Mark's Workbench: 1/72 Arma Hobby Fokker E.V

[2996 Victor]

Hi everyone,

welcome to my first ever build thread here on the Forum!

As I've got a bit of experience with Arma's excellent Hurricane kits, I thought I'd make a fairly easy start on here with their lovely little E.V. However, as anyone who's seen me over on Britmodeller will know, I'm glacially slow with my builds and I'm sure this will be no exception.

I've ordered PART's etched detailing set which, strictly speaking, is intended for the Roden kit. However, I'm not the greatest fan of all things etched: some parts have their value but some parts are too obviously "flat". So, given Arma's generally high standard of moulded detail, I'll be carefully picking and choosing what pieces of AM I use and what I scratch-build to enhance the kit.

Box, sprue and instruction leaflet shots:






I haven't decided yet on which of the kit's two German schemes I'll go for. The Jasta 6 option is always an attractive scheme, but I rather like the blue cowling and empennage of the Jasta 36 option. I won't, however, be using the kit's lozenge decals. Instead I'm planning to get some of Aviattic's sheets for this and future builds: I've seen some fantastic builds on here that make use of them and I'm very keen to try them out!

There are a couple of things with the kit that I'm not entirely happy with.

Firstly, the engraved panel lines on the wing - these seem excessively prominent for what was a largely smooth plywood surface. I'm thinking of filling the panel lines and smoothing the wing's surface, and then drawing on the panel lines in pencil after the wing is finished. This can be a very effective technique and although I haven't actually tried in person yet, what could possibly go wrong.....?

Secondly, the Oberursel Ur.II engine: surprisingly it seems a bit lacking in finesse, so I'm looking at Small Stuff's aftermarket version as a worthwhile substitute.

The last time I tried to build an E.V was over 25 years ago; it was Eduard's 1/48th scale offering and I became quite disillusioned with my efforts such that it never saw the light of day. I was using Albatros's Windsock Datafile as a reference back then, but it seems that time has definitely not stood still and many accepted "truths" have been overturned. As such, advice, pointers and constructive criticism as I progress will always be gratefully received. Wish me luck!

Cheers,

Mark

[ColonelKrypton]

Mark,

I am going to follow along with interest as I have this same kit that I just starting to work on.

I too found the kit's engine a bit wanting although it isn't too bad.  I am waiting on the mail for my Small Stuff replacement but knowing the uncertainty and extended time lines of the mail I managed to find one of Eduard's Brassin Fokker Dr.I 1/72 engine kits. It is very nice but not quite as nice as the Small Stuff engines.

https://www.eduard.com/eduard/fokker-dr-i-engine-1-72.html?lang=1

I will use the Eduard bit if I don't have the Small Stuff one when it is time to start on the engine.

I am also going to replace the Spandaus with a couple of Gaspatch's offereings. I have a love hate relationship with photo etch and I have already mangled the kits photo etch cooling jackets.

cheers, Graham

[2996 Victor]

Mark,

I am going to follow along with interest as I have this same kit that I just starting to work on.

I too found the kit's engine a bit wanting although it isn't too bad.  I am waiting on the mail for my Small Stuff replacement but knowing the uncertainty and extended time lines of the mail I managed to find one of Eduard's Brassin Fokker Dr.I 1/72 engine kits. It is very nice but not quite as nice as the Small Stuff engines.

https://www.eduard.com/eduard/fokker-dr-i-engine-1-72.html?lang=1

I will use the Eduard bit if I don't have the Small Stuff one when it is time to start on the engine.

I am also going to replace the Spandaus with a couple of Gaspatch's offereings. I have a love hate relationship with photo etch and I have already mangled the kits photo etch cooling jackets.

cheers, Graham

Hi Graham,

Welcome glad to have you along! I hope my efforts will be of some interest, although I strongly suspect they'll be more of the "how to not do it" variety

Interesting that you also think the kit's engine is a bit lacking. I've ordered a couple of Le Rhone 9J/Oberursel Ur.II engines (plus a Clerget) direct from Eugeny at Small Stuff as no-one here in the UK seems to have them, and the only European source worked out more expensive than ordering direct. Wouldn't it be great if they also did a Siemens-Halske Sh.III, Austro-Daimler, Hiero etc etc ? I didn't know about the Eduard Brassin item as I'm still finding what's available.

I know what you mean about PE parts. I haven't tried anything by Gaspatch, although I was looking for Schwarzlose guns for my A-H projects and think they do some. I'll have another look at their range as my previous efforts at rolling gun jackets haven't ended very well.....

Cheers for now,
Mark

[RAGIII]

Looks like a very nice kit. I do like the EV and also the Lovely Jasta 6 schemes   
RAGIII

[Bughunter]

Oh, this little bird in 1/72 reminds me on a stripdown build, where I also added a Small Stuff engine. That is still the smallest aircraft in my cabinet!
https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=8758

The kit parts here looks better then the old Eduard kit, which was also included for the strip down kit, but luckily I had to use only some of them. But now wonder - there are 20 years between both kits.

Good luck and have fun,
Frank

[Stuart Malone]

Mark,

This is a beauty of a kit to build.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I know you will too.

I highly recommend taking a look at Kris Sieber aka Luftraum/72 on Facebook or Instagram.  His modeling skills are off the charts.  I will be trying some of his techniques on a new build in the future.

One note I'll pass along on the kit is the central controls seem a bit thick and clunky.  They may be correct. They didn't bother me enough to research it let alone try to scratch build something better.

I loved the undercarriage alignment jig they supplied!  Very clever and worked like a charm for me.

Stuart

[2996 Victor]

Oh, this little bird in 1/72 reminds me on a stripdown build, where I also added a Small Stuff engine. That is still the smallest aircraft in my cabinet!
https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=8758

The kit parts here looks better then the old Eduard kit, which was also included for the strip down kit, but luckily I had to use only some of them. But now wonder - there are 20 years between both kits.

Good luck and have fun,
Frank

Mark,

This is a beauty of a kit to build.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I know you will too.

I highly recommend taking a look at Luftraum/72 on Facebook or Instagram.  Kris Sieber is doing one now as well.  His modeling skills are off the charts.  I will be trying some of his techniques on a new build in the future.

One note I'll pass along on the kit is the central controls seem a bit thick and clunky.  They may be correct. They didn't bother me enough to research it let alone try to scratch build something better.

I loved the undercarriage alignment jig they supplied!  Very clever and worked like a charm for me.

Stuart

Looks like a very nice kit. I do like the EV and also the Lovely Jasta 6 schemes   
RAGIII

Thanks for the encouragement, folks, its hugely appreciated!

Great strip down, Frank: I'll have a thorough read through the build thread for pointers.

Glad to hear its a nice kit, Stuart, that's good to know! I did think the controls look a bit hefty, so I'll be looking to thin them down a bit - a bit of scraping and wash with MEK might do the trick (or it might just melt it completely.....). I haven't logged into Facebook for ages, but I'll have to have a look at Luftraum/72 - I'm always looking for good new techniques to try out.

Gotta agree about the schemes, RAGIII, they're all great ones. Jasta 6 had a number of nice schemes, but I'm really leaning toward the blue-tailed Jasta 36 number

I've filled the panel lines on the wing with Mr Dissolved Putty, scraped it back and lightly sanded with worn 1000 wet-or-dry. Hopefully primer tomorrow.

Cheers,

Mark

[WD]

Alternatively, if you don't want to deal with FB or other social media,  you can see Luftraum's work at https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/72nd_aircraft/ . There's a great build thread there, and it's just a great forum populated by great folks as well.

I'm looking forward to see what you do with this!

WD

[Ernie]

Looking forward to following along Mark, popcorn at the ready!

Cheers,
Ernie

[Bughunter]

Mark, some remarks regarding the Oberursel Ur.II

The later posts mentioned the build of Luftraum. He used also a Small Stuff engine, but be careful with the intake pipes. Late in the war Germany was out of copper, so the intake pipes of a Oberursel was not made of copper:

Source: wikimedia.org

There are pictures with copper intakes, but this was then captured engines, also the crank case looks a bit different (in 48 Small Stuff offered both types).

And since the Small Stuff engines are in scale I expect you have to thing down the wall of the cowling a lot. I suggest to try that before painting the engine.

Cheers,
Frank

[ColonelKrypton]

Frank,

That is a good point regarding the intake pipes and late war lack of copper and crank case differences - duly noted.

cheers, Graham

[lone modeller]

Good to see another model being built in the True Scale: I will be following along.

Stephen.

[2996 Victor]

Looking forward to following along Mark, popcorn at the ready!

Cheers,
Ernie

Good to see another model being built in the True Scale: I will be following along.

Stephen.

Hi chaps and welcome along! I only hope there'll be something worth watching

Kind regards,

Mark

[2996 Victor]

Mark, some remarks regarding the Oberursel Ur.II

The later posts mentioned the build of Luftraum. He used also a Small Stuff engine, but be careful with the intake pipes. Late in the war Germany was out of copper, so the intake pipes of a Oberursel was not made of copper:

Source: wikimedia.org

There are pictures with copper intakes, but this was then captured engines, also the crank case looks a bit different (in 48 Small Stuff offered both types).

And since the Small Stuff engines are in scale I expect you have to thing down the wall of the cowling a lot. I suggest to try that before painting the engine.

Cheers,
Frank

Frank,

That is a good point regarding the intake pipes and late war lack of copper and crank case differences - duly noted.

cheers, Graham

Thanks Frank and Graham - that's something I hadn't considered but which of course makes perfect sense! The intake pipes in the photograph look like welded steel: aluminium would be appropriate as the intake stays cool and temperature wouldn't be a problem, but presumably that would have been in short supply also.

Many thanks once again and kind regards,

Mark

[2996 Victor]

Alternatively, if you don't want to deal with FB or other social media,  you can see Luftraum's work at https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/72nd_aircraft/ . There's a great build thread there, and it's just a great forum populated by great folks as well.

I'm looking forward to see what you do with this!

WD

Thanks, WD, that's great to know. I'm not averse to FB, I've just got a bit bored with it and don't tend to bother much. I'll have a look at the 72nd_aircraft thread.

Kind regards,

Mark