Fokker Triplanes
by Marc Flake

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Voss's Fokker F1

Here is my second Voss triplane. It's the Eduard kit. As everyone else has said, it's a gem. I replaced the top wing, horizontal tail and cowl with Roseplane parts. I did the streaks the same as for the Roden kit, but not with the same results. One thing I failed to mention in my notes for the Roden kit is that when doing the streaks it is important to keep the green paint "wet" with thinner while you are streaking it on. I decided I needed to do a second Voss triplane because of the ongoing controversy over whether the cowl was green or yellow. The yellow version comes from historian Alex Imrie, who has written the definitive "Fokker Triplane." It seems to me that most of the WW I community sides with the green-cowl faction. Most stating their reason that the white "face" could not be seen on a yellow background.

I used Gunze-Sangyo's "Orange-Yellow" for the cowl, as the shade of yellow described by Imrie is "Chrome Yellow." Gunze's "Orange-Yellow" is a good match for the "Chrome Yellow" used by the US Navy between the wars. The USN also placed white designs (flight markings) on "Chrome Yellow" wings. The white stands out nicely. Additionally, period ortho prints of USN "Chrome Yellow" wings are as dark as the period ortho prints of Voss' cowl.


Voss's Fokker F1

This is the 1/72 Roden kit built out-of-the-box. I sanded the horizontal tail in an attempt to get it to represent the rounded tail of the F.1. The turqoise color was acheived by mixing three PolyScale paints, several squirts each of Russian Underside Blue and RLM Light Blue until the right shade was acheived. Then a squirt of Fokker Green was added for the greenish tint. The Gunze Sanyo Dark Green streaks were applied with a #2 flat head brush, but subsequent reapplications on the fuselage sides were done with a 6/0 round brush.

The decals were a little large, requiring trimming on the wings and the fact that the fuselage crosses ended up a little too far forward.

The anomalous white streaks in some photos are the result of dust or scratches on the negative. Fortunately none of these appear on the model itself, just on the background.


Lothar Von Richtofen's Triplane

Kit: Roden (1:72)

This is the 1/72 Roden kit. I did the streaks a little different than the F.1s. First, I applied Gunze Sangyo OD Green over Humbrol Concrete. I tried to make the streaks lighter by charging the brush less often. I airbrushed Tamiya Gloss Yellow on the top wing and fuselage. But I wish I had brushed it on. I think the streaks would have shown through better. Tamiya Dark Yellow was used for the cross backgrounds. Tamiya Red was used for the cowl and landing gear, while I used ModelMaster Tan for the tires.


Raben's Triplane

Kit: Eduard (1:72)

This is the 1/72 Eduard kit with Roden decals. Not much to say. Nice kit.


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