Central Powers Models
by Fraser May

Up | Chez Fraser May | Gallery | Home


Rumey's Albatros D.V

This is my take on Fritz Rumey's D.V. I fell for the colour scheme. A challenge... The masking was really interesting and took several goes, the profile in Albatros Aces of World War One' is a bit misleading, looks nice but you soon find that wrapping a spiral or three around a cigar shape results in stripes that have to change their thickness, radically. I'm not going to pretend I think I've got it spot on, though I think I'm pretty close to the one actual photo I've seen. After I painted it I was directed to Marks excellent renderings - wish I'd seen them before. Anyway, the kit was the Eduard 1/48th non-profipak. The only modifications were the control surfaces and scratchbuilt undercarriage legs - not as painful as I expected, not as perfect as I'd hoped either. They're held on with brass pins, which I notice aren't as neatly trimmed as they might be... If anyone wants the drawings and method I concocted, for what they're worth, contact me. I also laminated the cabane struts with limewood to beef 'em up a bit, which helped when I had some problems lining up the wings. I really must build a 'Lance' wing jig and save my nerves. I rigged using invisible thread, made visible with one of those spirit based silver felt tips. It's a great kit.


Kirchstein's Fokker Dr.I

The Dr-1 represents my take on Kirchstein's ship after it passed to Udet. The interpretation of the 'Lo' emblem is what I see in the few awful quality pics that exist. I tried to give it a, uh, spontaneous effect by hand lettering it. The streaking was applied in oils using some liquid medium to speed the drying and make it more fluid without being runny. I applied it with the tiniest flat sable in my arsenal of brushes (dozens in various states of useability) The b/w stripes were done in acrylics and were a bit of a bugger, entailing a light spray followed by brushing to make it look field applied....in other words it's supposed to look a bit rough. (that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it). The markings were all painted as well. It's a good kit with few nasty surprises. My thanks to Ken S for the kit and a lot of info and moral support.


Up | Chez Fraser May | Gallery | Home