Introduction

The seven current releases, sheets no 30011 - 30017 continues the 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 edited to fit current issues ).

Sheet #30017 Albatros D.Va of various Jastas

This sheet is dedicated to various machines from different Jastas that have the factory varnished fuselages. This includes five Known profiles.

A - Albatros D.Va serial unknown , Ltn Karl Haustein, Jasta 37, late1917. His personal design is a stylized comet and the #1. He arrived in 1917 (?) but by Aug. 1918 he was sent to Kest 4b as commander and was there in Oct.1918 but little else is known.

B - Albatros D.Va serial unknown, pilot unknown, Jasta 37, late 1917 to 1918. His stylized personal marking is a comet and the #7.

C - Albatros D.Va,serial unknown, pilot unknown, Jasta 37 late 1917. His personal marking is a styilized comet and the #9.

D - Albatros D.Va, serial unknown. Ltn. Max Näther, Jasta 62, mid-1918 (26 victory). His stylized personal marking represents the national flag of Germany on a white field. Arrived from Jasta Sch I 31 March 1918. He was WIA,lt on 27 Sept.1918 but returned to the unit by 2 Oct.1918. He was made commander on 7 July 1918 and served in that posting til EOW.

E - Albatros D.Va, serial unknown, Ltn Ernst Udet, Jasta 37 September - October 1917 (62 victories). His personal marking is a Gruppenfürher insignia "<" and "LO" a reference to the nickname for his girlfriend and later wife, fraulein Elenore Zink. (In his biography) he described an incident where on a stroll through Berlin, she saw the Royal guard at the palace fall out at attention when they saw his Blue Max around his throat. She was so facinated by this she made him stroll by 2 more times. Each time the guard all formed up and presented a salute.

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 their kits. Cleanly and crisply printed by Cartograf of Italy, my samples were in perfect register with a glossy sheen and clean opaque colours.

Small decals such as the prop, weight tables and rigging instructions are also included on these sheets. So are some of the Iron Crosses, that in some cases duplicates what is already in the basic kit.

Lozenge or no lozenge is no longer a question

Now that Wingnut Wings has released their version of the intermediate factory printed 5 colour lozenge (Farbenflugzeugstoff) these decals are even more relevant. These sheets that have been released don't have any lozenge included in the package. Notably this is what many other manufacturers have done in the past, Microscale & Superscale being the most memorable.

As with every WNW sheet this set includes profiles that have either standard two tone uppersurface camouflage 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 purchase them separately or look at what other aftermarket manufacturers may have and purchase them separately as well.

Conclusion

We are in the golden age of WWI aviation modeling subjects. My suggestion is to get what you can while you can. You never know what the future will bring. Model On!

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