| I have made no progress at all on the cowling because the studs have been back ordered for over a month, and I need them to assemble and fit the engine cowling. |
I found some really nice and weathered looking Italian leather sides at the Atlanta flea market, and I am using what is left after re-upholstering the kitchen chairs to cover the cushions. I will also use it for the padding around the cockpits.
To keep things simple, I just stitched top leather panels to one side of the cushions that came with the kit. |
| The back cushions can still slip over the plywood seat back, and the seat cushions snap to the plywood seat. |
| I finished putting the 3 coats of Polybrush on the wings. I am actually trying to do a sloppy job on purpose here , so the imperfections create a sense of age . That is exactly what I did with my sculpture to make it look old. Unlike most builders, new and slick and shiny is not what I am after. I will not use any silver anyway, so the wings are translucent and the structure can be seen when the plane is in front of the sun. I used UV blocker in the Polybrush, and the plane is not going to stay outside anyway. I used retarder/reducer to dilute the Polybrush 1:3, and still got brush marks, which is exactly what I intended. |
| I had to stay indoors for the next step, because the oil paint dries slowly. I actually used my artist oils to put an irregular transparent golden ochre glaze on the wings. The idea is to give the illusion of a very old yellowed and faded coating of dope over linen. I did not actually mean to get it quite that yellow, but things take a life of their own in Art ! |
I had to do one side at a time and let it dry 2 or 3 days . I will go back and mess them up some more with red oxyde and payne gray spots and blotches, and may be a few trompe l'oeil bullet holes.
|
| Then I will paint the markings on and mess those up too! The name of the plane is Spiritus Tomas, and St Thomas being the patron saint of masons and architects, one of his attributes is the square . Hence the plane will bear squares on the wings and sides, like the Halberschtadt . I am not sure yet wether they will be black or red. |
