Airfix 1/72 Albatros DV - for old times sake

[lone modeller]

Evening All,

The snail has been fairly tearing along this week - the model is beginning to look like an aeroplane at last. I fitted the lower wing after first putting in a packing piece of 10thou card under the fuselage as otherwise the joint is dreadful. Filler sorted out the rest. The fuselage joint generally was not too bad and except for the area around the wing little filler or filing was necessary which says a lot for a kit of this age.



The tailplane sadly was a different story. For some reason Airfix made this in two halves so that there is a join line in the elevator: this would not matter if the joint was a good one but it is not. So I cut the elevator sections off and glued the horizontal stabilisers to the sides of the fuselage and made sure that that were properly aligned. I have cut a new elevator from card and will fix it later. The tail skid went on without problems and a little filler, and finally the undercarriage. The latter leaves something to be desired but I decided that I wanted to finish this model on time and building a new undercarriage would just take too long, so I made do by adding the small rings on the top of the front legs from stretched sprue. I spent some time instead making a chute for the ammunition belt on the port (left) fuselage side - I will not make spent cartridge chutes for the top of the fuselage as these would be tiny and hardly visible on the finished model.



Now the interesting bit has started, because this is quite a colourful scheme. I find that generally white paint from the tin is too thick and as I use a hairy stick, brush marks are a problem. I put about 30% thinner with the white paint and brushed on two coats which has given the required smooth but even finish that I wanted for the fuselage. I will paint the black stripes freehand because trying to mask the tapering fuselage, even with very thin masking tape, will not work satisfactorily - I tried it on an old model. Well when I get frustrated with it I can always paint the wings instead….. and anyway this is supposed to be a fun build so I intend to have some fun…. May not be quite the type to make me happy but fun nonetheless!



The saga will be continued at some time in the future when either I have been successful or I have decided that I am just happy with what I can do with my hairy stick, black paint and lots of patience!

Well if you have been, thanks for looking.

[radio]

Very great work on this terrible kit LM.
Martin

[Epeeman]

This old kit is really starting to look like an Albatros now -

Your detailing work is really working a treat.

Regards

Dave

[Des]

It's great to see this old kit come to life, you are doing a fantastic job so far turning this kit into a very attractive model indeed.

Des.

[IanB]

I like a challenge, but I'm not sure I would include this kit in my list! Great work so far. This is fun to watch, hopefully as much fun to build!

Ian

[RAGIII]

This is continuing to be an inspiring build of how to handle those old classics!
RAGIII

[lone modeller]

Thanks for the encouraging remarks everyone. I have also put the first image back in - it got lost somewhere!

[Jamo]

Serious modelling work going on here! Is there more satisfaction from turning a sows ear into a silk purse? Good on ya mate!

Cheers
James

[Alexis]

Great job on a not so perfect kit so far . Nice to see the classic's come to life !





Terri

[Ernie]

Good progress on a not-so-good kit, LM.  Looking forward to your next updates.

Cheers,
Ernie

[RAGIII]

Great work on this old relic! It is looking like an Albatros to me!! Well done,
RAGIII

[lone modeller]

Evening All,

Thanks to all of you for the kind remarks - I do appreciate them. Working on an old kit can be rewarding in the end, even though I sometimes wonder if it is worth the bother and I should do a scratch-build instead. It is the colour scheme that is driving me mad at the moment - or has done. Getting the stripes vertical and of even width was much more difficult than I had anticipated. However I have decided that this is good enough, so I pressed on and painted the wings and remainder of the model. Before I painted the top wing I put a small piece of 10 thou card under the wing to represent the radiator. I suppose that I should have replaced the radiator on the top as well, but where do I stop? I am also getting short of time so I decided to leave it alone and push on. Here is what it looked like after my efforts with a hairy stick were over.



The colours are from Humbrol, but the underside blue I mixed to try to achieve a pale shade. I am aware of the arguments that have taken place over the years with reference to the exact shades of colour - frankly I do not think that we can actually know with real precision because there are so many variables involved, so I use various published sources and try to match something similar.

Having painted it I needed some new transfers as the wing crosses were so old they would have broken up. Fortunately a fellow modeller, Stevehed, came to the rescue by providing me with a set from a more recent release and I have used those. A big THANK YOU to Steve - I can have an authentic Airfix model, just like the one from all those years ago.

The upper wing markings included two Stars of David which I made using dry rub-down transfers (Letraset). The lining on the top of the sheet of white lettering was just the right width. When I put the lining on some of the corners came away on to the holding paper (which is sticky) so I had to touch in with white paint as you can see.
The rest of the model also had the markings applied - the tail crosses came from the original transfer set and I managed to get them on without them disintegrating.



So all is now ready to go ahead and finish it. I have corrected the holes for the cabane struts on the fuselage and have managed to find some replacement machine guns from Aeroclub - I had the last ones in stock. Just so that you can see why I needed to do so here is a comparison - no prizes for working out which ones were in the kit.



The next post will be of the finished model.

Thanks for looking.

 

[Alexis]

Very nice attractive scheme LM 

Your fuselage bands look really good to me . They aren't as easy as they look . To aid in this when I'm doing them is to draw on the fuselage with a pencil the center line . Gives me a nice straight line to go by .


Looking forward to seeing the final pic's



Terri

[lone modeller]

Evening All,

Well it is finished at last. I added the guns before fitting the top wing. The holes in the fuselage on the port side for the cabane struts are in the wrong place but I had read about this and had already filled the old and drilled new ones. The exhaust system was made from rod and stretched sprue, as were the radiator pipes (x2 and not one as supplied in the kit0. Control horns on the elevators were from card, the wheels were from the kit, the oil tank was from a piece of cocktail stick, and the spinner and propellor were home made from card. The upper engine covers were from 10 thou card bent to shape and the trestle was from Evergreen strip and is my attempt at a diorama. I know the engine covers would not have been rested on the wheels and the axle should be lifted to get the wheels clear of the ground, but as I have written, I am not good at that sort of detail so this will do. More pictures are in the completed models section.



Thanks for looking.

[RAGIII]

It has been a pleasure following this build and the results you have achieved are fabulous! Hard to believe it is the OLD AIRFIX KIT!
RAGIII