Author Topic: WNW Jasta 4 Albatros D.V "Polka Dots"  (Read 13476 times)

Offline Wodehouse

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WNW Jasta 4 Albatros D.V "Polka Dots"
« on: February 21, 2017, 08:29:22 PM »
Hi all.

Long time lurker here, generally content to admire the excellent builds and learn from all of you.

This is a project I've been working on for a bit, so it's not a beginning-to-end build log, but rather starting from something around the middle.

So I'm trying to convert the WNW OAW D.Va into a D.V, as I was not in time to get the D.V kit.  So far it's not a big problem.  The bird I've chosen is the elusive 'polka dot' scheme of Jasta 4, and apparently there's some contention as to the colour scheme and whether or not it had lozenged wings or the mauve/green bit.  I'm going with the suggestion of the Pheon decal sheet, (lozenge with red colouring) for no other reason than that I prefer the looks of it. 

One very definite inaccuracy in my build, though, is that I'm installing a Mercedes D.IIIa in it when the original photo clearly indicates a D.III.  Why? Well, I smashed the D.III half of the engine by accident and lost a few bits of it somewhere in the process, so I'm just doubling down and going full revisionist and imagining that someone upgraded the engine.  I was too cheap to order the D.III engine sprue from WNW.  :)

So far the toughest thing was to get the black spiral right, and I didn't, but I can rest easy knowing that they're clearly not a perfect barber pole on the real thing either, and that the painter likely didn't sit there doing conic section maths to get it exactly right. 

I'm using the new printer-dotless Uschi wood grain decals (Ronny Barr pattern) over Vallejo Golden Yellow, and I decided to use Vallejo Gory Red from their Game Air line for the tail and other red bits.  Weathering will all be later.  I'll be using Pheon's white circles, though may just cut circles in their size and airbrush them.  Still undecided.  For the wings I'll be using Aviattic's lozenge sets.  Otherwise, I'm using the HGW set for all sorts of photoetch, Taurus Models' timing gear, and I scratched a few things like spark plugs, internal wiring, and that metal fuel valve that everyone does. 

I'm an atrocious photographer and my pics seem to enhance every flaw, but that's nothing new I think. 









All for now.

Offline drdave

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Re: WNW Jasta 4 Albatros D.V "Polka Dots"
« Reply #1 on: February 21, 2017, 08:44:16 PM »
Top job.

Offline RAGIII

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Re: WNW Jasta 4 Albatros D.V "Polka Dots"
« Reply #2 on: February 21, 2017, 09:04:52 PM »
Excellent job on the ribbon and wood ! One of my favorite Albatros DV schemes   ;D
RAGIII

PS: The engine looks fantastic!
« Last Edit: February 21, 2017, 09:12:39 PM by RAGIII »
"A man has to know his limitations": Harry Callahan

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Offline Wodehouse

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Re: WNW Jasta 4 Albatros D.V "Polka Dots"
« Reply #3 on: February 21, 2017, 09:34:46 PM »
Thanks, both.  :)

I love that scheme too.  The dots remind me of the Japanese Mōri clan: https://westcoastmegagames.com/2015/12/03/clan-feature-5-the-mori/

Rick, how did you do the ribbon on your D.V? I had the toughest time trying to get the lines to look straight on each side without having some sort of 'S' curve show up top and bottom, and ended up making a compromise to try and get a barber pole effect all the way around.  It occurred to me to try to make the lines concave-concave, right and left, or convex-convex, but trying it was harder than I imagined and I couldn't get it to look quite right. 

Offline RAGIII

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Re: WNW Jasta 4 Albatros D.V "Polka Dots"
« Reply #4 on: February 21, 2017, 10:05:53 PM »
Thanks, both.  :)

I love that scheme too.  The dots remind me of the Japanese Mōri clan: https://westcoastmegagames.com/2015/12/03/clan-feature-5-the-mori/

Rick, how did you do the ribbon on your D.V? I had the toughest time trying to get the lines to look straight on each side without having some sort of 'S' curve show up top and bottom, and ended up making a compromise to try and get a barber pole effect all the way around.  It occurred to me to try to make the lines concave-concave, right and left, or convex-convex, but trying it was harder than I imagined and I couldn't get it to look quite right.

I did mine by winding Tamiya tape around in the pattern I wanted then outlined each side with tape. I then removed the original center pieces of tape and sprayed the black.There were compromises here and there as you say. I am attaching the link to my Pfalz DIIIa build to show the first step. The Pfalz proved to be more difficult than the Albie as the curves are a bit more complex. From what I see of yours they are very well done.
RAGIII

http://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=6115.135
« Last Edit: February 21, 2017, 10:14:33 PM by RAGIII »
"A man has to know his limitations": Harry Callahan

"Don't slop it on" Lynda Geisler

Offline fredjocko

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Re: WNW Jasta 4 Albatros D.V "Polka Dots"
« Reply #5 on: February 21, 2017, 10:10:40 PM »
That looks fantastic and I really like the engine and wood grain on the fuselage. Maybe I need new bifocals; but I don't see any flaws. I am currently working on a D.V with a varnished wood fuselage and I may have to get those wood grain decals.

Offline Juan

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Re: WNW Jasta 4 Albatros D.V "Polka Dots"
« Reply #6 on: February 21, 2017, 10:47:47 PM »
Terrific looking bird, looking forward to your progress.   :D

Offline Wodehouse

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Re: WNW Jasta 4 Albatros D.V "Polka Dots"
« Reply #7 on: February 21, 2017, 11:25:54 PM »
Thanks again all. 

Rick, you did it the smart way.  I should have done that.  I ended up taking fine line tape and running it parallel around the negative spaces of the intended spiral, checking with a ruler to make sure the lines were even all around, then applying Silly Putty all over the thing to keep the tape in place and act as a secondary mask for the larger negative spaces.

Fred, the Uschi decals are definitely fine things.  I had to search for an appropriate colour to use underneath them, and as said before I liked the Vallejo Golden Yellow best after about a dozen or so attempts with other colours.  There may be something even better out there than what I found, or mixing up something more airbrush friendly than the Model Colour line.  It's difficult to get a yellow that isn't too dark, as the decals have a salmon colouring that will darken anything you put them over that's lighter.  Uschi's recommendation of Tamiya Flesh is good for a more orange tone, but I didn't like it for an Albatros blonde at all.  Deck Tan I didn't like either. 

One thing I'd advise is that if you have to do any masking like I did here with the stripe, do it before the decals go on.  I already had the fuselage completely wooded over with the old decals, clear coated up, and my first attempt at the stripe ended up in disaster, with rather de-stickied masking tape ripping the stuff up easily.  All in all it was still a win, because I happened to order a new set from Alex/Uschi just around the time he came out with the new printer-dotless ones.  But as you can see, I now have about 25 panels still to lay down before the fuselage is all wood again.  Always more work to be done!

Offline RAGIII

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Re: WNW Jasta 4 Albatros D.V "Polka Dots"
« Reply #8 on: February 21, 2017, 11:57:20 PM »
Thanks again all. 

Rick, you did it the smart way.  I should have done that.  I ended up taking fine line tape and running it parallel around the negative spaces of the intended spiral, checking with a ruler to make sure the lines were even all around, then applying Silly Putty all over the thing to keep the tape in place and act as a secondary mask for the larger negative spaces.



In the end it is the result that counts and as I said your results are excellent!
RAGIII
"A man has to know his limitations": Harry Callahan

"Don't slop it on" Lynda Geisler

Offline lcarroll

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Re: WNW Jasta 4 Albatros D.V "Polka Dots"
« Reply #9 on: February 22, 2017, 01:50:31 AM »
    Beautiful engine and the completed panels of wood grain look great. The considerable work you've done on this is showing huge dividends, keep it up!
Cheers,
Lance

Offline Des

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Re: WNW Jasta 4 Albatros D.V "Polka Dots"
« Reply #10 on: February 22, 2017, 08:17:01 AM »
What you have achieved so far is excellent, the wood grain really stands out and the engine is beautiful, looking forward to seeing more.

Des.
Late Founder of ww1aircraftmodels.com and forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com

Offline jeroen_R90S

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Re: WNW Jasta 4 Albatros D.V "Polka Dots"
« Reply #11 on: February 22, 2017, 09:50:24 PM »
Nice work, both on the spiral and wood!

Too late for now probably, but as for the (beautiful!) engine, I've messed up my fair share of parts recently and in the past, and when I put up a "looking for" post in the trade/sell section of the forum, every time someone came to my rescue. As as sideline I'm working on a WNW D.VII which does not use the standard D.III parts for example.

Looking forward to more! :)

Jeroen

Offline Wodehouse

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Re: WNW Jasta 4 Albatros D.V "Polka Dots"
« Reply #12 on: February 22, 2017, 10:36:50 PM »
Many thanks once again for the kind compliments. :)

Jeroen, that's not a bad idea, thanks.  My current thinking is just to go ahead and buy a Pfalz D.IIIa, which I would like to buy anyway, then plop the engine I've already assembled in it and just buy the Mercedes D.III sprue and the Taurus stuff for it, which isn't going to break my bank account or anything.  Plus it would give me impetus to try some new techniques on the engine.  I'm not really all that up on current modeling trends, am not a member of IPMS, etc, and had no idea drybrushing is now apparently considered taboo. 

One thing I think I'm going to need to take your advice for is asking around for a port side weight decal though.  It occurred to me that the Leergewicht, Nutzlazt, Gesamtgew bit that comes with the OAW kit and the Pheon set would be all too heavy no matter what I do.  Even if they replaced the engine in one of these, I would think they'd be unlikely to change that along with it.

-Matthew

Offline Gisbod

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Re: WNW Jasta 4 Albatros D.V "Polka Dots"
« Reply #13 on: February 23, 2017, 01:09:50 AM »
You've been lurking too long Matthew!

Lovely  ;)

Guy
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Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.”

P.O. John Gillespie Magee 1941

Offline jeroen_R90S

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Re: WNW Jasta 4 Albatros D.V "Polka Dots"
« Reply #14 on: February 23, 2017, 03:11:24 AM »
When you get the Pfalz, I suppose there isn't a need to get a separate sprue I guess, as all the D.III parts are included in that. :)

How did you do the spark plugs? They look good!

Jeroen