{"id":1487,"date":"2025-05-18T22:04:17","date_gmt":"2025-05-18T22:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aceartanddesign.com\/?p=1487"},"modified":"2025-05-18T22:04:17","modified_gmt":"2025-05-18T22:04:17","slug":"birdwatching-squirrels-and-building-a-chipmunk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aceartanddesign.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/18\/birdwatching-squirrels-and-building-a-chipmunk\/","title":{"rendered":"Birdwatching, Squirrels, and Building a Chipmunk"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A household move finally complete, it’s time to get back to the workbench in earnest while a few of the “locals” look on.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The old workbench has a new home. After weeks of settling in I\u2019m ready to reach into the \u201cstash\u201d and start a new project. The local wildlife has been keeping an eye on my daily ritual, a few birds, the occasional squirrel and a Chipmunk \u2026 a Chipmunk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The De Havilland Chipmunk was the company\u2019s answer to its legendary Tiger Moth. The technological advancements in aviation during the Second World War had ushered in the jet age, high performance aircraft of all sorts needed specialized training. The days of training new \u201cflyers\u201d in open cockpit biplanes, scarf in the breeze, wind in the wires \u2026 were over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first De Havilland \u201cChipmunk\u201d flew in May, 1946. It was a sporty looking low-wing monoplane with an enclosed cockpit and fixed landing gear. Nimble and easy to fly, it quickly became the standard introduction to the world of flying in the Royal Air Force for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Kit<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Airfix have been doing a bang up job the past few years releasing well engineered kits of aircraft that modelers have been clamoring for. A bonus has been that from time to time they\u2019ve brought out an unexpected gem; their De Havilland Chipmunk<\/a> is just such a kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting with the cockpit, follow the instructions, painting the interior black. I used Tamyia\u2019s \u201cNATO Black\u201d and dry brushed a bit of aluminum to give the details some definition. I had every intention of building my \u201cChippy\u201d straight out of the box, there\u2019s definitely enough detail in the kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
For such a small airplane, even in 1\/48 scale, there\u2019s room for plenty of detail. And yes, I have an X-Acto knife in the shape of a Spitfire.
<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The kit\u2019s decal sheet includes dials and switches for the control panels but Eduard\u2019s detail set (3DL 48048) includes a nice set of seat belts and control panel decals with the popular \u201c3D\u201d look. Just enough to satisfy the need for that little extra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The completed cockpit fits snugly between the fuselage halves. Fit the engine firewall and make the decision to display the airplane with the engine covers open to show off the 145hp Gipsy Major 10 engine. The six-piece affair is attached to the firewall between two struts painted RAF interior green. Paint the engine dark gray with steel details and a dark wash to make the details pop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Full Color Project <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

With the fuselage complete, carefully mask the exposed engine and cockpit, it\u2019s time for some paint. I decided on a brightly colored primary trainer from Royal Air Force No. 2 Flying Training School circa 1973. Bright red and white, black anti-glare panel and light gray areas on the wings will make the finished airplane hard to miss on the display shelf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paint the fuselage white first, letting each color dry throughly before masking for the next. Patience is your most important tool at this point. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
While carefully working through the painting process, In this case I\u2019ll wait until the model is further along before attaching the engine.
<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Attach the bottom of the main wing to the fuselage before adding the top pieces. The fit is tight so dry fitting is a must. With wings and tail in place, continue to mask off the areas and follow the color diagram in the instructions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next, on to the landing gear. Airfix has included some interesting choices. For those looking to hang your chipmunk from a bedroom ceiling (flashback to my childhood), choose the struts with the longer oleo (parts C33,38). I\u2019ll display mine on a shelf so I\u2019ll choose the struts with the shorter, compressed oleo (parts 32,37). Attach the landing gear and tail wheel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The propeller has a black and white face but instead of tiny bits of masking tape, someone at Airfix had the idea to add a decal to the rest of the sheet of markings. Thank you Airfix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attention to Detail<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The kit has a couple more engineering items to note. Parts B19, the two actuators for the flaps and two handles (parts B10) that are part of the canopy assembly, come in threes even though only two are needed. I find this nod to the legendary \u201ccarpet monster\u201d a bit of genius.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Airfix has supplied a jig to help with the assembly of the rear canopy.
<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Another nice bit of engineering is the jig that you\u2019ll need to help with assembling the rear canopy, part C27 helps tremendously in aligning the three pieces. Mask the clear parts and paint the canopy black. After the parts have dried thoroughly, paint the pieces the same glossy white as the fuselage. The black base will be visible from the inside of the canopy and creates a bit of dimension. Those two tiny canopy handles (parts B10) should be painted yellow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final Approach<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

While waiting for things to dry it seemed a good time to start adding the decals. Airfix have been working closely with Cartograph and the results have been excellent. The markings lay down into panel lines and over rivets well. A little bit of decal setting solution and even the smallest markings look great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ready for the flight line and another eager student, the De Havilland Chipmunk will stand out among the other camouflage schemes on the display shelf.
<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Carefully attach the canopy pieces with white glue or a cement made for clear plastic parts. Finally, attach the two engine covers in their open position and this \u201cChippy\u201d looks ready for another day of classroom instruction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A household move finally complete, it’s time to get back to the workbench in earnest while a few of the “locals” look on. The old workbench has a new home. After weeks of settling in I\u2019m ready to reach into the \u201cstash\u201d and start a new project. The local wildlife has been keeping an eye … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Birdwatching, Squirrels, and Building a Chipmunk”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aceartanddesign.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aceartanddesign.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aceartanddesign.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aceartanddesign.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aceartanddesign.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1487"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/aceartanddesign.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1498,"href":"https:\/\/aceartanddesign.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1487\/revisions\/1498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aceartanddesign.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aceartanddesign.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aceartanddesign.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}