Finished - Albatros D.V by CDW - Wingnut Wings - 1:32 Scale - Plastic

[Canute]

Nice work on the Fleet, Craig.

 

I had some older cousins who built those size airplanes. They thought I was a lesser modeler because I built plastic. Nowadays, I work most mediums, just no RC stuff. Unless I add in Digital Command Control (DCC) trains. That adds so much to the fun of running trains, especially if you're into sound ops.

[CDW]

57 minutes ago, Canute said:

Nice work on the Fleet, Craig.

Thanks, Ken. I am hooked on big biplane models. They fly so nice, slow, and aerobatic. They have a certain appeal unmatched by more modern aircraft. I suppose a lot of that has to do with watching biplanes work the fields crop dusting when I was a kid. Man, that was exciting to watch back then and stirred the imagination so much.

[CDW]

Looking somewhat like an unfinished bird's nest, the Albatros is ready for tying off the rigging on this old stringbag.

[Old Collingwood]

3 minutes ago, CDW said:

Looking somewhat like an unfinished bird's nest, the Albatros is ready for tying off the rigging on this old stringbag.

Did you get some fuse wire in the end mate?

 

OC.

[CDW]

I just harvest my own by stripping the insulation off of salvaged wire from old appliances and computer components, speakers, and such. Most of what I'll find in the hardware stores locally is heavier gauge wire used for other purposes. I have spools of wire suitable for electric fences and for hanging pictures, but nothing smaller, like armature wire. It's just not a thing many people would use these days. Not many of us do-it-yourself handyman types around anymore. 

[Old Collingwood]

5 minutes ago, CDW said:

I just harvest my own by stripping the insulation off of salvaged wire from old appliances and computer components, speakers, and such. Most of what I'll find in the hardware stores locally is heavier gauge wire used for other purposes. I have spools of wire suitable for electric fences and for hanging pictures, but nothing smaller, like armature wire. It's just not a thing many people would use these days. Not many of us do-it-yourself handyman types around anymore. 

My late farther showed me how to fuse a plug using fuse wire instead of using a fuse  - guess his idea was the wire would just burn out and snap, rather silly though.

 

OC.

[Sea Hoss]

Very impressive....

[CDW]

After seizing the rigging wires. Will paint the rigging wires in a steel color.

Just the landing gear and a little more, then the decals will be ready to go on.

 

[popeye the sailor]

really nice bit of rigging there       what did you use to seize it?  looks very life like............model's look'in really sweet!   

[John Allen]

Craig,

 

First class on build specifically the wire.

[CDW]

1 hour ago, popeye the sailor said:

really nice bit of rigging there       what did you use to seize it?  looks very life like............model's look'in really sweet!   

I use very small sections of micro brass tubing, like this:

[Old Collingwood]

Very nice tidy  - authentic looking work  - first class.

 

OC.

[CDW]

With our daughter and her husband visiting us now, and prior to that, the home remodeling project, I haven't done a lot with the Alby, but thought I should take some photos tonight of what I have done for posterity sake. 

[Old Collingwood]

Very nice  -  turning into a lovely build  - hoping my little outing will inspire me with my Mosquito build.

 

OC.

[CDW]

8 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

Very nice  -  turning into a lovely build  - hoping my little outing will inspire me with my Mosquito build.

 

OC.

Hi OC, thanks for stopping by.

I just bought the 1:32 Tamiya Mosquito and am waiting for it to arrive. It will take up quite a bit of space. I guess I better start finding a good way to hang these airplanes from the ceilings to display them. 😵

[Old Collingwood]

10 minutes ago, CDW said:

Hi OC, thanks for stopping by.

I just bought the 1:32 Tamiya Mosquito and am waiting for it to arrive. It will take up quite a bit of space. I guess I better start finding a good way to hang these airplanes from the ceilings to display them. 😵

That is Great  - I will follow that with  a lot of interest  - you can be my eyes  so to speak, trust you are going to super detail it?

 

OC.

[CDW]

2 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

That is Great  - I will follow that with  a lot of interest  - you can be my eyes  so to speak, trust you are going to super detail it?

 

OC.

When I receive the kit, will look it over to see if there are areas that need improvement. From what I've seen, it's great right out of the box.

[CDW]

Edited May 12, 2019 by CDW

[CDW]

Kermit Weeks takes his Albatros for a ride on a beautiful, sunny Florida day. If you ride east on I-4 out of Tampa toward Orlando, you'll often see Kermit flying one of his vintage warbirds. The man has some beautiful aircraft, I can tell you that with certainty.

It's funny watching this Albatros in flight...it really does sound just like a farm tractor.

 

 

[CDW]

Kermit's Fokker D.VII

 

 

[CDW]

Albatros D.V D.2078/17.  Ottomar Hagenmuller, MFJ 1, late 1917 (killed 5 Dec 1917)

Final Photos

 

These will be the final photos for my 1:32 Wingnut Wings Albatros D.V, Ottomar Hagenmuller. It has been a joy of a kit to build. I have two more copies of this same kit and will build each a little differently to represent the pilots who flew them.

 

A note about the kit decals: The decal sheets are about as good as they get. Everything in perfect register, all the colors bright and crisp. The decals are a little thicker than others. I found that the Solvaset decal solution worked best with these particular decals specifically to help soften and settle the decals to conform to the specific shapes and panel lines they were placed over.

 

This is a fine model and I highly recommend it...it's worth the money IMHO. Two thumbs up!

 

 

[Old Collingwood]

She looks  Superb my friend  Full credit to you  what a fantastic job you have done.

 

OC.

[vossiewulf]

Looks great. Has anyone done Oeffag Albatrosen starting from a D.III? Converting one to a blunt-nosed fuselage with a 300hp Hiero and buried Schwarzlose MGs of a series 253 version would be an interesting challenge.

[Old Collingwood]

Makes me remember one of the old airshows I went to  where there was a mass flypast of  Twelve Biplanes  - wonderful sight.

 

OC.

[mtaylor]

Super nice build, CDW.   And flight videos are just stunning in my opinion.   Spent more time than I should have watching those on Youtube and following various links around to other videos.

[vossiewulf]

On 5/12/2019 at 4:02 PM, CDW said:

Kermit Weeks takes his Albatros for a ride on a beautiful, sunny Florida day. If you ride east on I-4 out of Tampa toward Orlando, you'll often see Kermit flying one of his vintage warbirds.

Long time ago when I was in the games industry, we had a game con in Tampa one year and had a couple events at Kermit Weeks' museum. One was getting a chance to hear firsthand the story of the only guy in WWII to take off on a mission in a P-51 and land in a FW-190, Colonel Bruce Carr, who arrived at the dinner flying a P-51 at close to 300kts right over our heads as we stood out on the tarmac. I think he was 85 at the time.

 

Anyway, he got shot down by flak and bailed out and decided to surrender to the Luftwaffe, heading toward a German field. But he changed his mind, and just before dawn he stole a fully fueled and prepped 190, figuring out how to start it and eventually to get the gear up. He flew at treetop height back to his field in France, where he crash landed just before they were about to shoot him to pieces with quad .50s. I know the article says 40mm guns, but I remember Col. Carr very clearly describing them pulling the covers off the quad .50cals on M16 halftracks.

 

It's a really nice facility, airplane geek heaven.

[mtaylor]

Now that is a tale for the ages, Vossie.   I needed a good laugh and got it from the part about being on the ground after flying back and senior officer pops his head into the cockpit.  

[Captain Slog]

Very nice clean and neat build Craig, particularly like your rigging, very tidy. 

 

Cheers

Slog

[popeye the sailor]

very nice finished model...the wood grain prop and rigging really looks nice    I notice you did the lower wing roots......looks great melded into the fuselage.  the whole camo motif really works for the model.........such a sweet build!

[CDW]

22 minutes ago, popeye the sailor said:

the wood grain prop and rigging really looks nice    

I tinkered around with a couple of different methods I never tried before on the prop/s, trying for a wood grain, laminated wood finish. The kit comes with four different props, so it allows for some experimentation. The one I liked best for looks, I didn't use. It was done with artist oil paint. It was taking FOREVER to dry though. In hindsight, I should have thinned down the oils with a reducer, like maybe lighter fluid...that would help for a much faster dry time.

I settled on using water color pencils for the prop in the picture. Wetting a fine tipped brush in water, then touching the pencil, and applying the water color that way in multiple coats. Those do a pretty good job of simulating wood grain. I think I need a higher quality set of water color pencils though. 

It was fun and a learning experience.