1/72 Roden Albatros D-V

[vincentm]

So, this was my first attempt at building a WWI aircraft model.

It is the mount of Oblt Bruno Lörzer, who later became Generaloberst and CO of the I. Fliegerkorps in the Luftwaffe. With over 40 kills, Lörzer became one of the main german aces of WWI.

The Roden kit is finely detailed but I thought it would be better with a few additions like copper wire valve springs, scratch-built cockpit details, control horns, engine piping, rigging with turnbuckles, and a wooden engine stand. I also replaced the weapons with Miniworld metal Spandaus, and used lower lozenges from W&W, FCM cockpit instrument decals, LF Models prop blade logos, Pegasus rib tapes, and home printed upper lozenges, personal insignias and serial number. The mechanic comes from an Orion fig set. Weathering and shading with oils.

Please click on the pix to enlarge them. I still can't figure out why they appear at a 600 pixel width...

[NinetythirdLiberator]

Pretty dang amazing...especially at 1/72nd.  Rib tapes are fine...Nice finish.  So what's next??   

Dan

[RAGIII]

WOW! Just a Stunning Model from start to finish! Construction, details, rigging, weathering, all are just AWESOME! Finally your presentation on the base and the figure just set the whole thing off perfectly! Enough Said!!!!
RAGIII

[IanB]

Beautiful work all around Vincent. A really fantastic model, especially in 1:72. Very well done indeed!

Ian

ps where do you get the instrument decals? I can't see any on the FCM website....

[coyotemagic]

Truly stunning, Vincent!  The best 1/72 scale Albatros I've seen to date. 
Cheers,
Bud

[Nigel Jackson]

What a first rate piece of work, Vincent! It's not my scale, but what people like yourself are able to achieve is an education in itself.

Best wishes
Nigel

[vincentm]

Thank you all!
As I said during the build, I already have experience in 1/72 scale (but with WWII models) so I thought I would be comfortable. But I realized some parts like weapons or the rigging, are actually a challenge in this scale. I have to thank all the experienced WWI modelers who gave me tips.

So what's next??

First of all, it's "time to relax" LOL. With a pair of small Fw190's at the same scale. But in fact, I'm eager to start another, and it will be a Pfalz D-IIIa, I've chosen the MAC Distribution kit.

where do you get the instrument decals? I can't see any on the FCM website

The instruments are just included on their decal sheets. This one was for a bunch of D-III's and D-V's.

[lone modeller]

Hard to believe that this is in God's Own Scale - just an incredible build and most realistic. If I had been told that this was 1/32 scale I would have been mightily impressed - how much more so that it is 1/72! Very many congratulations.

[lcarroll]

  Echoing the words of all before me here, beautiful work and very impressive detail for such a small scale. Very nicely done and a Model to be proud of!
Cheers,
Lance

[vincentm]

Thanks so much for your kind words.
To tell the truth, one thing I'm proud of are the home-printed upper lozenges. They may be a little too dark, but it's the result of several months of researches and a lot of trials and errors with my printer until I got something that I could decently show.

One funny thing is that wires actually keep the wings together like the real thing. When I started the rigging over and removed the early wires, the wings started to disassemble in the V-mast area.

[Epeeman]

I really cannot find the words to convey how good this is.  Cannot believe this was from a Roden kit or in such small scale - wow!

Regards

Dave

[vincentm]

Thanks. The Roden kit is definitely not easy to build (to say the least), but I do think it is a good kit because details and surfaces are really finely molded. It just requires a little more attention and a little more time than the Eduard one for example.

[Des]

Congratulations Vincent on producing a remarkable model, you have done a superb job with the build and the finish on this aeroplane and your scene is excellent. It still amazes me how you guys can produce such works of art in 1:72 scale.

As far as the photos being displayed at 600 x 600, this is a setting that was applied at the initial set-up of the forum, it is the recommended size for a forum like this one. Larger photos can be posted but they will be displayed at 600 x 600, but a simple click on the photo will enlarge it to the actual posted size of the photo.

Des.

[vincentm]

Thanks. As for building this kind of model at 1/72 scale...I must admit I didn't think it was so difficult. I had to get myself new tools (smaller tweezers, a new pair of sharply pointed scissors etc). And I learned to take deep breaths before attaching the wires or the rib tapes.   

Thanks for the explanations about pic size on the forum. I tried to manually edit my posts but the size tag kept on coming back, I was wondering if there was something wrong with my pic hosting.

[Alexis]

Beautifully done !





Terri