forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com

WW1 Aircraft Modeling => Completed models => Topic started by: gedmundson on March 13, 2016, 03:17:19 PM

Title: Manfred von Richthofen's E.III WnW
Post by: gedmundson on March 13, 2016, 03:17:19 PM
Good day everyone,
This is WnW's Fokker E.III done to represent the aircraft flown by Manfred von Richthofen in his early days as a scout pilot. I used the same old figure from Model Cellar (seen previously with my LVG C.IV) to pose beside it to give a size perspective in a couple of the pics.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v682/gedmundson1/DSC_5149_zpsat4ixdm7.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/gedmundson1/media/DSC_5149_zpsat4ixdm7.jpg.html)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v682/gedmundson1/DSC_5158_zpsg3jtaydp.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/gedmundson1/media/DSC_5158_zpsg3jtaydp.jpg.html)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v682/gedmundson1/DSC_5171_zpsbz4wylaj.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/gedmundson1/media/DSC_5171_zpsbz4wylaj.jpg.html)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v682/gedmundson1/DSC_5174_zpsevbswgaw.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/gedmundson1/media/DSC_5174_zpsevbswgaw.jpg.html)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v682/gedmundson1/DSC_5180_zpsyf51rn1u.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/gedmundson1/media/DSC_5180_zpsyf51rn1u.jpg.html)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v682/gedmundson1/DSC_5190_zps40cnpdfd.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/gedmundson1/media/DSC_5190_zps40cnpdfd.jpg.html)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v682/gedmundson1/DSC_5194_zpskxfvdvsc.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/gedmundson1/media/DSC_5194_zpskxfvdvsc.jpg.html)
Title: Re: Manfred von Richtofen's E.III WnW
Post by: Dave Brewer on March 13, 2016, 03:50:28 PM
That's absolutely lovely Gary,the machined metal effect is most impressive,as is the weathering.I particularly like the two posed shots.
Title: Re: Manfred von Richtofen's E.III WnW
Post by: Gisbod on March 13, 2016, 04:59:29 PM
Great job Gary,

I particularly like the last 2 shots too  ;) cracking!

What is the background you use?

Guy
Title: Re: Manfred von Richtofen's E.III WnW
Post by: Des on March 13, 2016, 05:29:54 PM
Extremely well done Gary, the overall finish on the Fokker is superb and the background is excellent.

Des.
Title: Re: Manfred von Richthofen's E.III WnW
Post by: boggie on March 13, 2016, 07:25:11 PM
Great squiggly work Gary!
I very much like your oil staining and that prop really is excellent.
A model to be very proud of.

Whats next?  :)
Title: Re: Manfred von Richthofen's E.III WnW
Post by: Ernie on March 13, 2016, 09:26:21 PM
The Eindecker is an absolute stunner, Gary!  I really like the
setting with the figure and background...it completes everything
beautifully.  I have to ask how you did the "squiggles" on the
aluminum parts?  Superb model, my friend!

Cheers,
Ernie :)
Title: Re: Manfred von Richthofen's E.III WnW
Post by: dtomko on March 13, 2016, 09:47:39 PM
Fantastic job!  That's a beautiful finish.

Drew
Title: Re: Manfred von Richthofen's E.III WnW
Post by: Oeli on March 13, 2016, 10:34:56 PM
Hi Gary,

wonderful work! :)
It´s looking beautiful, and the discreetly weathering, great!

Regards

Jörg
Title: Re: Manfred von Richthofen's E.III WnW
Post by: Suffolk Lad on March 13, 2016, 10:53:12 PM
That's absolutely gorgeous Gary - those last two pics make it especially so.  I have just received this kit but to date had dismissed doing a 'grey' version - your's has certainly focussed my mind some - beautiful work indeed.

Regards - Tug
Title: Re: Manfred von Richthofen's E.III WnW
Post by: lcarroll on March 13, 2016, 11:09:23 PM
    Wow Gary, you didn't hold back on this one! I really like the shading you've done and the rigging is impressive to say the least, GasPatch 1:48 Buckles? Also would like to know more about the grass base she's sitting on in the last two photos, locally sourced?
    Great detail and finish as we've come to expect from your bench, nicely done!
Cheers,
Lance
Title: Re: Manfred von Richthofen's E.III WnW
Post by: RAGIII on March 13, 2016, 11:28:33 PM
I am in awe of the weathering! I absolutely LOVE the soaked in oil look around the ribs and fuselage formers. How did you do that? Beautiful all around and the rigging is awesome!
RAGIII
Title: Re: Manfred von Richthofen's E.III WnW
Post by: gedmundson on March 13, 2016, 11:58:12 PM
Thanks Gentlemen - glad you like the model.

Guy - you asked about the background I've used. It's a printed model train backdrop from FALLER, and is about 3' X 1.5' drymounted on a piece of foam board. The colours get a bit washed out since I use four floodlamps to illuminate the subject.

Boggie asked - what I'll be doing next? Well - I've got a couple more WnW on the go; a Pfalz D.XII and a D.IIIa. I'm still waiting for some help from Bertl as to how he got that wonderful weathered black finish on his D.IIIa

Ernie asked about the turned aluminum squiggles. That was the one thing that held this project up for months - trying to figure out how to do that without having the types of paints recommended in the WnW helpful tips on their website. I experimented with various metal finishes, finally settling on a base of Alclad Dark Aluminum, and using a new 000 brush to paint squiggles of Testor Model Master Chrome Silver on the surface. The interior of the aluminum cowlings were done with other combinations as I worked out the process since they are barely visible. I also sprayed a few light lines of Tamiya Smoke here and there to weather the surface.

Tug - I had also not wanted to do that greyish green scheme originally, but trusted the WnW reference team since I was wanting to do MvR's mount. As a compromise, halfway through this project I bought another WnW Eindecker II/III just so I could build a cream-coloured one. To be honest for this project I mixed a lighter shade of the XF-22 they suggest by adding some XF-60 Dark Yellow.

Lance, you are always too kind! The turnbuckles are the photo-etched ones from RB Productions. I tried to use a translucent metal enamel on them just to tone down the bright brass look. The base is an old trophy plaque that I just added some Celuclay (with acrylic paint for colour), and randomly stuck static grass of various colours here and there. I've made similar bases for my armour projects for years, and was able to throw that together quickly. It's big enough to work for most of the WnW projects I've built so far.

And RAGIII - Thanks! I pre-shaded the fuselage ribs and the cross-wires above the rear fuel tank, then added very thin masking tape to all these spots. After spraying on the base colour, I removed the tape, then added more base colour to blend and fade the harsh lines. I also airbrushed a very dark brown to show where oil had soaked into the fabric, and later added little cumulative dots of diluted oil paint around these same areas to simulate the stains seen in a lot of the period photos. The wings were done in the same fashion.

Cheers!
Gary



Title: Re: Manfred von Richthofen's E.III WnW
Post by: Nigel Jackson on March 14, 2016, 01:16:22 AM
Lovely work, Gary. It looks very impressive.

Best wishes
Nigel

Title: Re: Manfred von Richthofen's E.III WnW
Post by: coyotemagic on March 14, 2016, 02:29:29 AM
Magnificent Eindecker, Gary!  One of the finest I've seen.
Cheers,
Bud
Title: Re: Manfred von Richthofen's E.III WnW
Post by: bobs_buckles on March 14, 2016, 02:35:35 AM
Magnificent Eindecker, Gary!  One of the finest I've seen.
Cheers,
Bud

Add another admirer to the mix... Super job, Gary  ;)

vB
Title: Re: Manfred von Richthofen's E.III WnW
Post by: gedmundson on March 14, 2016, 03:07:44 AM
Nigel, Bud and Bob - thanks for your kind comments! The kit was a joy to build and offered it's fair share of new things to try. I have to give credit to this site (Bertl "Umlaufmotor" in particular) for added reference as to where the rigging wires went exactly. If I do have a complaint about the WnW instructions, it would be the vague way they show how the rigging wires go (in some cases).
Cheers,
Gary
Title: Re: Manfred von Richthofen's E.III WnW
Post by: lone modeller on March 14, 2016, 03:28:32 AM
What is there left to write about a model that is first class in every aspect? Absolutely stunning!

Stephen.
Title: Re: Manfred von Richthofen's E.III WnW
Post by: gedmundson on March 14, 2016, 10:00:32 AM
What is there left to write about a model that is first class in every aspect? Absolutely stunning!

Stephen.
Thanks Stephen, much appreciated!
Gary
Title: Re: Manfred von Richthofen's E.III WnW
Post by: stefanbuss on March 14, 2016, 05:47:55 PM
This is an absolute beauty of an Eindecker, Gray. You used the kit's engine, I assume (as there is no mentioning of an aftermarket item)?

S.
Title: Re: Manfred von Richthofen's E.III WnW
Post by: gedmundson on March 14, 2016, 10:03:43 PM
Thanks Stefan, that's correct - I used the kit engine and just added some ignition wires at the back.
Cheers!
Gary
Title: Re: Manfred von Richthofen's E.III WnW
Post by: Borsos on March 15, 2016, 12:52:39 AM
awesome job on that Eindecker! Congratulations! I like feldgrau on those planes  :)
Title: Re: Manfred von Richthofen's E.III WnW
Post by: Epeeman on March 15, 2016, 03:06:38 AM
Superb job, Gary -

Nicely set off with the figure as well.

Regards

Dave
Title: Re: Manfred von Richthofen's E.III WnW
Post by: gedmundson on March 19, 2016, 05:09:04 AM
Thanks Dave, much appreciated.

The "profile" page has you in Gravesend, UK? I used to live in nearby Rochester back in the sixties...building some of my first Airfix kits at the time!

Cheers,
Gary
Title: Re: Manfred von Richthofen's E.III WnW
Post by: GeFliegler on March 19, 2016, 05:20:56 AM
This is one of the best models I have ever seen !  Congrats  :D
Title: Re: Manfred von Richthofen's E.III WnW
Post by: Umlaufmotor on March 21, 2016, 07:16:38 AM
Completely overlooked, shame on me.
This is the best-built Fokker E.I - E.IV what I've seen so far.
Everything is right here, in my eyes.
Weathering, squirls on the cowling and - something which is considered to very few Fokker E. models, the wings are straight!! They do not hang down, are not warped -  this built is showing a superb job of rigging, Friends!!!
And also Manfred is painted perfectly.
All my thumbs up!
Title: Re: Manfred von Richthofen's E.III WnW
Post by: Doug Mace on March 22, 2016, 05:28:52 AM
Every one of my thumbs as well, Gary.
Title: Re: Manfred von Richthofen's E.III WnW
Post by: dr 1 ace on March 22, 2016, 05:57:40 AM
Mine as well to all the above !!


Ed
Title: Re: Manfred von Richthofen's E.III WnW
Post by: pepperman42 on March 23, 2016, 01:09:59 AM
Beautiful execution on this!!

                                                 Steve
Title: Re: Manfred von Richthofen's E.III WnW
Post by: ALBATROS1234 on March 28, 2016, 02:00:38 PM
love eindeckers and your is stunning, very clean build with very tastful shading and such. my question is where did you hear that this was richthofens plane? i may be mistaken but i thought he started flying after the eideckers had faded into history. i am not challenging you but i really thought that he had not started flying on his own until later on.i seem to remember him flying a halberstadt d.ii as first mount. like i said i could be wrong. you have my curiousity sparked will have to crack some books.
Title: Re: Manfred von Richthofen's E.III WnW
Post by: gedmundson on March 29, 2016, 09:36:12 AM
love eindeckers and your is stunning, very clean build with very tastful shading and such. my question is where did you hear that this was richthofens plane? i may be mistaken but i thought he started flying after the eideckers had faded into history. i am not challenging you but i really thought that he had not started flying on his own until later on.i seem to remember him flying a halberstadt d.ii as first mount. like i said i could be wrong. you have my curiousity sparked will have to crack some books.

Hi there Scott, glad you liked the model! The scheme is one of the choices given in the kit. They even had a couple of photos in the instruction booklet of when von Richthofen crashed it. It was news to me as well, and I've read a few books on him myself.
Cheers,
Gary
Title: Re: Manfred von Richthofen's E.III WnW
Post by: lcarroll on March 29, 2016, 01:05:55 PM
    MVR's history on the Fokker E.III is not well covered in most of the literature. Killduff's "Red Baron, Life and Death of an Ace" does cover that short period of his flying career. As was common, Kamphstaffel 8 where the Baron started his front seat flying on Albatros C.III's or possibly Rumpler C.I's in March 1916 had a Fokker Monoplane on strength. He flew it as did several other pilots of the unit although he did not score any victories with it and wrote it off in a landing crash in early July of that year. There are 2 excellent photos of the crashed aircraft in the Albatros Publications "Richthofen" by AE Ferko.
Cheers,
Lance
Title: Re: Manfred von Richthofen's E.III WnW
Post by: Kalt on March 29, 2016, 01:21:10 PM
Simply beautiful
Title: Re: Manfred von Richthofen's E.III WnW
Post by: ermeio on March 29, 2016, 05:43:19 PM
A lovely outstanding excellent model Gary
No superlatives are enough.
I got catched!