Hi folks - just made a start on the Encore Models 1/72 Albatros D.III Oeffag. For those who don't know about this kit, it is the Roden Albatros D.III Oeffag series 153 kit, re-boxed with some etch and resin goodies, and decals for a polish post-war aircraft. My plan is to build this one out of the box (very unadventurous of me, I know...!).
Many of you will have seen or built the Roden series of Albatros' models, so I won't go into too much detail, other than to say the shape is generally accurate. The kit is designed by Roden for maximum sales flexibility in that the upper forward decking and cowls are all separate, as well as the upper wing being split into three sections, all to facilitate the different German and Austrian models of the Albatros. Whilst great, this makes construction a little trickier. The plastic is soft and has a rough texture to it, as well as a bit of flash, so some care is needed in the clean up. The extra goodies added by Encore are nicely done.
So far, I have the cockpit done. The Roden cockpit is sparse, so Encore have added some extras in the way of a basic cockpit floor and rear bulkhead, a nice resin forward bulkhead and ammo can, gun butts, seatbelts and instrument panels. These go a long way to dressing up the cockpit, but there is still plenty of room for details and accuracy adjustments for those so inclined. As this is an OOB build I left it as is.
The engine, as in all of these small scale Roden kits, is nicely done for this scale. Encore dress the engine up by providing some nice resin exhaust pipes, which are much nicer than the original Roden offerings.
Next is to close the fuselage.... hopefully it all goes together with minimal fuss....!
Cheers,
BC