Albatros D.III Julius Buckler, Jasta 17. Eduard 1/48 (finished)

[Robin]

Next on the bench...



Julius Buckler's Albatros D.III. "Mops".

Not new to me...I (tried to) build the same kit in 2011, but I messed up the rigging and the kit ended in the bin.

Reference material:
Malaula, Julius Buckler.
Albatros Aces of World War I, Greg VanWyngarden
Aces of Jagdstaffel 17, Greg VanWyngarden
Albatros D.III/D.V Aces' fighter, Kagero

I'll start when I finish the Roland C.IIa, so...more soon.

Robin

[Bughunter]

Albi-weeks I'm in!
After your D.II follows a D.III (ok, in between a Fokker and a Roland - impressive speed), so you can notice the improvements between the types.

Cheers,
Frank

[Robin]

Albi-weeks I'm in!
After your D.II follows a D.III (ok, in between a Fokker and a Roland - impressive speed), so you can notice the improvements between the types.

Cheers,
Frank

I'll try!
I can improve the woodgrain....less is more I guess. I'll also make sure the engine is dead on centre this time and I'll double check the ammo feed and Spandau placement.
This caused some problems with the D.II. Perhaps I cut off the control surfaces this time, but not sure about that yet.
Pretty much an OOB build.

Robin 

[RAGIII]

Looking forward to another Great build!
RAGIII

[Bughunter]

Robin, of course you are getting better with every model and try to avoid mistakes.
But with improvements between the types I meant the technical aspects of the types.
I'm as an engineer find it very interesting to see the technical changes from the D.I -> D.II -> D.III -> D.V -> D.Va
Good solutions was kept, other things done better or easier to manufacture. Especially in the early times you can also see, how better ideas are "stolen" and implemented on the next type of another manufacturer (e.g. Morane-Saulnier, early Pfalz, Fokker monoplanes).
For me this is a very interesting part of modeling and so part of the research.

Cheers,
FRank

[gbrivio]

[...] find it very interesting to see the technical changes from the D.I -> D.II -> D.III -> D.V -> D.Va
Good solutions was kept, other things done better or easier to manufacture. [...]
For me this is a very interesting part of modeling [...]

Cheers,
FRank

Indeed this is an essential topic in model building, how not to agree?
Will be an interesting build to follow.
Ciao
Giuseppe

[Alexis]

Popcorn , check , pepsi , check ...comfortable chair with lots of fluffy pillows , check ...yup , I'm all set 



Terri

[Robin]

Frank...I completely misread your remarks. Sorry.

I can improve the woodgrain....less is more I guess.

While clearing my desk and tidying my room I noticed a piece of plywood with plausible aircraft quality grain, so I did a little test.



There goes painting nice woodgrain out of the window. Indeed...less is more.

Recovering from this shock...I opened the box.



First impression....nice, but basic.
Good: Two different top wings (radiator position), an optional (no scheme for it though) OAW rudder, five schemes to choose from, hardly any flash and push marks.
Not so good: Very basic PE set (inspection hatches needed), struts too bulky, wheels too small, fixed control surfaces, insufficient lower wing connection.
Nitpicking: Albatros factory decals not mirrored, no cushion, no fuel tank.
Overall...Fine.

Here we go! More soon,

Robin

[RAGIII]

Your wood grain experiment is interesting! I have always been in the "Less is Best" school but must admit that a "Well Done" wood grain is Visually and Artistically pleasing. Looking forward to your build as always!
RAGIII

[Alexis]

Interesting , looking forward on the future outcome .

I'm in the same boat with Rick , less is more .


Terri

[kensar]

Looking forward to another of your builds, Robin.
Regarding your woodgrain test, I didn't paint the woodgrain on the frame of the Tommy (1/32 scale) and I don't think I lost anything.  I did put woodgrain on the IP and the footboards, just to make things more visually interesting, as Rick said. 

[FAf]

I'm in for the build! Always so nicely presented and very fun! /Fredrik

[Robin]

Thanks guys.

A little bit of wood grain won't do any harm I guess. Without it probably won't even look like wood. I'll see what I can do.

No time to start in earnest before the new year.

Robin

[Robin]

No time to start in earnest before the new year.

Robin

.....but I do something each day.

One thing I learned from my previous 3 builds, it's not nice when you have to overcome fitting issues when most of the kit is ready.
Nicely painted and fragile little things stick out all over the place. Difficult to handle and (paint) damage becomes almost inevitable. 

A D.II done and a D.III isn't that different, so I know what can...and will cause problems.

So, I tackle these before anything else.







The landing gear.
Hopelessly flimsy, no details whatsoever and getting it all aligned can cause a mental breakdown.
Done.





Another one is the poor fit of the struts (to the fuselage). Also nice to solve this before paint.

I can now start with the interior.

More soon,

Robin

[Alexis]

Always nice to see plastic being cut , nice start so far Robin .


Terri