Gotha G.V WW-I Bomber, 1/72 scale, Roden

[Whiterook]

I built this model some 10+ years ago as part of a WWI Aircraft Group Build and a history forum. I'd never built a bi-plane before, and of course I had to pick not only one of the more difficult to build, but come to find out later, a kit deeply flawed in production and requiring massive fixes and alterations; and put on top of that, the entire plane needing to be covered in lozenge (those odd shaped patterns) decals across the whole kit! And on top of all that, required intricate rigging of wires, aaaaaand, fiddly little bits like struts. What this kit did do for me however, was offer me a great challenge, which I readily accepted.













Here's a good look at the rigging...




The underside...




And a good view of the massive wingspan...




And the best for last -- one of my best results with woodgrain, on the props...

[Whiterook]

For those that don't understand the significant pain-in-the-ass that rigging entails, let me indulge you! The process I used was to drill holes in the wings with a pinvice...












Then I had to decal the wings, and punch through the predrilled holes by fidning them through the decals with an awl and pop the hole.

Then, I used fishing line, coated black with a Sharpie marker, in which I strung into the holes and individually anchored each end, and strung them in the patterns needed. Sounds pretty straight forward, doesn't it? Not really. I used plant name paddle sticks to help hold the wire and I anchored and glued them in place, held bu a model building aligatore clip prop...







You think anchoring fishing wire to the wholes was difficult work?



...yeah, a maze of wires! But even worse, this...




...and plotting out directions of wires...



...all to get this...




And that's why I never built another bi-plane!

[Joe Rix]

Now that my friend is downright remarkable. What a stunning Gotha. Right there is the definition of extreme patient modeling. It paid off in spades with the decals and rigging. I have a few WWI aircraft in my stash that I would love to build but, the thought of rigging always brings me up short. 

Thank You for sharing this amazing aircraft along with your skills and talent with us.

[mustang1989]

Good LORD man!! I've never built any of these crazy camo'd early birds before but that looks like a LOAD of fun right there. Man that's cool!!!

[Whiterook]

Thanks for the kind words, guys! It was a challenging build, as the kit was pretty old and the engine cowlings were so warped, it was my least favorite part of the build. Oddly enough, the most satisfying (beyond surviving the rigging) was the prop… I had a friend that proved himself on achieving a true wood look on his props (he built a lot of Wing Nut kits), and it inspired me to have at it to try my best on…I liked the result.