Knights of the Sky WWI GB The End

philo426 wrote:

Steve what's up with pitchfork(?)on the side of the D Vll? Most unusual!

Greetings Philo426;

The markings were from the old Eagle Strike sheets originally they were seen on an early Albatros built Fokker D.VII  that was assigned to a commander of Jasta 43.  He was WIA and the machine passed to a friend of his in the unit. Ltn. Raesch.  He flew that machine until he had to bail out from it when it was crippled in flight.  We know he was soon after issued another aircraft.  As mentioned this is a hypoyhetical and "may" represent what he flew at the end of the war.

 As for the meaning. . .  Both the former commander and Rausch were farm boys in their youth. This insignia represent a manure fork used to clean out stalls and pens.  Both men knew war was "dirty work".

Good lookin' stuff, Stephen, as usual! 

I love that scheme on the last one!  Awesome!

Stephen, absolutely amazing stuff! You never disappoint!

...and that lozenge is something I definitely see finding its way to my decal stash as soon as it's available. Thanks much for sharing!

My sincerest thanks ruddratt.

I'd like to get my mits on some of that lozenge myself!

I worked on my Fokker a little tonight, and was able to remove the step in the cockpit area with a tiny ball bur and smoothed it out with a needle file.  This weekend, I am going to remove the upper pieces of lozenge decal and redo it to cover the freshly exposed plastic.  Hope to have WIP photos soon!

Go get 'em, buddy! Looking forward to the pics!

I got bids on two more bipes on eBay. Should they materialize, I'll let ya know if my entry list needs to be updated again.

Stephen,

Those planes look fantastic!

All,

That Eduard Fokker Dr.1 is a pain in the !  Thus far I have managed to catapult two of the parts to whereabouts unknown.  I was able to scratchbuild a replacement for one part, the other I will have to live without.  Once completed, the average person will never notice that it is not in place.  I know, pretty secretive, but as good as this group is, I do not want to put too big of a spotlight on my flaws this soon. 

With the parts being as frail as they are, this will be a slow build as I do not want to let it frustrate me to the point of doing something stupid.  After all, this is only a hobby; I have a job.  The fuselage is about finished, and once I get a bit further with the assembly, I will take a photo or two.  Until then, I will continue to peek in on the group from time to time.  I am hoping to have the plane finished before my refueling outage next month, but no promises considering the early issues I have faced.

Thanks Mike, I'll post some pics later today or tomorrow.  WHich kits are you bidding on?  Just so I don't accidentally bid against you!

MPS- Sounds like a bugger!  Hang in there my friend, it will be worth it in the end!

Does anyone know if the Fokker DVIII had shoulder straps from the factory?  The DML kit includes them as PE but I don't recall ever seeing a WWI bird with anything more than lap belts.  But then again, I haven't seen very many WWI birds!

Daywalker wrote:

". . .Does anyone know if the Fokker DVIII had shoulder straps from the factory?  The DML kit includes them as PE but I don't recall ever seeing a WWI bird with anything more than lap belts.  But then again, I haven't seen very many WWI birds!"

Shoulder straps and the narrow lap belts were standard for German fighter D & Dr.I class aircraft.   D. became the designation for Mono and dual wing fighters produced in 1917 & 18.  Wider lap belts were standard for rear seat observer / gunners in two seater aircraft.  Some of the pilots preferred the wider lap belts so after scrounging and swapping coffee rations ( and liberated wine) they had them installed in the field,  replacing the narrow shoulder and lap belts that came standard from the factory.  Alex Imrie discussed this in his Fokker Triplane book as well.    

Thanks Stephen, that really helps!

DO you mind if I ask another question?  The DML DVIII has two panel lines running chordwise around the main wing, between the center cutout and the aileron.  Did the real aircraft have these, or would a plywood covered wing be devoid of panel lines?  TIA!

Daywalker wrote:

"Thanks Stephen, that really helps!   DO you mind if I ask another question?  The DML DVIII has two panel lines running chordwise around the main wing, between the center cutout and the aileron.  Did the real aircraft have these, or would a plywood covered wing be devoid of panel lines?  TIA!

I will let you be the judge but I say yes.  But not so much panel lines as rib sections.  This is a very post war Belgian war trophy.

Stephen,

Hmmm... I see what you mean.   imay have to think about either adding some stretched sprue to the surface or at least filling the panel lines and sanding them smooth.  Thanks for the photo reference, what would I do without you!

Daywalker wrote:

Thanks Mike, I'll post some pics later today or tomorrow.  WHich kits are you bidding on?  Just so I don't accidentally bid against you!

Not a problem, buddy. The first auction is over and I won it.....a 1/48 Eduard Albatros D.V that I will probably save for down the road (but ya never know ). If I win the second one, I'll definitely be adding it to my entry list. It's a Roden 1/32 Pfalz D.III, and I was able to find a great online build-up review on it by our resident guru, Mr. Lawson himself. It looks like a sweet kit!

Stephen:

Was the D VIII not a plywood sheeted wing, and the visible chordwise lines the edges of the ply sheets?  It seems like a D VIII replica was built in the states with help from Rheinhold Platz.  Also, the spanwise lines in the upper wing are stringers, visible because of the thinness of the4 ply covering.  At least thats what I remember from an old magazine article that I may still have around here.

jeaton01 wrote:

Stephen:  Was the D VIII not a plywood sheeted wing, and the visible chordwise lines the edges of the ply sheets?  It seems like a D VIII replica was built in the states with help from Rheinhold Platz.  Also, the spanwise lines in the upper wing are stringers, visible because of the thinness of the 4 ply covering.  At least thats what I remember from an old magazine article that I may still have around here.

Greetings jeaton01; Yes, the E.V / D.VIII plywood covering and it is the edges of the underlying structure not just the joint edges of the 2 & 3 mm ply-sheets.  Their edges were beveled like the Albatros skinning.  So the "cupping" of the plywood over a period of time reveals the underlying structure.  Its typical of even metal skinned aircraft of later years. 

Guess who just finished skinning a full sized wing?

Daywalker wrote:

Stephen,  Hmmm... I see what you mean.   imay have to think about either adding some stretched sprue to the surface or at least filling the panel lines and sanding them smooth.  Thanks for the photo reference, what would I do without you!

The edging was less apparant on newer wings but became pronounced pretty quicky at the front.

ruddratt wrote:

"Not a problem, buddy. The first auction is over and I won it.....a 1/48 Eduard Albatros D.V that I will probably save for down the road (but ya never know ). If I win the second one, I'll definitely be adding it to my entry list. It's a Roden 1/32 Pfalz D.III, and I was able to find a great online build-up review on it by our resident guru, Mr. Lawson himself. It looks like a sweet kit!"

If I can help just let me know.

Thanks again Stephen.  I am planning on doing mine up in a nearly factory fresh scheme, so I may leave the wing as she sits.  I like the cupped look, but have no idea how to replicate it.  As for who just got to skin a wing, could it have been... you?

Mike- Good score my friend!  Let me know about the Pfalz, that would be an awesome build to see!

Frank, will do my friend!  I've always liked the Albatros, so I was pretty stoked to win that one. The Pfalz would be a definite bonus.

Stephen, I have to admit that your thread about the build-up of the Roden Pfalz was key to my decision on whether or not to go for it. It's a great thread, very informative, and easily the best reference on the Pfalz itself that I have yet to come across.

I managed to get quite a bit done on the DVIII this weekend.  Used a tiny round bur in a motor tool to remove the offending "shelf" in the cockpit opening, then removed the damaged decal around it and put a new piece of lozenge decal in it's place that ended where the upper metal panel will be.  Also assembled the engine, and gave a wash to show some use. 

Assembled most of the cockpit, but decided to leave off the shoulder belts as adding the stainless ones provided by Dragon would have probably damaged the fragile seat assembly.  I made new seat supports and framework from soldered brass wire, and added the upper longeron.  Drilled tiny holes along the edges of the rear cockpit lozenge "bulkhead" and laced it to the frame with fine fishing line.  Also added the tiny rudder control cables with fishing line.  On the engine, I used the fishing line (again!) to add the spark plug wires. 

On the seat, I painted it silver and added a leather cushoin but opted not to add the lozenge covering.

Mike-

You are too kind my friend!

It's the work I see here that inspires me, and the cockpit photos you shared a while back of your DVII served as my guide for painting.  I also remembered to position the control column forward to go with the drooped elevators, and turned the rudder bar to one side as I plan to offset the rudder too.  Many thanks Mike!

Oh, I have a question about applying lozenge decals.  DO you guys paint a light coat of white or gray under them to give them something to hold on to instead of bare plastic?

No need to thank me, buddy. You're the one doing the work. It's one thing to have good references, and something else entirely to have the skills to apply them to your model. Those skills you have, Frank.

I'm sure there are as many ways of applying lozenge as there are modelers, but on larger areas like entire wing surfaces, I like to put a light-colored primer down nice and smooth, give it a coat of Future, and then apply the lozenge. I know that many skip the primer part and just apply the Future to bare plastic before applying the lozenge. In that case, I would make sure that the plastic got a good scrubbing before the Future is sprayed on. HTH.

Daywalker wrote:

I managed to get quite a bit done on the DVIII this weekend...

That's looking great, Frank! I always wanted to build one of those.