1/72 Albatros DV completed

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1/72 ALBATROS DV 1917 COMPLETED!

Stage 2 of the World War I mini-project has now been completed, with the Albatros DV (as flown by the Baron von Richthofen in 1917) joining the previously posted Fokker Triplane on the metaphorical  runway.

It wasn’t nearly such a straightforward build as the Fokker DrI, not least because I decided to impose a few scratched ‘improvements’ (well, in my opinion they were improvements anyway) on the kit. As with Fokker, this started with needing to do something about the propeller – which was far too small and spindly, so I cut the blades off, glued in and sculpted some spares, and painted it to give a wood effect, adding the propeller logos from the WW1 German Crosses produced by Almark Decals (from Hannants).

I was not overly impressed by the rather badly and indistinctly moulded pilot provided either, so I substituted a suitably attired (and painted) one from the PJ Productions World War I pilots pack.

Put into the cockpit – the walls of which were given some detail and a varnished wood finish – along with a rudimentary instrumental panel made from plasticard and a ‘wooden’ finish, with a couple of instrument decals from the spares box and also a seat, I think it was worth the effort.

Other non-OOB additions were the windshield, and also the pipe leading from the engine up to the wing-mounted radiator.

The main part of the fuselage was quite a challenge to get a resemblance to natural varnished wood. The first step was to sandpaper off all the raised panel lines, and then lightly scribe some 'joins'. I use a variety of brushes to apply mainly Vallejo Model Air paints for my models (I don’t have an air-brush!), and to get the natural wood finish I built up a series of different colours using a sparsely bristled brush to get a streaky, grainy effect, masking off some sections to give an impression of different pieces of birch-wood. Colours used included Yellow, Ivory, Cream, Sand Beige, Nato Brown and Leather Brown, finished with a coat of Vallejo Satin varnish to give a slight gloss.

The paint call-outs with the kit were of course for old Airfix (pre-Humbrol) enamels. The red was easy enough to replicate, and I ended up using Vallejo 71.007 Olive Green and 71.271 German Red Brown on the upper wing surfaces, with RLM65 Light Blue on the underwing surfaces. When it came to putting the decals on, the ones that came with the kit either curled up completely or disintegrated, so I used some more from the WW1 German Crosses produced by Almark Decals. Painted surfaces (and decals) were sealed using Vallejo Matt varnish.

Then it was time for rigging… The rigging on the Albatros was far more complex than on the Fokker DrI, and I used AK Thin elastic fastened with tiny drops of Rocket ‘Hot’ CA glue applied using very fine nozzled plastic extensions which I found on a modelling site.

For a little kit, I probably made it more of a challenge for myself than I needed to, but I enjoyed the build, and so next my attention will turn to the RFC/RNAS, with a Sopwith Camel (also the Airfix 1/72 scale version) making its way on to the bench.

Thanks for taking the trouble to have a look at this one!

[SD45elect2000]

Well done, I like the finish on the fuselage. The rigging looks great !

Randall

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Many thanks Randall. I think it was worth all the time and effort. I just wish sometimes that my fingers were a little bit smaller!

[peebeep]

What this demonstrates is that you don't need a latest state-of-the-art kit to produce something that looks pretty neat and having a hoot whilst doing so.

[Dominic Thomas]

I have to say I am very impressed, especially with the fuselage wood effect.

this thread is great as it fits with my current interest based on my new found confidence with rigging.

very well done. I am struggling to wait to see the Camel, for which I will be very interested to see which markings option/ manufacturer you select.

[Hurricane Boy]

Hello 98

Very nice job

I built this kit years ago as a boy and liked it then.

As said above, a little research and some good modelling effort and you have a first class job,

I have never painted crew members like you, Matt and others on this forum do. I will have to try my hand at it.

Anyway…..very nice job. The Camel should be interesting….. maybe Brown or Barker? Or Collishaw or MacLaren? (You know I have to put a plug in for the Canadians)

Cheers,

Tim

[Virginia Matt]

Very excellent wood grain effect! I surely would’ve chickened out and got some wood grain decals for that. The rigging is impressive, too! Superb build all around.

Matt

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Thanks for your replies and kind words Tim, Matt, Dominic and PB. Collishaw is a good shout - until I read about him in one of the Vanguard books (Empire Aces), I had no idea that he went on to be involved during WW2 in 12 Group - so a distinct possibility for the Camel.

As for rigging - I'm gradually getting the hang of it. I've found by trial and error that very thin, fast-setting CA is part of the answer. Obviously going up to 1/48th scale (at least!) would make life even easier, but lack of space for display (and cost...) keeps me in 1/72-land.

Anyway, as PB so correctly points out, having fun is the whole point - and if the finished model is pleasing to all and sundry, that's a real bonus.

So thank you everyone for your replies.