I'd like to try my hand at a WW1 kit. I've been building WW2 stuff the last couple of years and would like a go at something with rag wings. Any suggestions on a good choice for my first WW1 kit?

For a good first build in 1/48 I would go with the Roden Junkers D. I kit. Either #433 & #434. In a larger scale Roden's 1/32 Fokker Dr.I. Both of these kits have been well covered here at Aeroscale. If rigging is not an issue the 1/48 Eduard Nieuport 11, 16 or 17 kits are a good choice. In the ever popular 1/72, Roden or Eduard have good choices.

Hi Andy , as Stephen has said any of the Eduard boxings a great starting point . Rodens kit are also great but do have some fit issues with them . If you do fear the rigging the Fokker D.V.II and the D.VIII . are perfect .

Since no other scales exist besides 1/72nd (the rest are all a conspiracy) here are my choices:

Revell new-tool Fokker Dr.I (Eduard is good, too)
Roden Junkers D.I (not entirely accurate, but not a lot of rigging)
Eduard Nieuport 17 (I would recommend this one at the top, but there is more rigging to it)
Eduard SPAD XIII
Eduard Albatros D.V

Best of luck!

The choices listed above are great.

My reccomendations are:
Eduards Albatros series, Fokker D.VIII or Roland C.II in 1/48th
Rodens 1/32 Albatros or Fokker Dr.I

The Eduard Albatros series are great, and available in different skill levels. Great and colorful decal options. They require a bit of rigging, which may be daunting to beginners. They do go together nicely though. I have about a dozen of these in my closet. I can't resist an Albatros on the shelves of my LHS. Be warned, if you do an Albatros, the fine, graceful lines will get you. It is almost like an addiction.

I just finished the Roland about a month or two ago. Purple and green camo or silver gray with scales to look like a fish. Minimal rigging (control wires and undercarriage), Very, very nice two seat interior, and a very pleasant build.

As for the D.VIII. I did it over a year ago. I enjoyed the build so much, I got another to keep in the stash. It is a single wing parasol, with some very nice colorful decal options. The single wing attaches well, and the overall build is really convincing. Minimal rigging as above.

The 1/32 scale kits from Roden are great. The Albatros D.III (and D.III OAW) are really great looking airplanes with some nice decal options. They go together great oob. But if you want to do extra scratch to them, you can end up with a real contest winner. (See Brad Cancians build here on Aeroscale) The notes on the smaller scale Albatros above also hold true for these larger kits. One can never have too many Albatri.

The Fokker Dr.I is the quintessential WWI Aircraft. Both of Rodens kits are great with many decal options out there in the aftermarket. The schemes you can come up with range from the basic camo scheme to the most outlandish and garish schemes imaginable. As with the Albatros above, the Dr.I kits also go together great oob. But if you want to do extra scratch to them, you can end up with a real contest winner.

All the 1/32nd kits from Roden are good choices though. The thing I like about them is that they give you a great kit that can be built into a very convincing representation straight form the box, with good decal options. But since they are larger scale, there is a lot of room to do a lot of extras. Not to long ago, we did a Group Build here on Aeroscale. The subjects were Rodens 1/32 scale kits. If you pull the threads up, you will see the full range of builds and subjects.

I don't do 1/72. My fingers are too big, and my eyes are too, uhh, old.

Basically, your choice will depend on what you like, and your skill level. I hope the kind folk here have given you plenty to choose from, and to think about. Welcome to the wonderful world of stringbaggers.

Thanks for all the input guys and gal! Like you, Carl my eyes are too old and fingers too big for 1/72 so I'm leaning to 1/48. Sorry Matt! Thanks for the heads up on the Roden kits, Terri. I had gathered that from some of the build threads so was going to steer away from them starting out. Although they do have some very interesting subjects. Looking at Stephen's list of suggestions the N17 pops out at me. I've always liked the plane and there are some very neat schemes. Even though its a little late for Father's Day, I'm sure I can convence the kids it would be a great gift for Dad.