Author Topic: Decals for Eduard's 1/48 Siemens Schuckert D.III from Pheon Decals  (Read 5513 times)

Offline Jamo

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Decals for the Eduard 1/48 Siemens Schuckert D.III
From Pheon Decals

First Look review by James Fahey



The Siemens Schuckert D.III was one of Germany’s best WWI fighter designs but its initial service was marred by engine problems resulting in a recall by the manufacturer. Siemens Schuckert reissued the D.III only three months before the Armistice with an improved engine, a new rudder, balanced ailerons and a cut away cowling for better cooling.

Modellers have long been fascinated by the D.III with its extra-ordinary climbing performance and brief ‘what-if only’ service history at the war’s end. Back in the 1990s one of Eduard’s first kits was a short run kit of the Siemens Schuckert D.III which, although buildable, was characterised by thick crude mouldings, flash and fit issues. This retooled version is a major improvement in every respect.

Pheon released a set of decals for the 1/32 scale Roden SSW D.III back in early 2012, so with the recent release of Eduard’s new tooling SSW D.III in 1/48 scale it was fairly easy to downscale the set. A few differences – two options from the 1/32 set were dropped as the Eduard kit included them, also no need for the prop logos as they also were included.

Pheon Decals’ new release offers ten markings options covering most of the remaining options for the D.III in the Datafile #29.



Three are from Kest 5 with personal markings in yellow on black fuselages, which became well known after the pilots flew to Switzerland two days after the Armistice. Peter Thierstein of Schaffhausen, Switzerland, posted some very interesting history and photographs of these aircraft over at The Aerodrome forumhttp://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/aircraft/44671-siemens-schuckert-d-iii-iv-switzerland.html .



Pheon have faithfully reproduced Eger’s skull and crossbone markings which were quite different on each side of the fuselage.
The colour of the personal markings of these Kest 5 aircraft is conjectural. Pheon have opted for a golden yellow, whereas earlier profiles have shown them in white.

Three options feature personal markings from Kest 4b over the attractive dark red-brown stained fuselage and black painted engine cowling: 8349/18 with the blue and white star, 1628/18 with a broad black and white fuselage band and ‘Fritzel’ flown by Carl Dunkel.



I appreciate Pheon’s recreation of the historical font on Fritzel, marred only slightly by the uneven placement of the last letter (which could be carefully separated):



Options 4 and 5 are of early production DIII aircraft which vary from the later version in a number of respects. The different rudder, elevator and aileron shapes are all simple modifications but the cut away cowling and smaller unventilated spinner might require an after-market conversion set.

Ltn Alfred Greven’s lightning flash looks very striking over the Jasta 12 blue fuselage with white nose.



There is an interesting option covering one of the Kest 5 interned D.IIIs in Swiss service circa 1920. Although not specifically covered by any of the options in the Pheon set, an earlier finish of this aircraft featuring the original skull and crossbones over black fuselage but with Swiss national insignia could also be assembled from the kit decals.

Pheon’s decals are printed by Fantasy Printshop in the UK who are renowned for quality and usability.



The set includes three pages of full colour profiles printed on A4 size glossy card to help with decal placement. The 11 page instruction booklet provides historical background including a brief description of the Kests, general colouring notes, national markings, references, decal application guide and notes on individual aeroplanes and pilots.



Ordering
#48037 £11.75  Decals are available only directly from Pheon, either from their website http://www.pheondecals.com/48037-siemens-schuckert-diii.html or by email to [email protected]
Postage costs are separate.

Conclusion
This set provides a generous selection of colourful, interesting markings for the SSW D.III. It is an inspirational set, an all round classy package: sound research, production quality, colour art, instruction booklet, packaging and service from a WWI aviation modeller who is passionate about his subject.

It was good to see the Swiss markings as one of the options – quite a change from all those Balkenkreuz-covered models.

The hardest part will be deciding which option to choose! Highly recommended.

Thanks to Pheon Decals for providing the decals for this review.
« Last Edit: September 06, 2020, 11:32:16 AM by Jamo »
Happy Modelling
James Fahey

Check out my massive photo collection here: https://jamesfahey.smugmug.com/

Offline Jamo

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Decals for Eduard's 1/48 Siemens Schuckert D.III from Pheon Decals POSTSCRIPT
« Reply #1 on: February 23, 2015, 04:30:40 AM »
Rowan has been in contact concerning the Fritzel lettering and he will be re-printing this part of the sheet and sending it out to all customers who purchased it already. He was horrified to see the error, which was not in the original artwork but inadvertently occurred during the printing process as part of fitting the design to the paper size. Thanks for putting this right Rowan, excellent customer service as always
Happy Modelling
James Fahey

Check out my massive photo collection here: https://jamesfahey.smugmug.com/