Aviatik 30.40 in 1/48

[Bughunter]

Aviatik 30.40


Today I can show the most light weight fighter of the Austria-Hungary: the Aviatik 30.40 with an empty weight of 366 and fully loaded 586kg. It was developed to use the planned production in Steyr of powerful 11-cylinder Le Rhone rotary engines with up to 160hp. Only 35 engines of 150 planned was delivered, and there was a shortage of Voltol oil not delivered by Germany as expected.
So only a prototype was build and flight tested and no serial production was started.

My reference was the very nice book "Austro-Hungarian Army Aircraft of World War One".

This build promised a quick progress with not many parts in the box, but it converted again into a huge scratch build with using some kit parts. The engine was reworked with parts from Small Stuff, the spoke wheels was a completely new experience for me, all the struts and undercarriage are new from brass and all the front panels are polished aluminium.
Some parts like airscrew, tailskid, fuselage undersurface and some parts in the cockpit I made from real wood. Additional accessories are Gaspatch turnbuckles, HGW seat belts, PE from Eduard and Parts ...
For the painting I used Alclad, Gunze, MRP and oil paints.























No, these were not new reference pictures!












You may know the Fokker E.V as small aircraft, the Aviatik is smaller in all dimensions:



And finally original versus forgery:







A very detailed build report with many macro shots can be found here:
https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=12483.0

I hope you like this little aircraft!

Cheers,
Frank

[RAGIII]

As always your build thread was very detailed and informative Frank! The results are amazing, even for you  It just gets better and Better. Your final photo shoot is awesome! Wonderful Work!!
RAGIII

[Radarman]

Frank,
You've made my day with this completed model. I can say this has been one of my favorite builds to follow.

                                                                                                                            Thanks for sharing,
                                                                                                                                               Kevin

[kensar]

Just an awesome build, highlighted by the outdoor pictures - very realistic!
One can tell this is a small, lightweight craft.  The weight of a machine gun would probably decrease its performance significantly.

[FAf]

It has been a fantastic build to follow, Frank! Excellent end results - not least those filler caps! 😉
/Fredrik

[Big Sky Modeler]

Beautiful build!  I wonder how it performed?  One question, what was the semi-circular zig-zag (stitching?) on the top wing for?

[jamieg]

What a great little build!

[Bughunter]

Thank you very much for your nice feedback!

I wonder how it performed?  One question, what was the semi-circular zig-zag (stitching?) on the top wing for?

The performance was not bad and the type was finally accepted. But due to missing oil the command authorities dropped the idea to use rotary engines (the engine production rates was also slower then expected).

Below the stitching the two control wires for the ailerons are going to the cockpit, so I guess there are some pulleys.

Cheers,
Frank

[ColonelKrypton]

Frank,

An interesting subject, an informative build, and interesting little bits of history - well done, a real gem.

I had to find out a bit more about Voltol oil which made for an interesting hour or so of research.

cheers, Graham

[Borsos]

It’s really hard to tell the difference between the photo of the original and your model. Congratulations on another masterpiece!
Andreas

[Stuart Malone]

Fantastic model of a fascinating airplane!

Stuart

[lone modeller]

As usual Frank I cannot find words to express my admiration for your modelling skills. I struggle with the idea that this is 1/48 scale because it looks very much larger. The details are just awesome, (in the proper sense of that much misused word), and your build logs are an inspiration to those of us mere mortals who struggle to glue two pieces of plastic together.

Very many congratulations on another exceptional model.

Stephen.

[gedmundson]

One of the best pieces of work I've seen - seriously. Frank, your model has me at a loss for words. Fantastic in all regards.
Cheers,
Gary

[KiwiZac]

As I mentioned in the build thread I was a latecomer to it as I didn't recognise the aircraft type. Now I'm kinda in love with it and want one of my own! Thank you for sharing this gorgeous build!

[Big Sky Modeler]

Thank you very much for your nice feedback!

I wonder how it performed?  One question, what was the semi-circular zig-zag (stitching?) on the top wing for?

The performance was not bad and the type was finally accepted. But due to missing oil the command authorities dropped the idea to use rotary engines (the engine production rates was also slower then expected).

Below the stitching the two control wires for the ailerons are going to the cockpit, so I guess there are some pulleys.

Cheers,
Frank

Thanks Frank.  One more question.  I like the grassy landscape that you use for the photos.  Did you make that or is it something bought?