Fokker D.VII by ccoyle - Kartonowa Kolekcja - 1/33 - CARD

[ccoyle]

Welcome to another adventure in card modeling! I had been itching for awhile to do another card project, but it wasn't originally going to be this kit. However, in flipping through my stash earlier today, I discovered I have laser-cut frames for this kit -- I don't recall ever ordering them. Must be that age thing creeping up on me. Since I had been thinking about doing another of Pawel's designs, it seemed like this was just meant to be. If you have seen any of my other KK builds, then you know I am a big fan, and I expect this kit will move right along without too many hitches. BTW, this is KK #1 -- the very first kit that Pawel issued through his own publishing firm after having had his earlier designs published elsewhere, so it's kind of like a bit of nostalgia.

 

Here's the kit cover.

 

Some of the parts pages. Pawel's skills as a graphic artist have improved quite a bit since 2007.

 

And the frames set.

 

No rigging to speak of on this one, and no canopy either, so I don't anticipate it will take terribly long. Look for first cuts soon! 

[Dave_E]

Oh I’m in. 🍿🥤😁

[Jsk]

Lo!

 

'Du doch nicht!' Well, actually, yes you! Go, Chris, go!

 

 

[Jsk]

BTW, 'Lo! was the nickname of Ernst Udet's fiance Eleonore Zink. He decorated several of his WWI fighters with her name. They married shortly after the war but soon parted. Udet was a notorious womanizer. 

 

Here's a link to a genealogy site with a picture of Ernst and Eleonore:

 

https://www.geni.com/photo/view/6000000032874351324?album_type=photos_of_me&photo_id=6000000032876947921

 

After the war, among other activities, Udet became a stunt flier performing live and in the movies. One of his signature tricks was to snag a handkerchief from the ground with a wingtip of his plane traveling at speed. A consummate flyer and bon vivant, he was out of place as an administrator in Herman Goering's Luftwaffe and committed suicide in 1941. 

 

It appears that Eleonore survived until 1947. 

Edited July 13 by Jsk
corrected year

[ccoyle]

19 minutes ago, Jsk said:

BTW, 'Lo! was the nickname of Ernst Udet's fiance Eleonore Zink. He decorated several of his WWI fighters with her name. They married shortly after the war but soon parted. Udet was a notorious womanizer. 

 

When I was a kid, Revell issued a series of WW1 aircraft in 1/72 scale. I had a bunch of them. I built their D.VII kit twice, one in Udet's livery and the other in Herman Goering's.

 

First cuts on this kit consists of a lot of prepping of structural elements. If you've followed any of my other KK builds, you may recall that the fit between panels tends to be overly snug. To alleviate this, I remove all of the locator marks on these elements, and sometimes a bit of the underlying pulp board as well.

 

The cockpit elements are a bit rudimentary. Once those are added, the fuselage panels will go together very quickly.

[James H]

Definitely watching this one. One of my favourite aircraft.

[ccoyle]

Fuselage assembly continues. First we have the traditional "take a good like now while you still can" photo before the cockpit gets zipped up. The control stick and rudder pedals are supplied as 2D parts. The pedals will be the less visible of the two on the finished model, so I left them alone, but I felt compelled to replace the stick with a scratch-built replacement made from styrene rod.

 

 

Fuselage sides added, along with the rudimentary engine cylinders.

 

 

The fuselage bottom is rounded and makes no provision for proper fitting to the straight fuselage sides. I added locator strips made from scrap card.

 

 

 

 

 

That's it for now!

[eatcrow2]

3 hours ago, ccoyle said:

Fuselage assembly continues. First we have the traditional "take a good like now while you still can" photo before the cockpit gets zipped up. The control stick and rudder pedals are supplied as 2D parts. The pedals will be the less visible of the two on the finished model, so I left them alone, but I felt compelled to replace the stick with a scratch-built replacement made from styrene rod.

 

 

Fuselage sides added, along with the rudimentary engine cylinders.

 

 

The fuselage bottom is rounded and makes no provision for proper fitting to the straight fuselage sides. I added locator strips made from scrap card.

 

 

 

 

 

That's it for now!

Great job!! I remember doing this also. One of my favorite designers 

[ccoyle]

After adding a few last cockpit bits (fuel tank, instruments), work commenced on prepping the fuselage skins. The kit has no weathering, so the colors look a bit bright for the Western Front c. summer of 1918, so I decided to try grunging them up with some weathering chalk -- just enough to take the 'freshly minted' look off of them. This entire sheet as had chalk applied, except for the topmost fuselage skin, just so you can see the before-and-after.

 

[ccoyle]

The tail skid is part of one of the aft fuselage frames. It's a part that just dangles out in space and begs to be broken off repeatedly, so I soaked it in thin CA to stiffen it. It made no difference. 😑

 

 

I'll let you imagine which "special word" involuntarily escaped my lips when this happened. It was either:

1. !@#$
2. @#$!
3. #$!@
4. or $!@#

I won't tell you which one it was!

 

[realworkingsailor]

2 hours ago, ccoyle said:

 

I'll let you imagine which "special word" involuntarily escaped my lips when this happened. It was either:

1. !@#$
2. @#$!
3. #$!@
4. or $!@#

I won't tell you which one it was!

 

5. All of the above 

😁

[ccoyle]

19 minutes ago, realworkingsailor said:

5. All of the above 

It wasn't quite that bad!

[Old Collingwood]

On 7/16/2025 at 12:59 PM, ccoyle said:

Fuselage assembly continues. First we have the traditional "take a good like now while you still can" photo before the cockpit gets zipped up. The control stick and rudder pedals are supplied as 2D parts. The pedals will be the less visible of the two on the finished model, so I left them alone, but I felt compelled to replace the stick with a scratch-built replacement made from styrene rod.

 

 

Fuselage sides added, along with the rudimentary engine cylinders.

 

 

The fuselage bottom is rounded and makes no provision for proper fitting to the straight fuselage sides. I added locator strips made from scrap card.

 

 

 

 

 

That's it for now!

That looks quite sturdy  with that thickness  of card.

 

OC.

[ccoyle]

Skinning the Fuselage

 

The top deck of the fuselage behind the cockpit is a separate skin. To better position it, I added some joiner strips along the edges of the fuselage framing.

 

 

The sides and top went on without too much difficulty.

 

 

There are alternate parts for doubling the engine compartment sides -- those will be next, along with the louvered vents.

[ccoyle]

Half of the louvers are done. The other side will be harder, cuz I have to remember not to squish anything on the finished side!

 

[Canute]

Nicely done with these louvers. 👍

[ccoyle]

Fuselage is done. Not bad for a week's work.

 

 

Remember what a week's worth of work looked like on the Halinski Zero? 😂  

 

[ccoyle]

Wow, I got an entire wing built today!

 

 

 

Of course, there's a whole 'nother wing to build, so let's not get too excited.

 

BTW, the wing framing for this kit is significantly less rugged than in Pawel's later designs.

 

 

[ccoyle]

The lower wing had to be mated to the fuselage before the lower fuselage skins could be added. That's done now, too.

 

[DocRob]

Great work Chris, I always loved the combination of bright colored fuselages and lozenge camouflaged wings. Makes no sense but stunning looks. I have two Wingnut Wings D.VII in my stash and feel the urge to start one, when I see yours. No card, but high quality stuff as well.

Cheers Rob

[ccoyle]

3 hours ago, DocRob said:

I always loved the combination of bright colored fuselages and lozenge camouflaged wings

 

The Germans may have lost, but at least they lost with amazing fashion sense!

[ccoyle]

The Fokker is armed! I left off the gun sights for now -- they are delicate, so they'll be added toward the end.

 

 

I also added the exhaust pipe. The stock part is a flat piece, but with some careful shaping I managed to add some flare to the end of it.

 

 

That's it for now!

[Michael Mash]

Good photos of excellent work Chris.

I have always admired the red color of that type of aircraft.

Really sets it apart.

Mike