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Kit: Revell (1:72)
I threw together this one to see how the "blue" stripe looked on the aircraft, rather than the typically modeled "red" stripe. The decals gave me no end of problems. I rigged the model with metallic thread. At another place there was some discussion of whether Udet actually had a red or blue stripe on his aircraft. The argument being that his unit was a Bavarian and the Bavarian colour is blue.
Kit: Eduard (1:48)
This is the Profipack release of the kit. Straight forward build, rigged with 0.005" stainless wire. I attempted to be subtle with the wood grain.
This was an OOB build of Eduard's 1/48 scale kit. Markings were taken from an aftermarket Eagle Strike sheet. My main reason for this choice was that I'd never done an Albatros before, and I wanted a crack at the lovely wood finish of these birds. The kit went to together nicely, all I added was a clear styrene windshield. The fuselage was brush-painted in oils, with each panel a slightly different shade and grain (which turned out difficult to see). Once it had cured for a few days, I brushed over it with future and applied the decals. The wings were brush-painted with acrylics, futured, decaled and the whole thing futured again. Rigging was 2lb fishing line painted with acrylic blackish-silver. Weathering was light, a bit of dry-brushing round the tail surfaces and some 'flaked off paint' around the spinner. The lesson here was to do with rigging; as per the DURAS system, drill the rigging holes at the angle the line is to come out at!
I detailed the interior with metallic string and steel wire for control and gun cables. I added aluminium seat belts.
Kit: Revell (1:48)
This was an OOB build of Revell's 1/48 scale kit in the markings of Ltn Oliver von Beaulieu-Marconnay, of Jasta 15 in the summer of 1918. My main reason for this choice was that I'd never done lozenge before, and this option gave me the chance. The kit went to together nicely, and I was able to get a bit creative in hand painting the instruments and adding a clear styrene windshield. Te aircraft was finished in acrylics and was brush-painted. I feel that my choice of blue was perhaps a little dark, but following on from a lesson learned in my previous SE5a build, I masked and painted under the white personal markings on the fuselage. Weathering was a simple dry-brushing of a sooty/oily brown colour. I also hand painted the rib-tapes on the underside of the wings. The main lesson from this kit was to do a little more research on colours, etc before starting. For instance The only profile I have subsequently seen of this aircraft shows lozenge on top of wings, whereas kit instructions had them as blue.
Kit: DML (1:48)
This is my representation of the Fokker Dr.I flown by Oblt Bruno Loerzer, the OC, JG.III in April 1918. The colour scheme is from Bob Pearson's CD.
This is a Weekend Edition kit done up at a Jasta 18 bird. Rigged with 0.005 stainless wire. OOB apart from radiator hoses and fuel lines scratched from styrene rod.
Profipack version of the kit, built OOB and rigged with 0.005" stainless steel wire. Upper wing chevron was tricky. I cut a strip of white decal paper 4mm wide and applied it over the lozenge, then carefully painted the lilac colour on top.
Kit: Legato (1:48)
This was my first resin kit, and to be honest it gave me a bit of trouble at first, but as I learned I grew to like it. The painting was a challenge, and actually took all day. I did it the way they might have done it in real life. I cut 3 2x2mm square sponges and sponged on each colour. The key here, which I learned later, is to keep the paint thin. I didn't and there are surface issues. Fortunately they don't show in the pics.
Kit: Roden (1:72)
When I started this, I thought it would be fun, a challenge and it would look pretty when it was done. And it was certainly all three. The colour scheme is courtesy of DSA. Masking was a pain, but I have now nailed down a solid masking technique, so that was a lesson learned. Decals were all home made. White parts were painted. It was half rigged with hair, but it got too frustrating to work with, so I gave up. I need more patience, perhaps.
Kit: Wingnuts Wings (1:32)
This is my first attempt at a Wingnuts kit. It is very big! The colour scheme is a little odd, but was taken from an Aerodrome thread in which the colours were discussed in detail. Actually if you take an image, pass it through a blue filter and greyscale it, it does come out pretty close to contemporary photos of a prototype aircraft.