Hai,

I never built a WW I airplane but it is time, after so many modern speed monsters, to go back to the early days of aviation when a piece of tissue, some wood and a basic engine was sufficient.

My question to all WO I specialists is; with what model and brand should I start (only 1/48 scale considered).

The models should not have too many of those pesky strings (those scare me) but a highly detailed engine, some visible wood work on the outside, a good view on the primitive cockpits of those days would be highly appreciated.

Fire away, I wonder whether you will reach a consensus

Eduard Fokker D.VII. Minimal rigging, iconic aircraft, excellent kit. My opinion, anyway.

Michael

Hi:

The Albatros family, from Eduard, is very nice too...

Diego

It's a little bit difficult to give advice on this - after exclusively building Early Aviation subjects for over 2 years now, any plane with rigging gives no pause (occasional head scratch when dabbling into double lines, tail booms and external control wires)

Eduard Nieuport family is fun to build, though most of its wood is painted silver on the exterior (you still get struts / propeller). Rigging is on the low intensity, though still high intensity for the beginner.

If you want varnished wood - Albatros is your must. Eduard kits are nice, but make sure to get aftermarket landing gear legs as stock ones are noticeably stubby. Engine is on the simple side, though Mercedes D.III is very iconic. Rigging is not too much - my starter into the WWI fray were Albatros D.II, D.V, D.III and a few more repeats until I realized there were non-Albatros planes.

Eduard Roland Cl.II is very minimal rigging and beautiful all wood bird - overpainted on the outside, varnished wood interior. Just don't do Eduard suggested mauve camo and you are good.

No rigging = Fokker triplane.

There is good advice above, the Eduard Fokker DVII has no rigging, fair cockpit and engine and fits together well. The Nieuports 11 or 16 have more rigging but not excessive again the Eduard kits are nice. I haven't built the Eduard Fokker Tripe but it is another with no rigging, the Revell 1/28 one has just been re-issued and isn't too bad. Albatros DIII and DV from Eduard I can recommend, the rigging is similar to the Nieuport and they look great completed. Don't try a Camel, SE5, Spad, Bristol Fighter or Pfaltz, you need practice first. I would go for a Nieuport or Alby first, rigging is there but manageable. Finally, there are other biplanes, Fiat CR32 and CR42 from Italeri are nice and have little rigging. I like WW1 Eduard kits, nice balance between price and detail, with superdetail kits available

I'd go with an Eduard Fokker D.VII, or a Nieuport 11 or 17, because the fokker has interplanetary struts of an 'N' shape, so the top wing is easier to mount than with individual struts, the Nieuports outboard struts are 'V' shaped. The Albatros fighters are a good bet for the same reason.

The eduard kits build up easily. I think that The eduard weekend kits are good value, although the Fokker D.VII is only available as the Hugarian version, which is still a cool looking aircraft, the radiator and the machine guns are different than the German D.VII. As well, the Hungarians turned the Albatross fighters into real hot rods with different engines., check them out.

Interplanetary Struts? Interplane struts. darn auto-correct.

remember "some visible wood work on the outside" as the loose "requirement"

Dr.I or D.VII need not apply

Albatros wins then, wood monocoque fuselage and moderate rigging, Eduard is nice and Revell do a 1/48 one as well, don't know how good it is though. The Roland might be ok, never built it and don't know if a natural wood finish was used on it's wood monocoque

I think the Revell 1/48 Albatros IS the Eduard Albatros repackaged with different decals.

as for the monocoque fuselage, I built a D.Va, and I asked off each wood panel and painted them separately. A little bit of mostly yellow and red clear afterwards gives the 'wood' a nice Woody hue. There is a lot of information on the net about recreating wood look.

I also used EZ Line for the rigging (stretchy thread)

Good luck.

PS I think even the early Roland C.II's were painted light sky blue, afterwards camo, but the exact colours are a subject of debate.

Thanks a lot for all the input.

Whatever I finally build, it will be a tribute to an exciting Aeroscale community