Aurora Fokker D.VIII, 1/48, almost as Dave would have....FINI....

[Allan31]

I pulled out the BlueMax Snipe and started sniping and cleaning up bits. While puttering away at the Snipe, it occurred to me there was still time left in this GB tribute to Dave Wilson and I was trying to think of something he might have built and perhaps build it the way he would have, as we all did, back in the day.

While looking for something else, I found this.



I want to build a Jasta 6 a/c as it appeared to all of us in the Profile Publications.



I know by todays standards the kit is subpar as is the color profile but this is what we all had and that was as good as it got.

Jasta 6 a/c appear in the back Profile page.



We would have hand painted the lozenge pattern but that's not happening. Evilbay to the rescue.



I found Jasta 6 markings.



With some careful sanding and thinning of struts, this doesn't look too bad. Of course the wing chord is sorely lacking but it will stay. Perhaps Dave would have carved a new one out of Balsa but....
I was amazed to see an actual floor, control column, an instrument panel and a usable seat.



Nuttin says authentic WW1 setting like boulders and rocks and downed trees around an a/c with no brakes and a super torquey rotary engine....



I may pinch a new propeller from a DVII kit and maybe some better Spandaus.

I came across this painting by Mark Karvon. I thought the DVIII scored no kills. Any thoughts?





I've always wanted to build this. I'm glad this GB has given me another opportunity to give a nod to Dave Wilson.

[macsporran]

Great choice, Allan.
I remember building this back in the day - but way before the KB type square boxing. Early sixties and the original Aurora box art by Jo Katula showed lozenges all over the wing - so of course I dutifully hand painted the whole thing in hexagons!
I thought it looked the bee's knees, wish I had a photograph now.
Anyway a few years later I realised it was all wood and repainted in the obligatory olive green we all believed in back then.
The original Aurora boxing had a much better baseplate for the crewman to stand on and the usual nameplate medallion.
I'm sure Dave would be delighted by your tribute.
Sandy

[DaddyO]

This looks like fun

Never seen the contents of these kits before, but, for their time, they look the 'bees knees' 

I also approve of the green wing (so ingrained in my psych is the idea of the dark green wing on these that I cannot even see the currently thought correct streaked brown, green, pink and blue wing without my initial thought being 'that looks wrong' - amazing how influenced we are by these illustrations and kits from our younger days)

Paul

[NigelR]

What a great project! I never had any of these Aurora WWI kits back in the day, but I remember when I got back into modelling in the late 90s they were still desirable as a starting point for conversion work. Have fun, especially with that wonderful base!

We would have hand painted the lozenge pattern but that's not happening.

Yellow chicken.......

[Brad Cancian]

An excellent project - always great to get back to some modelling roots (and Dave would have agreed, I am sure!). Looking forward to seeing more!

Cheers,

BC

[RAGIII]

Awesome! I built one in about 1965 then had one of the K&B reissues in the 70's. Looking forward to this one!
RAGIII

[Allan31]

Trying not to go TOO crazy and somewhat succeeding...

Cockpit with just belts added. I tried to simulate the translucent fabric by applying lozenge to the inside. Kinda worked.



I reshaped the wingtips and shortened them down slightly to the scale wingspan.



The reshaped wingtips went a long way to distracting from the chord challenged wing.

I thinned the cowling and added rivets.



I capped the wheel axils.



I smoothed out the top of the fuselage to accept the Rose Parts Spandaus. I'm thinking the Rose Parts were something Dave would have had access to.



I added carb inlets from aluminum tubing and added holes for future steps and rigging.



And off to the paint booth. Everything now has a nice smooth coat of Tamiya fine white.

[Flamingo]

Hi Allan,
interesting project.
I agree that reshaping the wing tips improved appearance dramatically.
Greetings Joachim

[FAf]

Mighty good progress! Looks like you'll have it finished well before the end of the group build.
/Fredrik

[NigelR]

Good work so far. This really is a "down memory lane" build.....

[Allan31]

I've never done this Lozenge decal thing so I was kinda winging it. (see what i did there?....)

I took Tamiya tape and burnished the outline of the panels I need, transferred to the decal, cut it out and applied.



Everything was great until the last piece. I've no idea what was going on here but some matching patches soon had things right.



I mixed up my own green to match the average truth in photos of the TVAL D.VIII. 50/50 of each.



The part I was dreading. Back in the day if Dave or I were to build this back then we had no decals available. Everything was mask and spray so that is how this went.
I just guessed at the size and started cutting. Round one with the cowling almost worked but by the time I got all the way around it just was wasn't going to happen. Swing anda miss...



A better guess and things were working.



I was chuffed when the tape came off, it actually looks like it's supposed to.



Decals are on and most everything is future coated ready for weathering.



I wanted to do the personal markings on this a/c but it is proving just too problematic what with masking on fragile lozenge and then getting the black ruled line on. I'm pretty sure these markings are in the Eduard kit as a decal.



I'm gonna take the easy route and cut out a white arrow and be done. BaDaBing.......



More soon....

[NigelR]

Wow, great work. Good work on the lozenge decals and superb masking on the markings. This is a true "retro" build!

[FAf]

Excellent work! I really like the colours and the masking produced great results.
/Fredrik

[Flamingo]

The cowling is very nice! Like Jasta 6 markings a lot.

[Vickers]

You are creating a true gem from this venerable old kit! Nice work on the lozenge decals and those striking Jasta 6 markings.