IvotB Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 Through this forum I was informed about a 1:72 kit in etched brass from Historic Wings. The manufacturer showed the main components. Just before I had also bought their kit of the Wright Flyer. I started construction a few weeks ago, but I felt I didn't have enough information about the original. There are two Fokker Spin's still at the Aviodrome in the Netherlands and this week was a special occasion because in 2011 Anthony Fokker flew his Spin around the St. Bavo in Haarlem, the Netherlands. This event is much referred to as it is a marker in the beginning of aviation history in the Netherlands. One of the two Spin's is now on display inside the St. Bavo church with a small exhibition for the 100th anniversary of the flight of the Fokker Spin. What I was mainly interested in is how the wings were covered with linen, because I want to cover the wings with litespan, but I was interested in how much of the etched wing could still be seen. And that is a lot more than I expected. The ribs of the wings are not made of wood, but of metal tube and those ribs are responsible for the shape of the upper wing. Also there is a lot more rigging than you might expect. I have made quite some pictures and they may be of use to other modellers. It might be considered as a kind of walkaround the Fokker Spin. There are some differences to the model of Historic Wings. I have the impression that there may have been a lot of differences between the produced Fokkers. This Spin on display is a remake of 1938, so it is not an original. This is the status of my model today: Also here only the main sides of the fuselage are made of wood. The rest is metal tube (painted in dark grey). Here we see a major difference with the Spin on display. The elevator is here controlled by the tailplane spar as mentioned in the model manual, where the elevator of the Spin is controlled by eight steel wires running through the holes in the elevator ribs in the model. To give you some ideas of the Spin, its wing construction, the elevator control the riggging and the undercarriage there are some pictures below: I hope you enjoy these pictures and perhaps they are useful in building the Historic Wings kit, Regards, Ivo Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 Welcome to the forum, Sir! Thank you for the pictures of the Spinne; it is a fascinating aeroplane. I hope to see more of the model of it you are working on. The 'Historic Wings' people are really onto something, in my view; they may yet save me a scratch-build or two, though I am not too comfortable myself with photo-etch as a building material, or with skinning it as a final step. There is no doubt, though, it has the potential for superb realism in modeling pioneer and other early machines. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tnuag Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Welcome to the forum, Sir! Thank you for the pictures of the Spinne; it is a fascinating aeroplane. I hope to see more of the model of it you are working on. The 'Historic Wings' people are really onto something, in my view; they may yet save me a scratch-build or two, though I am not too comfortable myself with photo-etch as a building material, or with skinning it as a final step. There is no doubt, though, it has the potential for superb realism in modeling pioneer and other early machines. Which scratch builds did you have in mind? We are always looking for candidates for new kits - the latest in work is the RR Flying Bedstead and I hope to have the test parts next week (I haven't used trig so much in yhears!). Neil Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Which scratch builds did you have in mind? We are always looking for candidates for new kits - the latest in work is the RR Flying Bedstead and I hope to have the test parts next week (I haven't used trig so much in yhears!). Neil A 'Spinne' actually, Sir, is one I have considered. Another is B.E. 1, the first of the R.A.F. B.E. breed, or B.E. 2, the second: I have got a little more information on that one; material on the very first one seem a bit thin on the ground. An early Farman, 1911 or 1912,of the sort that France operated in Morocco very early,has also intrigued me for a while. At this point, though, I must admit, I am a bit more fixed on inter-war subjects. I am planning to take another run soon at the N.E.I. Hawk, which you may recall: I think I can do a better job of it on a second pass, and may incorporate some kit parts from other Curtiss subjects this time. One other that interests me from the early period, though I doubt its fuselage would work with your etch method,is the D.F.W. Mars biplane; a very odd looking duck.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tnuag Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 A 'Spinne' actually, Sir, is one I have considered. Another is B.E. 1, the first of the R.A.F. B.E. breed, or B.E. 2, the second: I have got a little more information on that one; material on the very first one seem a bit thin on the ground. An early Farman, 1911 or 1912,of the sort that France operated in Morocco very early,has also intrigued me for a while. At this point, though, I must admit, I am a bit more fixed on inter-war subjects. I am planning to take another run soon at the N.E.I. Hawk, which you may recall: I think I can do a better job of it on a second pass, and may incorporate some kit parts from other Curtiss subjects this time. One other that interests me from the early period, though I doubt its fuselage would work with your etch method,is the D.F.W. Mars biplane; a very odd looking duck.... There are some nice drawings of the BE1 in one of the Cross & Cocade publications (vol 36, No.4). The DFW Mars would probably not suit etched construction - one reason we went that routw was that our models have the structure of the original (scale factors excepted), rather than just the external shape. We considered resin, but you just could not capture the delicacy of the structure seen through the fabric. I acknowledge the Renwal aeroskin series but then Renwal were always innovative - I spent last Saturday working on their nuclear submarine interior as a change from aircraft! Oh yes - we receiver the master for the nacelle for the Maurice Farman Longhorn last Wednesday - that will be quite a large model. Neil Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TheFlyingDutchman Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 (edited) I live very close to the field where Anthony Fokker took off with the Spin (Spider) for his flight above Haarlem and around the church on Queensday 1911. It is not an open field anymore, it became a small square surrounded by houses. For those who are interested: go to Google Maps, fill in 'Santpoorterplein' and drop the orange Streetview guy next to the rectangular grass field for a look. The grey table in the middle is a monument dedicated to this very special flight that took off at exactly that spot. Unfortunately I did not have time to take a look at the Spin that was exposed in the church but I would like to build a model of it. Too bad this small PE kit is quite expensive. On the second page of this forum there are some interesting photos of the Spin performing some flights from the field I've mentioned. :) http://modelbrouwers.nl/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=31786&start=0 Edited September 6, 2011 by TheFlyingDutchman Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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