Real nice to see you online.
>First of all I would like to thank Shane (somewhere in Australia) for
>providing me the information concerning the WWI listserver.
Thanks not needed. I'm in Brisbane, capital of the State of Queensland, a
city of about 1.1 million about half way up the east coast of our
continent.
>Short bio: 22 years active Army (now retired), employed by the state of
VA,
>married 23 years, dabbled in different hobbies over the years,
low-output (at
>present), prefer WWI aircraft w/an occassional WWII Plane/Armor model.
Short bio for your info: 10 years active Army, plus a few years reserve
(now retired), did my time working for the state and now employed by a
large mining company with interests in every continent except North
America (sold our US and Canadian holdings last year) and Antarctica.
Don't get to travel outside the country much though :-(
Low output, but I'm always a slow modeller. Mostly WW1 or between wars,
though I have a line of Hawker aircraft, and an interest in post WW2
piston engined naval aircraft. And the usual forays into a tank or figure
from time to time.
>Q. With regards to WWI cockpits, what was the general scheme as far as
colors
>for the inside of the fabric surfaces and/or plywood sheeting?
Tough one. Mostly the fabric covered ones are clear doped inside (for
protection from moisture I guess) which leads to them being a duller
version of the outer surface colour (on clear doped or loz) or a darkened
linen colour (where the outer surface colour is dark)
Aircraft with wooden fuselages always seem to have varnished wood
interiors. (Where "always" means in every photo I have seen, and NOT
necessarilly ALWAYS) What colour the wood is presumably depends on what
it was made of. In this case you're on your own I'm afraid.
Regarding your Esci Albatros, I wouldn't take the critiques of the kit
too seriously. I find that it's typical of most WW1 kits made prior to
the arrival of Eduard and DML. That is, it's basic. Outline is not so
bad, just flatten the fuse sides a little on a sanding board, and maybe
replace or thin down the struts (almost always needed anyway). If you
really wanted a winner, (I got the impression you were looking to build
it out of the box as a change from your usual), it would need a bit more
work. Cockpit is bare too isn't it? Not that it matters much in a 1:72
D.III - just add seat and stick :-)
Anyway, once again, nice to hear from you on line. I hope you enjoy the
forum.
Regards
Shane