A Tale from the Tin Shed. A 28mm Fokker F vii.Plane from Cereal Packet Card.

[tin shed gamer]

Its time to put my money where my mouth is.In another topic that it's possible to build a Tri engined plane,from scratch for nothng.
The material I'll be using will be things typically found in the house,or most gamers have in stock.
1.Breakfast Cereal packet card.(as this card is less likely to have grease on it).
2.Cocktail sticks.
3.Glue,Super glue,PVA,UhU.(not all are required just the one you prefer to use.)
4.Sharp knife(new blades a must it stops dragging and ripping on the surface of the card)
5.Ruler,pen,pencil,and a small coin(size will explained later).
And thats it!
I'm not including paints in the list as most of us have paints in anyway.
I'm not going start with measurement's or how too.I'll just start with a picture of the first stage(just to prove I'm actually making it,there's not much too see just yet )

[tin shed gamer]

 ;)It would also help if I posted the line drawings I'm working from,I'll cover construction methods,as I find the shortest,and simplist,or when asked.
These were kindly provided by FramFarmson.
 

[Constable Bertrand]

Looking good!!!

[snitcythedog]

Very interesting.  Waiting for more.
Snitchy sends.

[FramFramson]

A great start! This is going places already - can't wait to see the write up.

[tin shed gamer]

I' ve chosen to do the wing in three sections that can be glued together or drilled and pinned (if you were making the plane in plastic)so you could store the plane without the wings.The central section is roughly 10cm x 8cm and 1'5cm thick. This section glue directly onto the body.and all engine mounts have been moved over to this section,so the outer wing sections can be removable if you choose them to be.
The ribbing on the body is made from the part of the box that gets over looked by most modelers.When you flatten/open out the box there are ridges along the fold lines of the box.These normally get cut off and thrown away when we try to get the most flat card from the box as possible.
Instead make the first thing you do is to,use a sharp blade and cut these ridges away from the flat card.You should with a little care get more than enough ridged card from one box to detail the whole body.
There is method to my madness,all the pen marks relate to part's or to the paint scheme,As I've no intention of undercoating a paper model(which can some times react badly with the card leaving a fluffy effect)It also means I can plan curved detailing and numbering on a texture/detailed surface before I used paint,and have difficulty finding the shapes with a wet brush,I only need to stay in the lines.

[tin shed gamer]

Its also good for tank tracks,Ridge tiles ,hand rails,detailing Ship hull's.Tin baths.Water towers.To name but a few things I've knocked up with it.
The method I'm using mean theres far less classic modeling of pre made parts,as most of the skill's and methods used by model makers seem to be nothing but strange rituals for killing time.

[tin shed gamer]

I made the slope of the cockpit hood too shallow,so I've ended up with larger windows than I planned on.

[FramFramson]

Looking grand!

[tin shed gamer]

Its getting there are only a few more ribs and hatches,plus a couple of PVA rivet heads,before I need to paint the windows and side pannels as the engine pods will make it difficult to paint behind them.
Only issue is the engine mounts as the props on the line drawing hide the detail I'm not sure on,The only photographs I've seen have the same problem or are in shade.
I'll work on the engine mounts being eigth of them,four on each side of the engine plus the body to engine mount,Should make for a stronger mount.

[Wirelizard]

Loving the look of this so far, can't wait to see it finished!

Using the folds from a light cardboard box as the corrugations on the plane is inspired, I'd probably have tried messing around with styrene half-rounds or something but why not use the cardboard you'd otherwise throw away?

I've considered making a plane of some sort for pulp use, as there are so few multi-passenger planes in roughly 28mm scale that are solid enough for tabletop use. I might have a new project for this winter now, inspired by yours!

[dampfpanzerwagon]

This is a fantastic and inspirational thread. I look forward to seeing more.

If you still think the cockpit windows are too big, try painting the glass area a little smaller than the frame. This will sort out some of the variation and given that you will be painting the windows 'glass colour' it will not show up as much.

Keep up the GREAT work.

Tony

[tin shed gamer]

Thank you I've a few more simple Idea's for wheel's,the engine's,and prop's.All will be made using only the packet card,and a few small sections of cocktail stick.
The methods I'm using are being proof tested in a round about way.
I originally stated before I started this model that you should be able to build this plane in sixteen to twenty hours.So I've had to think outside the box so to speak.
So far I've taken eight and half hours,including planning.I still think its possible to complete it twenty hours.So you could start on a Sunday night and be done well before the next weekends gaming.

[FramFramson]

This is a fantastic and inspirational thread. I look forward to seeing more.

If you still think the cockpit windows are too big, try painting the glass area a little smaller than the frame. This will sort out some of the variation and given that you will be painting the windows 'glass colour' it will not show up as much.

Keep up the GREAT work.

Tony

Its' easy to "Upgrade" this model too - using some thin plastic from a blister pack or card toploader sleeve to add proper window material, for example.

[von Lucky]

Very nice, the time and cost factor are particularly impressive.