Jasta 18 Fokker Fighters (Albatros & OAW D.VII) - 1:32 Pheon decals

[Viking]

Jasta 18 Fokker Fighters (Albatros & OAW D.VII)

1:32 Pheon decals

Going back a few months from March 1918, Jasta 18 had been under the command of Rudolph Berthold since August of the previous year, and he had worked hard to bring the men up to the standard he required. Having built up an 'esprit de corps' and formed an effective fighting unit, he must have endured personal turmoil in March 1918 when he was promoted to command JG.II. Consisting of Jastas 12, 13, 15, and 19, his new command would mean leaving Jasta 18 and all that he had worked so hard on. So in brief, what he did was swap all the men and materials from his beloved Jasta 18 with one of the existing units in his new command, Jasta 15. So at a stroke all his men and their aircraft came with him, and the 'old' Jasta 15 found itself renumbered as Jasta 18 and out of JG.II.

August Raben had only just taken command of Jasta 15 on 14th March, when the swap occurred on 20th, on which day he was hospitalised after a crash on take off. By 14th April he was out of hospital and reunited with the Jasta just outside Lille. Like Berthold, Raben had sought to build an 'esprit de corps', and ordered the application of a striking livery to all of Jasta 18's aircraft. It is at this point that this latest release from Pheon picks up the story and offers some colorful options.

The noses back to the cockpit were painted in bright vermilion red, the rest of the fuselage back to the tail in white. The top of upper wing was in red, and later the top of the lower wing also. Some aircraft also received red lower surfaces of their wings. Each also had the symbol of a raven (raben in German) as a unit marking, and individual pilots chose their own marking to go alongside.

Thus marked, Staffel Raben went to war and achieved notable success, with something between 112 and 126 victories by the time of the armistice seven months later. By this time they were equipped with the superb Fokker D.VII which were of course painted up in the flamboyant red and white scheme.

The decals are produced in Pheons' now familiar format with no fewer than 10 Fokker D.VII's split by OAW and Albatros machines, and a single Fokker DR.1 Triplane. The Wingnuts kits are offered in OAW or Albatros boxings, so make sure you order the correct one. (There is also the Fokker built boxing, but we don't need that here). Roden is the best option for the DR.1. Included is a full colour overview of all 11 options, followed by 3 sets of more detailed profiles, 1 of plan views, and 1 full size masking guide, all on thick glossy card in A4 size.

The usual instruction booklet contains a wealth of information with historical detail, and notes on finishing options on the real aircraft. Pheon explain where there are doubts or 'grey' areas such as where fuselage and wing undersides may or may not have been painted, which allows the modeller to make an informed choice on which way to go.

The D.VII was notorious for overheating, and many aircraft sprouted all sorts of cooling gills and holes in upper and side cowling panels. The instructions offer a very comprehensive double page spread to illustrate aircraft by aircraft what the modifications were. It should be a simple matter to remove those gills not wanted, and add new ones from evergreen quarter round strip.

Notes are provided on each individual aircraft pointing out the key details of the finish, and where possible connecting each aircraft with a pilot. The decals themselves are a single A4 sheet printed by the Fantasy Printshop. The sheet contains all the personal markings for each aircraft, including edging for the fuselage sides and elevators and tailplane stripes. Various personal markings and fuselage bands are supplied, along with numerous ravens and fuselage crosses. A nice touch typical of Pheon is that the white areas have been double printed to ensure opacity over the other colours.

As with other sets from Pheon, the printing is beautifully sharp and in register with barely visible carrier film and look amazingly thin. The sheet is well laid out to give as many options as possible, and does not duplicate items such as wing crosses that are already in the Wingnuts kit. Having already used Pheons decals on other projects, it can be taken for granted that these will go on beautifully and settle down for that painted on look.

The options.

1. Fokker D.VII early (OAW) - Ltn. Kurt Monnington, Montingen, Summer 1918.
2. Fokker D.VII (OAW) - Ltn. August Raben, Montingen, Summer 1918.
3. Fokker D.VII (OAW) - serial unknown, Ltn.Heinz Kustner, Montingen, Summer 1918 and post war.
4. Fokker D.VII (OAW) - serial unknown, Ltn.Gunther Von Buren, Montingen, August/September1918.

5. Fokker D.VII (OAW) - serial unknown, Ltn. Hans Muller, Montingen, September 1918.
6. Fokker D.VII Albatros built- pilot and serial unknown, Montingen, Summer 1918 and post war.
7. Fokker D.VII (Possibly Albatros) - pilot and serial unknown, Montingen, Summer 1918.
8. Fokker D.VII Albatros built - serial unknown, Ltn. Wilhelm Kuhne, Montingen, Summer 1918.

9. Fokker D.VII (OAW) - Possibly Vzfw Glatz, Montingen, Summer 1918.
10. Fokker D.VII (OAW) - pilot and serial unknown, date of photograph unknown but possibly summer 1918 at Montingen.
11. Fokker Dr.I - 479/17, Ltn. August Raben, Montingen, October 1918.

DR.1 wing views;

Masking guide;

Conclusion.

Yet again Pheon are offering the WW.1 aviation enthusiast an irresistible set of decals. If you are building a representative set of D.VII's you will certainly want to include at least one Raven in your line up. As usual I like them all, Moningtons blacked edged and chevron tailed, Mullers diagonal barred and chevron tailed, and the anonymous green lined machines really stand out.

Where this sheet is really going to win is with 'first timers', those who want to try a Wingnuts kit but are nervous of rigging and lozenge camouflage. Well the D.VII only has 4 rigging wires and a few very short control wires, and all can be done simply with stretched sprue attached with white glue.

To seal the deal this is the perfect decal sheet. Some options have no lozenge at all and a few have it only on the wing undersides, so make your choice as to whether you want to try a bit of lozenging or not. The rest of the airframes are simple, white and red with an easy masking job just behind the cockpit with a bit of Tamiya tape.

Whichever you choose you will have an attractive and very striking model, representing a totally authentic and outrageously colourful front line warplane. Do I like the combination of Wingnuts D.VII and Pheons decals? You bet!

(Also available is a 1:48 scale Jasta 18 sheet with Albatros and a Pfalz as well as the D.VII and DR.1)

Very highly recommended.

Review sample courtesy of Pheon Decals

[Popeye the Sailor]

I wonder if Pheon has these in 1:28 scale. I recently bought the Revell offering of a Fokker D VII {example would be #6}