Kit Review: Snoopy and The Red Baron Diorama

[dwesrist]

1. Model: Snoopy and the Red Baron Diorama
2. Scale: Unknown
3. Publisher: Free via Zealot Forums Download Section
4. Designer: Alan McGrew
5. Format: Zip with individual .gif files. I put them into a single PDF for printing purposes

There are 4 pages of parts and 2 pages of instructions in the Zip file, along with a readme for copyright purposes and a photo showing the finished product. The first parts page (with Snoopy’s doghouse) also contains the instructions for assembling the dog house.

Doghouse assembly:
The doghouse went together fairly easily. There is a lot of doubling over in this model, which means trimming to get edges to match. I’d recommend you make your initial cuts wide along edges that will be folded over and then trim both to black (or color). It will be easier than trying to trim one side of a folded piece to match the other.

The base of the doghouse is a fairly straight forward assembly. Just make sure to leave a gap in the white, angled roof pieces for the Snoopy cut out to slip down into. The roof of the doghouse has the long folds that cover the overhang. You’ll probably have to trim some of the end of these folds to get the roof to fold to the proper angle. Make sure to put a cut in here for Snoopy to settle into. It’s much easier than simply trying to glue a fold over piece to an angled roof.

Once you have that cut, go ahead and glue the roof into place and then attach Snoopy. He’s another of the "fold, glue, and then trim to match" jobs, especially with the machine gun’s detail level. The machine gun magazine (small, black circle) can be a pain, so I suggest attaching it after you’ve glued Snoopy into place, to give it more support.



Fokker DR1 Triplane Assembly:

Fuselage:
I suggest starting with the fuselage. Everything else can be built off of this and it gives a good platform. The fold tabs are relatively small, so be very precise with scoring to get good, sharp folds and a tight assembly. Start with the first panel off of the top of the fuselage and then work your way around to the closing panel. The fore and aft panels are very basic glue work to finish off the fuselage.

Bottom Wing:
I attached the bottom wing next, as it would suffer least from pressure being applied as I attached other parts. Again, the wings are all "fold over, glue, then trim" items, especially with the rounding edges to get a smooth cut. The quality of the starting images is such that lining up the wing with the right spot on the fuselage can be somewhat tricky. I suggest giving yourself an external indicator of some kind, like a first Sharpie mark before you fill in the edges of the entire piece.



Mid-wings:
The pair of mid-wings are fairly straight forward, but with the curved ends, I’d recommend again that you fold over and glue them together, and then cut the curve to get perfect symmetry. Again, keep the tabs clear when you glue the pieces together, as you need to separate them for attaching the mid-wings to the fuselage.

Machine Gun:
This is a simple fold and glue piece that you will want to attach before the cockpit brace (or at least I did).

Cockpit brace:
The cockpit brace pieces are thin, with small tabs, and can be a pain to attach. Take your time with them and make sure to attach them the same way round. The instructions are a little deceiving at this point, as the attachment points they show won’t line up without bending the braces. It doesn’t really make much of a difference if you just attach them at the front of the fuselage and make the pair symmetrical.



Top wing:
Again, the top wing is a "fold over, glue, then trim" item. Attach this to the cockpit braces first (perhaps even one at a time, to avoid putting too much pressure on). You’ll notice in the photos that I had already inserted the lower two wing struts and then the upper two. I recommend against this, as doing them piece meal like that led to them being out of line (as you can see in the photos). Instead, I recommend you attach the wings and use the cockpit braces for the top wing before doing all the wing struts at one time.

Wing Struts:
There are four wing struts that are identical. The tabs fold out, so make sure not to get glue on them when gluing the body of the strut. You’ll want to wait until all three wings are attached before putting these in place, as getting these to line up perfectly is difficult and a straight line with the struts can make a big difference in appearance. Shoot for symmetry as well.

Tail Rudder:
The hardest part of this is keeping the four individual tabs clean of glue when you fold over and glue the sides together. It’s vital, though, as those four tabs are your only attachment points on the aft end of the fuselage.

Aileron Flaps:
Another "fold, glue, then trim" item, the Aileron flaps piece is fairly straight forward once you cut out the triangle at the back. Be sure to line this up top and bottom to get a symmetrical placement.

Propeller Shaft:
This piece is ridiculously small and very difficult to roll. Make sure to cut fine pieces designed to be splayed and then attached to the interior of the prop wheel. Try to avoid putting too much pressure on it as you roll it, but make sure you get it rolled tightly, as it will have to slide through cut holes in other pieces.

Prop Wheel:
A typical curved piece design, but I cut out every other tab, as I couldn’t get all of the designed tabs to fit. That may have been due to the paper weight I was using, but it could simply be the tight circle required and the use of square tabs, rather than the normal triangular "teeth" tabs. Install the Propeller Shaft in here and use piece H to cover over the splayed ends of the Shaft. (If you forgot to keep piece H, then just cut out a square to glue over the tabs. No one will ever see this piece).

Prop Housing:
Again, I cut out every other tab to get a nice, tight roll. Make sure to cut out the center hole out for the prop shaft (currently installed in the prop wheel). Slot the prop shaft through the prop housing and glue the prop housing closed around the Prop Wheel.

Propeller:
Another "fold, glue, and trim" item, the propeller requires some very tight cutting work to get right. Also, the white squares are the designated attachment points for those Propeller shaft tabs. I cut the white out and used them as a recessed attachment point for the tabs, which seemed to give the Propeller attachment to the Shaft a little more stability.

Propeller Assembly:
Finally, attach the entire assembly to the front of the fuselage to finish off the propeller assembly

Red Baron Head:
I attached the Red Baron’s head next, just because it requires down pressure and you don’t want to be putting down pressure on the fuselage once the wheels are attached. This is another "fold, glue, and trim" item.

Landing Gear Platform:
This is a "fold, glue, and trim" item that is a simple fit. Just make sure to leave long enough tabs for attaching the wheels.



Landing Gear Struts:
Another "fold, glue, and trim" item, these are very similar to the cockpit braces and require very careful cutting to preserve symmetry. I attached these to the fuselage first and then to the Landing Gear Platform, as it seemed a little easier, but you could do it the other way and be just fine.

Landing Gear:
Very straight forward "fold, glue, and trim" pieces that you then attach to the tabs on the Landing Gear Platform.

Diorama background:

Tree & Bush:
Both of these are "fold, glue, and trim" items and are fairly straight forward. Cut these out first as you will need to try them in the Vertical Landscape slots before glueing that piece in place.

Vertical Landscape (sky, tree, etc):
When you cut the Vertical Landscape out, make sure to make the horizontal cuts all the way to the end of the page. Fold over the extra white tabs and glue to the back of the Vertical Landscape to add extra support to the diorama. Be sure to test the assembled Tree and Bush in the cut out slots for that purpose before attaching this to the Horizontal landscape.

Horizontal Landscape (grass, rocks, etc):
When you cut out the Horizontal Landscape, make sure to take a constant line for the cut of the curved edge. This is going to be where you attach the piece to the Vertical Landscape, so be sure to keep it even.

Individual Rocks:
I attached these at random places before gluing the Horizontal Landscape to the Vertical, but you can do it either way. Attach the Tree (see Attaching the Red Baron section before you do this) and Bush after you’ve attached the Horizontal Landscape to the Vertical

Attaching Snoopy:
I added an extra inverted L bracket on the base of the doghouse and attached it to the back of the landscape in addition to the diagonal brace provided. I used a simple ½ inch wide piece of card stock maybe an inch long

Attaching the Red Baron:
This is the hardest part of the diorama by far. The instructions simply call for the three wings of the Fokker to rest on three of the tree branches. This is a pipe dream at best. If I had it to do over again, I’d cut slots into the branches of the tree and slide the wings in and then glue them. It’s almost impossible to attach the triplane according to the instructions. Once you have that firmly glued in place, I used a drop or two of glue at the tail of the plane to attach it to the Horizontal Landscape. It provided another attachment point for the triplane and some needed stability for the diorama as a whole.



Overall Evaluation:
This is a fairly simply card model with some technically challenging bits for a beginner (like myself). It’s a quick build, but you need to take your time with some of the smaller details and try things out before gluing, as the instructions aren’t always spot on.



I’d give it a 4/10 on difficulty, a 6/10 on design, and a 9/10 on sheer pleasure when you’re done building it. Especially because it’s going to have the Snoopy vs. The Red Baron album beside it on a stand in my soon-to-be-born niece’s room!

Hope you enjoyed the review.

[cgutzmer]

Nice work! Thanks for sharing that and the review with us
Chris

[CJTK1701]

Brilliant! I love it. I can hear the "Peanuts" music from that scene now. LOL