| 1/72 kit: Hansa-Brandenburg W 29 Czech Master Resin (Model No.CMR-6) Model built & reviewed by: Andy White |
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| Background History | |
| Design by Ernst Heinkel at the Brandenburg factory, the W 29 was a two-seat sea monoplane fighter, developed from the successful Brandenburg W 12 sea biplane and entered operational service in April 1918. The reduced drag and frontal area of the monoplane, gave all round improved performance that maintained air superiority over the North Sea against Allied types during the final months of World War One. | |
| Based on the 150 h.p. Benz Bz.III powered version of the W 12 - and to save on development time - the fuselage, engine installation, nose radiator, flotation gear and chassis configuration were almost identical on the W.29. The span and chord of the monoplane wing were increased to the point where the total wing area was similar to that of the W 12. Also the depth and aerofoil section varied across the full width of the wing, with a thin section at the wing root and increasing to the position of the bracing struts of the float chasis where the section had almost doubled, before reducing in thickness towards the wingtip. The reasoning behind this design being: that the thin aerofoil section is conducive to High-Speed flight and the thicker aerofoil section provides High-Lift characteristics. |
| A total of seventy-eight W 29s were built. Of these, forty were fitted with radio-equipment and to reduce weight only one fixed forward-firing Spandau MG08 machine gun fitted on the starboard side. The remaining thirty-eight were fitted with an additional Spandau MG08 on the port side but no radio equipment. On all types, the observer was armed with one manually operated Parabellum MG14 machine gun with a full 360-degree arc of fire. The table below shows the configuration and Marine numbers applied to these airframes: |
| Hansa und Brandenburgische Flugzeug-Werke G.m.b.H. - W 29 | |
| 2x Forward fixed MG08 (No Radio) | 1x Forward fixed MG08 + Radio Equipment |
| 2203—2206 2287—2300 2564—2583 | 2501—2506 2507—2536 *2584—2587 |
| *Note: Last 4 aircraft were fitted with the 185 h.p. Benz Bz.IIIa twin-cam, crossflow engine | |
| 'CMR Models' Hansa-Brandenburg W 29 Kit | |||
This kit in fact dates back some twenty-three years and was one of the earliest Czech Master Resin models manufactured (Number 6) - The masters for this model were the ones subsequently used by MPM Ltd. to produce their own injection-moulded version. However due to the age of this model, it as yet is not available with a supplied decal sheet - hopefully in due course this will be amended in the future as CMR Models progressively updated their older range of models. |
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| Leaving this fact aside for a moment, overall the model is reasonably accurate to the 3-view scale drawings supplied. | |||
| The Build | |
| From this point all initial work centred on cleaning off moulding flash and dry fitting parts, before attempting any assembly. All parts fitted together reasonably well, with only slight distortion to the fuselage halves and some of the very thin float-chassis bracing struts - this was easily remedied by softening in boiling water before straightening. Pinholes were very few and easily dealt with. Once satisfied, I washed everything in a bath of liquid detergent, to remove any trace of mould-release agent that would affect the paint adherence to the surface. |
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| The Scheme: My next decision was what aircraft to make. For my model I followed the specifications laid down in the "Allgemeine Baubestimmungen fur Seeflugzeuge der Kaiserlichen Marine" (ABB-General Construction Requirements for the Imperial Navy). I decided to model a late-1918 scheme, complete with the narrow, post-July 1918, Balken Kreuz design. There are known to be two forms of 'Naval Pattern Lozenge' applied to the Brandenburg W 29: The 'Brown' scheme is known to have been applied to at least one W 29 and reports of both 'Brown' and 'Blue' fabrics applied to individual aircraft - in this case: 'Blue' fabric on the upper fuselage, wings and horizontal stabliser and 'Brown' fabric applied to the upper surface of the floats. |
| Though no decals are supplied, this was not a problem. In fact, all the decals applied to this model were made on my own computer, using 'Inkjet' water-slide decal paper from: Crafty Computer Paper. Having reproduced the necessary artwork to scale, this was printed on my ordinary Epson Stylus printer and after 30 minutes drying time, coated with four very light coats of clear acrylic varnish spray to protect the ink (Inkjet ink is water-soluble); left overnight and then each individual decal carefully cut out. The large sheet below used for the lozenge patterns and white-edged Balken Kreuz was the white background decal sheet and the smaller lower sheet is the clear background version, used for the Marine numbers and solid black Balken Kreuz: |
| The Wings: These had a 3-degree 20-minute dihedral in each panel and as previously mentioned in the 'Background History' above, the thickness of the wing aerofoil increased from the root to a maximum at the float-chassis bracing struts and then reduced again toward the wingtips. Note that throughout their span, the leading and trailing edges remained straight. To achieve this I took advantage of the bending properties of the PU resin. Normally this is used to straighten moulded parts, but in this case I used it to shape each wing: — Firstly I softened each wing separately in boiling water, then bent the centre of each wing at the bracing strut location, to reproduce the outer thinning of the aerofoil section to the wingtip. — Then by subsequently softening alternately the leading and trailing edges, these were straightened again, so leaving the characteristic 'Hump' appearance in each wing: |
| The Engine: This is reasonably well detailed and the correct 150 h.p. Benz Bz.III type - unlike some other manufacturers who have used the wrong engine completely (the 160 h.p. Mercedes D.III). You will notice in the photos of the finished W 29 model, the uneven positioning of the exhaust pipes ............... this is correct for the Benz Bz.III engine. The reason for this is because, the engine was symmetrical about cylinders 3 & 4, so that on the port side of the engine, the cylinders and ports should read from front to rear: No.1 — Exhaust, Inlet No.2 — Exhaust, Inlet No.3 — Inlet, Exhaust No.4 — Exhaust, Inlet No.5 — Inlet, Exhaust No.6 — Inlet, Exhaust |
| The Cockpit: This has the basic interior detail, but the fuselage inside surfaces are plain. Personally I was not that bothered about this as unless you aim to scrutinise the interior in close-up, this omission is unseen. However I did add bulkheads to the front and rear of the observer's rear cockpit. One small detail which is unfortunate in the observer's cockpit, is the fact that to mould the recessed 'kick-steps' on the outside of both fuselage sides small rectangular pads protrude on the interior surface. The Floats and Bracing Struts: These are definitely the most fiddly job on the model and would benefit from building a simple setting jig. I didn't have the material I wanted at the time, but will jig up before attempting a similar float plane like the Brandenburg W 12. |
| Detailing | |
| The Horizontal Stabiliser: The model included both early and late version Tailplane and Elevator designs, however when I compared the shape and size of the Elevators for the 'Late' version to the scale drawings included in 1 "German Aircraft of the First World War" (Thetford & Gray) they appeared slightly small in overall surface area. This was easily remedied by modifiying the 'Early' version Horizontal Stabiliser supplied, into a more accurate 'Late' version needed for my chosen airframe. The Engine: I could have used the resin exhausts and coolant feed tube to the radiator from the model but instead, chose to replace them with brass rod in all cases. Note: I also added the two support bracing rods to either side of the radiator. The Control Horns: The moulded ones on the rudder and ailerons were too small, so I replaced all of them with ones fashioned from brass rod. The Rigging: This is relatively non-existant, as apart from the control cables for the rudder and ailerons, the only bracing wires are a pair of diagonal wires located between the two floats. All of these were made from 0.005-inch nylon thread. The Handles and Footrest: The two manual handling grips below the rear fuselage and footrest below the engine on the starboard side, were all made from thin plastic rod, but could just as easily have been made from fine brass rod. The Parabellum MG14 Machine Gun: This had a length of brass rod added to represent the telescopic sight, plus bracing rod from ammunition drum to muzzle made from the nylon thread used for rigging the model. The Windscreen and Observer's Floor Window: These were made from acetate sheet and fixed in place with PVA glue. The windscreen was curved to shape using hot water. |
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| Colour Scheme | |
| This is in fact based on the black and white photograph of the Hansa W 29 in 2 "German and Austrian Aviation of World War One" (Cowin). - photo below: | |
| — The narrow 'Balken Kreuz' signify that: this is late Summer 1918. — The twin white diagonal bands on the rear fuselage of this Hansa-Brandenburg W.29 identify it as belonging to the Starboard Watch of Norderney naval flying station. However ..... |
On close examination of the photograph, looking at the engine, you will notice an exhaust muffler instead of six individual exhaust pipes. This means that the aircraft shown here has to be one of the final four aircraft to be built (2584-2587), which were fitted with the up-rated Benz Bz.IIIa of 185 h.p. - this was a twin cam, cross-flow engine. Because of this, I chose to model '2535' instead, fitted with the usual 150 h.p. Benz Bz.III included in the CMR model. |
| Painting and Finishing | |
| Obviously the interior and engine were completely painted prior to assembly. The engine block and radiator assembly I kept as a separate unit to avoid subsequent damage during work on the remaining airframe - especially to the individual exhaust pipes! Being as the majority of upper surfaces were to be covered completely by my own hand-made Naval Lozenge pattern decals, I decided that the main airframe could be assembled prior to painting. Note: Eagle Strike Productions recommend that a 'neutral' colour like 'Dark Sea Grey' is used as a base-coat, when applying their own 4 and 5-colour lozenge decal sheeting, to avoid adversely affecting the shade of the printed ink colours. |
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| The Colours: These were based on the article 'FABRIC - camouflage and markings', written by Ray Rimell in 3 "Brandenburg W 12", Windsock Datafile 61 (Grosz). I used a mixture of enamels and acrylics, as they were the colours I had to hand: — Fuselage Side & Upper-Surfaces: Revell Medium Grey [Matt 76] — Fuselage Under-Surface: Misterkit German Naval Light Grey [GC-12] — Fabric-Covered Under-Surfaces: Misterkit Acrylic German Clear Doped Linen [GC-10] — Float Chassis and Struts: Xtracolor Exhaust [X504]. Note: This was because many of the Brandenburg W 12 and 29's were painted with a dark bituminous mixture to protect them from the salt water — Rudder: Matt White — Propeller: Two-tone enamel Hardwood ply-effect with Xtracolor Natural Steel [X502] tips — Engine Cylinders, Pushrods, etc: A mixture of Xtracolor Night Black [X12] & Burnt Iron [X508] — Engine Block: Revell Medium Grey [Matt 57], Exhaust Pipes a Rusty-Brown mix — Radiator Feed Pipe: Revell Bronze [95] — Decal PRE-COAT: Xtracolor Acrylic Gloss Varnish [XDGG] — TOPCOAT: Xtracolor Matt Varnish [XDFF] — TOPCOAT Propeller: Xtracolor Semi-Gloss Satin Varnish [XDSS] |
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Interior: Due to the fact that the Fuselage, etc., were almost identical to the Brandenburg W 12 (from which the W 29 was derived), I based my front cockpit interior on this photo from 3 "Brandenburg W 12", Windsock Datafile 61 (Grosz), which apparently shows the Cockpit layout for W 12 C3MG of the 2023-2052 series, powered by the 150hp Benz Bz.III engine: — Front Cockpit: Varnished Wood with Cockpit Surround in Revell Leather [Matt 84]. Steering Wheel: Gloss Black Grip with Natural Steel Limbs - Column: Medium Grey. Instruments: White-Faced with Black surrounds — Rear Cockpit: Misterkit German Naval Light Grey [GC-12] |
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Many model makers swear by Future (Klear) floor polish as a topcoat to protect decals, but to me it leaves a very unnatural 'High-Gloss' finish - especially when they apply it over the fabric-covered surfaces! In fact, according to Ray Rimell's article: "... specifications relating to German Naval aeroplane colours were laid down in the Allgemeine Baubestimmungen fur Seeflugzeuge der Kaiserlichen Marine (ABB-General Construction Requirements for the Imperial Navy) ....", which states that "... The total aircraft is to be painted in a dull (matt) colour ...." |
| The Decals: To reduce the risk of decal film showing, I painted respective background surfaces first with Xtracolor Acrylic Gloss Varnish [XDGG], this being very quick drying and giving ultra thin coats. As mentioned above, all the decals applied to this model were made on my own computer, using 'Inkjet' water-slide decal paper from: Crafty Computer Paper. I used the 'Micro Set' decal solutions and found that these hand-made decals followed the surface contures exceptionally well - even around tight edges without damage. One thing I do recommend is that when using 'White' area decals, modellers do what I did and reproduce extra blank 'White' background decals to ensure perfect opacity. As you will see, the airframe upper surfaces have the 'Blue' pattern, three-colour hexagonal Naval lozenge printed fabric — Light Violet Grey Blue/Light Blue/Mid Blue — applied 'Spanwise' to the Ailerons & Elevators; 'Chordwise' to the Tailplane, Wings and Rear Fuselage. The upper surface of both floats have the 'Brown' pattern, three-colour hexagonal Naval lozenge printed fabric — Deep Blue/Purple/Brown — applied lengthwise. |
| Conclusion | |
| Being a monoplane this was a relatively simple model to build - for a World War One aircraft - apart from the Float Chassis and Support Struts as previously mentioned. Probably the longest job was accurately reproducing the necessary decals I required to complete the chosen colour scheme. The basic Hansa-Brandenburg W 29 moulding may be some twenty-three years old but, with a little bit of extra detailing I am more than happy with the final result, especially as this was only my second completed resin model. Perhaps sometime in the future this model will be updated to include colour scheme information and decals - as CMR Models have already started doing with many of their other older aircraft models. |
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| References | |
| 1 "German Aircraft of the First World War" Authors: Owen Thetford & Peter Gray Publisher: Brassey's. Putnam Aeronautical (Dec.1978) ISBN: 0851778097 2 "German and Austrian Aviation of World War 1: A Pictorial Chronicle of the Aircraft That Forged German Airpower" Author: Hugh W. Cowin Publisher: Osprey (Jun.2000) ISBN: 1841760692 3 "Brandenburg W 12" [Windsock Datafile 61] Author: P M Grosz Publisher: Albatros Productions Ltd. (Jan.1997) ISBN: 0948414936 |
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