Finally ready for some paint.

More to follow soon

Hi Jesper

I'm fascinated to see how you tackle painting this, as it breaks all the accepted "rules" - but, of course, that's exactly the way new techniques are born.

All the best

Rowan

Lengthening the undercarriage was a bit of a nuisance, I know I did it on my D.v, but it was worth it. Looking good!

Thanks for the comments, guys. It is a far from perfect build, but I am actually quite satisfied so far. Next is the painting.

Speaking of painting. The instructions call the metal parts on the fuselage and the engine cowling to be painted grey-green. On pictures it seems like the parts were unpainted metal.

I am leanning towards unpainted metal - would this be wrong?

Hi Jesper,
I had a book about the Smithsonian restoration of an Albatross DVa. The metal parts were all a light gray green. All of the processes in the book were well documented in words and photos.

Best Wishes,

Gary

Thanks, Gary. Appreciate the quick answer.

Then I will go hunting in the stash for a grey-green paint that works.

No problem, Jesper. I must admit I was disappointed when I learned it was such a boring color.

....still, the Albatross is the most attractive of WWI aircraft.

Best Wishes,

Gary

Bare metal on Albatros would signify a repair / replacement part that hasn't been painted with the grey-green protective paint - the latter is the standard, while the former is a creative license (though likely possible)...

If you go with unfinished metal everywhere - it gets into unlikely territory... Leaving an element or two bare would lend a nice touch of storytelling and an accent to your build.

P.S. I am building a Pfalz that has bare metal cowling and engine spinner - it is called out in the profile painting guide... No Albatros with bare metal parts as part of its profile come to mind, though would be a stellar look!

I love the Pfalz, too. Though that may be more from the movie the Blue Max than for any other reason. Would love to see some pics of your model sometime, Ivan,

Best wishes,

Gary

Ivan, thanks for the comments. I will stick to grey green to keep it in line with conventional practice.

Ivan, do you have a build tread for your phalz? I believe it have one of those somewhere in my stash in form of a Eduard weekend build.

Not to highjack the thread, but by request:

Max Holtzem's Pfalz D.IIIa in 1/32, WingNut Wings kit - this was my first attempt at build diary (whole 3 steps!)



Eduard Pfalz' are perhaps some of their best and most accurate Early Aviation molds (IMO), second only to their Roland Walfisch (again, IMO)... The dual kit is a great value and I built three of those puppies (no build logs), back to back:

Eduard, "Iron Man" Rudolf Berthold's Pfalz (built in 2012):



Eduard, "Black Fokker Leader" Carl Degelow (2013) - the dual kit comes with 2 types of lower wings (difficult to see in the photo). Carl Degelow's Pfalz uses earlier, sharp corner wing as opposed to later, rounded corner wing.



and personal attempt at making own decal set for custom Blue Max's film Pfalz (also made 2 x DR.I's from the film)... This is before the Encore produced one and also utilized an Eduard as a base.



Some corrections I would recommend for Eduard now: adding the gravity tank feed to the engine - it's in the profile drawings... The radiator pipes (from engine to on-wing radiator) were missing (not sure if my unpacking fault or kit's), so R. Berthold got overly fat one made of stretched sprue and C. Degelow got a thin wire one (use better scratch material)... Use WnW provided profile for correct red / blue coloring for R. Berthold's Pfalz.

Roden's tagline for Pfalz D.IIIa is "Most Elegant Plane of WWI" and it's difficult to argue.

My current build is Hans Bohning's most colorful Pfalz that I will begin broadcasting shortly...

Now, back to the Albatros D.V build (after short "station identification" broadcast)!

Excellent looking Pfalz's. Bravo!

Great stuff, Ivan. Very nice builds.

More to follow on the albatros soon

Some fine builds here. As to the aluminum doped Alb. D.V there were a few (about 10-25 airframes). Udet had one such bird. Model on ya'll.

After some time traveling with work I am back to this little project. As usual this is getting close to the 11.11.15 deadline

Main colors are now on. Sorry for the crappy pictures - I will shot better ones when the bird is finished at the latest.

Next are some touch ups and detail painting. Then decals.

More to follow

A lttle more progress. Weathering is next.

More to folow soon.

Great colour scheme Jesper. Looking forward to seeing the weathered plane.

cheers

Michael

Hi Jesper,
Looking good! I'll be interested to see your weathering too. I've never even contemplated how to weather a canvas a/c.

Gary

Thanks for the comments, guys.

I am very much a novice when it comes to WWI aircraft, so I am also not sure how to whether it. This is only my fouth or fifth WWI aircraft.

I checked my scarce references, basically the Squadron Signal book on the Albatros and some online pictures. It seems aircraft were in pretty good shape, but with some oil spills here and there.

I will definitely give it a thin wash to tone everything down a bit and fade it a bit with some pastels. Probably also some engine oil and "grease" around the engine area.

Otherwise I will evaluate as I go and adjust.

I am calling this one finished.

I dirty'ed up the fuselage and wings - especially around the engine.

In addition to this I use pastels to apply a faded/worn look - especially to the wing forward parts.

I found a few pictures with some oil spills from the engine. I wanted to add a bit more weathering, so I went with this look. I might have added too much running oil though.

Overall I am very satisfied with this kit. I tried a lot of new techniques and I am still on a learning curve when it comes to WWI aircraft.

Next kit - for Falcons II - might be another Albatros, but this time I will try a technique I have seen previously on Aeroscale. Making your own small loops from wire for rigging and using stretched Q-tips to close it down. I have lost the tread link, but I am sure I can find it again.

Great to participate in this campaign. It is nice to be challenged and get out of the comfort zone from time to time.

Looking forward to the next one

Hi Jesper,

Congratulations! Great model!

all the best

Steffen

Thanks for the comment, Steffen. My WWI birds get a little better for each model

Ausgezeichnet!

Thanks a lot, Gary! Much appreciated