Central Powers Model Images
by Sandy Adam

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Roland C.II Walfisch - Lovely 1/48th Eduard kit SOTB. This model just falls together - about the only thing you need to do is drill out the openings in the internal bulkheads and add a bit of extra detail. I was told some time back that Eduard weren't going to do anymore 2-seaters after the Whale - I sincerely hope they change their mind. This kit is so good, it would be marvellous to have some more C-types of this quality at this price. Here's hoping.



DFW T.28 Flea - The Eduard "Never-Fighting Ladies" model. What a strange moniker for a series! No wonder they only ever made 2 (this and the Austro helicopter.) Straight outa tha box model. Bit o' paint and Bob's yer uncle. I see the trend to build whole Jastas of Fleas all painted in what-if markings - why didn't I think of that?
Good kit of a great dumpy little plane, although all the PE brass is wasted in that cockpit as you can hardly see a thing.

Fokker Dr1 - Jasta 7, Western Front 1918. This is the excellent little Dragon DML kit. The underwing problem has been widely reported and you do have to sand out the curious rib effect, but apart from that there are few problems. I opted for Josef Jacobs long-used 450/17 and replaced the kit Oberursel with an Aeroclub Clerget and prop. I used some aftermarket transfers rather than the kit ones and some extra detail bits here and there.

LFG Roland D.II - Eastern Front, 1917 - Another nice Sierra vacfrom. This represents a Pfalz-built machine from an unidentified unit. This one has actually still to be rigged but I had the camera out and a film to finish so here it is. This kit is a fairly easy vac with no cabane struts and small wings to thin out. Probably an ideal first subject for anybody that is shy of trying a vac.

Phönix D.II - Flik 55J - Pergine, July 1918 - One of Bob Norgren's crisp Sierra vacforms. I just wish I had more time to complete all the other Austrian subects he makes. Subject is Frank Linke-Crawford's 122.01. Kit comes with terrific engine and manifold detail which just begged for wires and harness to be added. This is the frist kit where I tried putting turnbuckles on the rigging. Just a few blobs of paint, but I think the effect is well worthwhile. Now I'll have to go back and do all the others!!

Fokker Dr. I - This is an older model of mine, whose accuracy has probably been overtaken by recent research but I made it after reading one of the Australian accounts of Richtofen's demise, which contained a sketch, drawn by one of the infantrymen present.

According to the accompanying report, the Triplane crashed and troops rushed forward, took away the body and started to souvenir the wreck. German Artillery dropped a few shells nearby which caused a retreat to the trenches. The sketch was drawn then - with the deserted plane nose down and strips of fabric missing from its structure.

The basis is the old Merit/Smer Dr.1. I started off with the basic kit, a razor saw and lots of enthusiasm! Soon I had half a plane and started building framework from plastic rod and strip. This was actually much easier than it looks and did not take all that long. I think the plywood capping on wing leading edges worked well and the plastic propellor (which you can't see in this picture!) is always mistaken for splintered wood. I later added Eduard PE machine guns but everything else is fabricated from plastic rod, strip and sprue.

Junkers J.9/D.I - Hombeek, Belgium 1918 - I was just able to get one of the last Blue Max Junkers kits before they disappeared and here are the results. I opted for the machine discovered by the allies in 1919, which is thought to have seen active service in the closing days of the war.

I spent days working up an interior consisting of all the tubular wing/fuselage cellule and think it looked pretty damned good - then of course when I closed up the fuselage with the seat in place, you can hardly see a thing! Still, a nice kit which requires a bit of careful work thinning and re-corrugating trailing edges. The guns supplied are OK but for something as visible as this Eduard PE items had to be brought in.

Fokker D.VI - Luftstreitskraefte - Russian Front, 1918 - Lovely little Eduard kit, straight out of the box. All the photos of D.VIs show lozenge, but I wanted to believe the Munson book's profile of this green and mauve machine. No problems with kit, only difficulty was finding a suitable "A" for the top wing - eventually fabricated it out of white decal strip. (Errmm, no I haven't put on the control cables yet!)

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