Evening All,
Here are some more images of the completed model. The full build is in the Under Construction section, together with a brief description of how I attached the control wires to the wings and tail.
The shape of the Taube wing was derived from the leaf of the Zanonia palm. Igo Etrich was an Austrian who, through a series of designs in the first decade of the 20th century, eventually built an aeroplane that became the forerunner of all the later Taube models. Although Etrich produced a number of prototypes, only the two seat design was produced in significant numbers, but every machine was different as each one was hand-built, and each was an attempt to improve on its predecessor. Later other companies in Germany produced similar aircraft, also called Tauben, but many of these were of simpler construction and had the underwing spar and spar extensions deleted, a V undercarriage which was slightly more robust, and a markedly reduced amount of rigging, all of which reduced drag and increased speed. It also helped to simplify the problems of maintenance and repair in the field.
The two seat version was adopted by the military in 1913 and was used for reconnaissance work. Control was by rudders attached to fins above and below the horizontal tail surface, and warping of the wing tips and horizontal tail surface. It was for this reason that the trailing edges of these machines were very thin: only the forward three-quarters of the wing had a double thickness of fabric covering while the the trailing section was a single surface. The undercarriage on Etrich machines was in the form of a twin-forked structure similar to the contemporary designs of L. Bleriot. The engines in Tauben varied from 70 to 120 hp, the most numerous being built by Mercedes or Argus and usually of 100hp. Radiators were mounted on the front sides of the fuselage and machines were unarmed.
Taube types made up approximately 60% of the aircraft strength of the German Army in the early months of the Great War but only two were built by Etrich. The rest had the simplified structure of the later designs with the underwing spar removed and a simpler V undercarriage. Lt. von Hiddesen dropped some very small bombs on Paris in September 1914 from a Taube, and bombs were also dropped on Dover in that month, although nobody seems to have noticed at the time.
It was a Taube that brought news of the Russian armies' movements in East Prussia that led to the Battle of Tannenburg in 1914, and a Taube carried out reconnaissance sorties for the German garrison at the siege of Tsingtao in Eastern China in 1914. Tauben also served in the air units of the Austro-Hungarian armies, although like their German counterparts they were withdrawn from front line service in the spring of 1915 but continued to be used for training for about a year afterwards.
Like all limited run kits this one was a bit tricky in places and some of the moulding needed work done on it, but for an experienced modeller it should present no problems at all. I would recommend replacing the engine if you can, and the undercarriage and rigging should give enough hours of pleasure/frustration (delete as appropriate) to satisfy most modellers. Thank goodness we have the manufacturers who dare to make these lesser known aircraft that help fill the gaps between the better known and more popular types, otherwise we would have to either use vacuforms, convert from existing mouldings or scratch-build our own.
Thanks for looking.
