Author Topic: Swedish Albatros B.II, WNW 1/32  (Read 485 times)

Online FAf

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Swedish Albatros B.II, WNW 1/32
« on: April 18, 2025, 10:42:47 PM »
Hello again... after a longish period of inactivity I've found some modelling mojo again.

Next year the Swedish Air Force celebrates its centenary and I'm planning to build my WNW Albatros B.II in Swedish markings as a celebration of that, although the aircraft will be pre-SwAF and rather show the beginnings of the air force before it actually became one. Work has started and almost everything is ready for primer.


But, there are a few issues... The history of the Albatros in Sweden begins just before the war breaks out in 1914. A German pilot, Lothar Wieland, was asked by Albatros Flugzeugwerke to make a promotion tour from Berlin to Copenhagen, Stockholm, St. Petersburg, Warsaw and back to Berlin. That tour was cut short as he and a Danish passenger, on 26 July, landed in Stockholm. Wieland was unfortunate enough to hit a patch of soft ground and the aircraft turned over with some damage to the propellor, wheels and the rudder. Spare parts were ordered and arrived, but the new propellor didn't fit and then the war broke out.
 
Wieland was allowed to return to Germany, but the aircraft stayed in Sweden where it was repaired and then flew on until 1918 as number '6'. During the repair work the airframe was measured and copied and later at least five different manufacturers produced their own variants, some closer to the original than others. These manufacturers were Svenska Aeroplanfabriken (SAF), Sodertelge Werkstader (SW), Marinens Flygvasende (MFV), Nordiska Aviatikbolaget (NAB) and Flygkompaniets Verkstader Malmen (FVM).

Using an online service known as 'DigitaltMuseum' (digitaltmuseum.se) you can find quite a lot of images of the different Albatroses in Swedish service by just typing in 'Albatros'. After looking through the photos it becomes obvious that the easiest choice is to build either the original German Albatros labelled '6' or one of those build by Sodertelge Werkstader under the designation SW12. Most of the other copies used a different engine, how different I don't know but the SW12 used the 100 hp engine that comes with the kit which makes it easier. Most of the other copies also used a different radiator setup. Some copies, later versions perhaps, also had different aileron and rudder designs.

So, having decided on the original '6', or possibly one of the four SW12 aircraft as the differences are almost non-existent but several SW12's were issued with skis which are available via the Swedish company Flying Bear, there are still a few things that will have to be changed compared to the kit in the box. Below you see three images from DigitaltMuseum. The first two are of the German original, now in Swedish service as '6', one earlier photograph and one later. The last photo is of an SW12 with skis.


I can spot three important, but fairly easy, modifications.
First, even on the original '6' the elevator and rudder lines are routed differently than the kit version. So I'll have to patch up the holes in the tailplanes and make new exit holes in the fuselage for the wires.

Second, the rudder is different from the kit version. There is a possibility that the earlier photo of '6' shows the kit version (see below), but I think it's likelier that it is the more rounded version we see in the second photo. Almost all other photos of the early Swedish Albatroses have this rounded rudder.

Third, the exhaust is of a kind that isn't in the kit. Obviously, the first photo show a completely different engine and radiator and I won't be building that, but the later photo shows the side mounted radiators and this other style of exhaust which suggests a different engine. This exhaust is clearly visible in the last photo and I think that I can get away with using the collector part that comes with the kit and then 'only' fashion the very front end and the pipe that goes up and backwards.


The first fix is super easy I hope, just filling the holes and sanding. Making a new rudder seems easy, but does anyone have any suggestions on how to go about it - plasticard simply?! For the third modification I'm thinking about roughly shaping the front end of the exhaust with Milliput, sand that to shape and then add a piece of tubing of the correct diameter, but if anyone has any other ideas on that feel free to let me know.

Take care!
/Fredrik

« Last Edit: April 19, 2025, 12:15:52 AM by FAf »

Offline Scaleber

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Re: Swedish Albatros B.II, WNW 1/32
« Reply #1 on: April 21, 2025, 02:13:13 PM »
Great to hear your mojo's back.  Looking forward to seeing this come together. Cheers / Ian

Offline NigelR

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Re: Swedish Albatros B.II, WNW 1/32
« Reply #2 on: April 21, 2025, 05:26:35 PM »
Good to see you back Fredrik, this is a very interesting project. Looking forward to it.

Offline AngryJazz

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Re: Swedish Albatros B.II, WNW 1/32
« Reply #3 on: April 21, 2025, 06:48:47 PM »
Very exciting project! I really like the Albatros and look forward to your build  :)
//Ben - @AngryJazz_Models

Online DaddyO

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Re: Swedish Albatros B.II, WNW 1/32
« Reply #4 on: April 21, 2025, 06:56:35 PM »
Should be an interesting model when finished (and I love these 2 seat Albatros' so you definitely get my vote)

Paul

ps - re the rudder I've just found that a single layer of plastic card tends to get a bit floppy when sanded down so for this I'd laminate a couple of layers together which should help stiffen it up. Alternatively you could use 'Perspex' as William does for his tiny masterpieces which is a sniffer material to start with and will sand to a knife edge if needed
There cannot be a crisis today, my schedule is full

Offline Mike Norris (UK)

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Re: Swedish Albatros B.II, WNW 1/32
« Reply #5 on: April 21, 2025, 08:10:37 PM »
Hi Faf,
Bjorn Carlson of 'Flying Bear' has 3D printed skis for the Albatross.
I have a set and they are very well printed.
In case you wanted to build a ski versions.

As for gap filling.
I've started using UV cured clear resin.
It flows great and under cheap UV light hardens in minutes.
It can be sanded more easily than CA adhesive,

Mike

https://www.flyingbear.se/shop-2/#!/products/32102--skis-for-albatros-bii
« Last Edit: April 21, 2025, 08:15:46 PM by Mike Norris (UK) »


Retired - 27 years RAF service then 20 years Military Aerospace Technical Author/editor.

Online FAf

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Re: Swedish Albatros B.II, WNW 1/32
« Reply #6 on: April 21, 2025, 09:48:22 PM »
Thank you for your support and tips!

Paul - good advice that I happened to chance upon myself because I didn't have any thicker pieces of plastic card at home. The lamination of three 0.25 mm pieces is quite sturdy.

Mike - I found a third image of my intended machine and this time with skis, so I might be leaning towards skis... Good to know that you approve of them. 🙂

/Fredrik

Offline Borsos

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Re: Swedish Albatros B.II, WNW 1/32
« Reply #7 on: April 22, 2025, 04:23:01 AM »
Interesting project and a great kit. I will follow along with great pleasure.
"Deux armées aux prises, c'est une grande armée qui se suicide."
Barbusse.
"Ein Berg in Deutschland kann doch einen Berg in Frankreich nicht beleidigen. Oder ein Fluß oder ein Wald oder ein Weizenfeld."
Remarque.

Online FAf

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Re: Swedish Albatros B.II, WNW 1/32
« Reply #8 on: June 09, 2025, 04:38:59 AM »
Good evening! Time flies... almost a month and a half since my last entry but at least there is some progress to show for it.

I started out trying to fix the main issues necessary in order to make it more like the Swedish version. That included filling the holes in the horisontal tailplanes, making a new exhaust and a new rudder. The holes were filled with bits of PC and then Tamiya Surface Primer to fill in the gaps. A couple of sessions with sand paper and more surface primer were necessary.


I then traced the rudder shape with the help of actual pictures and some guesswork. It turned out quite ok.



Until I realised that the whole vertical tail was too large. The height was very different on these early machines and so I had to make a new vertical stabiliser and then adjust the rudder size as well. This new version will require some more work making new hinges, but it's on its way. No picture of the new rudder.


Leaving these bits for the time being I went ahead with the cockpit. Everything fits very well and most things are just straight forward. But being an early early version means that the elevator cables were routed inside the fuselage rather than on the outside, so I guessed that there should be elevator arms(?) on the same axle connected to the steering wheel but on the inside instead.





And then I also added tubing where the elevator and rudder cables should come out of the fuselage on my version. And then it was all closed up.




And now I'm working on the engine. Bits of it will be seen, but I intend to close all hatches so the lower parts of it will be hidden.


/Fredrik

Offline NigelR

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Re: Swedish Albatros B.II, WNW 1/32
« Reply #9 on: June 09, 2025, 06:44:22 PM »
Good progress here. That interior looks fantastic, and the changes you are making seem to be going well. A very interesting build.