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Collection of 1/72 Fokker Dr.1 triplanes


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It all started back in October’20 when I built the (newer) Revell Dr.1 as a change of pace.  (I had just finished a BIG project- a 1/144 scale Escort Carrier (RC) with Avengers and Wildcats on deck.)    The Revell kit was a nice build, but it is molded in bright red plastic. I didn’t want to fight painting over the red, so I finished it in Jacobs’  all black scheme, using the decals from the Eduard Profipack kit.

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After I finished, a club mate said “Nice to see something besides the all red MvR Dr.1 - there was such a variety of colorful schemes.”    That inspired me, and now, a couple of months later, I  have a total of seven Triplanes.  All but one are Eduard kits, a mix of WE and Profipack kits. 

 

The models are build essentially OOB, with pilots added. (They will all end up in a mobile over my desk- a “Flying Circus”.). After building six of the Eduard kits, I am pretty sure I have found most of the mistakes you can make when building this kit.  (I have two left to finish, so I may find a new error to make!)

 

Markings are a mix of Eduard and scrapbox decals, plus some were painted using masks.   

One thing I am pleased with is the Fokker Streaking- it came out a lot better than it did on other builds in the past..

 

 

 

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Edited by RC Boater Bill
fixed broken photo link
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2 hours ago, Broadway said:

Very nice, I seemed to have more than I indended, I probably be making the the same mistakes.

Some things I learned the hard way:

- The wing struts have a top and bottom. If you put them in upside down, they fit OK on the bottom wing, but the top wing’s angle of attack will be way off (trailing edge way too low) and the cabanes won’t fit.  

- Make sure the wing struts are parallel when installed when viewed from the side. There’s a little bit of wiggle room in the middle wing’s slot- any misalignment will be magnified by a top wing that is skewed, with a leading edge that is  not parallel to the other two. 

- It is easy to put the stab on upside down (twice!). It is too easy to overlook the little dimples that are for the strut braces on the bottom - that is the only difference between top and bottom. (No key or tab to align the stab with the opening in the fuselage.)

- Pay close attention to part numbers for the landing gear struts- it is very easy to mix them up.  I learned to not remove the second one from the sprue until I had  glued the first one in place, on the correct side. Ditto for the cabanes.

- I found it best to install the cabanes on the top wing first, let them set for a bit, then attach the wing to the model.

- The stab braces are very flimsy- I broke about half of them while trying to clean up the sprue attachment.  A similarly sized piece of Evergreen styrene is less brittle, and easier to handle.

- The guns won’t fit properly unless you sand the fuselage opening  part to make it a little wider. 

- If you are adding a pilot (I used the nice PJ Productions resin figures) don't bother to install the seat.

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Oh, that's a very nice collection indeed! I love any kind of model series, and yours is a pleasure to look at. Can't you add an individual profile of each to your post like you did for the red one?

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Great Work!  Really glad to see this, as I have 3 old Revell Tripes that I have started working on.    I will be using Yours as my basis for Painting them!  I also want to avoid an ALL RED one!   All the Best!

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Great collection- There are so many options to create a colourful collection with German Great War aircraft.  It is easy to get hooked on creating a collection of one type, I have seven of the new Airfix Jet Provosts- didn't plan to it just happened.

Colin

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Very nice builds. I only have two in the collection at the moment with another still in the stash. I've also avoided the all red one but I feel almost honour bound to have a MvR on the shelf. Out of curiosity what Jasta has the purple/mauve cowling and which has the blue fuselage with green cowling.

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The markings are:

Yellow: Lothar von Richtofen, Jasta 11
Black: Josef Jacobs, Jasta 7
White: Hans Weiss, Jasta 11
Blue: Wilhelm Schwartz, Jasta 13
Lilac:  Rudolf Stark, Jasta 34b
Green: Friedrich Kempf, Jasta 2 Boelcke
Red/white:  August Raben, Jasta 18

 

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Some more photos:

 

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5C3D33B2-21D7-49A9-B014-CA1772EB983D-S.j

 

The black one is the (newer) Revell kit- all the others are Eduard.  I think the ribs are overdone on the Revell kit- I think the more subtle effect used by Eduard is more realistic.....

 

 

Edited by RC Boater Bill
fixed broken photo link
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I have two kits left left to do.  I have broken down and am doing one as MvR’s all red 425/17.  That one is in the decalling stage.   My last one came in the mail today- it is the Sabre-kits special release. Eduard plastic, with additional markings options.  The captured one in French markings looks intriguing.....

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On 1/13/2021 at 1:49 AM, RC Boater Bill said:

 My last one came in the mail today- it is the Sabre-kits special release. Eduard plastic, with additional markings options.  The captured one in French markings looks intriguing.....

 

 

..never heard of them - do you have any details at all please..or box art or anything? Tried google without any joy whatsoever. Great little set of Triplanes - although the pics fail to convey just how small they are!

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I got these from an eBayer in Poland- they arrived last week.  Took almost all of the estimated 30 days to arrive here in the US.  Sabre is offering three re-packed Eduard kits- the third is the Fokker E.III.   (That one didn’t interest me- it isn’t colorful enough for me to build multiples of.)

 

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The triplane includes markings for a repainted version in French markings.   The Albatros has both a French and British version.  The Triplane has the two MvR schemes that are commonly available, but also includes four schemes that I haven’t seen anywhere else:

- The correct scheme for Lothar. (Eduard and others got this wrong, according to those who know these things.)

- Jasta 36, possibly the CO,  Harry von  Bulow?   Looking at a discussion on the Aerodrome, I think the striped ailerons are unique to one (unidentified) pilot.

- Fokker 586/17, Udet’s Jasta 4 plane. Leave the “Lo” off, and you have the markings of the previous pilot, Kirchstein from Jasta 6.

-Fokker 581/17, Raben’s second mount. Taken by the French and repainted after the War’s end. (There’s also a photo online from the ‘20s that shows the plane in a museum, repainted in what looks like French 5-color camo.)

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Hope this helps- probably way more info than you wanted..!

Edited by RC Boater Bill
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  • 4 months later...

Finished two more  Eduard 1/72 builds:

 

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Red: Manfred von Richtofen, Jasta 11

Black:  Hans Pippart, Jasta 19

 

(I figured it was finally time to do the “cliche” MvR all red plane….it was easy to paint!)

 

I have four more to do- I’m going to need a bigger backdrop!

 

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Edited by RC Boater Bill
fixed photo links
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