Eduard 1/72 Limited Edition “Du Doch Nicht!!”Reviewed by Brad Cancian
Item: 2135
scale: 1/72
Price: $66.95 USD, direct from Eduard; https://www.eduard.com/eduard/du-doch-nicht%21%21-1-72.htmlReview kit kindly provided by Eduard at https://www.eduard.com/“Du Doch Nicht!!” – The tale of Ernst UdetMost folks familiar with First World War military aviation and its personalities know of Ernst Udet.
To steal the words of Eduard:
“The highest scoring surviving German ace of the Great War, recipient of the Pour le Merite order, winner in 62 aerial combats, remarkable pilot, party man and playboy… Ernst Udet was all of this and also the man who was unable to bear the burden of the war he was fighting from the office and behind the scenes instead of the cockpit of his pursuit aircraft”.Udet was a colourful personality, who was driven far more by a love of aviation and sense of duty than any personal or political aspirations. A skilled pilot and flamboyant personality, he was well suited to the fame that came his way. He served throughout the war, flying in famous units such as Richthofen’s Jasta 11, and commanding his own units in Jasta 37 and Jasta 4. He named his machines “LO” after his girlfriend and later wife, Elonor Zink (they married in December 1918, but divorced in 1923). His most famous machine, a red and white striped Fokker D.VII, bore the motif “Du Doch Nich!!” (translated variously as ‘Certainly Not You!!”) on its elevators. After the war, he used his fame to make his way as a stunt pilot and celebrity. He also wrote a book, travelled the world, and started his own aircraft design and manufacturing business. He became well known for his heavy partying, and his excessive consumption of both alcohol and women. Convinced by Herrmann Goering to join the fledgling Luftwaffe in 1933, his technical bent and fame meant that he was quickly promoted. He was eventually put In charge of the Luftwaffe’s technical arm, responsible for aircraft research and development, and procurement. Unfortunately, his wistful ways were not suited to the burdens that his position demanded. When war again came in 1939, and war went on, he became increasingly criticized for his failures in managing the Luftwaffe’s technical arm. He became increasingly depressed, resorting more and more to alcohol, parties and women, in order to cope. Unable to manage these burdens any longer, eventually he took his own life in 1941. In life, Udet truly was a larger than life personality.
And so, the scene is set for this wonderful new Limited Edition ‘triple combo’ boxing from Eduard.
The PackageWithin this Limited Edition boxing, released in 2021, Eduard have continued the unique approach they took with the larger 1/48 scale package release in 2020. Like with its larger scale brother, Eduard have packaged several kits together in order to focus on several aircraft flown by a prominent figure within aviation. Udet served throughout the entire war, and flew the majority of the major aircraft types fielded by the German Air Force during the conflict. Further, several of the major aircraft types that he flew have all previously been moulded by Eduard in 1/72 scale. Accordingly, a personality such as Udet is perfect for such an endeavour.
Eduard have chosen to combine three of Udet’s most well known machines into this boxing, namely the Albatros D.V/D.Va, the Fokker Dr.1 Triplane, and the Fokker D.VII. In doing so, Eduard are combining some of their older and well-trodden moulds, and some of the newest.
We get yet another comprehensive Limited Edition package from Eduard that offers significant ‘bang for buck’ for the modeller. Included within we get three full kits (the Albatros D.V/D.Va, Fokker Dr1, and Fokker D.VII), three etched frets of detail parts, a set of wheel masks for each aircraft, several sets of decals covering eight of Udet’s mounts, as well as full sets of lozenge, a comprehensive 32-page instruction book, and a special “Pour Le Merite” pin within its own little box.
The bits and bobsAs noted, Eduard have used some of their older and well trodden moulds here. I’ll examine the Dr.1 first, Albatros second, and Fokker D.VII third.
Fokker Dr.1The Fokker Dr.1 was first released way back in 1999. It has been reboxed several times in the intervening 22 years or so, and the moulds have held up quite well. The kit is produced in two sprues (joined together in this boxing) containing 36 parts. Details are still crisp, sharp, and subtle.
The first sprue contains the three wings, rudder, struts, propeller, and cockpit floor. Ailerons are moulded with the top wing, and will have to be separated if the modeller wishes to pose them dynamically. The flying surfaces were a magnificent representation when the kit was first released, and they still look great today. Ribs are crisp yet subtle, and very nicely to scale. Struts are nice and thin, with positive attachment points. The interplane struts are moulded as a single piece, making construction a breeze.
The second sprue contains the horizontal stabiliser, fuselage halves, wheels, cowling, undercarriage fairing, guns, engine, seat, and other details. Again, detail is largely crisp, though the cowling detail is a little soft, and the engine looks slightly simplified and a little anaemic by today’s standards. The fuselage halves are nicely shaped, and Eduard captured the tapered forward fuselage quite nicely.
A fine fret of colour etch is provided, and includes some very nice details; seatbelts, instrument dials, interior fuselage frames, a seat, control column control horns, Spandau handles and jackets, and engine pushrods and induction pipes. These will do much to add to the finesse of the final product.
Albatros D.V/D.VaNext, we look at the Albatros D.V/D.Va. Like its Dr.1 counterpart, the kit was first released in 1999, and has likewise seen many reboxings, also going in and out of production several times over the years. Like the Dr.1, the moulds are also still in surprisingly good condition. Detail is still crisp and sharp, with minimal flash. The kit is produced in a single sprue of dark grey plastic, containing 32 parts.
Panel lines are finely recessed throughout, and details such as fuselage hatches, louvers, and so on are crisply done. The wing-mounted radiator in particular is finely executed, and will look wonderful under a coat of paint and a wash. Engine detail consists of the cylinders and rocker arms / boxes, separate induction pipes, and a nice exhaust, which all sit atop of a flat deck within the fuselage. There is no fuel tank behind the engine, but in this scale, this is no problem. Another omission is the water pipes from the wing mounted radiator (these can easily be added afterwards by the modeller). Cockpit detail is nice, consisting of a floor, rudder bars, finely moulded control column and characteristic spade grip, and a seat. Flying surfaces look fantastic; the ribs are crisp yet subtle, and are beautifully to scale. These will look excellent under a coat of paint or lozenge decals. Struts are well executed and thin, and even include the ancillary struts sometimes seen on later models of the D.Va (these can be cut off for the D.V version). Flying surfaces are moulded into the wings and stabilisers, so must be separated if the modeller wishes to pose these more dynamically. Attachment points are small, and won’t pose a problem for parts separation. Overall, a great set of mouldings that are still crisp and sharp.
We also get a familiar set of etch, which has accompanied profipack versions of this kit for many years. We gat a cockpit floor, seat mount, seat belts, Spandau machine gun jackets, radiator shutters, hatches, control horns, fairings for the D.V’s upper wing control horns, and various other fine details. A bonus here is that some of the components are provided in colour, including the instrument board, compass, and seatbelts.
Fokker D.VIIThis is the newest kit in the box, and accordingly has much more refined and comprehensive details (a number of these kits have indeed been reviewed on this site already, so apologies if much of this is a repeat of those reviews).
The D.VII comes on four sprues of very finely moulded grey plastic. The first two sprues, sprue A and B, contain the ‘common’ parts, seen in all variants released so far. This includes a full and complete array of all of the wheel types, radiator types, weapon arrangements, engine types, instrument panel variations, exhausts, and radiator layouts, seen on the Fokker from each manufacturer. There are plenty of parts here for the spares box. A very nice touch is that Eduard have moulded the complex ‘pyramid’ struts that attach to the forward fuselage as a single piece, significantly reducing the amount of effort (and pain!) in aligning these fiddley items. Care may need to be taken to not damage these items in sprue removal and clean up.
The next two sprues, sprue G and I, contain the fuselage and wing parts specific to Udet’s machines. We get a sprue of early OAW-built fuselage parts, and a sprue of early Fokker-built fuselage parts. Again, one is presented with a number of options; eight different propellers, and a number of different wheel fairings. The flying surfaces have lovely wing rib tape detail that is beautifully refined for this scale. The flying surfaces are realistically contoured, without any ‘starved cow’ ribs. Control surfaces are attached in such a way that they are poseable on the final model. The fuselage sprues contain two sets of parts, which allows one to produce the variants of the aircraft flown by Udet as called out in the instructions. The various vents, panels and even fastener details are beautiful, and the subtle impression of fuselage frames under fabric is beautifully apparent on the fuselage sides.
The etched parts are very well executed. The etched colour fret includes all manner of fine details; seatbelts, Spandau jackets, engine panels, radiators, cockpit details, and instruments. Very comprehensive and wonderfully executed.
