Okay,

naughty I know but I love to build...finishing's the hard part., while waiting for bits to set, glue/paint to dry, inspiration and courage with the DI I almost have done I prized open the DII OAW box for a peek.

"Oh Dear" I gasped as the bag just split and the sprues fell out, "I'll just clip the bigger parts off and check them over."

I was quite surprised, one of the fuselage halfs was warped, the kit itself doesnt seem quite so well done as the DI, not that its poor I hasten to add, just the DI seemed very nice.

Well deciding to spend a little extra time on this one using what I have learned from the DI and my newly aquired extra windsock datafile..the info here etc I set about her with the knife.


I carefully opened up the vents, I know the eduard set has them but ...I like plastic!



Bad sinking around the radiator looking at the detail and pics I might yet see if I cant texture the rad & remake the frame out of plasticard.



the start of the engine. Basic but just opened up between the cylinders. I'm gonna try redoing the sparkplugs and such if I feel insane/brave/adventurous/stupid *delete as applicable*


Now this is where I jumped off the rails and went off with the fairies. cutting most the sections in half with the idea of building her as shown, all detail added before joining her together. It's worth a try I thought, time will tell though.

I cut away the thinner side stringers??? and the thin diagonal strips, findng details in the new datafile I added them with square section and strip to build the basic framework back up...this section fitted snug in the cutouts in the sections quite nice. Lots of alignment checking this time, I cut the engine bearers in half too as I had some difficulties with these on the DI which resulted in the cowl not fitting well further down the production line.


Cutting the front member where it would be out of sight behind the ammo holders I checked it carefully before cementing it in. Then I moved the smaller cross member forwards a little, it looked too close to the seat in the DI, and added the bottom stringers??? to the floor. I do intend adding the pulleys and cables if insanity grips me enough.

I'm hoping that trying building this way may make detailing a little easier, we will see.

Thanks for looking everyone

Keith

kinda halted till the new *Part of Poland* sets arrive...though still working on the engine and bits where the brass will be less effective.

Are you going to do the candystriper? This is a great kit.

I'd love to try but had thought of making it a late and using lozenge for the wing surfaces, does depend what clour schemes I dig up between now and then......, The candystipes would stand out nice though.

okay, I got the email from Jadar to say my PE and decals are on the way for this. so I thought I would bump the thread with a few pics of things I have been doing since I last posted.









right, sice painting I found extra reference that shows the bulkhead/crossmember that bears the tank, guns and ammo holders has a skin on the rear side, whether metal or wood I havent found out yet though.

I have dryfitted all the components though and am pleased with my construction mods so far. the paint however is a tad too dark and I will seek to lighten it some before sealing it. I added the coaming supports to the upper part and matched them nicely to the fuselage members.

Now for the engine... at first view you may exclaim WTH!.... I cut the cylinders away from the block. In all honesty I had real trouble with this area when painting the DI so I decided to build the fuselage with the all but unseen block installed and drop the engine, intake and exhaust assembly in once the fuselage is painted.

well it makes sense to me...twitches nervously! LOL




I went to town a little, saddened by the sink marks on the rocker covers I consulted the datafile and saw the OAW A/C seem to have different rocker assemblies so I reconstructed a passable facsimilie with rod and sprue and some nuts knicked off a set of Sherman drive sprockets....grins. cutting off the all but useless spark plugs I added detail to cylinders and made a few small mods here and there.
Sparkies will be rod with copperwire leads added before they are attached. Rocker arms...are part of the PE set on its way....as are valve springs but I like the way the guitarstring looks personally nd the thought of PE multidisc x 12 assemblies makes me shudder.

Now I intend to depict a craft with lozenge wing surfaces, I have the techmod 5 colour coming with the PE sets..... but read somewhere at 1/48th its a bit to garish, does anyone know how the 1/32 pans out and what colour ribtapes, to save me trawling around cos I'm so lazy.

Thanks Keith

So far Keith your wood grain is looking really good , little on the dark side , should be closer to a warm honey shade , just my own prefence . as for the rib tapes Albatros build D.III used blue ( light) for the rib tappings . top and bottom of the wings . If you have a copy of the windsock data file special on the D.III it is a great source for this . Also noted in the windsock on the D.V/A rib tapes are blue . It would be nice to see Microsculpt come out with lozenge in 32 scale , tech mods aren't that great and could use some over tones sprayed on afterwards . future tinted with clear blue and a little brown with smoke added . Also note that the OAW had the axle wing while the Albators manchines did not have this .

Hope this helps you

Hi Terri, you are right of course I already realised the wood had turned out to dark, I have since streaked it with valleyo dark flesh which is a pale ochre and drybrushed it too to lighten the whole area, I still have some wooden parts to paint so will work on those then laquer the lot with clear yellow to give it a golden glow.

I seem stuck for lozenge other than techmod and cant imagine Microsculpt will have theirs ready in time.....I have some battleaxe loz off a DVII kit I never got far with but it looks pretty dire....as had my attempts to spray loz on an old Revell DVII before I realised what a dog the kit was .... Anyway before that happens I might well find a scheme I like that dont need it...it would just contrast nice with the DI and DII camo when they are all done

Great Work Keith!

Although I agree with Terri about the tone of the wood, I really like how your wood effect turned out




I have to correct you a little Terri: The Albatros Werke used salmon pink/lavender ribs tapes on their aircraft. OAW built machines used medium blue.

Cheers,

Claudio

Yes you are correct Kalt , went back to the windsock and I missed read the info .I'm blonde that's my story and I'm sticking to it !

For doing the pyl wood in the fuselage here is the way I do it . Little late on this but I found this to have very good results .

First I brush on one coat of Tamiya deck tan . don't worry if a little of the grey plastic shows through . Let this over night so that it is fully cured . I then use testors enamel raw sierra or amber and dry brush this over the surface going in one direction . after this has tacked up some what a very damp q-tip with thinner I lightly go over this . let this dry before the next stage . Get a mixing jar and mix up a batch of 40/50 Tamiya clear yellow and thinner .Add a few drops of tamiya smoke . you can airbrush this on or do it by hand . I like to do by hand saves time on having to clean up the airbrush after wards . brush one coat on , let it dry for 30minutes to a hour and keep building it up in layers until you are happy with the results . Frame work I do on the darker side so it stands out more seal with dull coat and when dry polish with toilet paper to get the sheen back . Yes I know it is time consuming but the end results speak for it self .

I do like your wood very realistic .

Hello Keith

Really nice looking work so far and very interesting also. Totaly new buildingtecnics for me , this cutting things apart and it seems to be very smart to do .
Looking forevard to follow this build , i´m sure i will learn much new things here.

just a quick update......no pics yet

I got my PE sets from Pof P.....some of it is insanely well done, seperate turn fasteners, for panels for one.....and the PE turnbuckles are done well, folding to double width helps give them dimension.
One big downer though...the first part I tackled, the flat dash/switch panel that sits to the right is too long either that or the kit itself is wrong... hopefully tonight I can post pics to show this... a real shame considering how fine the rest looks.



GTG work calls

Gee Keith , still waiting for those up-date pic's ! You didn't forget about us little people did you ?

No, course not Terri, just life is a little full ATM and I've made little progress, Ive been doing some but not much worth posting.

I'm away for a week or more soon so will try and post before I go....dunno whether I will get chance to work on anything while away, I do hope so though.

One thing is, I am a little disappointed in the Part of Poland sets for this and the DI, The instruction leaflet shows details that are nowhere to be seen on the frets.(rivets, logos, gradiation marks etc, and with the odd little dash panel. As for the detail I dunno if all the sets I got are from a bad batch but suspect not. As with all PE theres parts that would be best in rod or even original kit parts of course, the rear machinegun support for one.
That plus most the underwing access doors and several prominant details are missing almost as if its a part 1 of 2 sets.
The eduard set though sparcer does have these parts but misses a lot of what PoP has and the detail for the guns is excellent in the PoP set. Still you cant have everything, its kinda mix and match time as some parts are given by both and each varies, E's front undercarriage strap for instance is much better than PoP's but the access doors where given by PoP are sublime

pauses for a workbreak

K.

Almost sounds like one would have to get all the sets which are avaible out there for these kits . It is ture you can't have it all at once . That part set for the Pfalz is the same way , some items are better srcatch as for some of the kit parts are better then the PE pasts .

For the Albbie D.III I have Toms Models Works PE set for both of the D.III models . Which share the same large fret as the Pfalz D.III ( see pic)



The small fret isn't inclued in the Alb/D.III offering . There is lots which this set doesn't have at all . One would still have to pick up the Eduard set for the missing items . Althought TMWS set is very well done . There are parts which aren't for the D.III . such as the gun access hatches and cowling hatches . There is no landing gear strap , could go on and on with this . All in all it would depend on how much detail one would want to add to their build .

Looking forward to your progress pic's on this build .

well update time and mixed feelings still about the PE from Part of Poland. But first let me apologise about the pics, light was fading and I rushed to try and snap them.


So we start with the seat, extra creasing on the cushion and buttons added from punched discs of plasticard. The seat itseld was cut into two, reshaped and new sides added and seams just neeeds washing over in black ink and polishing till the brown glows through..Just!


the column half done, PE and SS wire detail and I rebuilt the handgrips...not perfect but seeing as the original self imploded as I tried to shave the mould seams off and the PE option is too 2D I tried sprue and Brass wire.


the rudderbar and floor. something around the lower cockpit isnt right and bugger me if I can work out exactly what. I moved stuff about but then thought how little will be seen once the fuselage is assembled.still theres lots to add, I do intend a rudematary go at the wires and pulleys this time.


Left side cockpit.... I went to town a little, studied what pics I have of DI DII & DIII in this area and the windsock latest file and came up with this...seems the roden layout though similar is more DV. so a couple of bolts added a switch from a bronco wingnut set....Check these out...theyre for armour but 1/35 wingnuts look sweet.
I shaved the back off the magneto, built yp the supports it sits in and painted them before fixing it. The throttle is PoP Pe the handle dipped dipped and dipped again in acrylic to give it body. I stole the curved placard out my Eduards PE set for the DRI...... The wirings copper and the throttle rod is SS wire, its just rudementary painting ATM
and some is still bare

strange how the light makes the wood look completely different tween these 2 pics and in rl it doesnt look half as grotty.


this is just to show the difference...look at the instruction sheet for the PoP PE see the drawn detail on the faces ? Now look at the PE itself.....the 4 discs are the same parts, blank of detail...which is fine but having seen the instructions before I ordered the sets, I was expecting better.


Now the dash...the PoP PE seems long but the only good ref I have is of a DV in the windosck files so I scratched one to fit. If anyone can advise I would be grateful.


Keith

Despite my wingnuts arrivals I'm still working on this one......got a bit farther than the pics suggest, the fuselage is togther....now that warpage of one half really has reared its ugly head.....anyhow, pics for your perusal and comments.


the PfoP etched brass set...excels here for the guns though may be a fad overscale. the control column, not a good shot, still in its base colours needs a little tidying.


The motor, yes scrappy around the bottom, but "that bits outta sight!" needs the rockerarms added and the missing contraption from the front of the rocker assembly, some kind of pot pump or something.

Just offering a bit of help here. The long cocking handle was only seen on Fokker built 1918 aircraft.


The motor, yes scrappy around the bottom, but "that bits outta sight!" needs the rockerarms added and the missing contraption from the front of the rocker assembly, some kind of pot pump or something. [/quote]

The rocker springs are in the right place but the boxes should be further back where the leading edge is in the middle of the springs. The Alb. D.III OAW type all had the late model 175hp & early 180hp Mercedes. The air pump indeed goes ahead of the #1 cylinder.

Thanks for the info Stephen........I took the ref from the Windsock DIII Special P42 pic 109.....must be miscaptioned...a pity cos it's an excellent detail shot and shows both these features....replacement engine mebbie?.

NVM I have a resin Battleaxe engine from their DVII kit that needs a good home....Bad Roden though.....seems they use the same engine for all their Albi kits, I'm sure the engine I show will find a good home in another build.

A replacement engine of lower hp would have to have some of the plumbing lines rerouted. The main issue would be the water pump on the tower above the twin magnetos for a early 175hp. The late 175hp & and all of the subsequent Mercs had the water pump relocated under the crank case. Usually engine hp were swapped for the same type and maybe more hp - but training aircraft did have lower hp because they did not carry weapons or ammunition. I have the Albatros Fighter special I can see I neeed to get the Alb. D. III special.




I hope the resin motor was better than the BA plastic one. Now I am having flashbacks to that experience. Wow! Here is what a late 175 and 180hp Merc looks like.



Here is a guide to Mercedes D. type engines. Its not perfect but we are working to fine tune this.
Click Here.

Just to compare here is the Vector late 180hp & 200hp Merc with the twin horizontal airpumps infront of the #1 cylinder. Delivery time to me was over 2 months.

Stephen the pic I used is in the Albi fighter special too but only noted as a DIII its an almost pilot's view over the guns and engine slightly offset to the side, a pretty well known pic....I think. Anyway lots to work from from the info you just gave Mucho Thanks....slips back to work

Keith

I didn't think you were going to finish this one , with wingnuts out and all

I am saving up my pennies, nickles and dimes (as well as tens and twenties) in anticipation of the arrival of their D.Vs

Back on subject. I really like what you have been doing on this build. It makes me feel bad that I usually just build oob. Lackaskills and impatience on my part. Maybe it is because there are so many kits and so little time. I am really looking forward to seeing your progress on this great build.

Believe it or not I'm still working on this.....picked it back up a few days ago.

I am looking for a nice simple but clourful scheme, for a early batch plane with doped not lozenged fabric wings, the reason being I am not impressed with the schemes chose by Roden apart from the candystripe which is over daunting.

What Lozenge I have managed to source leaves a lot to be desired. I tried the battleaxe and when on did look quite good colourwise but it is clear and shows every flaw and air bubble and is rather thick and lifts easy. Techmods colours seem too out and strong to ghost over to tone down the lower but the upper seems bearable colourwise.

I had thought of Paul Strahles red and blue 2385/17 but there seems some confusion as to whether the lower wing surfaces were painted over pale blue or loz....... I would like to do this scheme so any info would be greatly appreciated.... I am already modding a new cylinder block after Stephen pointed out the (OAW) used the later engine like the D.V did.

Someone help and I'll post progress pics I promise...LOL