1:28 Revell Fokker Dr1 Complete

MC

That is a rebox of the old mold going back to 1960 or so and it's actually a pretty decent kit with the help of some scratch work and pe. I got mine a while back at a garage sale for a buck or so if I correctly recall. It had a decal set from an IPMS convention issue from the 60's or 70's and they were still good.

I completely scratched out the pit and added pe details from Tom's Modelworks. FSM purchased the article but it hasn't been published and have no clue when it will be. It was partially built so I could not get into some areas to improve the detail cause I was afraid of damaging the fragile plastic.

Here are a couple of pictures of mine. As you can see, Tom's pe really dresses up the twin Spandaus over the stock ones. 

I will be following your thread religiously during your build.  I'm looking forward to this one!  Also, nice build PlasticJunkie.

Toshi

Thanks Toshi.

Steve

Forgot to mention about the different shaped ailerons. I don't know how deep you are going with the build but here is a quote from one of Stephen Lawson's posts explaining the odd shaped ailerons and serial number range.

"Only approximately 15-18 of the initial production batch had the odd aileron set up.  This included Dr.I 135/17 -144/17 for sure.  After the Idflieg order to have them enlarged (among other things including factory spec top wings) the first machines to be refitted went through the assembly line with one of the older type ailerons still in use.   See Alex Imrie's book "The Fokker Triplane."

Now why would Revell match this?  The schematic for this and the old 1/72 scale kit were drawn up by Revell of Great Britain in the early 1950's.  The plans they used were from "Flight" magazine  and were of a machine that had been brought down on Jan. 13, 1918.  Fokker Dr.I 144/17  was one of the odd aileron machines.  It was studied and then had half of its fabric covering removed and was displayed along with other captured German machines in Ilsington at the Agricultural Hall for the benefit of the RAF hospital.  A penny would get you a walk through in 1918."

More proof that not all really old kits were junk.  Very nice!

Theuns

do you know what the reason is for the "cutouts" in the mid wing at the wingroot? So that the pilot could actually see where he was going when on the ground :-) Theuns

 

That sounds like a very good reason to increase pilot visibilty.

 

Thanks Don. I also have the old Camel and it too makes an impressive model , again with scratchwork and pe updates.

Werner Voss nice build. I made this kit so many times in the 60's

This is such a cool plane, looks kinda unstable though. I understand that while not as fast as most of the allied fighters (too much drag) it could really turn on a dime (a lot of lift). PJ, you are so good at wood recreation, I should send you my prop to paint . Just kidding, I need to learn myself. That paint job looks very convincing. Looks like it was painted with a dope wash of varying shades of green. I'll look into a PE set, maybe I can find one on the cheap on eB. Thank you everyone for your interest.
PS.

Thanks Theuns for that info. I kina wondered what that was for.

I just ordered the cockpit and gun detail set from Tom's Model Works. It should be here soon.

Thanks Crown but actually it was not Voss's machine. This machine is Dr-1 183/17 Flown by Hasso von Wedel of Jasta 14.  Easily confused with Voss's mount from the top picture I posted.

The streaked scheme is olive green streaked over unbleached linnen at different angles per documentation.

still looks great

Steve

Not a problem if you want the prop done. I can PM you my mailing address. I will be more than glad to grain the prop for you.

plasticjunkie

I will be more than glad to grain the prop for you.

Hmmm  That is tempting. There's no way I could do as good a job. I'll give it a try on a scrap piece and if I just can't get it, Ill PM ya. I studied your discription on your guillotine last year and have tried it a few times with terrable results. 

Thanks again Crown.

Steve

Not a problem. Shoot me a pm if things don't work out.

I was eyeballing this kit yesterday on the web. I'm keen to see how this turns out.

BK

Theuns

The reason for the 3 wings was to increace wing area therby making for a lower wingloading, this equals a much better climb rate. You do not want to simply increace wingspan as this reduces roll rate. Because of the rotary engine's massive gyroscopic effect it wouls not react like a normal plane, if you could master it , it was extremely agile. Just like Sopwith Camel, you used the same direction of rudder offset to turn left and right! These rotaries also dod not have a norma throttle, you had selector switches that turned off some of the spark plus thereby decreacing power. That is why they "blipped" the engine for landing. Theuns

 

It is sometimes said that these engines did not have a throttle at all- they did, it was just that carburetor design was primitive, and the throttle was only useful for gross changes in power. This was true of all engines of that era, not just rotaries.

In early automobiles the same problem existed.  The throttle was just for going between idle and drive, for example, with fine speed control done by changing spark advance.  It took a few decades for carburetors for cars to develop adequate throttle response.  Such response was less important for aircraft, so aircraft engines had poor throttle response for half a century! 

Nice!  Look forward to seeing this one built.

Plasticjunkie>  And I look forward to seeing the article someday!

Meanwhile, you can never have too many Dr.1s. 

However, I question the accuracy of some of the build details! 

But they fly well...

Great pic GAF, where was that at? I see a D5 slipped in there.

We have one at the local museum. I may have to go and get some more pics.

modelcrazy> That was at Aerodrome '92 held at Lake Guntersville, Alabama. Frank Ryder had a WWI museum there in the early 90s.  It's gone now.  This thread over at the aerodrome will explain a bit better.

http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20836

Yes, go and take pictures.  You never can tell when this aircraft will disappear. 

And while looking for information, I ran across this video from 1992 of the show!If you've got time (it's over an hour long) you might find it interesting.  I'm going to have to peruse it carefully as my friends and I are probably in it somewhere! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUycx74EVww

PJ,

I tried my hand at the prop, however it didn't dry and the oil paint is showing cracks. I started with a base of MM wood enamel, then a coat of thinned Brunt Siena followed (a few days) with an application of Burnt Umber (I may have those reversed). Last night, after a few days, the prop was still sticky and the oil paint was cracked. I removed the paint and started over. If I can't get this right, I may just send it to you after all. What am I doing wrong? I started to take a picture but changed my mind.

MC

This is how I did mine:

Painted with MM acrylic wood color

Laminations painted with craft acrylic burnt umber paint

A day or two later began brushing washes of artist oil burnt umber as filters and using a hair dryer to speed up drying in between wash coats. I did about 3-4 light wash filter coats a day until I liked the effect.

Prop was set aside to cure for a few days then given a brush coat of Future for the varnished effect followed by the Axial logo decals.

Carefully use some thinner and a soft brush to remove all the oil paint and start again as I described.

The bird Steve is referring to is a replica and it is one of those displays that may indeed not be there one day, because they do rotate the displays from time to time. I have no idea how long it will be there, so get over there Steve.

BK

Thanks PJ,

I'll start over with acrylics and follow your method.

Brandon,

Yeah, I need to get back over there and get some more pics of it.

Brandon

Just wondering how's the prop wood graining coming along?

plasticjunkie

Just wondering how's the prop wood graining coming along?

Brandon

The graining looks very good. I don't know why you are kicking  yourself. How many oil washes did you do?

1/28?  Odd, I suppose its box scale?  Anyway, looking forward to this build, Steve.  Great work on the props!

PJ, 

Thats a fine Fokker you did! Hard to believe its a 60s era kit.

Wow.  I love the authentic props!

Toshi