1/8 Scale Fokker Dr.1 Slow Build

[Umlaufmotor]

@Butch Baker

Beautiful!!
I love this dedication to detail.
I don't think I would do it any other way.

One little thing I noticed on the through-loading mechanism of your superbly detailed MG's:
These flat, curved "pans or cooking pot levers" were fitted to later series MG's.
Unfortunately, I don't know by heart when the change from the earlier round knob-shaped handle to the long levers was made, but I am firmly convinced that the Fokker Dr.1 series were not yet equipped with these long levers.













Servus
Bertl

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

[Butch Baker]

Umlaufmotor,

Those are some really great pictures of the Spandau! I'm going to save those images in my reference folder for future projects.
I modeled the machine guns from photos of a Spandau from 1917-18 build unit. I choose this gun setup as it fits the time period of my build.
Researching the Spandau's I did discover many different versions and field modification done by pilots to make clearing jammed cartridges easier and faster. 

What is the book you are showing the beautiful drawings called, I have never personally seen these rendition before.
Thank you for sharing this great information!!!!

I have more photos of the build on my blog site if your interested.
https://thescalemodelhanger.blogspot.com/

[Umlaufmotor]

Hello Butch,

these drawings are included in the original service manual

"Das Maschinengewehr 08/15".

I have an original of the 2nd edition from 1918.

This service regulation describes the MG 08/15 of the army (Heer in german).
The difference between the army MG and the MG of the air force (Fliegertruppe in German) is the type of cooling.
The army MG was cooled with water in summer, and then with water and glycerine in winter.
The MG for the airborne troops was only cooled with air.
Hence the perforated jacket around the MG barrel.
Water cooling would have been too heavy.
The butt stock is of course also missing, on the machine gun for the airmen.

Servus
Bertl

[Butch Baker]

April 29, 2024

The ammo box supplied with the kit will need to be corrected, the one supplied is way to small and there should be two ammo boxes not just one. The one closest to the pilot is the ammo feed box and the one in front is for the empty fired cartridges'. After studying photographs and drawings I started to create the first ammo box out of .04 styrene plastic.



Basic Ammo Feed Box construction.









Doing some test fitting of the ammo box with the machine guns temporary taped into place. The Ammo feed units that come with the kit are not correct either, another item I will need to create from scratch.







May 03, 2024

After pondering on how to create the ammo feeds, I decided to laminate several layers together to achieve the proper width needed and then just drew the basic shape and started to whittle away.










Test fitting the first ammo feed unit to make sure its the right size and all the angles are correct.



Sketching the location where the bullets will sit. I ordered some 1/8th scale bullets to use as a reference to make sure things looked in scale. I will attempt to make bullets out of brass for a more realistic looking belt feed. 





Getting closer after about 6 hours of chipping away everything that does look like the ammo feeder. Still need to add the rivets and final sand before starting the next ammo feed unit.





Once I get the ammo boxes and ammo feeders done then I can get the fuselage frame work primed and ready for paint.
I've been looking for some cloth material to wrap the frame work with that will be the right thickness and color, any ideas would be much appreciated if you know of anything that would work.

[Dutch522]

Really enjoying following along with this, Butch, you're doing beautiful work. And it's especially intresting now that I'm deep into the my E.V, which shared so many construction details with the Dr.I.

Dutch

[NigelR]

Incredible work. Slow, but worth waiting for!

[lone modeller]

I think that if you tried to work quickly on this yoou would end up with a complete mess. The evry fine details that you are adding can only be made slwly and with a lot of patience. Excellent improvements.

Stephen.

[RAGIII]

Incredible work. Slow, but worth waiting for!

I absolutely agree with Ian! Your detail corrections are Incredible and worth the wait !

RAGIII

[Butch Baker]

Thanks everyone for the encouragement on this build. It's definitely been a real challenge, but I'm enjoying every minute of it.

[Butch Baker]

Been a long time since I have posted any progress pictures. I finally have finished the ammo boxes, ammo chutes, fuel tank improvement, and the tail feathers.
The parts are ready to prime and paint which I hope to get done next week. All move into installing the cockpit details, fuselage wiring etc., and then onto the wings!
I'm hoping the wings will not require to much improvements but I'm notice some issue that will need to be corrected.

Ammo Boxes almost ready for paint


Creating the ammo chutes with milliput




Fuel tank with the inlets



Tail feathers - These were very accurate, no modifications needed



New gun sights out of brass, just though the first set were a little to big.



My first attempt at making brass bullets for the machine guns


All add some more pics once I get the paint and detail done on these parts. I warn ya, very slow build :-)

[NigelR]

Superb work, there's no hiding place in this scale!

[FAf]

Wow, it's all so... huge! 
Be careful with the ammunition. It looks sharp!
/Fredrik

[RAGIII]

Outstanding work and detailing!
RAGIII

[Beto]

I'm hoping the wings will not require to much improvements but I'm notice some issue that will need to be corrected.

There is an important modification you'll need to do about the wings: replacing the wooden trailing edge for a steel wire (well, steel-painted cooper, brass or whatever you want). Probably that will require adding a small piece of wood to each rib, and then adding the clips that hold the wire. If you see Achim Engels' builds, all the details are there.

Plus, there's a thread at The Aerodrome forum by Gary Sewall in which he kindly shares his collection of Dr.I drawings. Probably the most accurate set of plans available now.

https://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/showthread.php?t=76709

[Butch Baker]

Beto

Thank you for the link to the information, downloaded and printed for reference material.
Gary Sewall has done a magnificent job documenting the DR1.