Author Topic: Two new 1/32 decal sets for the Albatros DIII & DV/DVa from FCM  (Read 3505 times)

Offline Jamo

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Two new 1/32 decal sets for the Albatros DIII & DV/DVa from FCM
« on: January 04, 2013, 09:12:30 AM »
Two new 1/32 decal releases for the Albatros D.III and D.V/D.Va
From FCM


First Look Review by James Fahey




FCM is a Brazilian-based decal company run by Felipe Canuto Miranda. FCM has been in business since 1996 and, as well as WWI, their decal range covers a wide range of subjects including Brazilian and Latin-American subjects.
http://www.fcm.eti.br/

#32015 has three markings options



1. Albatros D.III 751/17, Otto Hunzinger, Jasta Boelcke, three colour brown & green camouflage.
The curious black decoration on the white fuselage band are his initials, OH, somewhat stylised. Hunzinger failed to achieve any confirmed victories, but was occasionally placed in command of Jasta Boelcke during absences of the Staffelfuhrer Otto Benert.

2. Albatros D.V Fritz Rumey, Jasta 5, two colour mauve & green camouflage.
Fritz Rumey was one of Germany’s foremost fighter aces, credited with 45 victories and awarded the Pour le Mérite. This is one of the markings options in the WNW D.V kit, but no stripes were included, so this set will help modellers who may have been put off masking the precise spacing required. When I first looked at the decals I thought it was odd that the stripes were depicted as being curved in places. On reflection, this a necessary feature to address the geometry issues inherent in the tapering fuselage of the Albatros fuselage. FCM have followed the (amended) WNW painting instructions for Rumey’s D.V which has some of the stripes converging underneath the fuselage.
http://www.wingnutwings.com/ww/v0EDEEDC9/www/products/model_kitsets/32009/hints_and_tips/Albatros%20D.V%20Page%2022.jpg

3. Albatros D.Va 5426/17, Ltn Gotthard Sachsenberg, Marine Feld Jagdstaffel I, green & purple mottle camouflage & five colour lozenge
Greg vanWyngarden described Sachsenberg as “the driving force behind German Naval land-based fighter aviation” in his book “Albatros Aces of World War I Part 2”published by Osprey. He was leader of the first MFJ unit and survived the war with 31 victories.
Ronny Bar has a colour profile of this aircraft here http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/20362_234298399131_1834156_n.jpg







#32016 has four options:



1. Albatros D.V Ltn Wolf, Jasta 5, two colour mauve & green camouflage
Ltn Wolf’s plane undoubtedly had one of the most striking markings of any WWI aircraft, the 1835 Bavarian coat of arms with one lion supporter, aft of the shield. On the starboard side the supporter was a wolf, both on a grey band around the blue/white diamonds of the kleine bayerischen Wappenschild. An earlier rendering of these markings by Pheon Models had a join/discontinuity along the top of the fuselage and constant lozenge sizes, whereas FCM have reinterpreted the design without a join line and using progressively smaller diamonds as the fuselage tapers. Eight sections of diamond decals are provided with a detailed step-by-step guide to how these should be applied. Some single diamonds are also provided for any corrections that may be required.

2. Albatros D.V 4430/17 Vzfw. Paul Baumer, Jasta Boelcke, five colour lozenge
According to Greg vanWyngarden’s book “Jagdstaffel 2 ‘Boelcke’”, Baumer scored his tenth victory in this aircraft on 7 November 1917. He received the Pour le Mérite just before the Armistice and was finally credited with 43 victories, ranking him ninth among German aces.

3. Albatros D.III Offz. Stv Friedrich Altemeier, Jasta 24, three colour brown & green camouflage
The fuselage marking represents the triple rings of the Krupp Works. Altemeier joined Jasta 24 in December 1916 and was the second highest scorer, after his Staffelfuhrer Heinrich Kroll, with 21 victories. He was awarded the Military Merit Cross, Iron Cross, and Silver Wound.

4. Albatros D.III Hptm. Paul Henning von Osterroth, Jasta 12
Osterroth was the first staffelfuhrer of Jasta 12, appointed in October 1916. He was credit with 7 victories before being shot down and killed on 23 April 1917 by the Sopwith Pups of 3 Naval Squadron. He was succeeded by Adolph von Tutschek.







The decals are printed by Microscale in the US, one of the world’s leading decal printers. The carrier film appears to be very thin and the register is excellent.

Decals are provided for Niendorf, Axial & Astra propellers, Albatros Werke logos and cockpit instruments for D.III (which are very welcome as they are completely lacking in the Roden kit). One set of national markings is included.

Both decal sets include a set of vinyl adhesive masks for painting the red stripes on the tail of the Jasta 5 aircraft

FS codes for the colours are provided but are noted as being conjectural.  Modellers may find the following website useful for converting these codes into paint colours:
http://scalemodeldb.com/paintcharts/federalstandard

A list references is provided in lieu of any notes on the pilots or aeroplanes.

Serial Numbers
Unfortunately the serial numbers for the fins on Hunzinger’s DIII, Sachsenberg’s D.Va and von Osterroth’s D.III are all in a modern font which differs significantly from the historical font, particularly for the year designations.



Availability
FCM do not sell their products directly to customers. Apart from a number of Brazilian retailers, these decals are available from Hannants in the UK, Sprue Brothers in the US, FlightDecs in Canada, Luchtvaart Hobby Shop in the Netherlands, HPM Hobbies in Singapore, http://stores.ebay.com/SCOTTS-MODEL-WORKSHOP, Karaya in Poland and three shops in Switzerland (Wingsandtracks.ch, gdkits.com and luckymodel.com)

A quick search on the internet suggests this new set has not found its way to retailers yet and I did not find any prices

Conclusion
These are both excellent decal sets, marred slightly in the case of 3 of the 7 options by the expedience of using modern fonts for the serials rather than designing a more accurate historical font.

These decals were provided by FCM Decals for review here at ww1aircraftmodels.com

« Last Edit: January 04, 2013, 09:14:53 AM by Jamo »
Happy Modelling
James Fahey

Check out my massive photo collection here: https://jamesfahey.smugmug.com/

Offline Jamo

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Re: Two new 1/32 decal sets for the Albatros DIII & DV/DVa from FCM
« Reply #1 on: January 05, 2013, 08:43:26 AM »
Hannants now have these decals in stock, £11.40 for EU residents, £9.50 for non-EU residents
Happy Modelling
James Fahey

Check out my massive photo collection here: https://jamesfahey.smugmug.com/