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Albatros D.III - Eduard 1:48 Weekend edition


Viking

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Albatros D.III
Eduard 1:48 Weekend edition

 

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The line of Albatros 'D' fighters began in 1916 with the D.1, which represented a great step forward in German fighter design. It featured a streamlined semi monocoque plywood fuselage and synchronised twin Spandau machine guns. Quickly revised into the D.II variant, with the top wing lowered to improve visibility from the cockpit. Both featured wide chord wings of similar planform.
The next revision was the D.III, which was influenced by the highly manoeuvrable Nieuport 11 French fighter, with it's sesquiplane wings. The fuselage was pretty much the same as the D.II, but the lower wing was of much reduced chord and noticeably much smaller than the top wing, which were connected with 'V' struts. Although this arrangement provided the desired increase in manoeuvrability, the lower wing was fitted with only a single spar. This was not really substantial enough and remained a weak point right through to the later D.V. The aircraft had a frightening tendency to shed it's lower wings under heavy loadings such as in a dive. Another problem was the radiator mounted centrally in the top wing, connected to the engine by pipework. One bullet hole could release a stream of scalding water into the pilots face, so it was offset to the right on later production variants, and many were converted in the field.
However the aircraft was the mainstay of the German air force throughout 1917, largely contributing to 'Bloody April' of that year when their allied opponents suffered dreadful losses.

 

The Kit.
Eduards kit has been released before in various boxings and it is nice to see it available once again. The mouldings remain as crisp as ever and show no signs of wear, although the plastic has been changed from Eduard's old style sandy/olive colour to the more usual grey.
Two sprues contain all the plastic parts, but as this is a 'Weekend' version no etch is supplied. A nice touch is that Eduard provide two complete upper wings, one with the central radiator, the other with it offset. The two colour schemes in this release both require the central version. Also on the sprues is an optional OAW style fin and rudder, but again this is not required here


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For a small model, and impressive amount of interior detail is provided, covering just about every item that was fitted in the real thing. The lack of etch means that no seat belts are there, but a set is provided on the decal sheet. Likewise the twin Spandau's are solid items without the etched jackets. This is not a problem if you have any of Eduard's separately available generic sets, or there is a specific set for this aircraft (Cat no FE793). Alternatively there is a Profipack version of the kit which also contains it.

 

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The Mercedes D.IIIa engine is a little beauty, simple but accurate, and provides the basis for superdetailers to go to work on. Tucked inside the close fitting cowlings I suspect most modellers will be happy as is, unless you decide to model the Richthofen version with cowlings off, as shown in the painting guide. Note that the instructions do not mention removing these, and they are moulded integrally with fuselage. But anyway, it would be perfectly valid to build Richthofen's version with them on.

 

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The only suggestion I would make concerns the wheels. On my first kits built some 10-15 years ago,  I felt that they look a little on the small side. Comparing them with the wheels in Eduard's Albatros D.Va kit shows the difference.

 

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Aftermarket wheels have been available, or if you happen to have any Eduard's Fokker D.VII kits, they come with 2 sets of wheels so you can make use of the spare ones. It may require some simple mods to the valve covers (or not), depending upon which ones you use, and which D.III you are making. It's up to you, but I include a comparison of my model of Herman Frommherz's 'Blau Maus' with the kit wheels, and Voss's 'Red Heart' where I substituted some Fokker D.VII wheels.

 

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Options
A.) Leutnant Werner Voss, Jasta 2, Proville, France. May 1917

 

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B.  Rittmeister Manfred von Richthofen, Jasta 11, Harelbeke, Belgium. June 1917.


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Decals are clear and sharp with good colours. They look like Eduard's own production, which have always been excellent in use. Fine details are provided, such as instruments, serial numbers that were stencilled on struts & undercarriage legs, and some very nice little Albatros logos for the rudder.

 

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Having built several of these over the years I can confirm that it goes together very well, with precise fit and no real problems. The lower wings require care in fitting, as each side is separate and has a pair of little lugs that fit into corresponding holes in the fuselage. If you have got a few biplane builds under your belt, this one should present no problems and makes into a little gem of a model.

 

I built a previous release of the same kit about 12 years ago;

 

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Highly recommended.

 

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Review sample courtesy of

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