Eduard 1/48 Albatros D.Va landing gear strut length?

[Luftace]

Hi guys

I am beginning work on another project, Eduard's 1/48 Albatros D. Va. I have read that the landing gear struts as provided in the kit are a little short and need to be lengthened or replaced if one hopes to achieve an accurate stance of the prototype aircraft. I don't have any scale plans of the D.Va at this time, Only the Windsock Datafile for the Albatros OEF D. III which is of no use as it differed from the D. V.

How much length do I need to add to the struts, and do I need to add this length to both parts of the "V" or just the front? I have read that anywhere from 2-3mm needs to be added, but where exactly and what length is it?

Thanks, hope to hear from you guys soon.

All the best

Chad

[RAGIII]

You are correct in that the Landing gear struts are short on the kit. Also IIRC the Wheels were undersized. I think I still have one of the Resin corrections made By Bryan Fawcett. I will try to measure the length and take some photos!
RAGIII

[Luftace]

Thanks much RAGIII!
That will be a big help. Would be curious to know the wheel sizes as well if they are part of the correction set too. IIRC, the wheels in Eduard's D. III kit were undersized, but the strut length is fine, while their D.V kits are just the opposite, struts undersized but wheels dimensionally OK. That is just what I read in other builds on this forum and elsewhere, but always good to check measurements anyways just to make sure.

Chad

[RAGIII]

Thanks much RAGIII!
That will be a big help. Would be curious to know the wheel sizes as well if they are part of the correction set too. IIRC, the wheels in Eduard's D. III kit were undersized, but the strut length is fine, while their D.V kits are just the opposite, struts undersized but wheels dimensionally OK. That is just what I read in other builds on this forum and elsewhere, but always good to check measurements anyways just to make sure.

Chad

You could be right about the wheels. I am getting OLD and have been away from 1/48th for a while so memory is not always 100% accurate 
RAGIII

[Luftace]

Haha! No worries, it is only fresh in my memory because I was spending the better part of last night reading all the build logs I could find on those kits.

Chad

[RAGIII]

I finally managed to measure the resin replacement part and kit part. The longest leg is 39mm on the resin part vs 37 on the kit part. So 2mm seems to be correct. The shortest leg is also 2mm different. I did take a poor photo of the resin part overlaying the kit part:



I Hope this helps,
RAGIII

[Luftace]

RAGIII

Thank you so much, this helps immensely. Hopefully this will serve as a convenient reference for others in the future whom may find themselves in the same situation when building this kit.

Chad

[Brad Cancian]

Hi gents - a bit late to this one, but yes indeed the Eduard legs are ~2mm too short all around. The replacement parts that Rick mentioned are worth the investment if you want something quick and easy. The slightly longer legs do make quite a difference to the sit of the model.

That being said, i've built this kit a couple of times (and I am building one at the moment) and it doesn't take much to graft in extra plastic to the legs, it's just annoying and a bit time consuming smoothing everything out.

And yes the Eduard D.V wheels are about the right size; the Eduard D.III wheels are definitely undersized, though the legs are about the right length.

Cheers,

BC

[Luftace]

Thanks Brad

Your input is much appreciated as well about the wheels and struts. Like you mentioned, I will be grafting plastic stock onto the struts to lengthen them, and hopefully the technique that I have in mind to do so will keep misalignment issues to a minimum. I will be doing a build log soon and will document my process. I get so much out of reading others build logs, especially when they take the time to explain the "how"and "why" they did things. I want to give back to the community in the same way. It has been a few years since I have done an in depth build log myself anywhere, and I think it is time to dive in again with a couple of them.

Chad