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A model from 9 years ago: A simple slap-on weekend project as a relaxing distraction from more involving endeavors, using an old and affordable kit as a divertimento. The Fokker D.VII needs no introduction; after the first world war a number of these and another planes were used as civil machines. The one represented here, O-BEBE, belonged to Belgium and was used at a flying school, still wearing its camouflage but sporting prominent registrations on a white background. I got the Revell D.VII, which is an old mold and a not totally bad -but a bit crude- kit. It suited the project since I wasn’t especially looking for detail and I am used to deal with kits that have some shortcomings. It has no interior, only the dreaded styrene mummy that sits on a tab. Now, what is unforgivable regarding the Revell kit is its laughable lozenge decals. Who in heaven thought that you can provide a “paint-by-numbers” white decal with a delimitation grid in black for the modeler to fill the polygons with the different colors? It is just me, or this one qualifies for the silliest decal sheet ever? In any case, fortunately, I wasn’t going to use the decals anyway. Flash, ejector marks and dubious spots were sanded, scrapped, filed, filled and otherwise made inconspicuous before construction began. The too prominent ribs were toned down too. Revell provides one side of the wheel covers as a separate part. If this was thought to facilitate painting, you still have to deal with the tire-cover separation line on the other side anyway; and in any case, the two-part approach could have been tire and rest-of-the-wheel. The funny thing was that the covers won’t fit, due to some excess plastic in the recess. I had to use a rotary tool to remove plastic in order to be able to make room for the cover. Some genius was loose in the Revell quarters. A bit of structural detail was added to the cockpit area and the addition of a floor, seat, pedals, joystick and instrumental panel made for a suitable interior. The decals were home made. Once the fuselage halves were closed the area were the guns used to be was filled and blended and a new windscreen -as seen in photos of the original plane- made. The lower wing was glued in place –had to sand a tad here and there- and also blended-in. The other parts were being decaled separately meanwhile. Since lozenge decals cover large areas, it is not always easy to position and align a thin decal film. Once all decaling was completed and the locating holes or gluing areas of parts were cleared, the parts were given a coat of varnish in order not to mar the decals during later manipulation. Once all major components were ready, final assembly began. The struts could be replaced if so wished by more to-scale streamline stock. I only used the outer wing “N” struts for the sake of alignment. All the other struts were replaced. Some details were added like control horns and control cables, plus rigging. When I was making the decals, I spent some time reading discussions on lozenge. Boy, were these discussions long. What it seemed to be the undeniable truth at some point was just bogus at some other point. “Proofs” that demonstrated something, only demonstrated their own relativity time later. What was supported by one photograph was contradicted by the next. As in many areas of life, although some general agreement exists, there is not really ultimate word on lozenge. Add to that the variations of weathering, printing process, monitor screens, chromatic aberration, ortho and panchro nuances and quirks and you have a carnival. Where I am going with all this? Firstly, you don’t have to have the latest thing in town to make a nice or fun model. Secondly, you can choose an original livery, not necessarily the "that plane again" machine. And thirdly, all this within reasonable effort and budget. The silliest "paint-by-number" decals sheet ever, a despicable attempt to get rid of the compromise of choosing the lozenge colors. Cheeky monkeys...