Fellow Stringbaggers,

Just wanted to share the latest step of my modeling evolution. It's sort of a warm up for the Early Aviation Air Campaign 2008. It's the Eduard 1/48 Albatros built out of the box with monofilament and wire rigging.


I pulled out the old double action Paasche for the final dull coat. Man did I forget what a pain in the neck it was to field strip that thing down to clean it. I used Microscale Micro Flat for the final coat thinned with isopropyl alcohol.


Comments and critique are welcome,
Dwayne

You have done a beautiful job , very colourful choice . is the fuselage grey or silver ? or is it a little of both ? either way it looks fantastic!

I like it! And especially the scale eye-level camera shots. Nicely done! The original was a D.V but that was only a small difference in aileron cable routing. Close ups I have of the "Blitz" marked Alb. D. V that Ltn. von Hippel flew would make me say its closer to a grey tone. But "Silbergraü" could have been used if the mix of gray was unavailable or in short supply. It was available to units that had Pfalz aircraft on their equipment rosters.

Nice job i have the same question as the girl fusalage silver or grey and is that accurate ?

Terri and Doug,
The fuselage is hand painted Humbrol #56, silver. I don't know if this is accurate or not and I will leave it to the pundits to debate. My reason for using this color goes back to when I started building WW I about a year and a half ago. My first purchases were the Eduard Weekend Edition Albatros D III and D V. I built the D III first and decided to pick up several more kits. The painting instructions for the D V list the fuselage color as H51/11 which are Gunze colors that I don't use. The side of the box shows a Grey color but it's number is H53/13. I was looking through my other kits and found painting instructions for a similar Jasta 5 machine in Eduard kit 8030 which depicts Flaschars "Mailed Fist" from the spring of 1918. Those instructions list 56 Humbrol Aluminum as the fuselage color. The box art for the Weekend Edition D V does look as if it is depicting a subdued metalic finish so I went with it. I would like to pick up the Jasta 5 books from Albatros Pubs sometime in the future but I did not have them at the time so I felt that Eduard could be trusted for accuracy. I have to say that I have seen this kit painted with a Grey fuselage the majority of the time since that first build but I must say that I like the way the silver looks. Thats my sad story and I'm stickin with it! If anyone knows for certain what color it should be then my next build will surely wear it.
Dwayne

Dwayne,

I like it too! I think it might be my favorite build of yours. Sometimes I think the panel lines and control surface separation lines are overdone, but I think you did a good job here. Did you lengthen the struts, as the kit struts are too short. I like what you did with the overall weathering/shading. It looks like a well worn war bird.

Jeff

Very nice! Good job especially doing that red outline to the green tail, even with Eduard masks that would be a tedious part of a Jasta 5 build.

Andrew

Gentlemen and Lady,
Thanks for the kind words. I like to use your suggestions to make improvements where my abilities will let me. From earlier critique I've tried to tone down the panel lines to make them more subdued than in previous builds. I think I have a bit more to go in that department but it's still a work in progress.

Jeff,
I think the silver finish being hand brushed with the the more subtle weathering around the vents and caps gives it a more "worn" look. Stephen had offered some advice on toning down those areas as well. I haven't added any washes to the fuselage.
I did not lengthen the landing struts, I think the angle of the photos from almost ground level gives them the appearance that they were.

Andrew,
The red outline on the tail is hand painted. Its not as hard as it would seem and its certainly not perfect but close enough looks acceptable. It is time consuming, though, with multiple coats as the green is painted first. I'd say I touched it up with each color at least twice.

Thanks for the input, it helps me improve my builds, Dwayne

G'day Dwayne - nice build - whilst I am not too sure on the silver colour, I do like the overall finish on this one!

I notice you are having a bit of a sell off at the moment

http://cgi.ebay.com/Built-1-48-Scale-Albatros-DV-Jasta-5-by-Eduard_W0QQitemZ250226578962QQihZ015QQcategoryZ2587QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/Built-1-48-Scale-Albatros-DV-Jasta-23b-by-Eduard_W0QQitemZ250226575331QQihZ015QQcategoryZ2587QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

BC

The first time I looked at the pictures I thought it was pretty good. Then I went back and checked the pictures again. Now I have to say it is really great. I like the color and the overall affect. I have a few of these sitting in my closet. It is getting to be time for me to pull one of them out. I hope it comes out as nice as yours.

Carl,
Thank you very much for those kind words. While I feel this kit was one of my best efforts yet, I have a ways to go, especially when contrasted with what others are posting here. I must admit that I feel there is a limit to how far I can go in that regard and I have to be honest and say that I may not want to go there. My time resources are limited and my motives are mainly in the enjoyment of the historical aspects of WW I aviation and recreating it to that end. These things look sooooo cool! I feel you will have alot of fun with this kit and you could build a hundred and not repeat yourself. I have built quite a few now so if you'd like some tips on the pitfalls of the kit just drop me a note and I'd be more than happy to write them up for you.
Brad,
Thanks as well from someone whom I consider one of the real talents of this hobby, a true artisan. You have discovered one of the ways I can justify to the boss my time spent at the work bench, so far she's buying it and if the hobby pays for itself she's cool with it, especially when we go out to dinner!
Dwayne