Keith,
Brilliant idea! I checked a bunch of photos again and you are correct. I believe adding the "lip" will solve the issues from the aft edge at the split in the leather coaming up to the wing root. I can then shave down the top portion of the cowling over the wing assembly and it should be perfect. The photo I'm referring to specifically is #34/3 on pg. 76 of the Windsock Fokker DR.1 Jagdstaffeln Special, 146/17 with August Delling in the cockpit. There is a pronounced gap between the upper metal coaming and the wing and the lip you mention stands out clearly.
I had actually just sat down and picked up my razor saw when I thought I'd check back here first just on the slim chance that someone had replied with some sage advice........... Thanks for looking and the afore mentioned suggestion. I'm on it and will report back with results soon. That old adage about a second set of eyes is sooooo true!
Cheers,
Lance

Mark,
Thanks for the comments and good wishes on the salvage job.
It's all good! Thanks to Keith's suggestion the work has been completed and I'm quite happy with the results.
Will post some Pics soon; now to get moving forward vs. backward again!

Cheers,
Lance
P.S. Keith: If I ever make it to the "Walking Tour of Whiskey Distilleries of Scotland' my Brother in Law and I have fantasized about and then head south to see the IWM I'll definitely visit, and ALL the beer's on me! Great pick-up and advice. IOU

Just a brief update on the modifications/repairs.
First, a shot of the cowling on the real thing as it joined the fuselage sides with a "lip" that formed over the lower fuselage joint.

The lip was added to both sides to cover the previous gap and provide a more accurate version of the cowling. Evergreen Styrene strip and CA were used. Next, the cowling immediately above the middle wing areas was shaved down to reduce the gap apparent in those areas.


The re-worked areas were then touched up and the results are acceptable. The "fuzz" around the leather coaming (residue from a temp. tissue mask to protect the cockpit) has since been cleaned off!


A thankfully easy and reasonably succesful recovery thanks to some timely suggestions from a fellow member! Now it's time to start adding major components and bringing this one all together. I'll update once the guns etc. are on the upper cowl and the empenage and upper wing including control surfaces are all complete.

Cheers,
Lance

Another brief update; next one should be titled "Complete"!
The cabanes required anchor points for the support wires. These were made from fine wire twisted with a drill bit and CA'ed to the parts.

Next the Spandaus were installed; these were made from the kit parts and PE acessories. The blast or flash shields by the muzzles were scratched from metal foil from my favorite scotch bottle seal; adds a bit of flavor pardon the poor pun... I also added the oil filler tank access and cap to the starboard side which was not in the kit molding.


Next came the flight controls, all were rigged with steel guitar wire and Bob`s Buckles. I elected to not install the PE grommet liners as they appeared a little bulky and I was happy with the openings as they were. I`ll need a bit of paint touch up on a few.


The tail skid was re-attatched having been `pinged off`in a clumsy moment earlier in the build.

Last, the final attatchment and rigging of the landing gear. The brass struts worked out well and provide a very solid structure. Again, the rigging is my favorite, guitar wire which works well for short `runs`.

Over the next few days I hope to attach the lift handles, step, and horizontal stab supports, wing tip skids, attach the upper wing and install and rig the cabanes, and rig the cowling retention cable. At that point the engine and cowling can be installed, prop carved and installed, and with a little more weathering she`ll be done.
Nice kit with a few minor shortfalls. I`ve always wanted to do one of the Baron`s spare birds and am very pleased with the colors; looking forward to completion and having her in the display case.

Cheers,
Lance

HI Lance:

It looks as if you have been busy and the extra effort has paid off. Looking good, and looking forward to seeing the completed a/c. I have the Encore kit of this, couldn't resist the Squadron offering of $19.99, and may have to test my Triplane Skills on it.

Best

Mark

Mark,
You got a great deal on it; I had bought all 3 of their kits over several months at the much higher "sale price" thinking they might be going OOP.
When you get to the Build take a few minutes to review member Claudio Kalicinsky's (Kalt) Build Thread of 25 April 2008. Beautifully done kit and full of great little hints and reference bits. I also found lots of good stuff in the 29 Sept 2010 "Roden Fokker DR.1 Inquireys" article.

Cheers,
Lance

This is the final construction update; other then completing and adding the prop and a bit of weathering she's done!
I got the top wing attached to the interplane struts, then worked the cabanes into place and rigged them. Also added the aileron control cables from the upper decking to the upper wing. Both these rigging steps took a lot of time and patience as the space is pretty tight in both cases. There is, however, little in the way of options as the wing needs to be permanently installed first.

Next the wingtip skids, stabilator braces, step, and lift handles were installed.

At this point the cowling retaining strap was fashioned using fine copper electrical wire and a few of Mr. Bob's superb Buckles. This was a "fiddley fat finger fest" right up there with herding cats (or fleas?!) on the frustration scale. In the end it turned out well however I'm going to try something with some "spring" next time, probably guitar wire. First with one end attached; then the finished unit installed on the aircraft.


The last step was carving the prop; I made 3 "blanks" to ensure a backup should one or more get ruined. I laminated layers of very thin dark and light veneers using from 4 to 6 layers, the 4 layer version was ultimately used and produced a pattern like many of the photos in the references.

As it turned out my first attempt worked quite well; got the shape and pattern I had hoped for and, after final sanding with very fine wet&dry paper it was stained with a "Fruitwood" penetrating stain and 3 coats of Tamiya clear orange were applied.
The prop boss is from Copper State Models, the plastic Hex Mounting bolts "scratched", and Vectorcut nuts will be added on the outer edge of the boss. With that complete the assembly goes on the shaft and it's finished.

Hopefully I'll get the prop and a small bit of final touch ups and weathering done by tonight. Tomorrow promises a clear sunny day so I'll try for some photos of the final product. In the meantime I couldn't resist a quick "workbench shot" of the all but complete beast.


And that's all for now; back tomorrow I hope with the final entry on this; then hopefully on to the KoTS II Campaign or some facsimile thereof!

Cheers,
Lance

Coming along nicely.

Final touches done this this morning; she is truly completed.
The prop boss and bolts as planned:


I kept the weathering on this one quite light limiting it to some soiling of the wheels/tires and some oil staining. The only weathering added at this final stage was a light dose of oil along the undersurfaces of the fuselage and wing roots. Not much in the way of ref. photos in this regard but what was available indicated generally less then many of the other aircraft on the inventories. Tamiya Smoke was used for the oil staining.


By now all have twigged on the fact that "I ain't no photographer"! (and my brother does it for a living......I drive him to utter distraction!!) I attempted to get some regular overall shots in natural light in the shop and artificial lights on the desk with a white backdrop, all with mixed results. Next five are strong sunlight in the shop..........even if I had an oak stump like Kornbeef's the outside temp of -20C today would probably freeze the camera!





Next a couple taken on the work bench with art stock background. These show the best representation of the actual colours.


To finish off, a fore and aft looking view of the business end of this fighter. MvR only attained 3 of his kills using this airframe; numbers 64 (Bristol F2B), 65, and 66.(latter 2 Camels) on 12, 13, and 18 March 1918.


My final verdict on this Roden Kit:
Excellent subject and very good on accuracy with two exceptions.(Rudder requires significant re-shaping and oil tank/filler not included) Decals as useless as I anticipated they would be; cracked on water contact and sole example used had to be repaired from 3-4 pieces it shattered into on application.) The smaller parts are well done but unfortunately difficult to work with due to "overkill" on sprue attachments and a soft very unforgiving plastic. Would I build it again? emphatically "yes"! I have the Encore F1 in the stash and would like to do Lothar v. R's yellow trimmed one as well if only for the colour scheme.(wish I had bought another one during the Xmas super-sale at $19.99)
Now I am looking forward to the added enjoyment of building for a campaign in KoTS II and am considering the "Fighters" or WWI Campaigns on the other Forums.
So nice to be back into the Hobby and, after modelling for years "in the dark", truly enjoying the benefits offered by this Site.

Cheers,
Lance

Hello Lance:

Truly an outstanding build and great build blog. That is one of my favorite schemes. It has elements of the streaking and color, and you have captured it quite well. Your prop turned out extremely well and highlights the model nicely.

Looking forward to your next kit.

Best
Mark

Another gem Lance. You have inspired me to do a walk through on some prime replicas that are out there today. A good friend Col. Roy Houchin sent me some images that he says I can use for tutorials at my discretion.

Mark,
Thanks for the very supportive remarks; the streaking is what intimidated me most before I got to it however it turned out to be fairly benign.
As for the next build, like you I'm in for KoTS II however not 100% sure of what the topic will be. Been researching and dry fitting a possible subject, so many choices!

Stephen,
Thank you for the compliment and I'm thrilled to hear I provided an inspirational effect on you. The Dr.I is a favorite of mine and indeed a bit of a "gem". I look forward to your tutorials.

Cheers,
Lance

Hello Lance,

Congratulations on finishing the DR1 – very handsome build, with great attention to detail!

Best Regards

Mikael

Mikael,
Many thanks for the nice words! My greatest challenge as mentioned at the end of my last build is to get "cleaner". I tend to work mainly with enamel paints; the acrylic work I see on the site tends to be a much cleaner finish. (I sometimes think I maybe should thin the enamels more?) On the other hand most of the messy spots seem to show up only on the "machro" mode shots from my digital camera; not readily apparent to my naked eyes. The fact that I ordered an Optivisor yesterday may well eliminate that logic trail as an excuse............!
Any advise/hints would be appreciated; I consider your work (and such other builders as Brad Cancian and Des Dellatore) to be the "standard" for clean results combined with just the appropriate degree of weathering.
As an aside, delighted to see you've registered for KoTS II, looking forward to following your build.

Cheers,
Lance

Lance that is sharp enough to shave with. Sweet. Love that prop.

Thanks Marc!
The Heine Prop was a little intimidating at first; my first attempt at a "curved" prop vs. a straight profile. It turned out to be fairly routine, or I just got lucky on this one. Next challenge in this area will be if/when I venture into a 4 bladed one.

Cheers,
Lance

Thank You Lance for your very kind words on my "clean" finishes – this is otherwise something I feel has been a weak spot in my modeling, and something that I've strived to improve.

Like you I used Enamels for many years, and with hindsight I think the application of these were very much more difficult to get a clean result – They had a tendency to clog the airbrush, they were a lot more sensitive to get to the proper viscosity. The smell was not too pleasant either...

It was actually the smell of white spirit that finally made me, under duress from my wife, to switch to acrylic. The transition was hard – but once I've got used to the way acrylics work – I never looked back.

I now use Tamiya acrylics with a dash of Xtraacrylics, and I'm very pleased I did the swap, not only do the flow really well, and create great results, they dry in an instant too, making the process quicker and less sensitive to dust... One problem could potentially be that the surface is more sensitive to scratching. They are also difficult to hand brush, so I would never try Fokker streaky with acrylics.

So, If you're thinking about swapping to acrylics – don't hesitate – in my opinion of course.

Best Regards

Mikael