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This kit is built straight out of the box. The colour scheme represents a DI of Flik 16 as described in Windsock Vol 15 No 6. The plane is painted in MisterKit paints, Austro-Hungarian CDL under the wings, and Phonix Medium Brown on the top sides. The darker mottling is Xtracolor Dunkelbrun stippled on with an old brush. The red stripe is hand painted using MisterKit AH Flag Red. The only addition to the kit parts are the radiator pipes and unfortunately I think I got these a bit wrong (myexcuse is that none of my reference photos were clear enough). Rigging is HSP.
Im a bi-scaler, and this was my first 1/48 attempt. Again, a voyage into the unknown. I had great trouble getting the top wing attached, and many problems with cabane strut lengths. However, its on, and as long as no-one beaks wind near it, itll stay there for a while. I rigged this one with guitar string, as suggested by the resident list heretic (Ernest Thomas). When cut into short lengths, this stays straight (I ran it through a candle flame first). The idea was to drill part way through the wings at the appropriate points, cut the lengths slightly overlength and snap them into place (secured with a blob of white glue). It didnt actually work that way. I found it very difficult to get the inside lines in place, particularly as the model was fragile. There were blobs of white glue everywhere. Fortunately, the end result looks (just about) ok. The benefit of monofilament-type rigging is that it gives strength to the model, so Ill revert to that for my next 1/48 model.
The aircraft is finished as a generic 115 series plane (I used the pic of 115.45 in the DF as my inspiration). There has been much criticism of the Flashback decals, but I dont think theyre too bad. I undercoated with dark grey first to tone them down, and many pics of real planes show very distinct differences between the colours in the (hand-painted) lozenge. Wood grain on the propeller is done with water colour pencils, and weathering (as usual) with pastels and oils.
This was my second attempt, and much easier than the Pegasus. Id recommend this a starter kit for anyone entering WWI modelling. Easy to put together, got some great photoetch and a very striking colour scheme. Also minimal rigging. The only downside is that some of the interior elements are highly suspect its unlikely these birds had instrument panels. Still, what the heck after spending hours and hours fiddling over silly bits and bobs for the Albatros cockpit, bending a few bits of brass was a dream.
The colour scheme is the one suggested by Eduard of a Marine Feld Jasta (can t remember the pilot as Ive lost the instructions!). There is a similar bumble bee scheme attributed to Theo Osterkamp. There has been some interesting discussion on the list as to whether these planes actually saw combat in WWI or in one of the regional altercations thereafter. Weathering is done with pastels and washes/splashes of oil paint.
This is the Choroszy Modelbud all-resin Aviatik D.I finished as 38.58 of Flik 56J in 1918. This is a nice kit but there were a few problems with fit, especially of the fuselage halves wihch required a lot of filler and sanding. The model is finished as depicted on the rear of the Datafile except that I used the two shades of grey for the serrated bands camouflage rather than the sand/green shown in the Datafile. This is based on the colours of the surviving original example in the Technisches Museum.
The serrated bands were hand painted (with a brush) after marking the outlines in pencil using a template cut from a Post-It note. The fuselage letters were cut from strips of white decal sheet. Rigging is HSP and the identification pennons are made from paper.
Kit: Roden (1:72)
This is the Roden Fokker DVI built with additional cockpit details from a PART etched set (for the Fokker DrI). The seat frame was scratchbuilt, and the machine guns also had etched jackets added from the the PART set. The kit was built as one of the planes used by Kest 1a based on a photo in the datafile. The lozenge decals are Pegasus four colour. The more eagle-eyed among you may notice that the Wolff propellor logo is the wrong way round - this happened during decal application and I only noticed once I had Futured the prop, so it was too late to correct this mistake!
Kit: Eduard (1:72)
This is the Eduard Profipack version of the EIII kit finished straight out of the box. It is finished as Ernst Udet's aircraft. The kit is an absolute dream - it went together with no problems whatsoever. The etched parts are easy to use and add to the level of detail nicely.
The model is finished using MisterKit paints with Citadel metallics for the engine (all brush painted, of course). The decals are from the kit apart from the Imperial prop logos which are from the excellent Americal/Gryphon sheet. Rigging is from heat stretched sprue. I highly recommend this kit as a first buuild for someone wanting to get into WWI modelling.
This is the Eduard Fokker Dr.I built out of the box except for the addition of seatbelts from wine bottle foil. The build was pretty straightforward except for some minor issues with the cabane struts. It is finished as a Jasta 15 plane using Americal/Gryphon decals. The streaked camouflage was done with green acrylics (a mix of MisterKit and Citadel paints) applied over a CDL coloured base (again Citadel acrylics) with a No 6 brush.
Kit: Revell (1:72)
The new tooling from Revell of the Dr.I finished as Jacobs' reserve mount 470/17. This is built out of the box except for the addition of seatbelts from wine bottle foil. The Revell kit is very nice, the detail on the engine and the guns being particularly good (and IMHO better than the Eduard kit). The wing ribs are a bit overdone and the "suck in" on the lower wings is a good effect but again a bit overdone. Nevertheless it's great to see Revell returning to new WWI subjects.
The plane is finished as the all-black 470/17 using Superscale decals.
This is one of the many Roden Oeffag Albatri, in this case a series 153 machine as piloted by one of Austria-Hungary's leading aces, Godwin Brumowski. Brumowski started painting his machines red after a visit to the Western Front where he met, and was inspired by, Manfred von Richthofen. The skull was Brumowski's own personal motif, seen on many of his planes.
The kit was built quickly out of the box (with seatbelts added) for a club display. It went together well and I did not experience major difficulties with the decking around the engine as some others have. I did have difficulty with the struts. I fitted the cabane struts first, then fixed the top wing to these. I found that the interplane v-struts were too short so had to scratch these from Strutz. The plane is rigged with HSP.