Albatros D-V (Roden 1/72)

[justin1980]

Looking fantastic Vincent,  The cockpit and engine are fantastic!  I think I will have to invest in some decal paper myself and start printing my own as finding aftermarket decals in 1/72 for some of the more esoteric machines is a little hard!  Will be watching this one.  My next few I intend to up the level of cockpit and interior details.

As for the lozenge I would agree 2 def looks the best, 3 is too big.

[vincentm]

Thanks.
Yes as for the lozenges, after having compared several decal sheets with pics of preserved printed fabric, I found the Almark and Pegasus ones were too dark, and the colors were not exactly was I was expecting on Old Prop (Wood and Wire) and Techmod sheets. This is only for upper 5 color lozenges, I think Pegasus and Old Prop decals are pretty accurate for the lower ones.

To increase color density at printing, I passed the paper and printed twice on the same area.

[radio]

A fantastic build and paint until now Vincent.
Martin

[vincentm]

Thanks. I unfortunately had to revert back to where I was a few days ago, cos the brown "wood" undercoat remained sticky after 2 or 3 days, so I had to remove it.

But meanwhile, thanks to the advice a friend modeller gave me, I've been able to make a successfull test with building wires with buckles and stretchers. This is what it looks like:

[vincentm]

Current state of the bird:

First, the painted and decorated fuselage. A few paint flakes have been made but it's still waiting for furhter weathering:


Applying lozenges to the wings has taken several days. Adding the rib tapes is particularly time consuming, I'm glad I'm done with this. The tapes are pink on top and below, as it is supposed to be on Johannistahl-built aircraft:


WIP on the upper wing. It was primarily painted in light tan to slightly alter the color of lozenges as it was the case on real aircraft:


Now all sub-assemblies in their current state. The prop has received Wolff logos (from the shape I suppose it is a Wolff one), and the wheel axle fairing has also been covered with lozenges (it is barely visible beneath the prop). The third arrow shows the painted prop cone.

[IanB]

Very nice indeed, Vincent, I especially like the prop! I'm looking forward to seeing it all put together.

Ian

[uncletony]

Looks really nice Vincent, but it is unlikely the fairing between the wheels would be covered with lozenge -- it was made of plywood.

[justin1980]

Looks fantastic Vincent, the lozenge is very well done. 

[vincentm]

Thanks.
Bo, thanks for your info about the wheel axle fairing. The strange irregular shades seen on this pic

made me think maybe the fairing had been either covered with lozenge-printed fabric, or painted to look as such (since I know lozenges were sometimes hand-painted on fuselage parts). What d'you think?

[uncletony]

I think that is spilled engine oil reflecting the light differently, not lozenge.

I'm with RB. Seems very unlikely that they would go to the trouble of painting lozenge on just the fairing, it would be an exception if they did. A prototype DV had a hand painted loz fuselage, but I know of no others.

There would be no reason to cover the plywood in fabric.

As RB points out, the fairing tends to collect quite a bit of oil from the engine, along with other debris.

Finally, there is a row of six hinges on the front of fairing, these are finished like the other metal bits, I think that's partly what you are seeing.

The fairing is actually four pieces, split in the middle right and left and wraps over the axle in clamshell fashion. Hence the hinges in front.

[uncletony]

This excellent photo by Jamo of a TVAL repro tells the story best:

[vincentm]

Thanks for the explanations. I knew that fairing was made of plywood but I didn't think about it being covered with oil or dirt...Mmmm, I have to think it over. It looks to me there is clearly a triangular and regular dark shade on the front top of the fairing, which looks rather weird as for oil spills...Don't know what to do with this now.

You have posted the photo while I was typing...From the location of the central hinges, it appears that what I see could just be dirt around those hinges.

[uncletony]

It may be that it was painted to match the fuselage decor, now you are wandering into the realm of pure speculation (absent a better photo)...

Ain't WWI modelling fun?

[TobyCoulson]

That really is outstanding work. The detail is very good. haven't been here for while as I've been making things with one wing or that are a bit too modern with two but you've got me interested again in doing a WW1 biplane.

[RAGIII]

Beautiful work on the striped fuselage and Lozenge! As for the axle cover I tend to agree with Bo.
RAGIII