Werner's Albatros D3

[Europapete]

Hi Gang.
Pete in RI here with a question about Werner Voss' Alb D3 wing radiator. Was it central or offset? Most profiles show offset, but I am not so sure. I like to use contempory photos of the actual aeroplane I am modelling as far as possible and these, I believe, tend to show a central radiator. Now I know the radiator is not exactly the most photogenic aspect of an Albatros, but there are clues.
    First off, the large coolant pipes from and to the engine. The long pipe going to the front of the motor has distinct angles and the shorter rear pipe is, well, short or long.
   The photos I present are Albatros Publications Aces and Aerotplanes 1, Werner Voss,  by Dennis Hylands.  Page 7, Werner painting the heart. This shows that the radiator is blatantly central. Page 8, the radiator is not visible, but the pipe arrangement clearly show a central mount. Page 9, lower photo. More ambiguous, could be either.  Page 9, upper photo, kinda looks offset by the pipes, but it "could" be the angle of the shot. Page 10, Family Album. Top photo, Looks central to me. Page 13, lower photo. To my eye that long pipe is straight up, not angled off to the side. And the short pipe is jusr that, short.
Aviattic Decals Legends Series, Werner Voss. Title photo. This clearly shows a side mounted long pipe to the engine. Offset radiator.
   So, did he use two aircraft with the same markings?, or was the upper wing replaced at some point with the later style wing with an offset rad.
 HEELLLPPPPP!!!!  I would really like to know what the hive mind thinks.  Regards, Pete.

[Europapete]

Or, it could be just a time issue. The 'plane had it's top wing replaced at some point with the later style.  Maybe the markings reflect this, no upper fuselage heart, no white stripes on the top wing equals central rad, and visa versa, offset rad.?? just a thought.

[Umlaufmotor]

The D.III from Werner Voss was originally equipped with a centrally installed wing radiator - but unfortunately I don't have a photo of it at hand at the moment.
Later on, the upper wing was apparently exchanged for one with an offset mounted radiator - from this point onwards, the two white stripes were also painted on the left and right of the upper wing.
There are original pictures of this.
Caution, the "old" wing radiator was installed at that time, with a lower expansion tank and only one center partition.
Bo Monroe offers such a radiator on his website as an example.

Servus
Bertl

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

[uncletony]

What Bertl says.

Jim Millers?s D.III book is pretty authoritative on the Voss machine and is a worthwhile reference if it?s not already on your shelf.

[Europapete]

Awesome! Thank you Gentlemen. Just looked through the library and I actually do have that book.

[Europapete]

Thank you both again for that extra info. Read the relevant pages in the James Miller book, re-read the Aviattic pamflet, studied the photos I have.
Bo, I do have your early radiator in stock, together with just about all your other parts relevant to the D3.
So, as a summary to build Werners D3 as of mid May 1917, while he was with Jasta 5, I can model this Albatros with an offset early style radiator, heart on the turtledeck, louvres on the very front cowl, white stripes on the wing, round footstep, wood lower wing fairings, no front footstep, metal covers over the gun feed chutes, and presumably red outer wheel covers and spinner.
Would I be correct in the camoflage of light green/dark green/redbrown on the uppers and light blue undersides?

[uncletony]

I believe the consensus is that Voss?s D.III (both upper wing variants) had three color upper camo. Color order is open to debate which is why these subjects are fun, right? Definitely light blue for all flying surface undersides.

[Europapete]

That's what I thought, thank you for confirming. Did I miss any points in the above list?

[uncletony]

That's what I thought, thank you for confirming. Did I miss any points in the above list?

I think that covers it. If you have Dave Douglass's Spotlight on Albatros Fighter Aircraft it includes a very nice profile of Voss's machine in its ultimate form. Dave's research is thorough and meticulous, so I believe it is about as authoritative as you are going to get.