1/72 S.E.5a

[Mark Braunlich]

Started a 1/72 S.E.5a to be part of a trophy for a flying model competition.  This thing is tiny!  Won't be overly detailed but more like the old Skybirds models.

[Will]

Started a 1/72 S.E.5a to be part of a trophy for a flying model competition.  This thing is tiny!  Won't be overly detailed but more like the old Skybirds models.

I tried a 1/72 SE5A last year (using Stevens' drawing from his "Scale Model Aircraft").  I lost heart after I went to check on the kids and the dog jumped on the table and decided the beautifullly carved fuselage was ideal dog-chew!  I must get back to a replacement fuse soon so I can complete it.  Like you say its small.

Will

[lastvautour]

Looking forward to your progress reports.

Lou

[Mark Braunlich]

I've got the fuselage shaping almost complete...still need to make the trough in the main fuel tank for the Vickers gun.

[lastvautour]

Nice. Keep those photos coming.

Lou

[buccfan]

Good start, what wood are you using?. Regards Paul.

[Mark Braunlich]

Gun trough and 'pit hollowed out.  No cockpit detail in this one, just a pilot.  Buc, this fuselage is basswood, nice to work with.

[Mark Braunlich]

Some minor progress, tailplane complete, radiator header tank and shutters (not shown) and Viper engine.

[Will]

Mark,

It's looking good.  How are you planning to do the undercamber, if at all.  I tried filing out the undersurface in block form (as per Mr.Doylend)  but it was pretty invisible and I'm not sure it was worth the effort at this scale.  I thought about just carving out the undercamber near the wing tips where it would be visible but haven't tried it yet.

Regards
Will

[lastvautour]

Very nicely done Mark. Looking forward to the finished model.

Lou

[Mark Braunlich]

Nothing too difficult about making the undercamber in the wing Will.  Easier to do than to describe.   Follow along:

1.  3/32" basswood sheet is marked with two parallel pencil lines to mark the location of the undercamber.  As shown the trailing edge of the wing is along the edge of the sheet of wood and the lines are sufficiently long to make both wings....here about 9+1/4" long.  The bit of drawing is shown wrong way about, that is, the trailing edge of the wing should be at the edge of the sheet of wood.

2.  Using the pencil lines as guides, the wood is scraped with a half round wood rasp, creating a shallow trough between the lines.

3.  The trough is sanded with bits of sand paper wrapped around a paint bottle.

4.  The wing chord is measured at both ends of the 9+1/4" bit of sheet that's received the undercamber.

5.  The wing stock is cut with a steel rule and a craft knife.  Shaping the rest of the airfoil with rasp, files, and sandpaper is easy.

[Mark Braunlich]

The full 9.25" length of the wing stock has been shaped and sanded to the RAF 15 aerofoil section and is ready to be made into upper and lower wing panels.

[Mark Braunlich]

The new lower wing is trial fit to the fuselage wing saddle.  Dihedral joints made by razor saw about 3/4 through the wing's thickness and then filling the groove with epoxy.  I regret doing it this way due to lack of strength in the joint.  Better to have used my old method of scoring the joint top and bottom and bending the dihedral in with aid of steam....Much stronger.

[lastvautour]

Looks great. With the addition of the top wing the strenght of the loint should be sifficient.

Lou

[cliff strachan]

Yes it is tiny, Mark. But I'm of the opinion that what is required for "smaller" models is that we resort to a bigger scale in these cases - a fact that Solid Scale models may, and even are, expected to do.

This is I believe referred to as a problem of scale. Regardless I'm facing the same dilemma with a couple of models I'm thinking of doing.

However, your model is super so far.

Cliff.