WNW Albatros D.V/Albatros D.Va Triple - and one more Jasta14 Albatros D.II

[uncletony]

Thanks for the endorsement -- so many of my WWI designs are directly attributable to inspiration from you, Bertl.

[Umlaufmotor]

Thank you very much, Paul, andonio, Nigel, Rick and Alan.
I didn't know that, thanks to you, Bo.

Servus
Bertl

[Umlaufmotor]

Not much news about the Albatros D.I at the moment - just a few little things.
The cockpit edge is now painted, this was done with a brush - quite a tricky job to paint an exact separation to the fuselage.
I have not succeeded 100%, as I can now see in the pictures.

In the original, a sausage made of fabric/canvas filled with horsehair was glued/sewn on around the edge or rim of the cockpit and covered with thin leather.
On the model, the thin edge in the front area was thickened a little with Magic Sculpt - on some pictures in data files and books you can see that the edge on the model is too thin.
The edge/rim is painted with Tamiya XF-52 "Flat-Earth", then very slightly dabbed with Mission Models MMP-082 WWII Elfenbein (beige) paint in the front and side areas and then dabbed over everything with Mr. Weathering Color WC03 "Stain Brown" and - finally - the darker WC02 "Ground Brown".









Servus
Bertl

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

[Umlaufmotor]

After the edge of the cockpit I took a look at the rudder of the Albatros D.I.

I have had a previously unused WW1 "Clear Doped Linen" color set from AK Interactive in my drawer for many years.
I used the lightest of the colors, AK 2293 "Bleached Linen".
I primed the rudder with it in several thin layers. I thinned the paint with the appropriate AK thinner.



After the paint had dried, I started to draw the tube structure under the fabric with a black pencil.
The outer contour was no problem at all, not even the top two thin tubes.
The problem only started when I compared the drawings in the Albatros Windsock Datafile #100 ......



...... with the excellent profile pictures in Ronny Bar's book "German Fighters of the Great War Vol I".



Datafile and Ronny Bar are not in agreement here.

The lower tube from the hinge pivot point downwards to the outside or upwards to the outside?
Even in the www and good books (data files etc) I could not find a crystal clear answer.
Unfortunately I could not find any meaningful sketches or drawings of an Albatros D.I or D.II rudder in the www.

Well, fortunately I have a large number of very good pictures of the Oeffag D.III by Koloman Mayrhofer.
It was in the hangar in Oberschleissheim in December 2011 for the final certification formalities because its maiden flight was to take place there in spring 2012.

Coincidentally, I visited the museum during this period.

To cut a long story short, I used the rudder of this Oeffag D.III as a template for the D.I rudder.



Now I was able to reproduce the correct course of the tube structure quite easily and quickly and transfer it to the D.I rudder.





I then sprayed the rudder with thinned "Bleached Linen" paint.
At least that was the plan.
At first this was not as easy as I had hoped. Either this paint "dried in the nozzle" almost before spraying, or it "spit" out of the nozzle.
I had to thin the paint really heavily - and even then there were small problems.



I also have to say that I'm a bit at war with these AK paints (Vallejo too).
I'm probably just a bit too stupid for that 

My preferred choice of paint is and remains the paints from Tamiya and/or Gunze/Mr. Hobby 

Servus
Bertl

[Borsos]

I took some more notes down in my Albatros notebook. 
Interesting detail, especially on the cockpit padding.
And yes, I also never put these <<real>> acrylics into my airbrush. I like them for paint brushing, but I prefer alcohol thinned paints for spraying.

[NigelR]

Lovely work Bertl. The cockpit looks great, IMO brush painting is the only way to go and I think you did a good job. I really like your finish on the rudder, this is much more realistic than airbrushing stripes over the top of the paint IMO. I tried a similar approach on my Pfalz DIIIa and was happy with the result.

I really like some of the AK WWI colours but I too find the paint challenging to work with. I much prefer the new Mig ATOM paints (although they don't have dedicated WWI colours).

[Umlaufmotor]

@Borsos

Unfortunately, there is very little (good) original footage of the Albatros D.I. available.
The aircraft was also in service for too short a time, as it was already converted to the D.II during production.
However, the drawings in the data file or in Flight Magazine are helpful.
There is much more good reference material available for the D.II.
But be careful, there are also serious differences in detail between the D.I and the D.II which are only recognizable at second or third glance.
But who am I telling, Andreas, I'm sure you're well versed in the subject yourself.

@NigelR

I've also worked with the ATOM paints, Nigel - but as you write, there are quite good paints from AK for WK1 and unfortunately not yet for ATOM.
There is now a new generation of these paints from AK that are a little easier to spray - but still tricky.
The big advantage is that you can also apply them with a brush - as Andreas (@Borsos) has already pointed out.

And yes, painted-on shading or stripes don't usually look very realistic - they somehow look ... artificial (Is that the right word for it?)
Like a little too much make-up on pretty girls' faces.

Servus
Bertl

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

[Umlaufmotor]

I'm slowly starting to mask the white squares for the Eisernen Kreuze.
In this case, I will completely dispense with the Roden decals.
I will only use the serial numbers.

I will not use any of the markings that the kit suggests, fortunately I have received some remaining serial numbers of his D.I kits from a fellow model builder and can therefore piece together a suitable serial number.
I would like to represent the D.I ("Red Four") with the serial number 441/16 from Carl Holler, Jasta 6.
See Ronny Bar Book ?German Fighters of the Great war? Vol.1 page 111

But, one step back - before masking, briefly tape the painted rudder to the model to see how it looks.
It works, I am reasonably satisfied.









Servus
Bertl

[RAGIII]

Stunning results from your talented hands!
RAGIII

[Allan31]

Love it. Your handling of the wood and nails is stunning.

[Umlaufmotor]

Thank you very much, Rick and Alan. 

Servus
Bertl

[Umlaufmotor]

The missing screw connection of the elevator fin on the kit was imitated with a resin screw from MasterClub.
The bent sheet metal fitting on the fin was simply painted with AK Interactive ?German Primer?.







Servus
Bertl

[Umlaufmotor]

The left side of the fuselage and also the rudder have received their Iron Cross.
The "red four" is also already attached to the model. All markings have been masked and painted with an airbrush.

However, a few small repairs to the insignia will have to be done at a later date.





Servus
Bertl

[Borsos]

 Very nicely done! The markings and especially the ?4? looks spot on!

[Allan31]

Sweet.....