Sopwiths Galore

 

Here I have a bunch of Sopwiths entering the painting queue.

Snipes to the left, Dolphins to the right, and a Camel down in front.

They should be able to give those Fokker D-VII a run for their money. 

Dolphin

 

This 1:144 scale Sopwith Dolphin isn't all my own work. It's a remix of Decapod's model to make it more likely to print on my Ender 3.

Though in all honesty, I'm going to print it on my new Mars 5, because it's twice as fast, as well as giving me a more detailed and smooth print. 

Wings of War

 

I've dragged out my copy of Wings of War, that I've played maybe twice since I bought it who knows how many years ago, with the aim of making it usable with my little 3d printed aeroplanes.

It's a very simple dogfight game, though its rulebook could do with a bit of editing for clarity. There are a bunch of additional rules in various supplements too, which could do with all being gathered together in one set of instructions.

 The main thing about using models instead of cards representing the various aircraft is that I'll need some flight stands the same size as the manoeuvre cards for movement.

The card-based movement has the big advantage that a big hex-grid isn't required for play, just a flat surface. 

 Here's my prototype 3d printed WoW flight base with one of the manoeuvre cards in place. It seems to work well enough.

The lines running from the centre outwards define the aircraft's firing arc. This Albatros D-II would just use the front one, while most two-seaters would also use the rear arc for the observer.

For weirdos like the BE2c, with the observer up front, I'd use the two side arcs — not precisely accurate, but then what is? Personally I think the 60 ° front arc is a bit overly generous, but then it's just a game after all. 

I'm still a bit in the dark about how the game is supposed to handle altitude. Those rules appear only to be available by buying yet another expensive box set, which I am reluctant to do, even if it's still in print. 

BE2c

BE12 

 I've made a couple of aircraft cards for the BE2c with a side-pintle mounted Lewis gun, and the BE12 with a forward-firing Lewis or Vickers gun.

For the BE2c, I think I'd rule that you'd have to spend a turn flying straight to be able to shift the gun from one side to the other. 

Snipe

 

I've had this on the back-burner for a while now, and I finally got it finished. It's the Sopwith Snipe of 1918, the replacement for the Camel.

Once again, I've designed it in 1:144 scale, with tolerances to allow it to be printed in FDM with a standard 0.4mm nozzle.

I've done it in early and late configuration. The initial production (the back two in the render) had an odd tail fin arrangement that proved to be unsatisfactory, and it was replaced in the later models (the front one) with a more conservative tail design.

The Snipe remained the standard RAF fighter until well into the 1920s. 

Siemens-Schuckert D-III (1:144)

 

This 1:144 model represents one of the modified variants with the cutaway engine cowling to increase engine cooling, a necessary change as the initial production suffered seriously from engine overheating, a problem caused by the synthetic oil that replaced the scarce castor oil by 1918.

The Siemens-Schuckert D-III was very fast, very manoeuvrable,  and climbed like a rocket. It went into service in April-May 1918, but the aforementioned engine issues kept it from being the game-changer it might otherwise have been. By the time those issues were fixed, and its replacement by the D-IV, the Great War was pretty much over.

Fokker E-III (1:144)

 

It's taken a while to get around to it, but I've finally painted this 1:144 scale Fokker Eindekker.

Now it's ready to go out and shoot down that BE12. Or maybe get shot down by it. It could happen. 

It's FDM printed on my Ender 3, and the undercarriage needed substantial post-printing repairs.

 Next day...

 Eindekker #02. This one was printed on my new Mars 5, and judging by the banding on the fuselage, I may have to experiment a bit with antialiasing to smooth things out.

On this one I painted in all the small crosses by hand, and reserved the decals for the big wing crosses. They're not as perfect as the decals would have been, but with these teensy-tiny ones it was less trouble overall. 

Aeroplane Display Board

 

I'm in the process of making a display board for my 3d printed 1:144 WW1 aircraft.

I've 3d printed some little pedestals, and glued a 6x2.5mm magnet into a socket at the top of each one. The models all have steel pegs in their bellies for attachment to magnetized flight stands, so they cling quite happily to the board. I'll paint it tomorrow.

The board can go on a plate-stand thing for display, or I suppose I could hang it like a picture. 

The benefit of it is that it makes very conveniently accessible display and/or storage. 

 Next day...

All done, and I whipped up a plywood plate-stand sort of thing to hold it upright.There are only four spaces left on this board, but if I get completely over-enthusiastic I can make another board very easily — it's just a bit of 5mm MDF with 3d printed magnet pillars glued to it. 

FE2b

 

One of my favourite air-war fiction writers is Derek Robinson, who wrote a book called "War Story" about a WW1 RFC squadron flying FE2b and FE2d aircraft. He's perhaps better known for "A Piece of Cake", which was made into a TV show some years ago.

Anyway, his book prompted me to make this 1:144 scale FE2b. I think the only major difference between the FE2b and FE2d, visually at least, is that the FE2d had a much bigger engine, and a different radiator placement. I may (or may not) make a FE2d as well one of these days, if I can track down some reliable drawings.

Falling Behind

 

I am falling behind a bit in my painting queue.

I am printing far more aeroplanes than I can keep up with, and there are another couple of dozen in a drawer.

I can stop any time I want to. Really. 

SPAD XI

 

Somebody mentioned wanting a French reconnaissance aeroplane, and lo! One appears!

This is the SPAD XI two-seater, designed by the same guy who did the SPAD VII and SPAD XIII. And the visual similarities between all three are pretty obvious.

 The STL is available now at https://www.wargaming3d.com/product/mojobob_hoochyman_spad_xi_1_144_ 

Aviatik C1

 

The Aviatik C1 was introduced in 1915, one of the first German C-type armed reconnaissance aircraft.

The observer/gunner sat in the forward cockpit with the pilot behind. This arrangement gave the observer's machine-gun a very limited range of fire, and in the last 50 aircraft produced the seating positions were reversed.

To be honest, I'm not sure why I went to the effort of modelling this — probably because I wanted my Germans to have something as useless as the BE2c. 

 Next day...

I've put both the Aviatik and the BE2c up at https://www.wargaming3d.com/product/mojobob_hoochyman_early_ww1_recon_pack_1_144_  as a two-for-one pack. I very much doubt that many people would be interested in buying them individually, so perhaps this will make them a bit more attractive.

BE2c

 

Doing the RE8 reminded me of this, the BE2c.

It was an excellent aeroplane for its day, stable, reliable, and easy to fly.  Unfortunately its innate stability, along with the crew positions, made it an absolutely terrible fighting machine, and they suffered very badly against the Fokker monoplanes with their forward-firing machine gun. It stayed in service far longer than it should have, and killed a great many young men of the RFC.

The Fokker itself was not a very good aeroplane, but its plenitude of easy prey inflated its reputation far beyond its actual capabilities. 

A coupla days later...

 I've modified my BE2c model to make a BE12, the laughable attempt to turn the BE2 into a fighter. It was a resounding failure, and you have to pity the poor sods who were sent up in them to compete with the Fokker Eindekker.

The STL is available at https://www.wargaming3d.com/product/mojobob_hoochyman_be12_1_144_

 I've printed and painted my BE12 model, and I think I'm going to have to tone down the wing ribs a bit — trying to get decals down in amongst them was quite a trial.

HarryTate

 

A large part of the duties of the British scout squadrons in WW1 were escorts, attempting to keep the arguably more important reconnaissance and bombing machines from getting shot down.

That means that they need something to escort, so I've made this 1:144 scale RE8, nicknamed Harry Tate by the RFC. 

It was intended as the replacement for the BE2, that had suffered so badly in the days of the Fokker Scourge, and it was certainly an improvement over that type as a fighting machine. However, the bar for improvement was pretty low, and an unaccompanied RE8 stood little chance of survival against even the most mediocre of enemy scouts.

Groups of RE8s, when attacked, would go into a mutually supporting circle, in which several of them could fire on any approaching enemy. It was better than nothing, but it was an innately defensive tactic, and of course it disrupted the work for which the type was intended — so it could be argued that that was a success for the German pilots. 

New printer

 

I replaced my old and bung Mars Pro yesterday with this, an Elegoo Mars 5. It cost me about $400 from Jaycars. I actually went in for a Mars 5 Ultra, but that's another $250 or so, and I didn't feel the pressing need for any of the fancy-schmancy extras.

So far I haven't been able to get it to actually print anything, and what the exact problem is I do not know. Nothing sticks to the platen, though it does stick to the FEP.

I vaguely remember having issues with the Mars Pro when I first got that, so I'm not giving up all hope just yet. However, it is borne in on me just how much 3d printing is not yet a mature consumer technology — they're so finicky, and you have to be a tinkerer to get the things running and keep them running. 

It's a magical technology, but it's pretty bloody hermetic magic. 

Bristol Fighter

 

I just finished this 1:144 scale Bristol Fighter to add to my menagerie.

I haven't tried printing it yet, but no doubt I'll get to it soon enough. 

 2026-09-16

FDM test print turned out mostly okay, eventually. The print failed in a tail-down orientation by breaking the back of the fuselage, and in a nose-down print posture the nose failed to print, so I had to cut off that bit and replace it with a nose section I printed separately.

Alas, my elderly resin printer — an Elegoo Mars Pro — is bung, and it's too old to find replacement parts for now, so a resin test print will have to wait until I get a new printer. Which may be, if I'm lucky, this afternoon.  

Albatros D-III — success at last

 

After fiddling with the thickness of struts and things, and tinkering endlessly with the placement and height and angle to the print bed, plus adding some custom supports in problem spots, I've finally got a model that will reliably print a 1:144 Albatros D-III in one piece. Now I can get my forces together for Bloody April.

 

Nieuport 17

 

Somebody asked me if I was going to make a Nieuport 17, and I thought that was a good idea, so I did. I want to do a Nieport 11 Bebe as well, if I can just find my drawings for it. I know they're around somewhere.

I'm getting a bit ahead of myself though; I have many more models waiting to be printed and painted than I have finished. 

Pfalz D-III

 

I've built another German aeroplane for 1917, the Pfalz D-III. It was generally considered to be inferior to the contemporary Albatros D-III, but it was much stronger and could survive the G-forces in pulling out of a dive when the Albatros would fall to bits.

 I'm not really satisfied with the fairing of the lower wing with the fuselage, though I'm not really sure how I can fix that.

 The test print is FDM (eSun PLA+) off my old Ender 3 with a bog-standard 0.4mm nozzle.

FDM vs. Resin

 

I've done two test prints of my DH2 model, for comparison purposes. The one on the left is FDM, printed on my Ender 3, and on the right is resin, from my Mars Pro.

The resin print has clear superiority in terms of detail and cleanliness of line, but it is structurally weaker than the FDM print. The resin print is quicker and easier to clean up, as I don't have to worry about clearing off stringing and nubbins.

They each took about the same time to print — a bit over three hours — though if I had a more modern FDM printer, such as a Bambu A1, that print time would likely be cut in half.

The FDM print, though physically stronger, is much more sensitive to heat. You can see where the starboard wing tip and struts have been distorted from when I was flash-burning out the stringing.  Also, I like to use a little hair dryer to speed up paint drying, and that's a bit perilous especially on slender members like struts and booms.

At tabletop distances, the difference in detail isn't really obvious, especially to those with old eyes. However, I'd probably still prefer the resin print, in spite of its relative fragility, if not for the fact that I'm having some issues with the Mars Pro and I'm lazy when it comes to printer maintenance.

The Whale

 

Many, many years ago I built the Airfix model of the Roland C-II Walfisch (whale). I was always rather fond of its portly form.

Alas, somebody dropped something heavy on it, and that model is no more. But today, in a fit of nostalgia, I built a new one in 1:144 scale.

I haven't tried printing it yet; that will probably be for tomorrow, if I have time

Camel

 

Next up is the famous Sopwith Camel, the famous mount of the famous Biggles himself. 

It was the replacement for the Sopwith Pup, and initially, when it was introduced in 1917, it was nicknamed the Big Pup, but the name Camel  eventually took off because of the hump in front of the pilot that partially shrouded the guns.

I realise now, looking at the render, that I've forgotten to give it any elevators or ailerons, so i suppose I'd better take care of that. 

Pup

 

I've been concentrating pretty much on German aeroplanes, so I thought I'd better make some opposition to all the Albatroses and Hamberstadts, and fired up Blender to make this 1:144 scale Sopwith Pup.

It's designed for FDM printing, and for use as a gaming piece rather than a display model, so all the struts and things are way out of scale. 

Siemens-Schuckert D-III

 

I'm on a real WW1 aeroplane kick at the moment, so I'm taking advantage of it while it lasts.

This next one is the Siemens-Schuckert D-III, from very late in the war. It was very fast and manoeuvrable, and could climb like a rocket, but its huge 4-bladed propeller meant that it had to have very tall undercarriage, making it tricky to control on the ground, and the powerful engine was prone to overheating.  The overheating issues were solved in the D-IV, but by then the war was pretty much over.

Albatros D-II

I've done a couple of 1/144 Albatros D-II, one with the side-mounted "ear" radiators, and one with the centrally wing-mounted radiator perfectly positioned to spray boiling water straight into the pilot's face if a bullet goes through it.

I haven't tried printing them yet; probably tomorrow.

 Some days later...

I've successfully test-printed one of these models, and splashed some paint on to it, and overall I'm pretty satisfied with it. 

Fokker D-VIII

 

The next teensy aeroplane in the queue is this 1:144 scale Fokker D-VIII, nicknamed "the Flying Razor". It appeared late in 1918 with spectacular performance, but it came too late and too few were ever put into service for it to affect the course of WW1.

Junkers D1

 

I've been working on a 1/144 scale Junkers D1, a German metal monoplane fighter from very late in WW1.

I've been tossing up whether or not to try to represent the corrugations of the metal skin — on the one hand, they were very characteristic of the Junkers aeroplanes, but on the other hand, in this scale (and when printed in FDM) they'd be barely perceptible unless they were wildly out of scale.

It's a usable wargaming model just as is. I might try a corrugated one just to see, but I suspect it won't really be worth the trouble.

 2026-09-06

I've printed and painted it now, and I'm glad I didn't corrugate the crap out of it. 

Simple Sopwith Triplane

 

I'm experimenting with a drastically simplified model, a Sopwith Triplane. Absolutely minimal detail, and nice chunky easily printable struts and things.

The original design was (I think) from CapnAhab on Thingiverse. He has done a lot of models, designed in 1:100 scale, but intended for printing at 1/300. The geometry is always very simple; no wing ribs or anything like that, and sized to be able to be shrunk down without issues.

I've just smoothed out the faceting of some (most) of the elements, and provided it with a socket for a flight stand attachment.

Having smooth wing surfaces should ease the application of decals, and I can paint on wing ribs, as I've done on 1/300 and 1/200 models. 

For gaming purposes, the silhouette is much more important than fine detail, which seldom gets seen at tabletop distances in any case. I have one on the printer at this moment, so we shall see how it turns out. 

Few hours later...

 The Tripe printed without any real issues, and I also did a Fokker D-VIII from a similar style of model, which also printed very easily.

I clean up the prints as best as I can straight off the printer, but inevitably I find that I miss a bunch of zits and nubbins in the raw bright white PLA which is very hard to distinguish detail in. A quick primer coat reveals them though. 

 2026-09-09

I've made the model a touch less simple by the addition of some wing ribs. I couldn't resist.

I also tidied up quite a bit of the geometry while I was at it. 

Halberstadt D-II

 I printed some 1/144 scale Halberstadt D-II fighters yesterday, and they turned out not to be without issues. Issues which I didn't notice, alas, until it came time to remove the supports to reveal the printed model underneath.

Each of them printed with a semi-broken back, probably because the models were printed tail-down at about 60° to the build plate, and lacked any supports along the underside of the fuselage, so they sagged just a little bit before the upper layers started printing.

I've rebuilt the gcode with more supports in the problem area and I'm trying another one; we shall see how that turns out. 

They also all printed the tail fin poorly. I added more supports there too, but that problem isn't nearly as troublesome to me. 

They're all usable as gaming models, even as they are, but I would prefer it by far if they were less flawed. 

 A few days later

Here's one painted in a livery for late 1916-ish.  At some point in 1917, I'm not sure exactly when, the official colours changed from green and brown to green and mauve.

This particular model was printed split into two pieces, with the fuselage cut just behind the lower wing. It improved printing of the tail section quite substantially, but the struts are all pretty grungy. 

Fokker D-VII

 

The next addition to my 1/144 scale air force is this Fokker D-VII, which I've been putting off because I wasn't looking forward to painting the lozenge camouflage.

As it turned out, it was easier than I'd expected, mainly because in this scale the lozenges themselves aren't really discernable as geometric shapes, but just resolve to blobs of colour, so as long as they're about the right size and in the right pattern, the finished effect is not too bad.

Reviresco used to produce sheets of 1/144 lozenge camo decals, but they've been out of print for some time, and I don't think they'd be all that easy to apply on a one-piece model, especially on the lower wings.

The STL is available at https://www.wargaming3d.com/product/fokker-d-vii-1144 

 Next Day...

Here's number two. 

They're both still gloss varnished, and they may very well stay that way since it makes them easier to keep clean. 

Artisinal "Knights of the Air" for a more mellow, organic sound

 

I recently found the home-made version of Avalon Hill's Knights of the Air that I made back in the '80s.

This was way back before computers and scanners were readily available to anyone who wasn't a hard-core computer nerd, and digital cameras hardly existed at all. Colour photocopying was pretty much non-existent, and if you could find it, it was mind-bogglingly expensive.

I drew plan views of all the aircraft with my trusty Rotring pens, and photocopied them to size for the aeroplane counters, and then coloured the counters individually with watercolours. I drew out the aircraft statistics sheets by hand, and filled them in by hand for every type of aeroplane, and coloured them with markers.

Looking back, it was an incredible amount of work for a game that I played probably half a dozen times. I must have had amazing stamina back in those days.

And now I have absolutely no memory of how to use all this stuff.

Even Tinier Aeroplanes

 

In the 1980s, I occasionally played a game called Knights of the Air, a WW1 aerial combat game played on a hex grid like Canvas Eagles (or Blue Max, which it was rewritten from) but rather more detailed in terms of keeping track of altitude and aircraft statistics. I started out by making hexagonal card tokens printed with a plan view of the aircraft, but soon decided that what I wanted were actual models, so I started making some.

Initially they were scratch-built in 1:300 scale from cardboard, wire and wood, but later on I found I could get cast metal models from Heroics and Ros, which, though lacking in interplane struts and the like, were generally okay in terms of silhouette, and much less work. Later still I got into 3d printing, though I've printed very few aeroplanes in 1:300.

I've since focused my attention on 1:144 3d printed planes, as they're easier to paint and to see with my increasingly decrepit eyes. However, the larger models require a hex grid of 50 to 70 mm. That's fine for small scale dogfights, but the smaller models can be used on a 25mm grid, which gives you a much larger battlefield, and can therefore accommodate more players at need.

These models are as follows: 

1. Gotha bomber (scratch-built) 
2. Fokker E-III Eindekkers (metal)
3. DH-2 (one metal, one scratch-built) 
4. Sopwith Camel (metal)
5. SE5a (metal)
6. Sopwith Pups (metal)
7. Albatros D-III (3d printed)
8. SPAD 7 (metal)
9. Fokker Triplane (metal)
10. Albatros DV (metal)
11. Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter (metal)
12. BE-12  (scratch-built)
13. Hannover CL-III (metal)
14. Albatros D-II (scratch-built)
15. BE-2 (scratch-built)
16. Halberstadt D-II (scratch-built)
17. Halberstadt CL-II (metal)
18. Bristol Fighter  (scratch-built) 

I think it highly unlikely that I'll do any more aeroplane models in 1:300, though I do have a few more metal casts awaiting assembly and painting. Still, never say never. 

Accessory for Flying

 

I've been designing (in Blender) an indexed flight stand for use with my 1/144 aeroplane models. The wheel is numbered from 1—10 to indicate altitude (Canvas Eagles maxes out at 10 levels of altitude) and the cap has a big arrow embossed on its top to indicate heading.

It is socketed to accept a 3mm acrylic rod, which has a magnet glued to its top for the aeroplane models to stick to. The models sometimes turn on the magnets,  making the actual direction of flight ambiguous, hence the arrow to remove all doubt.

I have printed the prototype, and it works fine, so with a couple of minor tweaks it's ready for mass production. 

 Here it is, in the flesh and in action, with a 1/144 3d printed SPAD 7 as an example.

Components

---

Here are some of them in action.

 The only problem I have with them is that they're all the same height, so although the index wheels give the altitude information required, the battlefield still looks a bit two-dimensional.

I might make some with some longer and shorter acrylic rods, to represent the gross height bands, say altitude levels 1-3, 4-6 and 7-10. They're not mechanically necessary, but I think they'd look better.