Oscar

[Ken Pugh]

Now we need some surface detail.  There is an engine scoop on the bottom of the nose made of basswood.  The humps on the top cover the machine guns and those are also basswood.  Again, I just glued on some wood that was close in size but a little larger, then carved down to shape.  If you try to make these parts off the plane, it gets difficult.  Much simpler to glue on wood then shape.  Kind of like playing with clay.  Slap on more then remove what you don't want to keep.



The pitot tube on the wing is a piece of brass tubing.

The antenna mast and exhaust pipes are made from bamboo.  Whatever wood you make that small mast out of is probably going to be fragile.  Bamboo is a grass, not wood.  It is very strong and fairly easy to shape.  You can get a pack of skewers for a dollar and you have plenty of bamboo for projects.  Bamboo was widely used in the old days before plastic models.  It files, sands, and carves just like wood.  The exhaust pipes were very tiny but easy to make.  I filed down the bamboo until it was fairly square and flat.  I glued this on with CA glue then further filed and sanded to get it good and thin.  I carved in grooves to show the individual pipes.  For the exhaust openings I just used a pin to make a hole.  The entire part is so small the pin hole mimics the exhaust pipe.

The tail wheel was carved from basswood and wire was bent to form the tail gear.

http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-471

[Ken Pugh]

The display stand is just a piece of pine.  To make the label, I printed several font sizes on a piece of card stock.  I love my card stock, really handy stuff.  Cut out the one that fits and spray lightly with Krylon Crystal Clear to seal the paper.  The base was stained and the label glued on.  When I applied the varnish the stain streaked onto the label.  In the future I will varnish the base before glueing on the label, then varnish everything again.

I have found the Minwax Polycrylic water-based finish to be some really good stuff.  I used it to seal the fiberglass on the monster Hellcat I'm building.  Testing so far shows no yellowing but I will try it some more to make sure.  No nasty smells to rot out your brain cells.


http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-476

The model is attached to the base with a piece of brass rod.

Well, that's it.  That's how I built the Oscar.  I think it took me 40 hours from start of plan printing to completed model.  I think I can trim some more time off that.

[Oceaneer99]

Outstanding job on the build article, Ken!  That's our first one at this new forum.

Garet

[teddon61]

Ken, great Oscar. I especially like your almost step by step building procedures. The clarity could be helpful to people starting out but a little afraid to try.
As you may recall, I started out to build every WWII airplane, and I am within 36 aircraft of that goal. I mention this because in doing research for the Japanese airplanes I discovered no less than 86 different examples. Although they tend to be colorful, you must admit that the National ensignia is one of the easiest.
Ted (teddon61) Billings

[teddon61]

Ken, I was surprised to read that the Oscar was your first from scratch attempt at a subject like this, surprised and impressed.
In essence we use the same methods, but it took me sometime to get where I am with it.
I generally work in one fortyeighth scale, which has its problems. The Larger scale you work in the more detail that must be applied
and the more display room they require.
A method of detail that I use with my planes is burning in the panel lines, I use the Coleman Detailer for this purpose. Not only do the lines become apparent, but they are easy to paint with a fine brush.
Are you planning a theme with your planes; such The Battle of Midway or other historical events? Or is your interests more eclectic?
Either way I'm sure you're having a ball
Ted Billings

[Ken Pugh]

I have decided to build most of my solids in 1/72 scale.  This scale can be built quickly and would be good for having all the planes I love so much.  I also want to build one detailed plane a year in a larger scale.  At present, that is a 1/16 scale Hellcat for my pastor.  Otherwise, I would build a 1/32 WWI plane.  I have no theme in mind other than there are so many planes I would love to have a model of.  There are a few other Japanese planes I would like to build from that era.

I have thought of trying the detail burning routine.  I have a burner I got for the woodburning hobby but I don't think I will use it for that, just like the knives I bought for chip carving are no longer used for that purpose, but for modeling.  I like for my detail to be subtle and close to scale and I think burning will help with that, I just have to start a project to try it on.

Whenever I don't know exactly how to do something, I build it in my mind over and over again until an idea that will work comes to me, which is why I am not as prolific as I would like to be.  Of course, problems and failures are the greatest teachers.  As my experience grows, I will get quicker as I don't have to think about the process.  I really enjoy using ideas and techniques from other disciplines in my modeling.  Many plastic builders are convinced scratch modeling is hard because they think they have to use plastic.  Many wood modelers don't jump on metal as much as they could.  Most modelers grab that XActo knife when there are pocket knives with good steel that can be sharpened far keener than an XActo.

Modeling is an enjoyable journey that so many miss out on for whatever reason or excuse they choose to use.

Ken Pugh

[Kenny Horne]

Ken Great build and a very nice article.  Everyone should read it!

Another great source of bamboo is place mats.  They are super cheap and have many flatish and rectangularish strips.  Again one mat will last a lifetime.  I use bamboo for tons of things and for those reasons you mentioned.  On the Sunderland I'm working on I have used it for the float struts. 

I picked up a cheap woodburning tool from Micheals and love it.  I didn't get the one which you can mount an exacto blade in, and I have regretted it as I'm sure that I'd use it most of all.  What I like is that you can plot out, sketch etc all the panel lines onto the raw wood before painting, so after the fact everything is there to follow, again just as Ted mentioned.

Great build and a very generous tutorial,

Thanks,

Kenny H

[lastvautour]

Ken, I took the liberty of placing a photo of your finished Oscar to the Japanese cook-up folder on the Gallery.