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This is the 1/72 Toko Aviatik DI, a vice less kit. I avoided strut-breaking issues by using a razor saw to remove them from the sprues. Obviously, I did not use the kit decals, opting for the Americal/Gryphon version. I have to confess I don't know that I applied the different shade hexes in the proper manner, but I did the best I could with the information I had at hand.
This is Toko's Starstrutter. Some say none of the interplane struts fit, but I found I only had to replace one leg -- the one that led from the upper rear inside to the middle. I also had to add the rear cabane struts as these were not in the kit. The are noticably there in photographs, but Toko didn't include them.
I used Americal-Gryphon decals for the "Locken." Instructions call for them to be applied over clear-doped linen. The dark wood fuselage was done with Humbrol Natural Wood, water color pencil and Future.
Right after I finished reading "The Two-Headed Eagle," John Biggins' novel of the adventures of Otto Prohaska, a young Austro-Hungarian Officer in World War I, Special Hobby came out with its Lloyd CV. I don't remember what kind of aircraft Otto flew in, but the Lloyd captured my attention and I had to build it immediately upon receiving it from NKR Hobbies in Australia.
The build was pleasant, with minimal troubles: The cabanes were too long and I got the different lengthed interplane struts mixed up because I was inattentive. Oh, and I got the propeller the wrong way around and had to conduct some minor surgery to get it right. I started out aiming for a dark blondish wood finish using a ModelMaster Wood base, but further research indicates the CVs were laminated with even darker wood -- Martin O'Connor has opined that they used mahogany laminate.
I started all over again using Ceramcoat Iron Oxide for the reddish-brown mahogany color, ModelMaster Sand for the control surfaces and tail feathers, and ModelMaster USN Blue-Gray for the painted metal parts. Lance Kreig kindly provided the Blue Rider Austro-Hungarian serials for the aircraft I chose to model, the WKF-built 82.08, with a 220 hp Benz engine. The Benz required some plumbing modifications for that part of the engine sticking up out of the fuselage.
I can highly recommend this kit.
This is the Pegasus kit. Can't say I had any problems with the kit. Dark wood fuselage accomplished with Humbrol Natural Wood, water color pencil and Future.