Ago CII(W) floatplane 1/72 scratch build

[pheonix]

 

The Ago Fluggesellschaft Gmbh of Johannisthal was established in 1912 as the Berlin branch of the Flugzeugwerke Gustav Otto. Otto was a Bavarian engineer and early pioneer of flight and developed a series of very similar designs known collectively as Doppeldekkers. Unfortunatley for Otto the Prussian air service would not accept the Doppeldekker design for military service as it was considered to be structurally too weak, so although some machines did serve with Bavarian air units, the military market was limited. (Some modellers and other authors have given the designation CI to the Doppeldekker. This is incorrect as these machines were never fitted with a permanent armament). In early 1915 Otto produced a new design based on a pusher layout with a central nacelle as on the Doppeldekker, but with twin booms instead of an open tail. This left the observer with a wide field of fire if armed with a machine gun on a flexible mounting. The booms were made from two moulded plywood shells joined at the centre, giving a much stronger airframe. Both the army and the navy ordered land planes in early 1915, and the first CI airframe was delivered to the Army in April of that year. This aircraft became the first machine to receive the C designation, meaning that it was the first armed two-seater, being equipped with a Parabellum machine gun on a ring mounting in the front cockpit.

 

 

Production machines followed but because Ago was a relatively small company the total number of  CI's produced was probably only around 64. Nevertheless it was a type that proved to be robust and had a long active service on both the western and eastern fronts, the last machines being recorded in service with front line units in April in 1917 whereafter they were used by training units. It was popular with crews as it was relatively easy to fly and could withstand damage and still return to an airfield.

 

 

The Ago types were initially reported as twin engined and more heavily armed than they actually were, but even when they were recognised as single engined pushers, they were treated with respect by Allied pilots. It was only later in their service when tractor fighters were introduced that the inherent weaknesses of the pusher layout became important and the type had to be withdrawn from front line service.

 

 

The German navy showed an interest in the type from the start and ordered land plane variants in early 1915. In May 1915 the first floatplane was delivered where it was used for training in bombing and machine gunnery. The CI types were usually powered by either 150hp Benz Bz III and later 160hp Merceedes DIII engines; early machines had radiators mounted on the nacelle sides, but later the radiators were joined and moved under the top wing. In late 1915 the CI was replaced by the CII with the more powerful Benz Bz IV engine. Some CII machines had an extended wingspan with a third bay added. The navy accepted several of the extended wing CII's which were fitted with floats and these were used for maritime reconnaissance and bombing, and later training.

 

 

These seem to have been in service for most of 1916 and may not have been withdrawn from front line service until 1917. The aircraft depicted in the model is of 539 which was photographed at an unidentified naval station, probably in 1916. This machine was powered by a Benz B IV engine and had the gravity tank mounted on the starboard side away from the exhaust manifolds. Agos were delivered and flown painted in a brown dope with the wood booms either left in wood or painted to match the linen and were probably not light blue as is often shown in illustrations. 

 

 

The model is 100% scratch built and is rigged with rolled copper wire: the markings were home printed. There is a build log on Airfix Tribute Forum: scratch builds. 

 

P

 

[J.D.]

Wow! That's simply amazing! Well done that man.

[invidia]

Wow !! That's a stunner. Really nicely done.  Rolled wire for that much rigging the man's mad!!  Beautiful 

[spruecutter]

Amazing work - very, very impressive! I am always full of admiration for the art of scratchbuilding. 

 

How many hours did it take you to do from start to finish?

 

Regards

 

Richard C

[Winenut]

How on earth do you do that!

 

Absolutely incredible

 

What an amazing build and fascinating subject

 

Bravo!

[polo1112]

Fantastic and unusual subject.

Great work!!!

[JWM]

Great indeed! Scratch build is the best in modelling

Cheers

Jerzy-Wojtek

[JimHead23]

Very impressive in every respect.

Thanks for sharing.

 

Regards

 

Jim

 

[Basuroy]

Extraordinary skill and a fantastic model !

[Killingholme]

Brilliant model, and really interesting history too.

 

Thanks for posting!

 

Will

[MikeR]

Excellent!

 

Mike.

[TonyTiger66]

That's a beauty  .

Interesting to read that the light blue profiles may be erroneous.

A very elegant model beautifully presented. 

 

 

TonyT

[pheonix]

Richard,

I do not count the hours building a particular model - rather the period of time that I build it in. I usually work in the evenings but sometimes for an hour or two during the day. This one took approximately 5 months.

 

TonyT,

The information re- colours is given in the DataFile no 75 where Carl Haller of Feld-Flieger Abteilung 9b stated that the Agos in his unit were "a light yellowish brown," and it would seem that they were delivered in this condition. Photos suggest that they were not usually painted and unit markings were rare.

 

Thanks to all the others who have dropped by and left such positive comments.

 

P

Edited March 4, 2017 by pheonix

[Viking]

What an outstanding piece of scratchbuilding, it is beautiful. Great write up too,

 

Cheers

 

John

[spruecutter]

Thanks Pheonix for your reply. I look forward to seeing more of your work.

[Brandy]

Another beauty up to your usual very high standards, P!

Every time I see one of your builds I think "I must make a start on the vac I have of that!"

 

Ian