1/32 Meng Fokker Dr.1 MvR's 127/17 - done

[gedmundson]

I've had this kit on the to-do list for a while, and thought I'd crack it open and put it together with markings of Manfred von Richthofen's later 127/17. With Aviattic decals and some seat belts from HWG I should be all set. I also have Ray Rimmel's recent publication on modelling the Dr.1 which is quite helpful.
Cheers,
Gary

[Radarman]

Gary,
I’m looking forward to another great build from your workbench.
                                                               Kevin

[gedmundson]

Gary,
I’m looking forward to another great build from your workbench.
                                                               Kevin

Thanks for that, Kevin! I've started with painting the propeller and detailed the engine with some ignition wires (barely seen from the front!). I have to say that the detail and fit of everything so far looks really nice. My wings did have that slight warp upwards, but some careful bending seems to have set them straight.

Cheers,
Gary

[acewwi]

Excellent start, Gary

The fit of the Meng kit pieces is excellent, as is its engineering.
Needs a little more cleaning at the seams. be careful with the plastic, it's pretty soft.

Enjoy the build
Spyros

[Vickers]

Looks good, Gary, and it looks like you're going to really enjoy the project. Regarding MvR Dr.1's, the partially red schemes like Nos. 127, 152, and 477 and are certainly my favorites and I'm looking forward to seeing such progress that you might share here.

[KiwiZac]

The contrast between masked/primed prop and painted prop is startling - utterly gorgeous work, Gary!

[Jorgo]

Gary, another time both a great engine and a beautiful prop. I really like the colors you chose.
Looking forward to the next updates !

Kind regards
Jörg

[gedmundson]

Thanks folks - your encouraging words are appreciated!

I airbrushed the aluminum parts with Alclad II Duraluminum, and made a "squiggle" pattern with Vallejo acrylic silver. Ray Rimmels book talks about the fuel tank being made of copper, with a dull green paint on it, so although you can barely see it on the finished model, I went through the motions to paint and weather that too.
Cheers,
Gary

[Allan31]

Off to a great start. I'll be following as I have the same combo ready to do 152.

[gedmundson]

Off to a great start. I'll be following as I have the same combo ready to do 152.

Thanks Allan - it'll be great to compare notes! Right now I'm searching for a Tamiya acrylic paint mix for the red to match the Aviattic decal colour. Any thoughts? Probably a XF-7 and a bit of black/brown added...but how much?

Cheers,
Gary

[acewwi]

Gary
I used 5:1 (red/hull red) according to the WNW instructions.


i think a 7 or 8:1 ratio is close to the red of aviattic.
Spyros

[Allan31]

Sorry Gary, I'm not going to be much help with paints as I've switched over to Vallejos a while ago.
In my past life, I was a commercial illustrator and did color illustration paintings so colors are kinda my thing. DO NOT add black, black will kill the color and you will get a brown.
I just checked my Aviattic sheet. To get the cherry red you need and on my Camel, I started with a medium red and added Mahogany. For me the 5-1 ratio worked well.



The stripe on the rudder is probably your Tamiya red, the vertical stab is the cherry I'm referring to. Sadly, the camera made that cherry red much brighter in the pics than it is in than real life.

Hope this helps.

[macsporran]

Lovely clean work, Gary.  Your prop masking is really effective with splendid results.
Nice work.
Sandy

[gedmundson]

Spyros and Allan - thanks for that helpful advice. I think I can mix up a decent colour without having too much of a bright “candy apple” red shade, and have it somewhat close to the Aviattic colour. So I’ll apply the decals first then start airbrushing. I saw a build by Wolf Buddee on LSP where he discusses using his Tamiya lacquer mix which was interesting. Also, I’ve often seen reds coming up more reddish in photos than in-person, as Allan points out.
Cheers,
Gary

[Allan31]

Good luck Gary.
I forgot to mention that reds, like yellows don't cover well so your base coat is important.
I spray down white, then the red with a touch of white in it for better opacity, then my finish color.
Will be watching !!!