1/72 Albatros D.II reproduction

[KiwiZac]

Hi all,
As part of my recent WW1 kick

I've been looking at the Albatros family. To be honest, I've never really been a fan of the D.V/Va - even when I had the change to get up on one of the new-builds at Masterton a few years back - and I prefer the earlier D.II. As luck would have it one spatmad Pittsburgher send me the Roden 1/72 kit some years ago as part of a care package.



So I got to work on it, albeit 7-8yr after receipt! Sorry, Bri! But this, I hope, will be worth the wait.

I'm keen to get into the big Wingnut Wings kits but before spending that kind of money I need to sharpen my wood and fabric skills. A big part of that is perfecting the "varnished wood" look which is such a major part of the aircraft of The Great War. Having recently joined (and saved photos, tutorials, tips etc) the WW1AircraftModels.com forum I have a TON of inspirational builds to reference and a nice range of models to practice on at home. The Albatros is ideal for the wood as the fuselage is...well...take a look at the real(ish) deal:

James Fahey photo as I haven't seen it in person yet
Pre-covering airframe pics here: http://www.craftlab.at/index.php?id=42&L=1
Up-close detail shots and flying the beast with Kermit Weeks here: https://youtu.be/whxYU1nrE-Q

I decided to build the kit as the above aircraft, a new-build/reproduction flying in in the colours of Oswald Boelcke. The airframe was, I believe, built in Austria by Koloman Mayrhofer and his team and finished to airworthy by The Vintage Aviator Ltd in New Zealand. It, along with several dozen other rather nice WW1 machines, is based about four hours' drive from me.

The kit is an older Roden mould which means lots of flash and minimal locating pins/tabs, but exquisite detail. The inside and outside of the fuselage, and the prop, were painted with two-three coats of a sand yellow (exact Tamiya number to be inserted) as a base for the oil paint to come. The interior had a drybrush of Tamiya Flat Brown as the cockpit opening will be too small to see much.



The engine is a little beauty. Wingnut Wings publishes its instruction books on their website as PDFs, so I downloaded the book for the Pfalz D.IIIa (similar engine) as reference for painting:


The upper wing is a three-piece construction, allowing for different radiator setups, and there are no locating pins so it was down to cement and hoping it'll stick! Fortunately the wing has no dihedral so I sat it on the desk to dry. It, the bottom wings and the horizontal tail, all had a couple of coats of Tamiya Light Blue painted on the underside. Ditto the engine cowling. On Saturday I used some filler on the belly seam and behind the cockpit opening, this will be sanded this weekend.

The next step is the scariest one for me: using oil paints and a sponge to simulate wood grain. I still haven't found the paints but will look at a couple of online options tonight: unfortunately the local crafts/book shops only have acrylics.

[Brian da Basher]

You're well on the way to a real show-stopper right out of the gate, Zac! Nice detailing on that engine!

I think you totally nailed the wood grain color on the fuselage too. Very wise using that kit as a run-up to the larger WNW version! I look forward to seeing how your work on the fabric effect comes out. Not something I've ever tried myself so this is an opportunity for me to learn from your efforts.

The Roden kit is probably my favorite 1/72 Albatros out there. Should finish up a treat in your talented hands!

Brian da Basher

[KiwiZac]

Thanks Brian, it's a challenging little thing but is working out nice.

I was finally able to find a shop selling oils so I was able to give varnish a try:

This is Burnt Umber put on with a sponge. Fun and easy! Interestingly the Wingnut Wings guide to this uses the exact same paint! FYI the props are for a Vickers Vimy.

I've had to come inside as it's just too cold out there, but I'm very pleased with this.

[Acree]

You SHOULD be pleased: looks GREAT!

Chuck

[KiwiZac]

Thanks Chuck! I was so pleased to have it done as I've been endlessly re-reading other builds online for inspiration and tips, and it turned out to be easier than I expected. You can just see where I did a bit more work on the nose and the wing fillet bits, just to break up the finish.

Next job will be checking for touch ups on the wood and, if that's not needed, repainting the top cowl and attaching the nose and tailfeathers.

[KiwiZac]

This weekend's work was mainly focused on the Pfalz but I did do some more on the Albatros. For the camouflage I've found Tamiya Red Brown to be a close enough approximation for me, I just need to study photos of the real deal and find matches for the other two colours.


Also in the photo are the aforementioned Pfalz and the Revell D.VII being done as a The Blue Max replica with Aviattic lozenge.

I also put on the nose cowling - it's a bit smaller than it should be, but it works for me - and painted the louvres and hatches etc to match. I'll get a photo of that up later this week - it breaks up the wood quite nicely. I also had to repaint the fin as I hadn't masked the rudder, resulting in brown splotches under the "wood grain" which looked pretty bad. That meant I was also able to "varnish" the prop.

It's now pretty much on hold until I sort out colour for the camo.