Construction:
This 1/50th scale model represents an aircraft, No152.32, from flik 61J flown in Austria during the Spring 1918. I wanted to attempt this model as I had not built any of Marek's models that were biplanes. Building the struts and landing gear is the most difficult part of building this type of model. The small sizes of the struts can cause a lot of problems particularly when attaching the top wing to the bottom wing.
Construction of the fuselage is quite different from the other models that I have built designed by Marek. Instead of the butt glue type method, this model uses the frame type technique. A center line frame is cut and notched and then horizontal frames are glued to the center. The fuselage is then skined, with the bottom, sides and a two piece top section. When glued together this makes a well fitting fuselage. Glue the seat into the cockpit and build and glue the engine to the front of the aircraft.
Cut the wing frames out and glue the wing skin over the frames. Glue the bottom wings to each side of the fuselage. At this point you now want to construct the struts and while you are at it you might as well do the landing gear struts. I glued the wing and fuselage struts as well as the landing gear legs to a thicker cardboard. All of the above have small tabs that glue to the wings of fuselage. When you glue to the heavier cardboard bend the struts outward so that they are not glued to the cardboard. If you glue the tabs to the cardboard than it will be to thick to glue to the wings or fuselage.
Now when you do the above only one side of the struts and legs will be colored. I used a black marker to color the other side which worked good as the struts are black. I started by gluing the struts to the lower wing with the tabs and let them dry. When dry I glued the top wing to the two struts and set aside to dry. After the wing struts set I glued the struts from the fuselage to the top wing. Cut the parts out to make the radiator and glue then to the top wing
Cut the circles out to make the wheels and glue them together to get the correct size. Glue the landing gear legs that you made in the previous section to the bottom of the fuselage. I then took a piece of thin plastic down and glued between the bottom of the landing gear legs. Glue the wheels to the landing gear legs. Cut the pieces out to make the propeller, I inserted a thin piece of flat match stick inside the parts to give it some depth before gluing.
Cut the parts for the horizontal and vertical tail out and glue then together. When finished glue the tail to the rear of the aircraft. I now took a piece of thin plastic dowel and glued it between the engine and the bottom of the wing directly below the radiator.
Summary
As with all of Marek's aircraft the engineering is just outstanding. As you build the model it is amazing that all the parts fit together so nicely. I was concerned about building the biplane but my concerns were for naught. Following the diagrams and reinforcing as indicated the struts fit will and were strong enough to support the wings. The method of construction, though quite different worked well. I would still not recommend this for a beginner, biplanes can be a little tricky and it would be better to start with a monoplane first.
This model is available from Models by Marek at http://www.teuton.org/~dbarnett
