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Kit: Special Hobby (1:48)
This is the Special Hobby Albatros C.III. A few minor fit issues, but overall a nice kit.
Kit: DML (1:48)
This is DML's venerable classic done in the markings of Carl Degelow, Jasta 40 commander. Lozenge is from Microsculpt and tapes are Techmod (too bright, IMHO!). All markings and crosses are from Pheon's excellent Jasta 40 sheet. Just before the final coat of clear satin, she took flight from my work bench, shed the top wing, broke all cabane struts and opened the seam on her back. Oh, well...No contests for her, but I'm content with the results.
This is The old DML Fokker Dr.I kit in the markings of Ltn. Werner Seinhauser, February 1918. I had started this build with the intention of participating in the Triplane Contest. I used Wojtek Fajga's excellent build of Eduard's Dr.I featured in AeroScale as a guide. I added a leather pouch on the port side and some additional tubular framework and instruments. I used Microsculpt's streaked camo and it went on beautifully. I wanted to build Steinhauser's bird and chose the Blue Rider sheet. With the application of the first Blue Rider decal, I knew this would never be in any contest. The decals are very thick and leave a distinct step from the painted surface to the edge of the decal. I began trimming off as much carrier film as possible to mitigate this effect, but the damage was already done. This, plus the fact that I've never been a huge Fok.Dr.I fan (it's just too damned ubiquitous) prompted me to rush to get it done. So, here she is. I'm not in love with her, but I'd take her home to meet my parents. I now have a reasonable representation of a Fokker Dr.I in my collection and I feel fulfilled.
Kit: Blue Max (1:48)
This is the excellent Blue Max Oef. D.III. I started out cleaning up parts and test fitting and the kit just took on a life of it's own, pushing ahead of two other models I have on my bench. I had read so many negative things about Blue Max engineering that I had to see what all the fuss was about. I found this kit to be a delight to build. After all the (substantial) clean up, the fit was near perfect and I had so much fun, I couldn't stop. There are many firsts for me on this model and more mistakes than I can list. This was my first attempt at using a sponge to do the camo. I didn't thin the paint enough and ended up with a "textured" finish. I hit it with a final matt coating to knock off some of the sheen so the pebbliness wouldn't show so much. First time making turn buckles and they were not as consistant as I would like, but it was fun. I know, the aft radiator pipe isn't on yet. It will be. Thanks to Chris Gannon for making such wonderful kits of relatively neglected subjects in this scale. Please keep it up!
Kit: Eduard (1:48)
This is Eduard's excellent Oeffag D.III done using Pheon's equally superb decals to portray 153.06 flown by Godwin Brumowski, August 1917.
This is Eduard's early issue of the Pfalz D.III in the markings of Werner Voss. The finish is a 50/50 mix of Tamiya flat aluminum and Tamiya light grey. The first couple kit decals disintegrated until I remembered something I had read on this list and added a drop of detergent to the water and the rest went on smoothly. I replaced the missing crosses with Glencoe crosses so, if you look closely, you will notice the mismatch. Rigging is aluminum painted 2 lb test monofilament. This is the first kit I built after an 18 year break and I enjoyed every frustrating moment ( I hate microscopic pe ). It's not like riding a bike. It was a learning experience, but a lot of fun.
This is the first release of the non-Profipack version. Added some pe and went with what I thought would be the most likely colors for the time. The "2" on the old decal sheet seems a bit large to me, but I used it anyway. Too cheap and lazy to do otherwise. Very nice kit, fun to build. I may have to do another, earlier, scheme.