1/72 
BRISTOL   F2B
 
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Scale
Manufacturer
Kit No.
Construction
1/72
Airfix
00080
Box Stock with some scratchbuilts, civilian

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Started: 16 September 2006
Finished: 22 September 2006

Page 1 of 1


This model happened to be my first plane model. I wanted to try the steel wing wires from human hair.
The parts were not too many as seen...
16 September 2006:
I sanded the irregularities on the wings.
17 September 2006:
Searching for some info about the plane, I learned that the pilot's seat was from wickerwork. So I prepared a development on the computer and then printed on paper, formed the seat and made rigid with CA glue.
18 September 2006:
Then I made the seat rest of the gunner from a styrene slab and glued it in place.
19 September 2006:
I glued the fuselage halves and applied automotive polyester putty at the joining lines.
I prepared a mounting jig from Legos for correct positioning of the upper and lower wings.
20 September 2006:
I prepared the dashboard on the computer too, and printed on paper. Then I glued the paper on a piece of styrene and installed it in the cockpit. Beforehand, I had applied the military black green (acrylic paint) on the fuselage.
I got a big bad surprise...
For the decals, I had bought Humbrol's Decal Fix for treatment. I applied it before and after applying the decals and saw that the decal film still had a shine. So I sprayed a flat acrylic clear cote to end up with what you see in the photos...

So since the decals were practically not recoverable, I decided to paint the plane as a civilian one.

21 September 2006:
Now coming to the "steel wiring"...
I painted the wing struts to imitate varnished wood. I used glass paint and mixed 2 parts black, 5 parts orange and 2 parts yellow.
I tied the human hair to one side of the struts and fixed with CA glue so that they would not slip off...
I inserted all the struts in place, with hair fixed to their lower parts. I put the lower wing in the jig.
Then I formed the crosses and fixed the hairs to the top parts of the struts with CA glue. I paid attention that the struts were not absolutely parallel but a bit closer at the tops; so that when the upper wing was installed, the struts would stretch the hairs a bit when they were inserted in their places in the upper wing. 
22 September 2006:
I took the lower wing from the jig.
Now come the finished photos... The human hair application proved to be successful.

For a larger photo, please click on the pics.