Should I or Shouldn't I........

[Allan31]

As I understand it, One of Dave's quotable quotes was "Just build it..." If anyone can find me an exact quote from him like this, much appreciated.

To that end, this is sitting in the stash. It will never get built unless it is built just for the sake of building it just the way it is sitting the box. No aftermarket, (except decals) because it's just not worth the effort as there are so many other good examples of D.V's out there. That said, this was all of our first Albatros, and we never forget our first....



I have a later version sitting on the shelf with really no chance or reason to be built.



But I have Dave's words ringing in my ears of "Just build it..."

Chime in please and let me know, the clock is ticking.....

[Thumbs up]

I suggest that you flip a coin ,and live with that outcome! Good luck.

[macsporran]

I have to say, when I was building these Aurora kits back in the sixties, I loved them all - except this one. I'd built the little Airfix one in its pale blue plastic and lovely slim fuselage. But this Aurora thing was a whale by comparison: far too deep in the body and big thick cockpit ring. A monster.
Years later I drastically altered another with new top and bottom decking, but if I was doing it now it would be with major surgery in mind and only to complete the set, probably to sit at the back of the shelf!
Build any of the others instead - the Pfalz is nice......
My (hopefully not unwelcome) tuppence worth
Sandy

[Dirigible-Al]

If you do decide to build them then stick to your word and build them OOB except decals. This way they won't take near as long to build and at least they will get out the stash for ever.
Alan

[Allan31]

OK....
Thanks for your inputs. I did flip a coin. Heads build, tails no build. First flip was heads, the next 6 flips were tails.
I will build it out-of-box (except for decals) but I may add the missing circular inspection panels on the nose and I'll make them from furnace tape. The finished will take up a place on the shelf way, WAY in back.

Sandy, I get your suggestion of starting with something better such as the Pfalz but I just finished that a little while ago.  Build log:   https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=14479.msg266172#msg266172



I'm curious if Dave ever did build this and if any photos of his builds are posted anywhere.

Thanks again.....I think.....

[Vickers]

I can guarantee you that it wasn't "Just build it". It was "Just build the thing". I was in an email conversation with Dave and others in the Far Flung Modelers email group expressing my hesitations about the WNW S.E.5a soon after kit was released due to the many things S.E.5a that I was aware that I did not know. Dave replied with a three paragraph treatise on Windsock Datafiles, modeler's block, and other issues and ended it with "Just bulid the thing." His approach to the hobby was truly liberating.

For me, regarding an Aurora Albatros D.V, the issue would be whether to build it or keep it in the box as a collector's item. I'm quite certain that Dave W would say "Just build the thing."

[Dirigible-Al]

Incidentally that Pfalz is how I remember my first ever WW1 plane! I was about 5 or 6 years old and in a social club with my parents (do these exist any more?) and a lady with a big bucket of planes and boats (all completed models) announced kids can take what they want. Me and my brother rushed over, as you can imagine we weren't the only ones making a B-line for her. There were mainly planes and ships in there and the thing that caught my eye was a silver biplane with a yellow nose and black crosses. It seemed massive, probably like an adult picking a 1/24 kit. I imagine they were from a young man that left home but as kids we were only interested in getting one. I cannot remember what happened to it after I took it home, it's not a great idea to give young kids these things as they are bound to not last very long. I remember just moments after I got mine seeing a kid looking in dismay at his battleship that already had the masts broken off.
Alan.

[macsporran]

Hey Allan, I forgot you already built the Pfalz and made a really nice job of it.

Sorry if my Albatros comments were a bit harsh - just memories of a childhood where I could never find the rarer kits advertised on the header card (In UK they were distributed by Playcraft in bags, like Airfix.) I longed for a SPAD or a pearly-grey Nieuport 28 but the shop was full of this tubby beastie!
I think it is dimensionally fairly true to the William Wyler drawings used by Aurora - problem is the drawings were way off!

The joy of the old original kits was the inclusion of a good base with wheel chocks, a ground crewman or two and a nameplate so you could display the finished model with a flourish! (Unfortunately, you got the hideous markings embossed in the plastic that the transfers (as decals were called then) would not adhere to.) The later Aurora, KB, Monogram and Revell reissues deleted the embossings but sadly lost the chocks etc as well.

You're on a roll though - go for it. Kits need to be built!
Sandy

[Allan31]

Fine, "Just build the thing" it will be.
Up 'till now, I was going with the kit markings for this aircraft.



Problem is, I really like the colorful looks of this, I have the decals and I would much rather use them on a serious build of my Eduard kit.
To simplify matters, I came across Kempf's aircraft. This would be more appropriate as I had this photo as a 24"x36" poster over my bed as a kid, the same time the Aurora kit was out. At that  time, I didn't have the skill set for those fuselage stripes but my DVIII cowling has encouraged me.



Gets me out of simulating birch ply as well.

Thanks for not talking me out of this, my last shot for Dave's GB.

[KiwiZac]

I?m glad you?re pressing on Allan, I hope it goes well. I?m excited to see your progress!