Introduction

"After keeping the WWI community in suspense for many months Wingnut Wings are now making good on their promise of releasing a new batch of high quality kits. Perhaps a bit less anticipated, but also very appreciated, they have made good on another promise, releasing After Market decals for the two Albatros kits that hit the market in 2010.

The four current releases, sheets no 30011, 30012, 30015 and 30016 also marks the first of what seems to be a new and growing line of products from Wingnut Wings, that will give us a far wider choice of subjects to portray, than what is already given us in the box.

Given the numberings of the current sheets, we can probably expect more releases of this line of products. A guess is that some of these will be for the coming Fokker DVII, that also offers a wide range of colourful profiles.

The sheets are priced at $19 and the current international free shipping policy also applies to these. This may seem a bit high to some when a full kit costs $59. However, I think this reflects the cost of what these sheets cost to produce. In fact I suspect a pretty large chunk of what you pay for the kits, goes into producing the decals in the boxes." ( Comments by Mikael Terfors ).

Sheet #30015 Albatros D.V of various Jastas

This sheet is dedicated to various machines from different Jastas. This includes five profiles of five known pilots. Though the chosen subjects appear to be more about variations than a specific theme.

A - Albatros D.V 1154/17, Ltn. Max Ritter von Muller, Jasta 28, late 1917 (20victories). Hi personal design may be a stylized version of a cannon ball in flight.
B - Albatros D.V 2329/17, Ltn d.R. Otto Fruhner, Jasta 26, mid 1917 (27 victories). His stylized personal marking represents a fraternal orginization promoting health, fellowship, strength and well being.
C - Albatros D.V, 2359/17, Ltn.Otto Hohmuth, Jasta 23b, March 1918 (4 victories). Though h had no personal marking this airframe appears to have had its wings repaired in the field. The lower wing lozenge runs spanwise and on both wings the national crosses are nonstandard in profile. Capture # G144.
D - Albatros D.V, serial unkn. Ltn Otto Konnecke, Jasta 5, July 1917 (35 victories). His personal marking is a reference to a Beobachter's (observer's) badge.
E - Albatros D.V, serial unkn. Ltn. Karl Meierdirks, Jasta 12, July-August 1917 (2 victories). The geometric design is a reference to the "M" in his name with a mirrored image.

What you get in the package

The decal sheet came sealed in A4 sized plastic zip locked bag, making it easy to reseal, and keep the decals safe until you use them. A folded A4 sheet printed in full colour serves as a four page booklet that gives you the instructions on application and also the bio of the pilots that flew the planes. The style of the monograph is similar to what we have seen in the instruction booklets from the kits. Full colour profiles are done by Ronny Bar and they are complimented by archival images of the subjects.

One neat detail in the instructions are hints as to which optional parts to use from the kit and which engine option to choose.

The decals are of the same quality and style of what we have gotten used to from the kits. Cleanly and crisply printed by Cartograf of Italy, my samples were in perfect register with a glossy sheen and clear opaque colours.

Curiously, and perhaps good for the spares box, small decals such as the prop, weight tables and rigging instructions are also included on these sheets. So are some of the crosses, that in some cases seem to be duplicating whats already in the kit?

Lozenge or no lozenge that is the question?

One thing that is already causing some debate is the fact that some of the profiles depicted are in need of lozenge, (Farbenflugzeugstoff) to be finished. Out of twenty current WNW A/M profiles, ten have fully, or partial lozenge covered, wings. The sheets that have been released don't have any lozenge included in the package, and this is what is causing a stir, as some have come to expect from the package from WNW.

There is a set of lozenge decals in this scale available from Doug Baumann (to be reviewed in the near future) and Pheon has done their first sheets based on the unique spanwise layout seen on that seen on Albatros D.V, 2359/17. High cost is a factor with Pheon. Someone not wanting to do a profile with lozenge, would perhaps not be willing to pay for what they are not going to use anyway? Also every sheet includes profiles that have either standard two tone uppersurface camouflage or painted wings, and does not need lozenge to be finished.

The instructions for the Albatros sheets does state that the lozenge decals are available separately. Decals no 30001 (5 colour upper), 30002 (5 colour lower) and 30005 (rib tapes). So if you fancy doing one of the lozenge covered profiles, you either have to wait and see what WNW will bring, or look at what other A/M makers may have to offer.

Conclusion

Someone stated that we as modelers of WWI subjects have never had it so good. Well with these new sheets, together with what is already offered in the boxes, and what other manufacturers are bringing us, we are at least very spoiled for choice.

My thanks to Michael terfors for allowing me to use some of his text from his WNW decal reviews.

When contacting manufacturers and publishers please mention you saw this review at AEROSCALE