Biplanes and Beyond - General Discussion

[mbittner]

Top of the list for me is a Polikarpov I-153 Chaika. Hopefully by converting an Armory I-15bis...

Wouldn't it be better to start with an I-15? At least that way you start with the gull-wing.

[smeg1959]

Matt, as we've seen with the Zvezda Fairey Battle, F_IV likes a challenge!

[F_IV]

"Like" is a very strong word. Especially when referring to the Zvezda Battle!

MB, I thought of the Minairons Chato, but being a solid wargamer's model it would be too much trouble to hollow out. Plus the wings appear thicker than I would prefer and I'd need to a lot of work to thin them down.

btw: Being a bit of a beginner to the whole gb thing, is it allowed for people to begin making now when the project has been decided, or must they sit on their hands until the official start date? I'd thought that all's-fair if you get a finished job out of it, but is there a higher level of etiquette involved?

[ajmm]

Well I have been surveying my options this morning before work. I've settled on a Sea Gladiator from Malta as I'm going through a bit of a Mediterranean war interest phase at the moment (must the - er - summer?). Will sit nicely with the Beau I finished recently and some other things I'm working on (P-40, DC-2).

The big question is: am I going to be what's (presumably affectionately) known as a 'big jessie pastry' and do the Aluminium Dope scheme (very tempting) or go full vindaloo and tackle another 'shadow' camouflage scheme to do one of the Malta Hal Far flight Gladiators? I'm getting flashbacks just looking at the instructions.

I feel I would really be cheating myself not doing the camouflage one…

[MerlinJones]

I've been re-visiting the splitting of my thread and found that I can (relatively) easily split it in two and even finer, to almost spiderweb guage. However, the really fine stuff has a tendency to curl up around itself and is quite tricky to manage.
"Quite tricky" being somewhat of an understatement!

I assume the finest Uschi thread doesn't do this. Are there any particularly recommended sellers for this stuff?

[ajmm]

Models R Go is where I got mine - reasonable prices and quick postage.

It's great stuff and comes in different gauges. Mine has recently decided to go all curly on the spool which is a bit of a nuisance and I'm not sure why. I may get some more as it sounds a bit like your problem - something like giving a biplane an afro!

[Wege]

And I see that Merlin had started the Biplane build early too! (albeit in 1/72 - the Letov S-16... as seen in a certain publication) ")

[smeg1959]

Would have been a capital offence if it had been 1/144.

Suffice to say, a 1/144 S-16 would be most welcome.

As I ponder on whether to go first-up with a B-534, I've also had a look at my other options, which has raised a query. Whilst there are several Polikarpov Po-2s in the Painting Showcase, all are either the long-OOP FE-Resin kit or the Shapeways' rendition. Then I recalled mike_m's Zvedza Po-2 during the Night/Black GB. Unfortunately, Mike ran out of time and we never got to see the finished article.

So Mike, if you see this and did finish what looked like an incredible build, please post some pics in the Previous Builds thread. Love to see the final Night Witches' Mule.

[smeg1959]

The weekend is fast approaching and with it the biplane GB. Time to start finalising decisions on first-up builds, says he who is STILL undecided.

[MerlinJones]

Whilst this is a 1/72 model, (oh, the shock and horror), I thought it worth while showing as an example of rigging with the same old lycra thread, albeit now split into something much finer;



Still yet to find a supplier for the even finer stuff, described elsewhere in this thread.