Flightpath RAF Cycles Project

Adventure in PE bits

One of the more challenging projects I’ve done.

The DJ Parkins Flightpath RA/USAAF Cycles kit in 1/72 is one of the more challenging models I have built. So challenging that it wasn’t until the third attempt that I got an acceptable result. One kit is good for four cycles (3 men’s bikes and 1 women’s bike). It consists of nickel-silver photoetch and white metal tires.

As with other Flightpath kits, the instructions are detailed and precise.

Now, why this kit?

For various aircraft dioramas, throwing in a bicycle is a nice touch. Plus, I like to ride bikes. Seemed simple enough. I had successfully built a Brengun 1/72 cycle but that was an easier kit as the fenders are not separate pieces and there are no white metal tires. There’s something about the Flightpath line of kits that is almost a “dare” to my modelling skills (or lack thereof). The vendor even states on the home page:

PLEASE NOTE – Our kits are NOT for beginners – many have large numbers of small detailed parts and assume a reasonably comprehensive background of modelling experience.

Game on!

Experienced modelers with steady hands can skip this paragraph

As I said, each kit comes with parts for four cycles. You should expect to either mess up the photo etch bending, inadvertently squash carefully formed parts, lose the tiny spacers into the void, or as I often did, assemble the parts incorrectly like putting the chain and chain ring on the wrong side of the bike.

As such, your yield is likely to be 1-2 bikes per kit. So, if your diorama calls for 4 bicycles, buy two kits. It brought me peace of mind.

The key tools

In theory, this should be possible to do entirely with CA glue. I went through two failed attempts (and thoroughly botched cycles) before I decided a soldering iron was going to be needed. My soldering station of choice is the Weller WD1000 with a set of small tips. The second crucial tool after messing up the second bicycle was an improved Optivisor with 2.75x magnification. The prior lens was only 2.0x. Although the focal range is short, the extra magnification made all the difference in threading the microscopic spacers onto very thin diameter wire.

Assembly sequence

The instructions would have you prepare the front fender/fork and rear fender chain/seat stay by rolling as shown here:

Rolling on a mouse pad — remember those?

For the front fender/fork, this isn’t too hard but for the rear fender/seat-chain stay piece you have to fold the stays over each other, secure and ensure each side is lined up by passing a small wire through the tiny hole in each stay. Here’s what you start with:

Roll into a semi circle, then fold the stays so they line up with each other, then affix the seat and chain stay to each other while keeping the hole clear to pass through an axle. Note in the upper left some of the myriad spacers you have to thread onto axles or bottom bracket.

And here’s what I ended up with after a very long time and struggle:

You can see I lost the curve in the fender. Time for Plan B

The instructions then would have you attach the fender to the frame and put aside while you work on the wheels. After trying this, I realized this wasn’t going to work because the fender attaches to the frame in a knife point and the joint, whether CA or epoxy was never going to hold while attempting to secure the wheels to the front fork or rear stays. The parts are barely big enough to put between your fingers and the 3D complexity of lining up the wheel center hole with two fork holes (or two stay holes) all the while hoping you didn’t push too hard and dislodge the delicate fender-to-frame joint. You are basically trying to insert a .008″ wire through four holes per wheel. It was at this point when I ordered another two kits as I had thoroughly ruined my single kit (3 men’s bicycle’s worth) with my clumsiness and unsteady hands.

Plan B

Plan B was to assemble the wheels and then, lay the wheel flat on a piece of wood with a drilled .008″ hole. Then I pushed in the axle wire. This way, I could have the wheel secured by tape and fold the fork (or stays) over the axle. I secured the fork (stays) onto the wheel using the soldering iron.

The clamp is holding onto a round spacer that threads onto the axle. The spacer separates the spokes from the fork (or stays). Using tweezers was hit or miss as the spacer would fly out into parts unknown on the workbench. 2.75X magnification helped a ton.

If you look closely, you can see one of the rear stays is already folded onto the axle and the second stay (pointing up) is about to be folded over the protruding axle stub.

Keeping in mind the knife-edge attachment point of the fenders to the frame, I realized that for the rear wheel, the strongest joint was going to be the chain/sprocket/chain wheel piece. This had to be placed at one end on the bottom bracket (atop four spacers!) and the other end over the right rear axle stub.

Looks messy because I had tried to paint the sub-assemblies first

With the rear wheel secured to the frame by the chain, I could solder the fender to the rear seat post. Unfortunately, while the seat stay soldered successfully, I couldn’t completely close the gap between chain stay and frame (I was off by 1 mm). This happened because I was afraid that if I had soldered the fender to the frame first, the sprocket might not align onto the rear axle (remember, you are aligning a .008″ hole onto the axle and if you didn’t have the fender rolled perfectly, there was no way the sprocket would fit. Fortunately, that attachment point is hidden behind the chain guard when viewed from the right side of the bicycle.

Make it look natural

For the diorama, I was going to have the bike posed against a fence. A normal pose would have the front wheel angled. To make this happen, I needed to chisel out a rut for the rear wheel and another rut at an angle for the front wheel. Then, some sort of jig to keep the frame vertical and the front wheel vertical while I soldered the fender to the frame (another knife edge)

A piece of .250″ square tubing with a slot cut out served as the jig. You’ll note one of the pedals is on at this point. I remembered that the pedal would naturally be down (gravity). The other pedal better be at 180 degrees or this bike is going to be really hard to ride.

Next up were the saddle and handlebars. I used CA for this as I I couldn’t figure out a safe jig to solder — plus, these parts are not keeping the bike together so strength wasn’t as important.

Just before the left pedal. A good reminder of what you start with.

I added the left pedal. Painting was various shades of black except for chrome brake handles and a red rear reflector. Somewhere along the way, I decided to submit this to the Bottletop Challenge on Missing Lynx’s Braille Scale forum. Maximum diorama base is 1.5″ diameter. So, I cut a slice from some left-over closet rod using my miter box.

Got to clamp it well as it is round and will roll.

Proof that the base met the challenge criteria. You can see a hint of the rear red reflector.

Landscaping

The diorama was going to show the edge of gravel road, a small drainage ditch, and a fence where the bicycle leaned. Some grass and a figure gazing into the English countryside, perhaps after taking a rest pedaling up those British hills.

Final tips

Use brass wire rather than music wire for the axles and bottom bracket. This is because you’ll need to trim the wire after securing the wheels and pedals. Music wire is tough to cut, even with surgical pliers as you can’t get enough leverage due to confined spaces.

Be younger. The older I get as a modeler, the less steady my hands. When working at this scale in this size, you have to think hard about third and fourth hand jigs to avoid too many moving pieces that you are trying to secure.

Soldering is your friend. The joints are more secure and at least for me, were less messy than trying to do pinpoint CA blobs with unsteady aim.

Keep your workbench clean. Mine got really messy.

Geez Louise!

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