Albatros DI - 1/72 – Otto Höhne - Roden Kit - Lessons Learned

[Brotrob]

Hi all,

 

After the lessons learned posts on the Albatros DV and the Siemens-Schuckert DIII, it’s now time for the third and final one of my past builds: The Albatros DI of Otto Höhne by Roden, in 1/72 scale.

 

 

The Albatros DI was the first of the famous line of Albatros Scouts, designed by Robert Thelen in 1916. Thelen was the chief designer at Albatros, and responsible for many Albatros designs. I chose to build the machine of Otto Höhne of Jasta 2, 1916. Whilst Höhne did not accumulate the impressive number of victories as some of the famous aces of WWI (he had 6 victories credited to him by the end of the war), he was the first fighter pilot to score a victory with an Albatros scout.

 

 

Here’s an excerpt mentioning Höhne from the Osprey Duel 55 Fe 2b-d vs Albatros Scouts

 

“The many duels between FE 2s and Albatros scouts began upon the frontline arrival of the new Albatros D I scout in 1916, which coincided with Germany’s premier ace Oswald Boelcke forming Jagdstaffel 2. A new and permanent unit type, Jagdstaffeln were born from the reformation of temporary Kampfeinsitzer-Kommandos (KeK, or fighting single-seater commands) that were  dedicated  to  aerial  interdiction  following  their  equipment  with  single-seater  scouts.  Yet  for  weeks  Jasta  2  was  burdened  with  just  a  smattering  of  Fokker  and  Halberstadt D machines, rather than a full complement of Albatros’s new twin-gunned fighter, although Offz Stv Leopold Reimann arrived from Jasta 1 in late August and brought one of the new pre-production Albatros D Is with him. Boelcke used this meagre ‘fleet’ for training during the first half of September, but on the 16th – the day Jasta 2 finally received its first allotment of Albatros D Is, as well as its D II prototype for Boelcke – he led some of his pilots aloft. At 1800 hrs Ltn Otto Höhne shot down his and Jasta 2’s first FE 2b (6999 of No. 11 Sqn).”

 

And here is a beautiful picture of Otto Höhnes Albatros DI D 390/16 in flight:

 

 

The Roden Kit is of good quality and detail, and part of a big series of Albatros kits, therefore offering many options for different types and sub-types. This versatility does not come without disadvantages though. The top wing is split in three sections, and assembling a perfectly straight wing profile is not straightforward. In addition, the forward fuselage needs quite a bit of work to, but the end result can look accurate.

 

Things I wanted to try with this kit

 

Despite the good finish achieved with the airbrush in my previous kit, my lazy nature made me try once again if I can create a good finish just with brushes, avoiding the dreaded airbrush 🤔

 

The completed model

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The lessons learned whilst building this particular kit

 

1. I can’t create a good finish without an airbrush. Shouldn’t try again!
2. I built this kit without having access to the original pictures. Knowing them now, I believe the wood varnish on the fuselage is probably a bit too bright, and could maybe be a bit darker
3. I should not apply rigging by making a knot around the struts with the thread, but only use through-holes instead
4. The colours of the wings may be inaccurate, as some early Albatros had a three-color scheme for the wings
5. Super-glue creates a grey dusty coat around the areas it is applied to. Maybe avoid using super glue when possible
6. The top wing is not perfectly straight. Should have used a rig when assembling it from the three pieces
7. The finish I chose seems a bit too matte, and should be silkier
8. Building a kit with photographic documentation from the start is more satisfying than building one where the paint scheme is largely based on assumptions or box instructions only

 

This was the last of my youth-builds, and hopefully, I can share my first adult builds this year. Whether they will be any better than my past builds, or much worse, remains to be seen 😎 

 

Best regards,

 

Rob

 

[Smudge]

Looks good to me. Nice work.

[Hairtrigger]

Looks pretty splendid to me as well...... Oh that rigging must be difficult to get right...

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Great Albatros 

[Darby]

Hard work rewarded. I've got a Roden Dlll 'on the shelf' but like you say, that three piece wing and the for'ard fuselage are what's keeping it there. 

[Brandy]

Looks good from here! I tape the wing to a flat piece of glass when I glue it, to make sure it stays flat.

 

Ian

[Graeme H]

I think you are being a bit hard on yourself, that certainly looks good to me, well done

[John Masters]

I agree with Graeme.  That's a lovely looking Albatros.  I have always felt these were there best of the Roden kits, needing fewer repairs and/or augmentations to actually make it work.  The three part wing is odd, but do-able, of course.  

 

 

[Knight_Flyer]

Very nice and the rigging looks quite effective.

[Kev The Modeller]

Lovely build mate and in 1/72 I wouldn't be so hard on yourself.  These WW1 aircraft are very small and in my humble opinion you've produce an excellent model.

[cardiff guy]

Not just a good model but a nice write up as well

 

Glenn.

[Andwil]

Lovely little Albatros.  I like how you represented the plywood fuselage.

 

I built a Roden Austro-Hungarian DIII a few years ago, the three part wing was intimidating but I was pleasantly surprised how well it went together.

 

Andrew 

[Epeeman]

Excellent work on your DI and I actually think you have a good (light) wood colour tone for the fuselage.

 

Regards

 

Dave

[ArmouredSprue]

Looks really good to me. Very well done mate

[KITCAT]

How did you get on with the decals, dying to know. Also go to a fishing shop and buy some very light fishing line. Apart from that a very nice little Albatros

[teleblaster]

It's excellent and every build teaches us something. I particularly like the weathering, ageing and 'dirt', something I tend not to do for fear of spoiling the paint work I've already done!!

 

 

[kapam]

A brilliantly-executed build.

Your lessons learned are very honest, but I simply see an excellent small-scale replica.

[pheonix]

That is a really good model, especially given the scale. As for colours and shades: modellers have been discussing these since they have been building models and have still to agree! Go with what you think is right - even surviving colour patches are unlikely to be true to the originals because they will have faded or bleached. Near enough is good enough in my opinion - and yours is pretty damned close!

 

P

[GrzeM]

Model looks very good and I know that the kit is not easy to build.