Areo 72 in Review

NOTE: I have not yet built any of these, so this is more of a commentary on accuracy and contents.

All kits have plastic fuselage & Wings, white metal engine & other details, with either contrail struts or brass 'Strutz'. The instructions are text only for assembly, but contain B&W 3-views for color reference. Unfortunately (unlike pegasus) there are no true length drawings for the struts - you must judge lengths & alignments from the 3-views.

In General these kits compare well with Pegasus of a few years ago. (Detail isn't as crisp as current Pegasus.)

Details are finely etched (with slightly raised wing ribs) but could use a little cleaning up. The surfaces look (and feel) slightly rough, but that should vanish under some light sanding if you fell it is warranted. The wings & tail are nice and thin, with minor flash around the edges. The upper wing features the large cutout typical of series 138 & later aircraft, and mid & late production series 38 aircraft, and has washout on the ailerons. The fuselage is typical of the above series and features no interior detail other than stick and seat, but it does have the engine cut-out as a seperate metal part, so it is easy to build with either the open or enclosed engine. Decals include serials (two full & two extra #s) and crosses.

This kit should be easily modifiable into early series 38 (fill wing cut out) and all later series aircraft by modifying the nose & wings (remember for many aircraft in the late series -eg. 315, 238 series- the number of ribs must be doubled. . .)

The kit scales out spot on with 3-views in the Datafile.

Details are finely etched (with slightly raised wing ribs) but could use a little cleaning up. The surfaces look a little rough but not as rough as on the Aviatik. The fuselage is well done, with a nice large cockpit opening for you scratchbuilders- the only interior provided being the seat. neither of the cowlings appear to be totally typical of all the 'D's - but this is not hard to fix - cut away some bits, or add a bulge on the stbd. side. (actually, the cowlings seem very 'C' like.) The wings & tail are nice and thin, with very little flash around the edges. The wings feature the short ailerons found on some 'D's (lengthen by one rib inboard if necessary). The rudder is the usual 'D' one (Some 'D's featured a taller one, or the smaller 'C' rudder.) Decals are included on two identical sheets, featuring serials for four aircraft, roundels & tail flash.

The extreme similarity between the 'D' and the 'C' make this a very versatile kit.

The kit scales out spot on with 3-views in the Datafile.

Details are finely etched (fine lines around ply panels on wing.) The fuselage is fairly well done, but the left side features several fine parallel ridges where the mould must have been scratched. Other than the seat, there is no interior detail. The cowling is well shaped but the front is smoothly blended with the side, rather than there being a distinct edge between the front and the side. You could probably sand the front lightly to correct this. The elevator appears to be about 1mm too broad in chord. The wings & tail are nice and thin, with virtually no flash at all. Decals are for 153/18 of Jasta 6, and features crosses, stripes, and the white 'teeth' for the black cowling. Lozenge covering must be provided by the builder.

Other than the elevator, the kit scales out spot on with 3-views in the Datafile.

Details are finely done with raised rib tapes. The fuselage is fairly well done, but the cockpit opening needs enlarging, and the ply sides bulge out quite prominently. Other than the seat, there is no interior detail. The cowling is well shaped but the front is smoothly blended with the side, rather than there being a distinct edge between the front and the side. You could probably sand the front lightly to correct this. The wings & tail are nice and thin, with virtually no flash at all. Decals are for Leutnant Spiedel's aircraft - *Unknown Serial* of Jasta 80b, and features crosses & stripes. Lozenge covering must be provided by the builder.

The kit scales out spot on with 3-views in Albatros' WW1 Warplanes Vol.1.

NOTE: The horizontal stabs. in the D.VIII kit, and the D.VI kit are the same. ALSO NOTE: The 3-views in the D.VIII, and DR.1 datafile & 'other sources' show identical 'small' elevators, while the D.VI 3-view in WW1 warplanes Vol.1 shows the slightly larger elevator. I couldn't find this difference mentioned in the text, so the D.VI elevator could be wrong too. . .

The kit's contents include 7 vacuformed sheets, decals, struts, metal bits, and instructions. The vacuformed sheets contain parts for the fuselage (including alternate cockpits), upper, and lower wings (single parts), early and late ailerons (also single parts), cockpit glazing (for enclosed cockpit option), wing tip floats, and tail parts (horizontal stab & vertical surfaces are in halves); metal parts include 2 Rolls Royce Eagles (5 parts each), radiators, exhausts, handed airscrews, engine mounts and other struts, guns & gun rings, control wheels, and wind driven aileron assist servos; decals for 5 different aircraft (for nearly all parts options); there is also 1 piece of contrail strut,1 thin rod, and some plastic strip.

Details are finely done with lightly raised wing ribs. The wings & tail are nicely done via a unique molding technique. The wings, ailerons & tail parts are molded at a 45 degree angle to the sheet. The leading edge of wings and tail are roughly .080in. and .030in. thick respectively, the trailing edges (sucked farther into the mold) thin to around .005in. or less!! Both early (tapered) and late (balanced) ailerons are privided as separate pieces. The fuselage is molded in 7 pieces: left and right halves, water plane, bulkhead, enclosed cockpit deck with separate glazing, and late open cockpit deck. Interior detail is limited to the control wheels (no seats!?) Decals include 5 serials and personal markings (Black Bess, Aquila) as well as roundels & tail stripes. The instructions are step by step, with illustrations limited to wing sanding advice, 3-views (for parts placement & colors) and a small cockpit drawing.

Windsock Vol.7/2 and 7/3 are very handy for this kit. Vol.7/2 contains 3-views (similar to ones enclosed in kit) as well as numerous exterior & interior photos. Vol.7/3 contains more exterior shots, including some close ups.

The kit scales out well with 3-views in Windsock magazine.

HITS: special wing molding to reduce sanding of wings, decent size, clean detail. MISS: lack of interior details and lack of non-handed airscrews for late aircraft (although you can buy another set of handed airscrews to repair this.)

1/72 Felixstowe: kit # K308 (UK pounds) 26.50 - VAT + S&H from Aeroclub.

Of course, to display this aircraft properly requires the Esoteric beaching gear!