Fokker DVII by Flair

[ntsmith]

Hate to interupt but just got to say its a brilliant blog. Lots of pics and information. Well done and its great to see it coming to shape.

[andy watson]

Well. I'm now a bit stuck. 

I have been patiently waiting for this lozenge fabric to turn up, but ran out of patience yesterday and e-mailed them.  I got this response:

Andrew I really do appoligize I got your order back today from Post office here stateing that the postal code was incorrect It was a clerical error and they resent it.Thank god because your package costs over 50.00 Us being that I am across the Us from Ny should be there in a day and hopefully to you soon I do appoligize. This was not my fault.                                                   Chris Sellmann Wildmann Graphics
Now accidents do happen, but I find it hard to believe that they got this back today- it was ordered on the 29th of September!  Also what's with the "This was not my fault"?  If you reply on behalf of a company then it is your fault- even if it isn't- if you know what I mean.Anyway, I am grumpy about this as it appears my fabric, that was ordered and paid for over a month ago is still sat in the states.  Then again with the way the dollar has moved against the pound, it's a good job a paid a month ago!Anyway, I don't think there is really much I can do now till it arrives.

[Brian Clamp]

Is the Lozenge covering pre-painted or just marked out for you to paint? I tried to source lozenge covering for mine without success hence it falls into the category of 'yet another red Fokker'

[andy watson]

It's preprinted in 1/6 scale.

There are plenty of non-red Fokkers out there for the D7- as you can see by the pictures I posted earlier in the blog, but virtually all have the lozenge wing.  There were 4 possible options to do a lozenge wing as far as I could see:

1) Linen solartex, then hand mark and paint the lozenge fabric.  This seemed like a very difficult option.  The pattern is difficult although there are templates around.  I don't have an airbrush, so would have had to either buy one or used aerosols, but colour matching could have been difficult.  I didn't know how it would look brushed on.  I also felt it would turn out quite expensive, as I would need a lot of paint colours to mix.

2) Preprinted linen solartex.  According to Flairs instructions they sell linen solartex which is predrawn with the lozenge pattern, but I couldn't find any- even when I spoke to Flair themselves.  So this stuff might be the stuff of legend!  Although it would make things easier than option 1 there would still be the painting difficulties.

3) Arizona models do a preprinted 1/6 scale lozenge fabric, and apparantly Fighter Aces have now been given distribution rights in the UK.  They were saying that they would be selling it at £12 per foot.  although they hadn't started when I was looking.  £12 per foot worked out at 6 feet needed in top and bottom colours........£144+ postage!!!!  This was far too expensive.

4) Wildmann graphics was the option I took.  OK, so it's proving more awkward than it should have, they offer the best solution in my opinion.  Although their website makes no mention of it, they do sell 1/6 scale (they only mention 1/4 scale) and it's $70 (think it was $65 when I ordered) a roll- with each roll being 2m (6 ft 6 to give a comparison with above).  Postage was expensive at $50, but the total was about £100- although this will obviously vary with exchange rates.

I didn't see that option 1 would save me that much money, and thought the finish would be poorer.  Option 2 seems little more than a rumour.  Option 3 hasn't started yet, and seems expensive- it really gets me made when we can be expected to pay £-$ equivalent prices- although the exchange rate might make that a reality soon anyway!  So realistically option 4 was the best.

[Braddock, VC]

Inwoods had some of the preprinted solartex, I bought mine from there, didn't use it as my first fokker was all red, the one fokker built for Manfred von Richthofen but which was never used.

Like you I have another kit and the mods I'm making to this one will be to replace the engine mounting timber with a nylon one, each of the wing ribs that the struts attach to are going to be 1/8" birch ply and all the struts will be 10 x 2 alloy strips from B&Q.

Like all the others, I think she flies like a puddy cat, mine has a laser 80 for power.

BTW, if you have close fitting joints on your tailplane etc and you used cyno I wouldn't worry about the joints breaking.

[Braddock, VC]

BTW forgot to say great blog, really helpful.

Incidentally, your servos, If you mount them athwartships like you have at present you may find there's significantly more "play" than if you mount them fore and aft.

[andy watson]

Well, every day is the same.........go home................look for a nice packet of lozenge fabric/note from the postie saying they couldn't deliver a nice packet of lozenge fabric.................... watch TV in a huff.

 I do hope it hurries up

[andy watson]

Well, I'm back- and things have got interesting! The lozenge finally turned up on the 18th.

Obviously I did the decent thing and got it unpacked as fast as humanly possible.  2 lovely long 2m rolls.  Now I am not 100% sure which is top, and which is bottom.  I think the darker more drab one is the top, but I will be checking to make sure before any ironing takes place.

I pull the top roll fully off, and what do I see?

Nope, not 2 of the same........stop trying to guess and be patient!

The second sheet has 2 big printing errors on it.  A white stripe that goes across the roll in the middle of the sheet.  There is also a long smear/smudge running 3/4 of the width of the roll.  Well this isn't on- I paid about $150 for this, and I think I am within my rights to expect it to be right.  Especially as a $ refund will probably buy my house and 3 others the way the £/$ is going, as long with the housing market!

I don't know how well the faults come out on the photos- they are very noticeable on the sheets, especially the white stripe.

As you can imagine a stiffly worded e-mail was called for!

[Ben Mullins]

I can see the smudges and all andy.

I can imagine how Frustrated yo must be! What are you going to do next? Are you going to use what you can from it? Or wait for another set to arrive (god forbid!) or somthing else. Tell us you're thoughts!

[andy watson]

Well, I allowed a day for my temper to subside, as I realised I was in a precarious position here.  The company have my money, and are several hundred (or is it thousand?) miles away.  I can't exactly go and bang on their door now can I?  I mean, I have waited for 7 weeks for this stuff to turn up.

For the benefit of RCME's lawyers I will reproduce the text (in italics)of every email in full with no editing!

Well the good news is that the lozenge fabric turned up today.   Unfortunately one of the sheets seems to have totally bypassed any kind of quality control system.

The darker, more drab sheet has 2 major faults on it. There is a white line running the full width of the roll right in the middle of the sheet. There is also a long smear which looks like something has been pulled across the sheet whilst it was still wet 4 feet from one end. I have attached photos to show the problems, although the smear hasn't shown up too clearly as the lozenge colour doesn't photograph particularly well. It is clearest on the edge where the ink can clearly be seen to be pulled into the white border.

I can accept the problems with delivery- I understand these things do happen. What I cannot accept, however, is that when I go to the trouble of sourcing and paying for a premium scale product that it should be so poor. The covering is the "display" part of the model, and 2 big faults like these will be glaringly obvious on the finished plane- spoiling the whole final effect of a scale model. This fabric has cost me about the same as the kit did in the first place, and more than the new 4 stroke OS engine. To be let down by it in such a way is a real disappointment.

I await your ideas on how to solve this issue with interest.
Andy Watson

Now I think I made a bit of a mistake making the price comparison, because I think they have read it and thought I was complaining it was too expensive.  I wasn't, I was trying to say that if I choose to spend more on a premium product I expect it to be perfect.  Anyway, the response:

Andy there should have been two of those completed sheets one with the flaws and another without. If that is not the case I will beet the one who packaged it. and send you out another one.The break in the pattern is normal and was present in the real stuff . It is why they used cap strips.as for the price .Being that I am the only one in the World making this stuff. I order from england they send me the raw fabric I print on it and send it word wide.If it was made here in the states price would be differant. But it is what it is..Now I did say no editing, and I meant it.  I don't really have a clue what he is going on about here.  I made no mention of the same sheet going in twice.  The break in the pattern he refers to is where the printing overlaps from each run- not what I expected, but possibly scale, and not something I was complaining about.  He's not the only one in the world, but the cheapest- but I wasn't complaining about that.What is glaringly obvious is the absence of either: 1) here is your money back for the poorly printed sheet or 2) A replacement sheet is on it's way to you.  Obviously there is the absence of good English, but it is what it is....

[andy watson]

Time for stiffly worded e-mail number 2, since they obviously thought nice friendly email #1 was a bit subtle. 

Hi,

I wasn't complaining about the price- that's my choice to pay it, or to make it myself.  I do think that it is reasonable to expect the product to be right though. 

I am confused by your reference to the break in the pattern.  There does appear to be a clear break in the pattern where the press overlaps- I am not talking about that.  I am talking about 2 problems-

1) The white stripe down the middle of the printing.  If this is a "design feature" as you seem to be implying, then why isn't it repeated through the pattern and on both sheets.  Clearly it isn't because it is a flaw in the printing process on this sheet.

2) The smeared printing where sonething has been pulled across the ink whilst it was still wet.  Again this is clearly an error, not any part of a design process.

In view of these problems I think replacing the darker duller sheet would be the very least you could do to resolve this issue, as it is unreasonable to expect me to have to incorporate these flaws into my model.

Andy Watson

The reply....

Andy Was it the top color or the bottom color.

Now it hasn't turned up yet- but I read that as meaning there is a replacement sheet making it's way to me as we speak.  I will keep you updated.  If so, then whilst it has been a sucession of problems, I would probably recommend them again although it was a big error sending out the stuff with printing errors.  In truth I would probably just avoid the lozenge in future!

Anyway, it does mean I can progress with covering the undercarriage wing and the lower wing.  Although I have taken advantage of the break to build myself a soarer- a Flair Fledgling no less.  Happened upon it cheap, so thought I would have a go.  That is now finished, so back to this Fokker...........

Just as an aside, the Fledgling was obviously designed with a beginner in mind, and the instructions were very good, whereas with the DVII they are "adequate", but I do think this fairly reflects the experience they expect.

[andy watson]

Well the fun and games continue.

Here is one of the photos I sent to Wildmann graphics again, but this time ignore the printing fault and just look to the lozenge pattern:

Now their web site only talks about 1/4 scale, whereas this is 1/6 scale.  No problem- surely just a smaller print, but try match my sheet with the ones on their website:

upper

lower

That's right- it doesn't match either!!  Not a big problem in itself- this stuff seems to be applied pretty haphazardly anyway, but I can't work out which is supposed to be top or bottom!  I'm sure only a total anorak will pull me up on it, and they will deserve a punch in the face , but I will need to do a bit of research- does the darker more drab colour go on the top or the bottom of the wing....

Google images here I come!

[Steve Wheeler]

Hi Andy,

Yes, the darker version goes on the top surface, but the print direction can vary as you have seen. The appropriate direction for a particular type can be checked by reference to photographs by 'those who know'... I usually rely on the captions or the text  of my reference sources.

If you haven't already done so, I suggest getting the relevant  'Windsock Datafiles' from Albatros Publications....... type history, loads of photos, colour plates ,etc,etc. You will probably find all you need  there.

Regards.... Steve.

[andy watson]

Cheers Steve.

I am hoping to have some exciting updates this evening, as I have actually done some covering- despite my previous promises to chicken out!

I eventually persuaded myself about the top/bottom issue by looking at arizona models, who have a series of lozenge fabrics for sale- but their price put me off!  Anyway, they show the different ones here.

I had a look for the windsock data files a while ago, and can't remember if I couldn't find them or they were too expensive, but they have been widely recommended to me.  In the end I went with a couple of excellent little books called Fokker aces of WWI.  They were what I used to decide on which scheme I was going with.  Unfortunately once I picked my scheme, then I don't like to change- I could have saved myself a lot of time, money and effort by not going lozenge .  Where I had difficulty was getting a top and bottom view of the same plane.

[Brian Clamp]

good views of colour schemes can be found on Google images. That is where i researched my colour scheme.

Your problems are what made me chicken out of lozenge. Good luck with the covering. It is heartening to see someone rising to the challenge.

[andy watson]

Did a lot of searching through google, but I don't remember seeing something that gave me a definitive answer, although there are lots of interesting schemes on there to look at, and they were very helpful when I wanted to look at certain areas of a plane for scale details etc.

If I remember I will post a series of links that I have collected over the last few months of the best and most helpful sites.

[andy watson]

Well, an exciting update was promised...................

 I've done some covering.  It's very scary cuttig up the lozenge, knowing a mistake will cause no end of difficulties in getting a replacement- to say nothing of the cost!!

I decided the easiest thing to do would be undercarriage wing since it is small!  Doing the glider in the meantime was a big help to be honest, especially as it was sheeted, which seems to make covering harder.  Certainly solartex seems easier to use than solar film.  The wing was done as easily as I could have hoped.

Top

Bottom

And from the side

The flash seems to have washed out the colours a bit- especially on the top.  In reality it is quite a lot darker, and the top photo looks a bit rippled above the lading edge, but again it's the camera and it isn't on the wing- honest!!  The last photo suggests there is a white band around the edge of the wing, but once again it isn't really like that! 

[andy watson]

With the undercarriage wing going on so well I had a go at the lower wing.  Again the hardest part was daring to cut!!  The underside was straightforwards, with no problems at all.  The top was also easy enough.  Awkward bits were making sure the sheeting was straigt on the leading edge; getting round the wing dowels; getting over the triangular wedge that slots against the fuselage.  Surprisingly the wingtips (which I was most worried about) weren't difficult at all- they just took a bit of time. 

A comparison between the top and bottom colours.

Looks pretty good to me, again the size/shape of the wing and the flash makes it difficult to get decent pictures.

Unfortunately I have run out of Balsa-loc, so the top wing will have to wait a few days.  I think it's just dilute PVA, and I have some plaster sealer which is also dilute PVA- anyone think it's worth a go since the LHS doesn't have any....... or should I get some mail ordered.  The good news is I can now get the undercarriage finished over the weekend.

[andy watson]

With the undercarriage wing covered I can now finish the undercarriage itself. 

Pretty straightforwards since it's basically built.  2 axle plates needed screwing into the side of the wing, and then the axle is slid through the V in the wire fuselage, through the wing, and through the other V.  Sounds more complicated than it is.  The axle is then bound to the V struts and soldered in place- easy enough with my new soldering skills- especially as it didn't have to be too neat as the wheels would be covering it. 

The instructions then said to put a washer over the axle, but none of the ones in the kit fit.  Fortunately I had some bigger ones, so used those, then slid the wheels on.  It was then I found there were no collets supplied to hold them in place .  I checked with my spare kit, and sure enough they only supply 2 (they are used on the axle plates to make the wing angle adjustable).  Presuamably Flair think since they don't bother to provide wheels for the kit (that still rankles) then there is no need to supply anything to hold them in place either.  I stole the ones from the spare kit.

Anyway, it was easy enough to finish.

[andy watson]

Since the rear of the fuselage bolts onto the bottom wing, rather than the fuselage (impractical for a model, but scale) I cleared the covering off the holes I had already drilled in the wing in advance.  I was glad to see that the wing bolt and bolt holes for the plastic undercarriage mounting brackets were in exactly the right place.

My plan to make this manageable is pretty simple.  The front legs of the undercarriage are permanatly screwed into the fuselage.  The rear legs are removeable off the wing.  I have done this by drilling holes through the hardwood undercarriage block in the wing, and cut holes in the sheeting above them (they are concealed by the fuselage when it's in place).  I will epoxy bolts through the hardwood block with the threaded end protruding through the bottom of the wing.  The fuselage pivots on the front legs and it is simple to pop a saddle clamp over the rear legs and screw bolts onto the protruding threads.

Well it would be if my bolts were long enough- which they're not........ bugger.  I didn't allow enough thickness for the saddle clamp and thickness of the UC wire.  Fortunately I discovered this on the dry fit, rather than after they were epoxied into place.  Anyway, they hold it in place enough for a photo or 2.

So the shopping list now consists of balsa-loc and some longer bolts!  Oh, and I think wing tape will be a good idea, and I need some rib tape and German crosses.........

Will the spending ever end?  Well I already have a gallon of 4 stroke fuel- not that I have things back to front!

[Ben Mullins]

Wow andy, its looking truly amazing! I never used to like WW1 era biplanes, but you've well and truly managed to change that!

[Brian Clamp]

The lozenge makes it look really good. can,t wait to see it completed.

Wheel fixing is intended to be via brass tubing (was in my kit ) soldered over the piano wire and the wheels secured by home made split pins. very easy to do.

For ease when making my quick release for the u/c I drilled, and tapped 3mm threads into the u/c block close to the groove and strengthened them with cyano. saved having to fit captive nuts.

[andy watson]

There were optional scale wheel fitting instructions, but it does say parts not included for them as well.  I decided to go with the simple option as I would be able to add the scale version later if I want to.

Glad you like it Ben, I am very happy with how it is turning out- despite some of my moaning!

[Michael Arwas]

hi andy,

have just spent a wonderful hour reading through your thread and am amazed at both yout persistence and ability to continue to build this model.  Really really well done mate, cant wait to see it finished.

Michael

[andy watson]

Been a day of pottering about today whilst waiting for bits and pieces to turn up- balsa loc, a filler cap thingy and some servo extension cables.

 With the top wing assembled I could have a look at the path of the cables through from the ailerons to the rx in the fuselage.  I had bought 500mm extensions, but think they are a bit long, so have bought 300mm ones instead.  I need to decide where to site the rx, and I am having trouble getting the ariels at 90 degrees.  I'm still not 100% on where it's going, as I also need to be able to get to it.  Despite it looking like a big fat fuselage I am still feeling a bit short of space!!  So most of the build today was spent pushing the rx around the fuselage bay!  Funnily enough I might have hit on the perfect place, and it isn't in the fuselage at all, but sitting it on top of the lower wing.

I have also removed the cowl and cut the bottom sheet of the front of the fuselage.  I had considered leaving this open for cooling/engine access; but on reflection there isn't much of importance to reach from the underside of the engine and the hole cut in the top of the fuselage for the dummy engine should allow a lot of air through.  I decided to screw rather than glue it into place so I could remove it later if I want to.  The cutting to fit was ok- needed a curve on the front to match the cowl front, and a hole for the exhaust, but simple enough.