“. . .I badly wanted to fly this aeroplane, to discover just what went on in the minds of our opponents when we met them in the air, and to know exactly the strong and weak points of the Albatros performance...I climbed up over the streamlined plywood fuselage, and down into the black leather pilot's seat. I felt immediately how heavy everything was after the light, fabric feeling of the Sopwith Scout. Next I noticed the view from the pilot's seat: excellent, with virtually no blind spots anywhere - a very important feature in a fighting aeroplane. . ."
". . .But this Hun was a war machine, a weapon of ruthless efficiency; cold-blooded in the metal of its V interplane struts, the Spandau guns, the big engine under the streamlined cowl in the nose, and the instruments and fittings in the cockpit. . . "
The winner of the MODELL FAN Magazine, Germany Model of the year 2006 this Roden kit carrys itself well. This design of the Roden mold team is a great example of what modelers like. Lots of detail and a decent fit overall. Multiple modelers have build this kit and posted their satisfaction of the build.
The kit colour scheme are;
Albatros D.III, w/n unconfirmed, flown by Lt. Lothar von Richthofen, Jasta 11, Brayelles, France, Spring 1917. This early version was his brother's reserve machine before Lothar arrived at Jasta 11.
Albatros D.III, w/n unconfirmed, flown by Lt. Manfred von Richthofen, Jasta 11, Roucourt, France, April 1917. MvR flew at least two different all-red early Albatros D.III types.
Albatros D.III, w/n unconfirmed, Lt. Bruno Loerzer, Jasta 26, Western Front, Summer 1917.
Albatros D.III, w/n 2096/16, flown by Lt. Friedrich-Wilhelm Wichard, Jasta 24, captured by French on 21st April 1917.
Albatros D.III, w/n unconfirmed, Lt. Karl Allmenroeder (30 victories), Jasta 11, Western Front, June 1917.
Albatros D.III, w/n unconfirmed, Lt. Joachim von Bertrab, Jasta 30, Phalempin, Western Front, Sring 1917.
Albatros D.III, w/n unconfirmed, Oblt. Rudolf Berthold, Jasta 14 CO, Malvel, France, April 1917.
Total Parts 98 pcs.
My favorite so far has been the on line build of Aeroscale member Brad Cancian. Now Aeroscale member Rick Geisler (callsign RAGIII) will begin his version in 2008. He will be augmenting his efforts using the Toms Modelworks aftermarket brass fret set. Also Carl Althaus' build of the Jasta 31 daffodil scheme was seen as the MOM here at Aeroscale for June 2007.
Highs: Insteresting subject matter, great details, decent fit, wide range of colour schemes. Scale thickness it wings right to the trailing edges.Lows: Some sinkhole and ejector pin marks.Verdict: The positive definately out weighs the negative. The lines of this kit definately take you back to 1917 -1918.
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About Stephen T. Lawson (JackFlash) FROM: COLORADO, UNITED STATES
I was building Off topic jet age kits at the age of 7. I remember building my first WWI kit way back in 1964-5 at the age of 8-9. Hundreds of 1/72 scale Revell and Airfix kits later my eyes started to change and I wanted to do more detail. With the advent of DML / Dragon and Eduard I sold off my ...
It is a fantastic kit. It can be built OOB and look really nice. It is also one of those kits that with some AM and scratch building, will turn it into a museum quality presentation build.
Lets hope they come out with a D.V in the near future.
Stephen, I will be hard pressed to follow a build like Brads! I will probably do the MvR bird and try a little color variation on the fuselage to simulate hand painting without actually hand painting. We shall see!
RAGIII
A great review. I'm really interested in getting this kit as I would love a big scale Albatros. I have the 1/72 version in the stash and it seems to have the same marking options.
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