120007.jpg

Cheers,
Eric

[elarson]

And a couple more since only six pictures allowed per post. :)

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P3120004.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P3120012.jpg

Cheers,
Eric

[coyotemagic]

She's a beauty, Eric!:thumbsup:You can be very proud of this one. Outstanding CDL and woodgrain. How did you achieve the stippled metal effect? Very convincing.
:cheers:,
Bud

[Santimor]

I fell in love! :p
Congratulations, is a really inspiring model!