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Siemens-Schuckert D.III - 1:48 Eduard


Viking

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Siemens-Schuckert D.III

1:48 Eduard


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The Siemens-Schuckert D.III served in comparatively small numbers on the western front in the final few months of the Great war. It's ancestry goes back to the SSW (Siemens-Schuckert Werke) D.1, which was designed in 1916 as a response to the agile little French Nieuport 11.
Its most interesting feature was that the propeller rotated in the opposite direction to the way the rotary engine spun, cancelling out the torque effect. The Siemens-Halske ShIII engine suffered from the poor quality oil available, and initially was dogged with overheating problems. However the D.III proved to be faster than both the Albatros D.V and the Fokker D.VII, and most notably had a phenomenal rate of climb for its day. 40 D.III's were sent to the front line for evaluation in March/May 1918 where they performed well when the engines were working, and it was felt that a useful fighting machine could be developed. They were all returned to the factory for upgrading, with a new rudder, elevators, shorter wings and new spinner and cowl. These aircraft mainly went to home defence units, where their high climb rate made them useful bomber interceptors.
The D.IV was developed in parallel, with wings shorter in span and chord, and started to be issued to the front line in August 1918. By this time the war was entering it's final stages, and the D.IV was the familiar story of too little, too late. It was potentially the best German fighter of the war, but remains one of those great 'might-have-beens'.

The kit.
It has been a while since Eduard added to their range of 1/48 Great war aircraft, so this is an extremely welcome new release. They produced an earlier kit in the 1990's, with a brass etched interior and fairly basic injection moulded parts. Be assured, this kit is all new and has nothing in common with the old version.

Presented in an attractive orange-stripe 'Profipack' box, the kit contains two sprues of injection moulded parts, two packs of decals, a pre-coloured etch brass fret, a small set of Kabuki tape masks, and a nicely illustrated set of instructions. Looking at the plastic parts, it is obvious that Eduard have taken a step forwards with their moulding techniques, which were always good but are now even better. The parts are crisply moulded in a medium grey plastic with absolutely no evidence of any flash.
Sprue A holds the engine, interior, and fine detail parts,

SprueA.jpg


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whilst sprue B has all the main airframe components.

SprueB.jpg


Particularly noteworthy is the way that have managed to mould open louvers on the underside of the cowling, and the beautifully rendered rib tapes with their delicate stitching. Fantastic!

SprueB-1.jpg


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There is a lot of interior structure supplied, and it should look great when painted and assembled. As usual there are a number of photo etched parts to enhance things, and you have the choice of solid plastic or etch jacketed Spandaus to suit your skill level. The strutting looks like it should be pretty easy to assemble, the D.III has 'N' struts on the fuselage and the outer 2 struts are actually a single 'U' shaped assembly, as per the real aircraft.

The amount of rigging is not too bad, mainly being 2 'X's on each wing bay. Eduard supply some etched brass eyelets and turnbuckles, a 'first' in one of their kits as far as I am aware, probably suitable for the more advanced modeller. You can of course stick to your preferred method of rigging, but it's nice to have this option and I will be tempted to give them a try.

Decals.
The main decal pack contains 3 sheets, with the largest being the 5 colour lozenge fabric areas, in 'cookie cutter' format. A second sheet supplies the numerous rib tapes, whilst the 3rd holds the BalkenKreuz and individual aircraft markings. All are produced by Cartograf, with sharp, clear printing, and appear to be very thin.

Dec1.jpg


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A second decal pack is supplied, with 2 strips of the upper surface lozenge in it. It is not clear why, as they are not referenced in the instructions, so I assume they might be for any patching up you may need to do.

Dec4.jpg


Brass Etch.
The fret offers an alternative seat back (also in plastic), seat belts, machine gun jackets, and amongst other various parts are the aforementioned eyelets and turnbuckles. Also in the ziplock bag are the optional windscreens.

Etch.jpg


Masks.
The small square of Kabuki tape provides a set of pre-cut masks for the wheel centres, easing the job of painting the tyres.

Mask.jpg


Options.
Five different D.III's can be made from the kit, Eduard have chosen a very good range of different and colourful machines.

A. Jasta 4, Ltn. Ernst Udet, Metz, October 3, 1918.
B. Jasta 85, (Kest 5) Ltn Heinrich Dembowsky, Schaffenhausen, November 13 1918.
C. Jasta 15, Chery-les-Pouilly, July 1918.
D. 1626/18, Kest 4b, Vzfw. Reimann, September 1918.
E. 3025/18, Trier, December 1918 to January 1919.

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Conclusion.

This is a stunning little kit of an interesting and charismatic aeroplane that all Great war modellers will want in their collection. Eduard have made a superb job of it, the moudling quality looks exceptionally high and the whole package has been produced to a very high standard. I first became interested in Great War aeroplanes in the 1990's due to the kits Eduard was producing, and did in fact build the original release of the SSW D.III. They have produced a fabulous range of models in the intervening years, and this is surely one of the best yet.

Also available, 3 Upgrade sets

Highly recommended.


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