1/72 Roden Fokker D.VII (OAW Mid) and Fokker Dr.I

[Jeff Wilson]

This is the 1/72 Roden Fokker D.VII (OAW Mid) kit, finished in the markings of Ltn. Rudolf Stark when he was commander of Jasta 35b in August 1918. Plenty has been written about Roden's Fokker D.VII kits and much of it is pretty uncomplimentary; most of it is also true. Although it looks very well detailed in the box and significantly more delicate than Eduard's example, very little fits without widening, narrowing, shortening, lengthening, filling, fiddling and fettling. The lozenge decals are brittle and unyielding to Microsol or Mr. Mark Softer, and even after plenty of both was used, along with very warm water, significant pressure was required to get the decals to conform, and that pressure tore and shattered many of the edges necessitating much hand retouching of missing lozenge. Roden's rib tape decals were completely unusable and split into varying lengths on contact with water, even after overcoating with two coats of Future/Kleer on the sheet. Eduard's newly released sheet of rib tapes, while intended for their recent kit, fit the Roden kit quite well, so they were used instead. The remaining Roden decals were variable, with the crosses and personal markings working quite well, and the codes and stencils silvering quite badly. There's around 120 decals on this model and, to be honest, finishing it became a chore about three weeks before actual completion, so the control lines remain unfinished for now and I'll return to them eventually. But the final result is quite pleasing and it looks good in the cabinet alongside Udet's 'Lo' and Berthold's winged sword examples, both of which I made years ago from the Esci kit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I built it alongside Roden's 1/72 Fokker Dr.I, finished in Vzfw Ulrich Neckel's Jasta 12 markings from April 1918. This kit isn't as bad as the D.VII with respect to fit and decals (no lozenge for example) but it's no shining example of state-of-the-art and was less frustrating but not completely trouble-free. Triplane aficionados may note that the upper support struts do not match the location of the lower struts. This was an error of my own making when I failed to increase the length of the cabane struts (they're about 2-3 mm too short out of the box), which threw out the wing geometry. Once again, I'll live with it; it looks OK in the cabinet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are less frustrating kits of both of these aeroplanes offered by Revell and Eduard; choose one of them if you want a trouble-free build. But with better lozenge, care in building and a bit more planning, both of these can build quite nicely. I have a few more in the stash, especially the D.VII and I'm sure I'll build more down the track.

 

Cheers, Jeff

[SAT69]

Truly beautiful work on both kits and all the more noteworthy given they don't make assembling and finishing them easy. You can be quite proud of what you've produced here, sir.  

[Wulfman]

Lovely pair of Fokker's, well done !

 

Wulfman

[RichieW]

These are little jewels! Really beautiful result despite the decal problems. Seriously impressive!

[Epeeman]

Hello, Jeff -

 

Nearly missed these - yes, Roden kits are a challenge to build but with effort they look good when done - I actually do not dislike like them as kits but then I am always prepared for the extra work that goes into building them.

 

Both your models are brilliant but the DVII is really my favourite - it looks stunning and despite the problems you encountered during your build, they are certainly not evident in the finished articles.

 

Well done, mate!

 

Regards

 

Dave

[Jeff Wilson]

Cheers, Dave (and everyone else), comments much appreciated. Roden kits are frequently challenging but immensely satisfying to get right. Better decals would make a world of difference however!

 

Best, Jeff

[malpaso]

Very very nice.  The quality of your work in 1/72 is excellent.  Something to aspire to; my modelling is nowhere near this standard, but hopefully practice makes perfect!

Thanks for the inspiration.

Cheers

Will

 

[binbrook87]

What a stunning couple of builds. Hard to imagine they are 1/72. The lozenge decalling would have tipped me over the edge! But what a great end result. I do also like the streaked paintwork on the DR1, and the wooden effect prop blades are sublime. Excellent stuff all round.

[Natter]

I love the idea of using international coinage for scale so our diverse on-line community can appreciate just how small these rather excellent models are.  Top job(s).

[Mig88]

A fantastic job on both of them. They really look good.

I built a Roden D.VII many years ago (posted somewhere here) and replaced the lozenge decals with those from a Pegasus sheet.

 

Miguel

[Sky Keg]

Wow Jeff!!!!!  These two are incredibly impressive.  I would not know that each is in 72nd scale due to the beautiful detail.  The photography is equally impressive.  Both turned out perfect.  

 

I salute you!!!!! 

Mike