1:48 Roden Fokker D.VII (Jasta 21)

[Fokker boy]

OK folks, here we go. I've decided to go with the Roden 1:48 offering of the D.VII in the colors of a machine from Jasta 21. There were several considerations for going this route; the first being that to me, larger is better (poor eyesight and all that), the second being that even if WNW were to release the D.VII before the start date (contest on another site), I’d want to cram as much AM into it as possible (something that might not be financially feasible for me at that time), but as much as anything, I feel that I might actually finish the smaller 1:48 version by the deadline!

Obligatory box contents.   

[Fokker boy]

 Since I was already cutting and chopping anyway, I went ahead and cut a decent sized polygon for the plane to rest on, (center area will be grass and dirt). Base was sprayed with some Home Depot texture stuff.



With some grass and dirt added. More work needs to be done to finish it up. I chose a polygonal shape to reflect the nature of the lozenge fabric on the D.VII

[Fokker boy]

Over the last few years, I've accumulated ample references, with these being some of my favorites.

[pepperman42]

Interesting base idea and you cant go wrong with the datafiles!!!

Steve

[Fokker boy]

Interesting base idea and you cant go wrong with the datafiles!!!

Steve

No, the datafiles rock. I wish they had pursued the fourth volume as advertised, but I fear that will never happen.

[Fokker boy]

This will be my solution to the fuselage bottom stitching. Eyelets of a dark nature, and lacing of a hemp type nature have been drawn, and will be laser printed onto clear decal film for application. I did this once before, and it turned out pretty cool.



These are the only singularly unique markings on this machine, so I've drawn them up to scale, to be cut from solid color decal film.

[Fokker boy]

I'm big on updates even when they themselves are small. Wings all glued up and awaiting prep, then paint and decals.



Holes for control cables opened up. Backsides will be ground down at an angle to offer a better path than a right turn.

[Fokker boy]

Axle wing gets holes drilled to represent transverse tubes in assembly. Since wheel completely obscures this area, it's really not necessary.



And with wheel in place.

[pepperman42]

Aha - but you know theyre there!!! So the DVII is buildable? Does the engine fit?

Steve

[Fokker boy]

Here's a link to the specific scheme I'll be shooting for, my all-time favorite D.VII from Jasta 21 (scanned from Osprey D.VII Aces book, volume 2).

http://s788.photobucket.com/albums/yy162/FokkerDrI/?action=view&current=TheSchemert.jpg

[Fokker boy]

Molded on stacking pads were just lumps, so I’ve removed them. Oddly enough, Roden made no openings for aileron control cables, entry nor exit, but that's an easy fix, (assuming I actually remember to fix them).

[Fokker boy]

The best news (for me), is that both wings are cleaned up and painted gloss gray.



And decal adding has commenced. I added the hinges to control cable access hatches on upper wing, but this was probably an exercise in futility, as decals will bury them.



Not too shabby I think, just needs the "H" on either side. (The rib tapes (Techmod), are too light, but I'll be OK with that.)

[Fokker boy]

Gun troughs made from .010x.060 & .015 dia rods. I used Plastruct channel on the last one, but it ended up looking like I was building a locomotive,... vastly out of scale.

[Fokker boy]

Some paint slopped on engine. Still a few touch ups and perhaps a few wires, then I'll call it done. No frills on this one, I'll leave that up to the Optivisor crowd. 

[Fokker boy]

Owing to the unforgiving nature of photos, I noticed one of my added hinges (on port panel), was way out of whack,… this has been corrected. I just recently discovered that this louver arrangement is incorrect (as per the Osprey illustration anyway), so don't know if I should modify it, or just let it go. Any thoughts?