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Kit: Roden (1:72)
My first WWI model since building a handful in Jr.Highschool...like 40 some years ago...(gulp)
Kit: Eduard (1:48)
Eduard's D.Va is a treat to build. This one was the special "Roteflieger" edition, which included a Fokker Dr.I and resin figures of Manfred, Lothar und die Hunde, Moritz. I got somewhat daring (or so I thought at the time) with the rigging, using twisted brass wire for the anchors and Aerotech nylon for the actual cables. It gives the illusion of turnbuckles, but next time I'll try the stretched Q-Tip technique for actual turnbuckles. In any event, just giving the rigging some irregularity seems to add a realistic effect, even if inaccurate.
Eduard's 1/48 Dr.I is a joy to build. I had some fun with shading the doped linen air-brushing multiple translucent layers. The reds on the upper surfaces are a little more subtle than the undersides, but if you look closely you can see traces of the olive streaking beneath the red upper surfaces. These things are turning into little 3-dimensional Maxfield Parish projects. My only complaint was that I had to re-build the cockpits...both of the Dr.I and the D.Va. Not that it was really necessary or even visible, but, unfortunately for me, I happened upon some detailed plans of the control mechanisms in the cockpits that I couldn't resist scratch building. In any event, I have the great luck of having a brother in law who is the head designer/photographer at Consumer Reports and he helped with the photography. That Dr.I cockpit shot is actually several different exposures morphed together in Photoshop.
Kit: Eduard (1:72)
Eduard's E.IV. Nice little kit.
These Roden kits drive me crazy, yet I seem to keep going back for more. When the box is first opened, one marvels at the detail in the most minute of parts. Unfortunately, this lulls the unsuspecting builder into assuming as much attention to detail has been paid to the larger parts, the instructions and basic fit. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Anyway, I did a decent amount of SCRATCHBUILDING on this one: Interior Fuselage Framing at Cockpit and Crew Compartment, Bomb Release Levers at starboard nose, Bombadier Parabellum Mount Mechanism, Rear Parabellum Mount Track, Seat Belts w/ Brass Wire Buckles, Underwing Bomb Racks, Exterior Fuselage Control Cables and Cable Guides, Wingtop Fueltank Mounting Brackets and Vent, all Control Surfaces Cut and Deflected with New Hinges so that there is a consistent gap between wing and control surface, Wing Strut Mount Brackets. An Extra-Tech P/E sheet provided for the fuselage bomb racks and the Parabellums. Other than that, some MISCELLANEOUS items: Simulated Wood Grain finish with Acrylic and dry-brushed oils. Translucent linen effect was achieved by airbrushing different shades of acrylic and a lot of masking. I used .006 Wonder Wire for the Rigging.
Rudy Stark's Lilac Fokker D.VII. "Li" stands for his favorite colour, lilac. I'm pretty sure that the graphic was a goof on Ernst Udet's "Lo!", which was his fiancee Elenore's nickname. Anyway, Stark certainly had an eye for graphic design. This mark's the first of several pink builds I plan to do this year as part of a group build for the Cleveland Model Show in November. The idea is to have a collection of 30 or so pink models spread out on a black table to raise awareness for breast cancer. One of the club's members, and a close friend of mine, has just finished 3 months of brutal chemotherapy and will have a double mastectomy on Tuesday.