Edelweiss Albatros in 1/32

[Softscience]

And now for something completely different.


At least for me.

I'm still on the fence about 1/32 scale. It's a little too large, selection is limited, kits are expensive, and I really dislike WnW's business model of driving demand by limiting supply below the curve.

On the other hand, the detail is incredible, and people tell me that at least the WnW kits are great fun to build.

I have two WnW kits and an ancient hobby craft Nieuport 17, so it's time to try. Maybe the big details will be fun, maybe the bigger eyelets will be easier to string up, maybe I'll just use the scale for some favorites (the Nieuport sesquiplanes, Sopwith triplane, pup, camel, Albatros D.III and D.V, etc.). But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I purchased a WnW Albatros D.V back around 2011, built most of the fuselage and then got intimidated by the engine, and the rib tapes and the rigging and all of it.

Thanks to many of you folks, I've picked up a few skills and techniques, and now feel ready to continue my build.

Today I cleaned up the wings and began painting the ribs using a method I observed a few others use. I like how they turned out.

They're not as overpoweringly blue as the photos suggest. My desk lamps saturate everything.







The top surfaces will come tomorrow. They will be mauve and green. WnW suggest a mix of Tamiya aluminum and dark earth for the mauve. Surely, this can't be correct. The cockpit green for the green parts doesn't seem right, either.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

[Petie2nd]

Tamiya X-16 (gloss) is Purple; XF-16 (flat) is Flat Aluminum. The purple is called out in the instructions. Don't know how good the mix looks, as I've never tried to make it yet. As for the cockpit Grey-green, I have a photo in an old Windsock magazine somewhere of an Albatros D.V cockpit in color. XF-76 seems to be a decent match for the metal items in that photo.

Rich

[lcarroll]

Rich is correct, the X-16 Purple is a good match when toned down a bit with the addition of the Dark Earth. Try it out on a piece of scrap plastic before using it on your model. The XF-76 Grey Green is a perfect match IMHO, Jamo's excellent photo coverage here will confirm that for you.

https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=170.0

   I'll be following your Build with interest, I believe once you get a few of these under your belt your reservations about 1:32 Scale will disappear!
Cheers,
Lance
   

[RAGIII]

Your rib shading looks excellent. I am glad you have chosen to go back to this build and post your progress!
RAGIII

[lone modeller]

Really good to see you tackle another WW1 type, even if it is the wrong scale! I am certain that you are going to make a first class model from this and I am really looking forward to see how you get on. You have already made a very good start: those ribs look very good to me.

Stephen.

[Softscience]

Really good to see you tackle another WW1 type, even if it is the wrong scale.

No worries, Stephen. I have a Gentlemen's Scale project on the go as well. No WIP thread, as thus far my success rate in 72 has been NIL, so will not post until I know I can make it happen.

[Softscience]

Hello again,

I've been working on the wings the last few evenings, trying to get the shading right. In the process I had some issues with paint lifting up, and just general screw ups associated with experimenting. I finally got things looking close to how I want them. I toned down the blue on the underside, and the rib shading up top is pretty subtle. Maybe a bit too subtle? Hard to see in some light.



more visible when you get up close.



I still need to do some small touchups and clear coat everything.

But a question to you all - should the crosses also have the rib shading effect? If so, then any advice on how to achieve it? I'm entirely unsure of how to do this.

[PrzemoL]

Shading on your Alb looks fine IMO. Should you do it on crosses? Well, there is no question of "should" in it. It is a question of opinions and taste. Some say, no shading should be present. Some, like me, like to add it to emphasize the wing surface details. I would add some shading in white areas of crosses, not to have them standing out too brightly. Shading of black areas is more problematic. On black background I usually do it by applying very dark grey instead of black and then black shading. With crosses it is doable, but would require careful masking and spraying instead of decals. Alternatively you can also try some variation of matt, semi-gloss and gloss varnishes on decals - it can also work fine "shading" effects.

[RAGIII]

Shading on your Alb looks fine IMO. Should you do it on crosses? Well, there is no question of "should" in it. It is a question of opinions and taste. Some say, no shading should be present. Some, like me, like to add it to emphasize the wing surface details. I would add some shading in white areas of crosses, not to have them standing out too brightly. Shading of black areas is more problematic. On black background I usually do it by applying very dark grey instead of black and then black shading. With crosses it is doable, but would require careful masking and spraying instead of decals. Alternatively you can also try some variation of matt, semi-gloss and gloss varnishes on decals - it can also work fine "shading" effects.

I agree with Przemol completely. It looks as though you shaded the white areas of the upper wing crosses and I would leave it as is! Otherwise another option is carefully applied pastel chalks on the black portions. JMHO.
RAGIII

[lcarroll]

     Your shading looks good to my eye, not too subtle at all. I use chalk pastels for almost all of my shading and, like Rick, use a little dark grey for the black portions of the crosses to give a consistent effect.
     It's looking very good at this point!
Cheers,
Lance

[Softscience]

Pastels! Brilliant!

Thank's Rick and Lance.


And thanks, all of you, for the kind comments.

[Juan]

Whatever you are doing, its working.  Looks outstanding from where I sit.

[lone modeller]

That shading is not too subtle in my eyes - just right actually. It is so easy to overdo these things - in which case it looks awful. This model really is turning into a very nice piece - looking forward to seeing more.

Stephen.

[Softscience]

Test fitting the wings. Got the decals on the fuselage. Next step will be to fix the crack that opened in the fuel tank and weather the fuselage.

[RAGIII]

Looking fantastic with the wings placed in position. Lovely scheme.
RAGIII