Hi all,
As I'm nearing the completion of the Fokker D.II model build, I've started preparing the next model.
This will be another resin kit from 'Omega Models', which will represent the Hansa-Brandenburg W.20, Serial No:1552, photographed on the 14th of March 1918, at the seaplane experimental centre (SVK) at Warnemunde before being accepted for naval use (by the SAK).





The Hansa-Brandenburg W.20 was designed during late 1917 and early 1918 by Ernst Heinkel whilst working at Hansa-Brandenburg.
The intention for this small, unarmed spotter float plane was for it to be partially dismantled and stored in a water tight container on board the projected ‘Cruiser’ class of submarine, such as U139 and U155.
It was to be removed from its container, assembled quickly and launched whilst the submarine was on the surface.
After the flight, the submarine would surface again, the aircraft loaded, dismantled and stowed in its container, after which the submarine could submerge.
The aircraft was intended to be prepared for flight or stowing in less than 2 minutes and was to be stored inside the container which measured 20 feet long and 6 feet in diameter.
However, the intended submarines to be used were never built before the armistice and only three W.20 aircraft were built.
The first version, Ser No:1551, had only fuselage to upper wing support struts.
The second version, Ser No:1552 had interplane struts added between the wings and these struts were wire crossed braced.
In addition the span of the lower wings was increased.
The third and final version, Ser No:1553 had the interplane struts replaced by single interplane struts.

Although this design of Ernst Heinkel never saw operational service, he did design a similar aircraft in 1921, which was known as the Caspar-Heinkel U1.
Two examples were purchased by the U.S. Navy for evaluation.
This aircraft was intended to fit into a smaller space of 18 feet long and 4 feet 6 inches diameter.
The design was a cantilever wing biplane, powered by a 50 hp engine and capable of a speed of 87 mph with a climb rate of 1000 m in 6 minutes.
Four men could dismantle and stow the aircraft in only 22 seconds and reassemble it in only 31 seconds.
One of the aircraft was wrecked when being transported on a truck when the aircraft struck low hanging trees.
Interestingly Heinkel built and sold two examples to the Japanese, who subsequently followed on with this technology in WW2.

Mike

Oh cool! Can't wait to see how your dio will look with a water based aircraft.
With such a deep hull it will be interesting to see how you approach it. Options that I think of would be a deep epoxy layer or cut off bottom of hull to accomodate a "Still" scene, or aircraft just landing with nice wake in the water.
Of course you could always have it mountwd on a trolley just being pulled out of the water. Possibilities...possibilities!

Looking forward to this one Mike!

Best Regards

Fascinating bird, looking forward to it!

Whilst recognising you're a stickler for historical accuracy as your models awesomely demonstrate... perhaps you could indulge a a bit of 'what if' and have the seaplane on the water next to a surfacing U-Boat?

Hi all,
As to whether I add water to the display - not sure.

This kit does present the modeler with challenges, to put it mildly.

The supplied kit itself comprises of parts which are solely resin and unlike many more up market companies, ‘Omega Models’ do not reinforce parts, such as wing struts, with metal rods. This makes the supplied resin struts very weak when flexed.
All of the resin parts have mold ‘flash’ that will need to be removed and larger items, such as the wings, do have some warping, which is not uncommon in resin kits.
The kit does not supply many parts required to make this an accurate model, for example an instrument panel, all of the necessary wing float struts, all of the centre engine bearer struts etc.
The lower wing one piece molding is not the correct shape according to the drawings supplied.
The kit parts have no locating pegs or holes, which can cause alignment problems during assembly.
The instructions supplied for assembling the model are virtually non-existent, being only several sheets of photo-copied data with only one section view of the fuselage internal parts.
The remaining sheets are the kit contents and basic three-view drawings and some small colour profiles.The kit instructions do not give assembly instructions, apart from the two side drawings and they only list parts with no exploded assembly views.
Also, some of the information refers to different versions of this aircraft, not the kit supplied Series 2 (1552) model.
The decals supplied are of reasonable quality but are not the normal, ‘cookie’ cut slide transfer. Instead the decals are printed on sheets of carrier which covers the entire sheets.
Therefore if used, each decal will need to be carefully cut out from its sheet before application to the model. Also the surface of these decals is easily damage, such as from being scratched, so if used, care is needed handling these decals.
The kit does supply any ground equipment, such as a basic ‘beaching’ trolley or trestles.

Anyway, The basic hull has been prepared as well as a modified 'Wings Cockpit' figure (LSK 07A).

Mike

Mike, isn't this the point at which you are supposed to "Throw in the towel"??

I suspect you will be VERY BUSY with this one!

Regards

Hi Rob,
I'll crack it before it cracks me.

Just a quick updated.
The front decking has been fitted and I've added the 'splash' rail around the edge of the hull.
Also the nose 'bump' padding to the nose, neither of which are represented in the kit,

Mike

Mike;

Don't forget to include a fishing rod in the cockpit, it's a "Must Have" in case you get the pilot get's stranded at sea!

Sorry, I just had to say it...

Hi Rob,
Thanks for dropping that 'line', you got me 'hooked', for 'reel',

Mike

Hee Hee, you reeled me right in with that one Mike

Hi all,
A few updates.
This kit does not have any locating pins or holes for any of the flight surfaces.
These include the ailerons, fin, tail plane, elevators and the rudder.
These are all intended to be 'butt' glued only, which is never a good idea, especially with resin parts.
Although CA adhesive provides a strong bond, it is prone to 'break away' if subjected to shock loading, such as being knocked.
Therefore I reinforced the mating surfaces by adding either 0.3 or 0.5 mm diameter rods and associated holes.
The exception was the elevators, as the trailing edge of the tail plane is way too thin to drill.
For that I cut photo-etch strips to represent the hinges and to support the elevators to the tail plane.
I've also replaced the resin rear decking strips with sanded down plastic card.

The next job is to created rudder and aileron control cable horns and the associated control cable outlets, none of which are supplied or represented in the kit,

Mike

Having only built WNW kits in the past decade, this seems pretty basic! Reminds me of the old wooden ship models as you stand with a hand full of strip wood looking at the directions which say “and now plank the hull”! One would have to be in your class of modeler to turn it into the masterpiece you do. Good on ya mate.

Hi Mark,
Yeah that's a good analogy.
This is definitely no Wingnut Wings kit

Mike

Hi all,
I've added control horns and control cable ports for the ailerons and rudder.
Next up is to represent the aileron control inspection panels, fuselage rear grab handles, wing stacking pads and rib tapes for the tail plane, elevators and ailerons.

None of the above are represented or supplied in the kit.

Mike

Hi all,
The rudder, elevators and tail plane were linen covered structures with rib tapes covering the linen joins.
It is unclear if the fin was covered with wood paneling or linen.
The photographs available suggest that it was linen, as the fin structure can be see under the covering.
So I've gone for a linen covered fin.
Although rib tapes are represented on the wings and ailerons of the kit, they are not represented elsewhere.
Created using 0.2 mm thick plastic card which was then sanded ,

Mike

Hi all,
The kit supplied lower wing needed some major changes.
I used the few photographs available for this aircraft and the drawings in the ‘Windsock’ World War Centenary (Spring 2015, Vol.31, No.1).

Basically the kit wing needed to be modified for the following reasons:
The wing leading edge had more of a swept angle than that moulded on the kit wing.
The centre section of the leading edge had a recess, to allow the forward wing struts and engine support frame to be fitted to the fuselage.
The lower wing and the upper wing had 'stacking' pads fitted into the wing leading edges (2 upper and four lower wing).
The centre cut-out in the trailing edge of the lower wing did not have square corners, but was fitted with quadrant fillet panels.
The upper surface of the lower wing had walk boards fitted at the wing roots.
The rear of the centre section of the lower wing had two slots through the wing to allow fitting of the wing rear struts into the fuselage.  
 
Mike

Hi mike
There appears in the photos that there are something like stains or water marks on the wings. Is that just shadow relections?

Hi Rob,
That's the quality of the resin casting - for this model not very good.
The better companies like 'Aviattic', 'Lukgraph', 'HPH Models', 'Copper State Models' etc have good resin kits.
However, the smaller and sometimes 'garage' manufacturers use lower grade resin and moulding.
Consequently you can find imperfections, air 'blow' holes, mis-moulds and sometimes like this kit, very thin resin parts.
All part of the challenge.

Here's how thin the tail plane is on this model.

Mike

Hi all,
The lower wing was not fitted directly to the top of the fuselage but was located on four mountings and just clear of the fuselage.
The front a rear wing spars of the lower wing passed across the fuselage through these mountings.
The kit instructions show the mountings, but they are not supplied in the kit.
Therefore representations of the mountings need to be created.
The mountings were made from brackets in the ‘Jadar’ WW1 1:48th scale control horns (S48087) photo-etch set and 0.5 mm diameter Brass rod.
I also used 0.5 mm rod to make the grab handles for the rear of the fuselage, which again are not supplied in the kit,

Mike

Hi all,
The inner and outer interplane struts supplied in the kit are resin and without any internal metal reinforcing rods.
This makes the brittle resin of the struts weak and liable to breaking during handling when assembling the model.
Therefore I decided to recreate these struts using 1.0 mm diameter brass rod and 2.0 mm diameter brass tube.
These were formed using my 'Albion Alloy's 'Strutter' tool and then soft soldered.
Below are the outer interplane struts temporarily fitted so I can accurately measure and make the inner interplane struts.

Mike

Seems like it's gonna be a tough one, but we all trust in your great skills Mike!

Hi all,
I've now created the inner interplane struts.
The rear struts are fitted to the fuselage through the cut-outs in the rear of the lower wing centre section.

Now onto the tailplane and wing floats support struts,

Mike

Wow, I never realized how much space there was between the two wings!!

Was that to prevent the upper wing, which provides the most lift, to avoid getting wet, or to provide room for the propeller?

Looking forward to see how this progresses.

I think it's most likely for propeller clearance from the fuselage and to keep the engine clear of water spray,

Mike

Hi all,
The tailplane support struts are done.
These were created 0.8 mm diameter brass rod and 1.6.0 mm diameter brass tube.
These were formed using my 'Albion Alloy's 'Strutter' tool and then soft soldered.
Below are the tailplane struts temporarily fitted.

Now to do the last sets of struts for the wing floats,

Mike

Hi all,
The last of the strut work is done.
These are the support struts for the two wing floats.
There will also be bracing wires fitted, but later in the build.
These were created 0.8 mm diameter brass rod and 1.6.0 mm diameter brass tube.
These were formed using my 'Albion Alloy's 'Strutter' tool,

Mike

Mike the struts on that beastie are quite massive aren't they!

Hi Rob,
Yes they were considering the aircraft itself wasn't that big.
The wing float struts and tailplane struts were not that much thinner than the main interplane struts,

Mike

Does that Strutter tool you speak of flatten the tubing creating the oblong cross section shape? If not, how are you doing that?

So Mike, do you have the submarine for that upcoming Dio??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o10w7aVmIk

Mike

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o10w7aVmIk



I'm having enough problems with the aircraft, let alone a submarine

Mike

Fascinating world we live in where tools like this are made just for model makers. I think about when I was a kid and scratch modelers would've had to figure out stuff like this on their own, with varying and questionable results. Neat stuff out there!

Hi all,
I've been working on creating the engine support frame, which was located between the centre sections of the upper and lower wings.
Nothing is supplied in the kit for this frame, apart from two bits of wire and a rather rough side drawing of the side of the aircraft.
Quite how 'Omega Models' expect any modeler to fabricate this frame from the kit is a bit of a joke.
Anyway I've made the bottom half of the frame soft soldered from 0.8 mm diameter brass tube using heavily modified 'Connec+o' joiners from 'Albion Alloy's'.
The front under plate at the top of the frame is made from 0.2 mm plastic card and the two rear side filler plates from scrap photo-etch.
The completed frame will also require cross bracing wires to be fitted as well as the engine assembly of course.

Now it's onto the top half of the frame,

Mike

Hi all,
The top struts of the engine support frame have been added.
I'm now working on the 'basic' engine installation.
The kit supplied resin engine was a bit rough so is being replaced by a 'Wingnut Wings' 7 cylinder Oberursel U.0 (80 HP), kindly donated for this build by both Mark Elliot and Przemyslaw Litewka.
The engine backing disc was made from 0.2 mm thick plastic card with a 0.5 mm diameter styrene rim ('Plastruct').
The engine shaft is 2.0 mm diameter tube (Albion Alloy's) stepped down to a 1.0 mm internal bore and 1.0 mm rod soft soldered in each end.
The resin breather at the front of the engine shaft was cut from the resin kit part.

Now it's onto trying to figure out the control components fitted on the shaft from illustrations and a couple of photographs,

Mike

Awful early to assemble it on the test bench isn't it? I mean, you don't even have the spark plug wires on her yet.

S!Blade<><

Forgot the drip tray under the engine as well

Mike:

.

Brilliant stuff as always, Mike. And some outstanding fabrication work on that engine support stand!

.

Hi all,
Here's some shots of the basic engine installation.
There's still the engine to finish and pipework and rigging to be added later in the build.
The engine oil pump and HT ignition unit were scratched as was the representation of the carburetor on the air intake.
Inlet holes were drilled around the air intake,

Mike

Mike;

Observing your latest phhotos, the high mount of the engine stands out to me. I can't help wondering about the center of gravity. Do you have any idea how the handling was for the original craft?

Nice friends there, willing to donate to your build. Good show by them!

Hi Rob,
There's very little information on the aircraft design and construction and nothing I can find on its handling.
Only three prototype versions were built and none saw active service.
Like many of the float planes of that period, the high tail plane assembly may have helped offset any imbalance due to the CofG.

Mike

Hi all,
Here's the engine and the oil tank with scratch made oil pump and HT ignition unit.
The engine push rods were replaced with 0.6 mm diameter Brass tube and 0.4 mm diameter Nickel-Silver tube.
Ignition leads were twisted 0.125 mm diameter copper wire.
The engine propeller shaft and rear mounting lug were removed to modify the engine with a shaft and different propeller.
There's still various pipework to be fitted, which has to wait until further in the build,

Mike

Hi all,
I've applied the decals to the model.
The base colour, despite most profiles showing it a light blue, was more probably the standard light grey.
This was 'Tamiya' Medium Sea Grey 2 (XF83) lightly airbrushed over a Dark Sea Grey (XF54) base coat.
The kit supplied lozenge decals were replaced with ‘Aviattic’ linen effect Lozenge (ATT32113).
All other surfaces were covered with ‘Aviattic’ linen weave effect (ATT32236) apart from the wing floats.
The instrument panel was scratched using plastic card, decal from 'Airscale’ Generic WW1 instruments (AS32 WW1) and bezels from ‘Airscale’ Instrument Bezels (PE32 BEZ).
I decided to cut out and use the kit supplied markings, despite them being very fragile and not 'cookie' cut.
Light weathering was done using 'Flory Models' Dark Dirt and Grey fine clay washes.
Everything was sealed with 'Alclad' Light Sheen (ALC-311) clear coat lacquer.
Other weathering was then applied using 'AK Interactive' Kerosene (AK2039) and 'Tamiya' Weathering Master Set D (Oil stain).

Now it's onto pre-rigging before assembly can start,

Mike

Ha, I was wondering why so long between this post and the last one Mike. You are usually posting progress more rapidly. I guess this one is a little more tedious than most judging by all the scratch building.

It's looking quite nice!

Hi Rob,
Yeah but things should move a bit quicker now,

Mike

Hi all,
All of the pre-rigging has been added prior to assembly of the model.
The line used is 'Stroft' 0.08 mm diameter mono-filament with blackened 0.4 mm diameter Brass tube from 'Albion Alloy's'.
All of the lines have yet to be tensioned and turnbuckles to be painted, which can only be done after assembly of the various parts.


Mike

Hi all,
Now the fun begins,

Mike

It’s looking really good Mike.

Kind of looks like the result of a very bad fishing trip. Great work Sir, I really like the paint and decal scheme.

S!Blade<><

Hi all,
The engine assembly and its support frame are now completed.
I've added representations of the pipes to and from the cockpit 'pulse meters', oil tank supply pipe, HT supply lead and carburettor control cable and lever.
I've also added the fuel supply pipe from the upper wing fuel tank to the carburettor, but this can't be connected until the upper wing is fitted.

I just wonder how companies like this expect modelers to be able to create the engine support frame from two pieces of wire and a rough drawing of the area, which is actually on the only 'instruction' sheet supplied.
Hey-Ho - moving on - Next up is the fitting of the upper wing,

Mike .

Someone in production said, “that’s all Sandbagger will need.”

Hi all,
The upper wing is now fitted.
The ailerons as well as the tail unit have yet to be fitted.
Now onto the rigging !!

Mike

Looks beautiful!!

Hi all,
The rigging for the wings and ailerons is done.
'GasPatch' 1:48th metal turnbuckles with 0.08 mm diameter mono-filament and blackened 4 mm diameter tube.

Now onto the tail unit,

Mike

I think it misleading advertising to describe this as a "kit build"
Scratch this one up as artisanal Kraftwerk !!!

Cheers,
shredward

Thanks Ted


Hi all,
The tail unit with elevators and rudder is done.
Bracing and rudder control cables are 0.08 mm diameter mono-filament with blackened 4 mm diameter tube.

Apart from the propeller, that's the aircraft completed.

Now it's onto creating a beaching trolley and the figures,

Mike

Mike, don't forget the fishing rod survival tool in the cockpit!!

Hi all,
As the aircraft had a beaching trolley and of course the kit does not supply one, I scratch built it.
Made from 0.8 mm thick plastic card, Axle is 1.8 mm diameter tube with 0.5 mm rod support brackets.
Wheels are from the ‘Kellerkind’ Tail Skid Trolley (54/077).
Padding bead is 0.5 mm diameter styrene rod from 'PlusModel'.
The three leaf suspension on both sides of the axle are made from three 0.2 mm thick plastic card strips.

Now onto the tail trestle,

Mike

Seems like you're taking more effort into building it than them designing it!
Keep it up Mike, I love seeing your work

Hi all,
And the tail trestle, made from thin balsa wood,

Mike

Hi all,
I'm just waiting for the display case and propeller to complete this build.
As soon as it is done I'll post some photographs.

Thanks to everyone who followed and commented on this build - much appreciated,

Mike

Much appreciated to watch the builds take place!

Hi all,
I forgot the figures.
I'm not much of a figure painter, but I add them to my models primarily for scale effect.

Mike

‘Wings Cockpit Figures’ - (Seated pilot LSK 07A) - butchered somewhat to fit into the cockpit.



‘Elan 13’ Miniatures German Naval pilot WW1 (EL19).



‘Elan 13’ RFC Mechanic WW1 (EL41) - removed the RFC forage cap making him bald.

Hi all,
I thought you might like to see my 1:32 scale build - The German ‘Hansa-Brandenburg W.20’.
This model is from ‘Omega Models’ and is resin.
This aircraft was a single seat float, designed to be carried in a water tight container on a type of submarine.
The intention was to surface and remove the aircraft from its container, assemble it then launch it for reconnaissance missions.
After landing near the submarine, it was be taken onboard, disassembled and stowed back in its container.
The special submarines were never built before hostilities ceased and the three prototypes were eventually put into storage.

The basic list of changes/additions to the model are:

Engine:
The resin engine replaced with the equivalent engine from ‘Wingnut Wings and detailed with Nickel-Silver valve push rods and copper wire ignition leads.

Propeller:
The resin propeller was replaced with a special made wood laminate from ‘ProperPlane’.

Modified or corrected:
All wing, float and tailplane resin struts were replaced with hand made Brass Tube struts with internal Brass rod.
The entire engine support frame was hand made using Brass tube and rod.
Rigging is 0.08 mm or 0.12 mm diameter mono-filament with ‘GasPatch’ 1:48th scale turnbuckles and 0.5 mm or 0.4 mm diameter blackened Brass tube.
Animation of the ailerons, rudder and elevators achieved by cutting out with Brass rod supports.

Aftermarket additions:
‘Aviattic’ Clear linen effect (ATT32236).
‘Aviattic’ German Naval Hex (faded) (ATT32113).
‘GasPatch’ Elite Accessories 1:48th scale metal Turnbuckles.
‘Wings Cockpit Figures’ 1:32 scale Seated pilot (LSK 07A).
‘Elan Miniatures’ 1:32 scale German Naval pilot (EL19).
‘Elan Miniatures’ 1:32 scale RFC Mechanic (modified) (EL41).
Coastal Kits’ 1:32 scale Abandoned Airfield Display Base (modified for 3D effect).

As usual I've created a downloadable build log in Adobe PDF format, for those who might want to refer to it for reference or build details. It contains full step by step descriptions of the model build, its modifications/changes and is also supported with illustrations and photographs. If viewed in Adobe Reader, each build log has book marked chapters/headings for easier navigation through the log.
My model website has the gallery page, so to view any model, go to the gallery and select it. If it has a PDF build log, it will be available to download using the 'PDF' icon on that models photo's page. For any photograph, just click the photo to enlarge or reduce the viewing size.

Mikes WW1 Aircraft Models

Mike

Simply gorgeous!

Absolutely outstanding Mike.