1/72 Revell Albatros D.III

Hello Mike!

Good to see you working!

The Albatross is an important and interesting design. Some time ago I've seen a 1:1 model (real life scale!) of it done by a Polish aviation enthusiast. They even have built them in Schneidemuhl - a city that is now called Piła (now in Poland).

I look forward to see you rig this baby!

Good luck with your build and have a nice day!

Paweł

I am definately following this build.  I'm anxious to see what kind of magic you'll do!

Toshi

Cool project Mike....and long time no talk bud! Looking forward to seeing what you do with this one.

Thanks guys! I'll try not to disappoint ya. Just bondo-ing up all of the joins and rescribing panel lines still. Not much to show you guys just yet.

I think I'm going to fully assemble it and then worry about painting. It's the wood paneling I'm really looking forward to replicating in this scale. Should be a challenge.

Fortunately for me we have great examples to follow, such as Stephen Lawson's work. I've picked up more than a few ideas from reading his threads. Hopefully I can pull some of them off, lol.

I've built two SPaD XIII's, and three Neiuport 17's in the past, but that's when I was a kid. I didn't really ever get into any German aircraft from that era, but the smooth, fish-like-sparrow shape of the Albatros D.III series has always attracted my interest. It reminds me of the early Messershmitt 109's with it's sleek fuselage.

Pictures later if I can find the time.  :)

Awww c'mon! Lol!!

I love the Albatros. Sleek and mean.

I've become enamored of the Roden kits, which cover every model from the D.I to the various Austro-Hungarian D.IIIs. I'm looking forward to seeing how yours turns out.

Gonna be following this, Mike.  Love seeing 1/72 biplanes.

Just a little update. I've got the undercarriage attached. A few more gaps filled.





Progress is progress, right? lol

I blasted a bit of primer on it this morning before leaving for work. I did okay and only had a couple of spots on the tail to lightly sand down. I think I need to spend just a little more effort on some of the panel lines. A few of them don't look right just yet.







So I don't think I can get away with assembling all of it before painting. Some of the pieces will require attention before I can add the top wing, which needs the radiator details scratch built because none are provided.

Thanks for reading this tripe, my friends lol. Have a good one!

As always, things look great.  I'm interested in how you will do the wood panel.

Toshi

SO am I, my friend! I'm planning on starting with a nice tan color and then using some oils streaked over that. If I do it right it should look like wood grain. More than anything I'm looking for a specific tone. The right shade of golden-tan, I think.

The end result I'm trying for is just a good, clean build. Something colorfull to add to my very small WWI collection, which only consists of a diecast Sopwith Camel at this time lol.

Thank you for keeping an eye on me, Toshi.   :)  Any input from you would be welcome.

Here's a interesting fact, the current kit I'm building is a Zoukei Mura SWS 1:48 HO 229.  From what I've read, the wings are built with a special type of sealant.  I know that sawdust and charcoal are some of these components that refracts the radar emmisions.  The Horten brothers felt that this composite sealant would work on radar deflection.  Since the 229 wings are wood, Zoukie Mura has two systems to create the wooden wings effect.

One system is thin sheets of actual wood that you literally cut out to frame the wing spars.  If my memory serves me right there are five sheets per pack and there's enough to do the 1:32 HO 229.  The other system utilizes a wood grain mask.  All you do is hold or tape the mask and spray into the mask.  There's two types of wood grain, horizontal and vertical grains that are available in this second set.  You can check it out on the Zoukei Mura website under the 1:32 HO 229.  This wood grain system is a AM part.

I just wanted to let you know what else is available. I'm anxious to see how your wood grain effect looks.

Toshi

Here is one example that I found.

Toshi

Here is the second example.

Toshi

Those are both fabulous ideas! Though, this kit is not worthy of such additional expenses such as those. When I get my hands on a Wing Nut kit I'll be throwing such ideas all over it! lol

I've been watching your Horton, and that is a heck of a kit. Just that frame alone is mind-boggling in its complexity. But you seem very much up to the challenge.  :)

Stang, you don't have any biplanes in 1/72?

This is the first time in that I've been intimidated of a kit.  The frame/spars are confusing at best and it's such a challenge to not make any errors with the frame work.  I can only imagine and foresee the aircraft skin not covering the frame work properly due to incorrect placement of the frame/spars piece(s). 

Ultimately, I'm having a blast with this kit and as for my humble opinion, Zuokei Mura at the very minimum is the best designed kit I've ever assembled.  M.Brindos, I look excitedly forward in your project.  Good luck sir!

Toshi

Mike - your model looks nice and clean with that primer on! Good luck with your build and have a nice day

Paweł

Thank you, my friends.  :)  Its a very simple kit and it goes together pretty well. So its not so much a matter of skill, as it is patience to get things to look as they should.

This morning I put the wheels together and flattened the tires a smidge to give them a properly weighted look. I also decided the propeller hub needed to be reshaped as well. All of the references I've been using show this piece to be more rounded off and not nearly as pointy as the kit piece is, right off the sprue.

So far, so good.

Thank you sir.  I will be vigilant in this build.  With saying that, your kit is nothing short of impressive!  As I mentioned earlier, I can't wait for how you would process the wood work.  This is a technique I've never seen before, I anxiously await for this process to begin and what type of technique you will utilize.

Toshi

I don't know how modelers build bi-planes. Yours is looking great.        gk

A little more progress this evening.  :)

Here is this evenings/early morning progress.

Toshi

Looks like it's coming together nicely Mike! I never tried the build approach like you're doing it and am looking forward to the outcome. After seeing that finished Revell 109 of yours I've got no doubt that this one'll look like a million bucks.

P.S. I don't have anything in 1/72nd scale. You guys building that stuff rock! I'd  loose my eyesight in a year working with that scale!!! lol

Toshi, it looks like a one mass of complicated structures around two engines. Probably exactly how it should look. I've almost got a headache just looking at it, lol.

Stang, yeah my approach is a little unorthodox for sure lol. 1/72 isn't all that hard to work in. But from the way most of you guys talk about it, there must be fewer of us that like to work in this scale. (shrug) I'm starting to wonder just how many guys our age have troubles with their eyes and/or hands. I must be one of the few lucky ones that can enjoy this scale.

I glued the engine in last night after I noticed that it wasn't supposed to drop all of the way down into the fuselage. That made the Spandau's stick up rather awkwardly (and they looked lonely). After reviewing my internet reference pictures again I realized that the engineering for this kit is really sub par with the engine. The exhaust pipe is the not supposed to be straight, which is why I bent it into the shape it has now, and the cylinders should actually be seen and not burried in the nose.

The twin Spandau's lack any detail whatsoever so I'll be adding a few bits of Evergreen to give them some more shape.

With the engine raised up where it should be I will add a few bits to it so that the radiator hoses look like they actually attach somehow. I've got a few references for how I think I can do this.

So there will be added detail around the guns and engine because they are the centers of attention for this build. Vaguely shaped blocks simply will not do lol.

M.Brindos, please forgive me!  I hope to appolagize to you for pasting my HO 229 build on your build thread.  I have no excuse for this error.  This I except as my failure in not paying attention to the threads, I hope you can forgive me for this huge error.  Once again, I'm so sorry!!!

Toshi

I don't mind it at all, Toshi. :)

Engine glued in at about the right height.

And some small bits glued to the Spandau's which I have since shaped.

I've started thinning down the main wing spars and that should prove interesting as I try to line up all of that later while trying to figure out how to get the radiator hoses lined up at the same time. Wish me luck on that little adventure lol.

I was held hostage last night when I slowly realized that my holding this little crate together while the glue was drying was taking a lot more time than I thought it should. It took some digging around while holding it together in one hand before I found a clamp to hold it for me.

I now have some alignment issues and I'm fairly sure its the lower wing that's out of place.

I trooped-on and attached the radiator hoses and added couple of greeblies to add a little more interest to the otherwise bland engine.

So that's where I'm at for the start of today. All of the major components are on and I just need to get a solid cote of primer over it.  :)

Dang Mike! I like the way this one's shaping up.