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Hi all, Here's my entry to the GB, Rodens take on the Fokker D.VII. No progress to date but heres's whats in the box. I'm intending to do the aircraft of Oblt Erich Loewenhardt, Pulsieux, France, August 1918. The instructions say the fuselage should be overall 'Lemon' with the lozenge camo on the wings (may need some advice on using the decals!). Was the fuselage wood on these or fabric covered? Anyway, heres the lovely box art and whats in it: cheers Simon

Hi folks another £3:25 mega kit! Revell,s little monoplane and a couple of friends,old kit but great simple build my attempt at rigging using stretched sprue last photo shows all three WW1 builds total cost £11:50,cheap and cheerful entertainment many thanks for looking.

Fokker T.IV(a) Dutch Float Plane Pacific Crossroads 1:350 The Fokker T.IV was developed to meet the requirements of the Royal Netherlands Navy for a maritime patrol/torpedo bomber aircraft for use in the Dutch East Indies. The original design was for a twin engined float plane with a thick, cantilever, high mounted, monoplane wing and a deep, slab sided fuselage with an open cockpit housing the two man crew. The aircraft was powered by two 450hp Lorraine-Dietrich 12E W-12 engines and made its maiden flight on June 7th 1927. The aircraft was fitted with three machine guns and could carry either a single torpedo or 1,764lb, (800kg) of bombs. A total of twelve were built and delivered to the Dutch Naval Aviation Service in the Dutch East Indies. In 1935 Fokker developed an improved version, the T.IV(a), with 750hp Wright Cyclone radial engines replacing the original units. The other improvements included an enclosed cockpit and enclosed nose and dorsal turrets. A total of twelve were newly built and the original aircraft re-built to T.IV(a) standard. All the new builds were also to be used in the Dutch East Indies. The T.IV(a) proved to be a reliable and seaworthy aircraft and was used for local patrols and air-sea-rescue operations from Java until 1941, when the Japanese attacked the Dutch East Indies. All remaining aircraft bar one were either scuttled or destroyed by Japanese bombing. The last aircraft was damaged in an accident and written off in May 1941 The Model This is the second aircraft in Pacific Crossroads 1:350 range, having released the Do24 last year and reviewed HERE. The kit is packaged in a sturdy hinge top opening box with a depiction of the aircraft in skimming across the sea and the Dutch Flying Cross in the right hand corner. Once again on opening the box the modeller will initially think that he has bought a box of polystyrene peanuts, but lurking in the safety of these peanuts is a small poly bag of resin parts and a small sheet of etched brass. The resin includes a single piece fuselage, two wings, single piece horizontal tailplane and the two floats. The parts, with the exception of the fuselage, are only tentatively attached to their casting blocks, so they should be pretty easy to remove with minimal clean up afterwards. It appears that Boris has been able to make a better positioning of the casting block on this kit as it is is attached to the mating surface of the wing/fuselage join this time making them a whole lot easier to use, since the fuselage has quite deep, (it’s all relative), indentations to receive the wings they should make for a nice clean fit. The casting is very nice and cleanly done with some very fine engraved details. Although the canopy frames look like they’ll be really fun to paint cleanly they are so fine. The build is quite simple, but it will be fiddly, as anyone who has built 1:350 aircraft before will testify. With the wings and tailplane glued into place it’s straight on with adding the etched parts. The most testing area will be the struts for the two floats as they are a complicated affair utilising six different parts. The other etched parts are simple to add, being the tailplane struts, aerial mast, three machine gun barrels, (which for some unknown reason were missing on the review example). The two propellers slide onto spindles in the cowlings, but the port side one was broken on the review example, but it may be best to replace them with suitable metal rod. The cowlings appear quite empty as seen in the photo above and would benefit from being filled as at this scel any engine detail would be difficult to ascertain. Decals The small decal sheet contains a number of different sized orange and black triangles, plus four identification flags, but the single colour scheme of overall khaki green with silver undersides of the wings, floats and fuselage, shown in the instructions, requires just four of the large triangles for the wings and two small ones for the fuselage. No other markings are provided, if any were applied, the modeller will need to do some research. The decals appear to be well printed, in register and with good colour density. Conclusion This is a really unusual aircraft, and one that I had no knowledge of before receiving the kit. It’s another great little kit and Boris of Pacific Crossroads should be proud of it and also congratulated for keeping the memory of the Dutch East Indies forces alive. Once again I can see this as part of an overall diorama displaying the aircraft at anchor just offshore of a Javanese dock. Highly recommended Review sample courtesy of

Article @ IPMS-Stockholm

Hello everybody, I'm glad indeed to have finally something to share. This is a Finnish Fokker D.VII from Revell. I bought the kit in Helsinky during my new years holiday there. In fact I bought it as a souvenir as it was a special edition for Finland. I wasn't even going to start it, but somehow got involved bit by bit. I scratchbuilt the interior and added some minor detailing, but nothing really special. I hope you will like it even though the pictures are not nice. Cheers, Dmitry

Hi All Sad news for you Fokker fans im afraid! The first KLM Cityhopper Fokker F70 has been withdrawn from use and stored at Norwich International Airport, EGSH. It is ex Air France PH-KZV, 1995 build. Sad to see the first one go, but they are not going to get any younger sadly! KLM Cityhopper Fokker 70 PH-KZV by Bradley at EGSH, on Flickr KLM Cityhopper Fokker 70 PH-KZV by Bradley at EGSH, on Flickr Cheers Bradley

Fokker E.IV 1:32 Wingnut Wings The Fokker Eindekker is well known to most aviation enthusiasts, mainly in its E.I to E.III form. Developed from it was the E.IV, which looks broadly similar but with some obvious differences. The most noticeable is the raised hump/fairing around the cockpit, which also covers the breeches of the twin Spandaus. The desire to increase the single gun armament of the previous Eindekkers to the twin guns on the E.IV made sense, as it would give extra firepower as well as the ability to keep fighting if one gun jammed. In fact the prototype was fitted with three Spandaus, but this proved to have problems with synchronisation gear and was not continued with. To cope with this extra weight the engine was also upgraded to a 160 hp Oberursel U.III, which was essentially just two seven cylinder Oberursel U.0 engines bolted together to form a fourteen cylinder rotary. Thus it was hoped that with its extra power and guns, the E.IV would be an evolutionary step forward of the aircraft that had brought the 'Fokker Scourge' to the Western Front. It was not be however, as that large engine spinning around produced significance gyroscopic forces which the old style wing warping controls were not well suited to control. Its performance was disappointing and the appearance of new allied machines such as the DH.2 and Nieuport 11 gave the advantage back to the Allies. Having arrived at the front in sufficient numbers by April 1916, the E.IV were mostly withdrawn by December as Halberstadt and Fokker D series biplanes took over. The Kit. Presented in Wingnuts Wings familiar silver trimmed box with Steve Anderson artwork, top quality is reassuringly in evidence. Lifting the lid reveals 10 sprues in individual shrink wrapped bags, one etched brass fret and a sheet of decals not quite A4 sized. The instruction booklet is of course to Wingnuts market leading standard, packed with CAD drawings of not only assembly sequences, but assembled sections as well. These are really helpful in clearing up any doubts you may have as you can see how the assembly should look when everything is together. Colour call outs are present all the way, and detail photographs of original machines are used to further illustrate how things should look. Cockpit, engine, guns, undercarriage, rigging, all are shown with photographs alongside the assembly drawings. These are actually seriously good reference works as well as assembly instructions. The plastic parts are a real pleasure to look at and examine. Beautifully moulded, the detail on them is exquisite. The tubular frameworks for the cockpit sides are very finely moulded, as are all the engine and cowl mounting frames. Of special note is the fabric effect, which is always good on Wingnuts. Sprue A Sprue C Sprue D Sprue E (2 are supplied) The large single wing parts look like they are actually a wooden framework covered with drum tight doped fabric. There is just that perfect balance of tautness and sagging that imitates the appearance of these early aircraft. Etched fret. Several options are supplied, the most extensive being for the prototype. For this a section of the forward fuselage is removed and replaced with etched brass panels. The three Spandaus and their mountings and cowl follow on, or the equivalent parts for a two gun machine can be used. An unslotted cowling is provided for the prototype, and a slotted one for all the others and even on this there flash guards to fit or not. Production or prototype cockpit coamings have their own windshields to fit, and then there is a decision to make on the fitment of a big four bladed fuel pump to the undercarraige legs. Lastly one of two beautiful looking Integral or Garuda propellers can be taken off the sprues to adorn the little beauty that this kit is undoubtedly going to be. Options. A. 122/15 Prototype, Anthony Fokker & Otto Parschau, September 1915. B. 127/15, Max Immelmann,FFA 62, January 1916 C. 638/15, Karl Albert, Albert Oesterreicher, Alfred Prehn, Willhelm Viereck, & Kurt Wintgens, KEK 3, mid-late 1916 D. 161/18, Lt Muller, Kest 6, April 1917 E. 163/16, Kurt Student, AOK 3 Fokkerstaffel, August 1916 Decal sheet. Conclusion. Having built a good many Wingnuts kits now, each and every one was an absolute pleasure to work on. Each new release just looks so good that I want to start building them straight away. There is in fact a great deal of pleasure to be gained from just looking through these kits and planning your build, deciding on the colour scheme, options to fit on, and so forth. Hours of fun can be had just theorising it all through before even a single part has been removed from the sprues, so you can get your money's worth before you even start it. If you've seen a wingnuts kit 'in the flesh' you will know what I am talking about. The E.I reviewed earlier, and this E.IV are both beautiful kits and share some common sprues, are both are calling out to be built ASAP. When finished they will be a reasonable size but not too demanding on storage space. Being monoplanes they should be easier to build than biplanes with all that associated struttery. The rigging looks be fairly straightforward, so any one of Wingnuts Eindekkers will be an excellent introduction to WW.1 modelling. It's Christmas soon, treat yourself to one of the most complete and rewarding kits that money can buy. It's another stunner from Wingnut Wings. Highly Recommended Review sample courtesy of

Fokker E.1 Early 1:32 Wingnut Wings If you have ever been to the aeronautical gallery in the Science Museum in London, you may have missed seeing a priceless and very significant aircraft. With no fabric covering and exhibited in skeletal form is it easy to miss the worlds only genuine Fokker Eindekker hanging high in the roof. It is the E.III 2010/16, captured on 8th April 1916, and a remarkable survivor. The fact that it looks today like a very conventional aeroplane, is perhaps a tribute to getting so many aspects of the design right. The monoplane wing with rear mounted tail and rudder, the lightweight steel tube fuselage, the fixed gun firing forwards and excellent all round view, laid down some of the key standards used for many years. It wasn't until the 1930's that the monoplane fighter really made a comeback, when more powerful engines made the biplane wing arrangement unnecessary. The Eindekker still relied on wing warping instead of hinged ailerons, being one of the last aircraft to do so, and reminding us that whilst showing some advanced developments, it retained some aspects of traditional design. The Kit. There have been few kits of various marks of Eindekkers over the years, up until now Eduards 1/48th series have probably been the best, but Wingnut Wings are now working their way through the E.1, E.III, and E.IV versions in 1/32. The Fokker E.1 'Early' has been received for review, and as usual it comes with very attractive artwork in the familiar silver lined box. Inside we have seven sprues of parts, one etched brass fret, and a sheet of decals for all five of the colour schemes offered. The instructions are in the form of a twenty eight page booklet printed in full colour on high quality glossy paper. Nobody does better instructions than Wingnuts. They start with a write up on the subject, move on to a paint chart and parts map, and then to crystal clear exploded drawings showing assembly sequences. These are backed up with drawings of completed sub assemblies (in colour) to show how each section should look, and photographic close ups of the area under assembly. The second half of the booklet covers the five finishing options with Ronny Bar's side and plan views, again mostly backed up with whole page photographs of the actual machines. As always, the instructions are very professionally produced, in all my years of modelling I have never seen any others that come close. Assembly starts with some 20+ pieces to build the cockpit interior. There is a choice of two different seat arrangements, and also ammo boxes depending upon whether you build a Parabellum or Spandau armed version. Etched brass provides the rudder pedal heel boards and seat straps. A decision will be needed early on about which version you are going to make. One of them (Option B. Kurt Wintgens 5/15) has the wing mounted high on the fuselage side, whilst the others have it mid way up. The fuselage mouldings have the slot moulded in for the mid wing position, with plugs provided to fill them in and slots to be opened up for the high wing position. The cockpit side frames have matching notches to line up so that the tongues on the wings can slide in later. Like the Fokker D.VII kits, the fuselage underside has a separate strip of stitching to fitted in after the two halves are joined. Further variations are dealt with by the way of three different cockpit coamings and gun mounts, all clearly illustrated and backed up by close up photographs the real thing. Sprue G. Cockpit Coaming. (For option A) Sprue C. Windscreen options. Sprue A. Mainly cockpit parts. Sprue B. Fuselage and wings. A lovely little Oberursel is provided for the front end. The cooling fins are very finely moulded but unfortunately in injection moulded plastic the only way to do them is as two 'front and back' sections, which results in a seam through the sides of each cylinder. However I have found that if you glue the two halves together by holding them in place and lightly applying liquid cement to the tops of the cylinders and crankcase with a brush, you can achieve a virtually invisible seam. Sprue E. Engine Parts. At the end of the build you have the choice of Behrend, Garuda, or Integral propellers. All have beautiful miniature manufacturers logo decals to apply, which are perfectly readable under a magnifying glass. The complex undercarriage is cleverly moulded in only three parts, and the two part wheels have a choice of two different spoke covers. Sprue D. Guns and Wheels. On to the wings and more variations are catered for, all keyed to the finishing options provided. There are two variations on notches to be cut into the port wing root to clear the cowling fairing, all starboard wings need a small trim to, and there are two possible sets of etched reinforcement plates to go over the wing spars at the root. The wings themselves are the correct short span early version appropriate to the E.1, and thus different to those in the E.III and E.IV kits. Wingnuts have certainly done their research here and covered all the variations in a logical and easy to follow manner. With the tailplane and wings on the final stage will be to fit all the rigging. There are three possible 'A' frames in front of the cockpit according to which version you have chosen, Wingnuts attention to detail and accuracy in evidence again! The rigging shouldn't be too difficult, I'd anticipate it being easier than a biplane as the four main wing wires can each be done in a loop all the way around. Colour Schemes. Option A. E.1 1/15, Otto Parschau, June-July 1915. Option B. E.1 5/15, Kurt Wintgens, FFA 6b, July 1915. Option C. E.1 8/15, Uffz.Kneiste,FFA 62, August 1915. Option D. E.1 13/15, Max Immelmann & Oswald Boelcke,FFA 62, August 1915. Option E. E.1 14/15, Eduard Bohme, FFA 9b, August 1915. Decal sheet. Printed by Cartograf, it is fairly small by Wingnuts standards but covers all the necessary items. Stencils, instruments and logos are all provided in fine detail. Conclusion. This new Fokker E.1 (early) is everything we have come to expect from Wingnut Wings. Beautiful mouldings, exceptional instructions, top quality decals, interesting finishing options, and a touch of that elusive magic that just says 'wow!'The E.1 is a very important aircraft to have in any collection of model fighters, and essential in a WW.1 theme. It looks like it should be an uncomplicated build and the lack of struts puts it at the 'easier' end of skill levels required, and although there is some rigging to do, it shouldn't be too taxing. 1/32 is the perfect scale for these WW.1 fighters as the detail is easy to work with, but the finished model is still a shelf and cabinet-friendly size. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hello fellaz, I have been away from the forum for quite some time cause of busy work schedule etc but I kept building models on and off so in the last few months I completed 4 and about to complete the 5th... Here is one of them, Fokker E.III with Ottoman markings: Regards

Hello everyone This was finished a few months back, its Revell's old little Fokker. Its built using the Prototype boxing. Its a really nice little kit, its falls together. The KLM Cityhopper decals are from the 2004 kit, the windows are from RichW, on here. The biggest flaw with this kit in my opinion are the engines, they don't have joining pins..... Ive actually flown on this aircraft, 4 times to be precise, with 3 different airlines. I first flew on it in 1997, with Air UK, i was only a baby, but my grandma got a photo of us departing, NWI - AMS, next i flew KLM UK in 2002, NWI - AMS, then i was on it to NWI - AMS and AMS- NWI in 2006 with KLM Cityhopper, then after a long history it was scrapped at Amsterdam in 2010 :-( Anyway, heres my model. All i have to do is add the two white TCAS antennas on the top, they were removed during sanding.... Thanks For looking Bradley 26/08/13 Model 100% finished Photos further down thanks

Hi All, David Aiken posted a link on the Hyperscale Plane Talking Forum about the Finnish Wartime Photograph Archive it is well worth visiting, the images further below are some of what I found following ten minutes of putting in search terms on their website. Please note however that you need to use Finnish terms since English will not work although manufacturers names like Brewster, Fiat, Fokker Focke, Gloster and Morane for example bring up some results while Hawker does not. It is also worth noting that these images at least the ones I have seen are around 4900 pixels across one side are also watermarked and are only 8 bit sRGB jpg files. If you are after better quality files lest watermarks contact details are provided for the archive. To start people off I suggest the following search terms will bring up some worthwhile results; Suulajärvi, tyyppisiä, hävittäjiä, Suomalainen, syöksypommittajia & Lentolaivueen amongst others. The following images are all worthy of a seperate discussion in their own right however to help get them out here quickly I have posted them without any explanatory captioning so please enjoy as have I. All images SA-kuva. Cheers, Daniel. More images to follow.....

Just before Christmas 2012 Wingnut Wings released their long awaited Fokker D.VII kits in 1:32 scale in three versions. All three are beautiful kits reviewed here. I started one as soon as possible, deciding to go with the Fokker built version (Other boxings are for the OAW and Albatros built versions) mainly because it featured the Fokker 'streaky green' brush painted finish as decals, and I wanted to see how they would look. I chose Willi Gabriels machine on the basis that it was colourful, and because Gabriel was an interesting character. He rapidly started scoring kills when posted to Jasta 11, but his maverick lack of discipline style saw him infuriate his CO, Hermann Goering, who had him kicked off front line flying. Anyway, back to the kit. It was a total pleasure to build, but everything needs to be done carefully. Fit is of the highest standard and the instrctions very clear so you must follow them to the letter. There is a build log here. The model is fully rigged, the D.VII was designed to do away with rigging wires between the wings, so the only wires are between the undercarraiage, and on the control surfaces. Enough of the talk, on with the photos; Thanks for looking, John

Howdy Gang! We have a question about Rudy Stark's D.VII. What decal to use on the front cylinder? 73 or 74? We are also interested in knowing if Rudy's engine had the generator. Follow the group build on the Face Book. Search for Fokker Village. That's us!

Fokker D.VII 1:32 Wingnut Wings The Fokker D.VII first appeared over the western front in the late spring/early summer of 1918, as the Great War was entering its final phase leading up to the November Armistice. Much has been written about it, but it was an outstanding fighter often awarded the accolade of being the finest such machine produced by any side in the conflict. It is also well known that it was the only aircraft specifically named by the allies to be surrendered in the Armistice agreement, such was its fearsome reputation. Due to its success, Fokker could not keep up with demand so in order to increase the numbers available production was licensed to Albatros who produced machines at their Johannisthal plant and also their Ostdeutch Albatros Werke plant at Schneidemhl, now in Poland. Thus there are three suffixes commonly used when referring to the aircraft as either a D.VII(Fok), D.VII(ALB) or D.VII(OAW). Each one has subtle differences which help to distinguish which manufacturer it originated from, mainly in the area of cooling gills on the nose panels (although extra gills and openings were often cut in at the font line). A further distinction on the OAW machines is that the nose and axle stub wing were factory finished in dark green with a Giraffe pattern of irregular lilac shapes, but this would often be overpainted at unit level. All had wings finished in either 4 or 5 colour lozenge fabric as were fuselages, although early Fokker fuselages had the same streaky green finish often seen on the DR.1 Triplane. Initial variants were powered by the straight six Mercedes D.IIIa of 150/160 hp, changing to the 180/200 hp higher compression D.IIIau as production got into full swing. Most liked of all were those equipped with the over compressed BMW IIIa which gave from 185 hp up to 240 hp for short periods, although this engine was always in short supply. Exhausts were on the starboard side of the engine, and format tended to vary by manufacturer So, with three possible manufactures, three possible engines, and a number of different finishes, there is quite a variety of detail applicable to the D.VII. Fortunately in many cases the serial number was painted on the sides of the aircraft along with the appropriate designation of FOK, ALB. or OAW. I have always liked the boxy, functional appearance of the D.VII and from a modelling perspective it has the advantage of requiring almost no rigging at all. Most attractive of all is the sheer number and variety of markings that were applied to them. One of the most rewarding aspects of this hobby is learning something about the men who flew particular machines, and WW1 aviation offers a treasure trove of colourful markings and interesting characters to go with them. German aircraft were often under the ownership of a particular pilot and his mechanics, and so received highly colourful and individual finishes. Many units had their own base colours, such as Jasta 15's red nose and blue fuselages, with individual motifs applied on top, whilst others allowed free rein with the paint pot. The Kit Wingnut wings have released three boxings to cover the Fokker, Albatros and O.A.W. versions of the aircraft. The main sprues are the same, with the variations for each type being covered by an extra sprue for each type. Here I will review the OAW version, noting at the end the differences in the Fokker and Albatros boxings. Before you even open the box you can see that this is no ordinary kit. The lovely artwork with its silver gilt edging, the line up of colour scheme options along the side, and even the weight of it all combine to raise your sense of expectation. And when you take that lid off, it reveals a box packed right to the top with sprues individually shrink wrapped, as are the decals and even the instruction book. Quality indeed. Anyone who has ever opened one of the kits will know what I mean. Personally the first thing I do is cut the instruction book from its shrink wrap, and read through from cover to cover. Printed on heavy gloss paper with all assembly stages illustrated with CAD drawings and colour call outs, you are left in no doubt as to how it all goes together. Add in relevant photographs (both contemporary and modern) to further clarify and illustrate various aspects of assembly, and what you have here is not just a set of instructions, but a valuable reference manual as well. There are two full pages of colour photographs of all sides and details of the Mercedes engine alone. However, the bit I enjoy most is the first look at all the colour scheme options towards the back of the book. Again these are beautifully done, featuring Ronny Bars lovely profiles. I particularly like the way that Wingnut always seem to select their finishing options. Yes you may get one or two of the more well known ones but you always get 2 or 3 of the lesser known, and to my mind more interesting colour schemes to finish your model in. Thus begins the long and enjoyable process of thinking through which one you are going to choose. Filtering your choices and defining a shortlist, figuring out the top two, picking one of them only to find yourself changing it around the next day. I love this part of the process as it usually stimulates me to get looking at further references. This is where it becomes more than just planning the model, as part of my decision making process requires that I find out more about the individual pilot and his squadron. My final choice will be based on a combination of an attractive/interesting finish, and what the life story of the pilot was. Already I can see that it's going to be a difficult task with this kit as Rudolph Starks 'Li', Franz Buchners 'Lion head', and Wilhelm Leusch's 'Dragon' are all ones that I absolutely must build. Construction starts with the Cockpit, which is built up of several sub-assemblies that all come together in the welded steel tube 'cage' that forms the Fokker's fuselage construction. Everything you need is there, a particularly nice touch is that the different engines used caused the guns to sit higher or lower on the fuselage, and Wingnuts provide you with different ammunition tanks with different length chutes to feed the guns as appropriate. The seat is a nice moulding with separate cushion and etched brass seat belts. Etched brass is also provided for the two Spandau machine guns, or there is the option of fully moulded Spandaus if you are not confident with rolling the etched ones. The instrument panel has the dials moulded on with flat faces into which you put individual decals. This always looks stunning, as you can actually read the instruments. Next up is the engine, which is beautifully and crisply molded. I've already built several Wingnuts engines and they are pretty much foolproof. The only thing I add is ignition wiring, which gives that extra bit of detail not really possible to mould in plastic. Finished in alcald with the data plate decals on, they look fantastic. Some engines has asbestos 'bandages' wrapped around the intake manifolds. If you want this on your model you will need to do it yourself with tissue and white glue as the kit manifold is the 'unwrapped' variety. Withe the engine and interior made, the instructions show the fuselage halves being joined together. Interestingly Wingnuts have done as Eduard did with their smaller D.VII kits and provided the underside stitching as a separate insert, which is really the only way to do it without it being obliterated by sanding the seam line. The nose panels are fitted next, and these are what really distinguishes the various D.VII's with their various cooling gills and exhaust positions. The instructions are very clear about what you need for each of the colour scheme options, with optional panels provided on the sprue, and some gills needing to be shaved off. From here it is wings, tailplane and undercarriage that need assembling and decalling. All very straightforward and clearly illustrated. The axle wings varied between manufacturers, and this has been reflected in the kits. Having build several Wingnuts kits already, I am totally confident that the struts will fit precisely, and if you scrape any paint off the lugs & sockets (the mouldings are that precise that a layer of paint will interfere with the fit) the top wing will drop precisely into place with no bother. Finally you select one of the three propellers appropriate to the D.VII. Generally I fit the one that appears in contemporary photos of the actual plane I am modelling, but in reality props were frequently replaced with which ever make was available. Almost no rigging was fitted to the D.VII, this being part of its design philosophy. Fortunately for us modellers it also makes the build a lot easier. There are only 2 lines between the undercarriage legs, a couple of control wires from the fuselage sides, and very short rudder & elevator control lines. All very simple. The Decals Continuing with the theme of excellence, the decals are by Cartograf and look fabulous. There are five near A4 sized sheets and a couple of smaller ones. Three of the bigger sheets concern them self with the lozenge fabric. The real fabric was produced in both ‘four colour’ and the later ‘five colour’ variants, and although only one will be appropriate to your chosen scheme, you get both. The colours of lozenge fabric are one of those contentious areas of WW.1 modelling. Samples still exist but may have faded and or degraded over the years, reproductions have been made using as near original materials and techniques as possible, but still many opinions abound. Google will provide you with endless hours on this subject should you want to go deeply in to it. Suffice to say that I think that Wingnuts have got it exactly right, and both options give an excellent representation. In previous Wingnuts kits I have built (LVG, Pfalz D.IIIa, Roland D.VIa the lozenge decal has been in strips which you had to cut and trim span wise, as per the real thing and the fit individual rib tapes. It should be a lot simpler now as the decals are designed to cover each wing surface in one go, including rib tapes. In case your option requires the light blue or salmon pink tapes, these are also provided. Colour options. A) 4198/18 Karl Ritscherle, Jasta 60 mid to late 1918. An eight victory ace, Karl Ritscherle survived the war, only to be shot down and killed over Essex in a Heinkel 111 during the battle of Britain. B ) 4523/18 Rudolf Stark, Jasta 35b, late 1918. C) Serial unknown Franz Buchner, Jasta 13 October-November 1918. D) Serial unknown Willhelm Leusch, Jasta 19 October 1918. E) Serial unknown Ulrich Neckel, Jasta 6 November 1918. I have slight reservations about this one as the stripes are only provided as decals for the top and bottom of the fuselage. The instructions are to paint the black stripes on the fuselage sides. My reservations are to do with not wanting to get masking tape anywhere near the already applied decals, so I would be inclined to use solid black decal sheet cut into strips for the fuselage sides on this option. Fokker D.VII version. As noted before, the differences between various manufacturers are in the nose panels around the engine, and the axle wing. This release contains a sprue 'I' with the parts appropriate for a Fokker built machine. Two large sheets of decals are provided for the marking options, as well as the four and five colour lozenge sheets and the rib tapes shown in the OAW kit above. Early Fokker built aircraft had fuselages and tailplanes finished with a brush painted streaky green effect, which is quite difficult to replicate on models. This kit provides an interesting innovation, with the streaks being provided on one of the decal sheets with more than enough material to cover a fuselage. All the modeller needs to do is apply a light green base coat. I plan to make Willi Gabriels 286/18, so will be able to report back on how well they work. Colour options. A) 234/18 Friedrich 'Fritz' Freidrichs, Jasta 10 March-April 1918. B ) 286/18 Willi Gabriel, Jasta 11 June 1918. An interesting character, Gabriels squadron commander was Herman Goering. The two men disliked each other, resulting in Gabriel being removed from Jasta 11. Gabriel was active again in WW.2 Flying Junkers Ju88's, and died in 1966. C) 368/18 Hans Schultz, Jasta 18 June 1918. D) 4301/18 Fritz Oppenhorst, Jasta 71 August-November 1918. E) Serial unknown, Gotthard Sachsenberg, MFJGr1, October 1918. Slightly unusual option here, as it is a Naval machine. (MFJ standing for Marine Field Jasta). Sachsenberg was a 31 Victory ace. His aircraft is typical of some of the more outrageous schemes applied to D.VII's. Albatros D.VII Version. Sprue 'K' contains the Albatros appropriate variations. One large A4 sized sheet has all the individual markings, and again the four and five lozenge & rib tapes are provided. Colour Options. A) 611/18 Uffz. Harbers, Jasta 73 mid 1918. B ) 817/18 Fritz Blumenthal, Jasta 53 August 1918. C) 5324/18 Richard Kraut, Jasta 63 October-November 1918. D) Serial unknown, Herman Pritsch, Jasta 17 mid 1918. E) Serial Unknown, Carl Degelow, Jasta 40 August 1918. Conclusion. Well I have eagerly awaited this kit ever since it was announced, and have not been disappointed. Each of the three boxings are outstanding, and will provide a beautiful model. Past experience with building Wingnuts kits tells me that these will fit together with absolute precision. This can mean that fuselage halves can be a tight fit with all the interior parts fitted in, but all you have to do is scrape paint off all the bulkhead sides and the grooves they fit into, and things will be fine. It is a factor of the precise tolerances of these kits that a few thou of paint can make a difference, particularly if you use some of the thicker primers. The instructions are fabulous, with their clear CAD drawings, colour call outs, and reference photos to help you on the way. No other manufacturer has ever provided anything as good, and you will find yourself filing them away as excellent reference material in their own right. The decals are also fabulous, each kit has either four or five near A4 sized decal sheets with the individual markings and upper and lower lozenge fabric in its two varieties. All in perfect register and with the colours looking exactly right. There is something else about Wingnuts kits which is less tangible. It starts with opening the box for the first time and looking through the contents. It becomes evident that an awful lot of thought and care goes into these kits, that these are models created by other modellers. It is also apparent that compromises don't feature. Each component is precise and correct. 'Good enough' wont be found here, superb engineering will. It seems that Wingnuts don't release a kit until they are 100% satisfied with it in terms of accuracy and ease of building. Plenty of reviewers have heaped praise on Wingnut Wings for their extraordinary kits, and I understand why. Everything about them is the best it can be, from the box art to the quality of the plastic used, from the research on the colour schemes to the breakdown of each component. You name it, you'd struggle to say how it could be better. They raised the bar with their first releases, and are continuing to set the gold standard. If you are frightened of WW.1 subjects but want to try one of these kits then the D.VII should convince you to take the plunge. Beautiful subject, fabulous marking options, lozenge fabric all done with simple decals, and almost no rigging. This is the one to get, and you have three boxings to choose from, all gorgeous. I will start building one of these shortly, and recording the experience in 'Work in progress' [Edit] Build startred in Work in Progress HERE [/Edit] Review sample courtesy of

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