1:48 Eduard Albatros D.III

[smperry]

Having decided to let my Spad stew in it's own juices a while, I needed something on the bench and the kit that hollered, "BUILD ME!", the loudest was an Eduard Albie D.III. I have had this kit over 15 years, it was the fancy version back then and includes extensive PE and a set of vinyl painting masks.
Here is a visual, out of the box review:









This is the marking scheme I decided on doing. I have a thing for Jasta 5 Albis.



Below is most of what I got done this evening. The Albie has a smallish cockpit opening through which not much can be seen well. I decided to keep the wood color simple and eliminate any attempts at grain in the wood as that always darkens things too much in this scale. After priming everything in Tamyia white primer, I airbrushed Testor's Wood enamel on the wooden parts. Then used a little Testors flat brown (some RLM # I don't recall) to paint the framework and after a bit of touch up, it all got sprayed several coats of orange future, (drops of red and yellow artists acryllic into Future/Pledge until it looked right).

Somewhere along the way I managed to loose a piece representing the partial wooden former to which the rudder bar is attached. Fortunately the former that supports the joystick has the same outline and I was able to trace a shape and cut a replacement out of some scrap card. The kit piece had structure on which the rudder bar is mounted. I made a replacement out of rod which is drying undisturbed overnight. Amazing how long thin rod will stay soft after getting hit with a drop of liquid cement. I will get the rudder bar mount attached in the morning. Must be something to all that, "Let the glue dry thoroughly" business ;-)
sp

[FAf]

Good start! I think you've chosen an interesting scheme and I will be following your progress.
/Fredrik

[Radarman]

SP,
This will be a very colourful bird. I'll enjoy watching it proceed.

                                                                      Kevin

[Bughunter]

Nice start!
I find the white-blue decal in bavarian style for the tail a bit dark (see the recently finished Albatros of Fredrik). May be you can tone it down a little bit.
I will watch, since this is my scale and I should add a D.III to my Albatros series too.

Cheers,
Frank

[RAGIII]

Nice start SP: You will catch up with My Shelf of Doom Albatros Soon 
RAGIII

[rhallinger]

Sp, I see you've joined the multi-build crowd!   Brave modeler.  This will be fun to watch.  It's interesting to move between scales once in a while.  Your start looks good.  Enjoy!

Best,

Bob 

[smperry]

Fredrik, Kevin, Frank, Rick and Bob. Thanks for the support and encouragement. I'm not building two at a time. I put the Spad away for a while and I'm only working on the Albie right now. Frank, isn't it you who refers to quarter scale as Gods own Scale? I tend to agree and I am just comfortable with that size and working in my comfort zone is how I am relaxing and enjoying my time at the bench. Which, by the way, is becoming more limited due to a rather larger than average kidney stone that cannot yet be dealt with due to restrictions on elective surgery brought on by this virus. (Whoever decided getting rid of a kidney stone fixed was a choice and not a necessity never had one.) I'm getting less than an hour at the bench for well over an hour in a recliner lying on a heating pad. Enough whining, I'm hoping a more familiar scale will allow sufficient progress on the model to keep me interested. I am building this one pretty much OOB and will settle for a clean build over superdetailing.
sp

[Alexis]

looking forward to see what you do with this one 


Terri

[smperry]

Thanks Terri.

This is what I did with it today. Nothing other than paint and assemble as per instructions.



I have a little different approach to modeling varnished wood on German airplanes. I make my own plywood decal and cut and apply one panel at a time. When all the ply decal is applied and dry, it gets multiple coats of tinted Future. Below is my ply decal sheer. The panrls are cut from different parts of the sheet so the grain may follow the same direction, but never match up across panel lines. I have had good success with this in the past, I'll see if I can do it again.
sp

[Mike Norris]

That's interesting - when you say 'ply decal' do you mean you make an actual decal or is this real ply?

Mike

[kensar]

Nice start, SP.  Are the wood decals a print on decal paper, or did you use another technique to create it?

[FAf]

I'm not building two at a time.
sp

I never build two at a time either... as I find that rather tricky, I prefer to let the other builds rest momentarily.  Sorry, couldn't resist!
/F

[Bughunter]

(Whoever decided getting rid of a kidney stone fixed was a choice and not a necessity never had one.)

Last year I had severe pain at night from a kidney stone (without knowing, what is going on), my wife called a doctor, but after a few hours it was out and the haunting was over. So I know that pain!
And that for a longer time? Holy shit!

All the best for you and your build!

Cheers,
Frank

[smperry]

Mike and Ken
I use clear decal paper. I spray an enamel wood color base, Lighter for Albatri. Darker for others. Then I use a lightly loaded, hacked up, stiff bristle fan brush to gently swipe darker paint to make the grain. Now the tricky part. Clean the fan and then get it barely damp in whatever thinner works on your grain paint. Gently swish the brush back and forth. As the grain paint softens, twist the brush handle as you go back and forth to add some softening and curve to the grain. Use great care if the base paint softens too. I usually ruin 10% or so of a sheet. Let that dry real well and then cut and apply panels. You can pre paint the panel lines dark brown. If the decal panels don't 100% match edges, it looks like a glue line. I usually apply over hatches and louvers, relying on micro Sol to sucker the decal down tight and then cut it away when dry, The whole reason for all this fuss and bother is that panels that adjoin one another are cut from different parts of the sheet so the grain runs in the correct direction, but clearly does not match up. Seal with tinted Pledge/Future. Takes makings decals well.

FAf
What? You're not ambidextrous?  :-)

Frank
Sorry you know what Im talking about. Those things can be a real attention getter.
sp

[lone modeller]

This looks interesting. Thank you for describing your home made wood transfer method - that could be very useful and helps make this iste the excellent place that it is.

BTW just for future reference God's Own Scale is 1/72. I know because He told me and He doe not change His mind!! It is also known as the True Scale!!!

I hope that you get get that stone sorted soon too.

Stephen.