Airfix Albatros DVa, 1/72

[thommo]

I've tried to wrestle this old kit into submission.  I saw the Airfix Red Box (a mate got this for me in an Op Shop for $5) & thought 'new mold'.  Wrong - it seems to be the same old kit as from the 70s? New decals and instructions maybe?

 

Added many scratch built bits - engine components, guns, lower radiator, cockpit detail, rigging from invisible thread etc., used a pin to mark nails which hold wood panels.  Cut masks on my Cricut and sprayed on the Maltese Crosses.

 

After experimenting with numerous wood finish techniques, I decided the best is:

 

• Base coat of Wooddeck Tan & Flat Yellow (Tamiya).
• Draw brown/red squiggles with watercolour pencil.  Different directions on some panels.
• Light coat of Clear Yellow & Flat Yellow (Tamiya) but use the weaker Tamiya acrylic thinner not stronger lacquer thinner else it will cut through the undercoat too much.
• Clear gloss coat of SMS clear.
• Using a needle, place a tiny tiny blob of Burnt Umber oil paint in each of the many pin pricks along the wood panel borders.
• With a small brush, go over the oil blobs with turpentine to spread it out a bit, but leaves a tint dark spot in each 'nail hole'.

 

Markings are the captured Albatros on display in the Australian War Museum in Canberra.  They appear to have painted over the fuselage & tail markings there and added new Maltese Crosses.

 

The plane was forced down by an Aussie RE8 and captured by the Brits.  The pilot & navigator who forced it down were killed soon after by a single round which went through both of them from another German plane behind. The Albatros was donated to the Aussies as a war trophy.

 

 

 

 

 

[Ray S]

A fabulous result, and a moving back story to the real aircraft. You have done a tremendous job with a kit that actually comes from the 1950's, so is even older than you thought!

 

All the best, Ray

[Hairtrigger]

Cracking result that...  

[Natter]

1/72nd Airfix? If you hadn't put the paint pot next to the model I wouldn't have believed you... or did you photoshop it next to a 1/48th? 😉

[BerndM]

Good work on this ancient kit.

[DaddyO]

Fabulous - love the nail details 👏

 

Paul

[mike c]

That's very nice indeed.

[IanC]

Beautiful.

[Epeeman]

I've done the exact same thing with this kit last year - I therefore know and understand the work that would have gone into this.  

 

Excellent result and a fantastic improvement on this ancient Airfix kit

 

Regards

 

Dave

 

[Wulfman]

Beautiful build and finish on the old and very basic Airfix kit , great modelling !

 

Wulfman

[Bigglesof266]

Good job. Bought back memories. Although I wasn't to buy and build that until 1967, an avid Biggles and non-fiction historical reader throughout my childhood and adolescence, the aesthetic of the D.Va had always captured my interest. No manufacturer at the time that I could access produced a model of the equally pretty to my eye Pfalz D.III I lusted after that W.E. Johns so frequently posed as an adversary on Biggles' patrols over the lines. So I settled on the D.Va in a classic Airfix Series One hanger bag presented by 1967 with unmistakable Roy Cross' artwork.

Not sure if it's the photo lighting in the images above, but you might want to consider a coat of satin or semi-gloss over that paint job. (?) I saw the real aircraft in the AWM museum in 1969 and several times thereafter over the years since. It's paint wasn't a flat matt finish. Having already put in that amount of effort, I'd hit it with a thin spray coat of clear satin with a drop of clear gloss to present the finish more realistically and appealingly. Why?

"In the mid 1960s substantial reconstruction of this aircraft was undertaken. The work was commenced by the Australian Society of World War One Aviation Historians, and was completed by personnel from the Camden Museum of Aviation under the direction of Mr Harold Thomas." This being the case, I suspect the post-restoration aircraft I saw in 1969 was an accurate replication of the original paint colours and finish. I was a member of that Society prior to visiting the museum, and had several written (letter) conversational exchanges with them about the aircraft at the time. My impression of those conversations is that the members were knowledgeable pedantically thorough

In an case, a fine job. I wish I'd been able to paint and finish mine back then as resplendently as you have. Thanks for the trip down nostalgia road.    

[thommo]

6 hours ago, Bigglesof266 said:

Good job. Bought back memories. Although I wasn't to buy and build that until 1967, an avid Biggles and non-fiction historical reader throughout my childhood and adolescence, the aesthetic of the D.Va had always captured my interest. No manufacturer at the time that I could access produced a model of the equally pretty to my eye Pfalz D.III I lusted after that W.E. Johns so frequently posed as an adversary on Biggles' patrols over the lines. So I settled on the D.Va in a classic Airfix Series One hanger bag presented by 1967 with unmistakable Roy Cross' artwork.

Not sure if it's the photo lighting in the images above, but you might want to consider a coat of satin or semi-gloss over that paint job. (?) I saw the real aircraft in the AWM museum in 1969 and several times thereafter over the years since. It's paint wasn't a flat matt finish. Having already put in that amount of effort, I'd hit it with a thin spray coat of clear satin with a drop of clear gloss to present the finish more realistically and appealingly. Why?

"In the mid 1960s substantial reconstruction of this aircraft was undertaken. The work was commenced by the Australian Society of World War One Aviation Historians, and was completed by personnel from the Camden Museum of Aviation under the direction of Mr Harold Thomas." This being the case, I suspect the post-restoration aircraft I saw in 1969 was an accurate replication of the original paint colours and finish. I was a member of that Society prior to visiting the museum, and had several written (letter) conversational exchanges with them about the aircraft at the time. My impression of those conversations is that the members were knowledgeable pedantically thorough

In an case, a fine job. I wish I'd been able to paint and finish mine back then as resplendently as you have. Thanks for the trip down nostalgia road.    

 

Yes, I umed & ahed over a flat or semi-gloss finish, and eventually hit it with a little SMS Flat Clear, only because I love flat finishes!

 

I'm going to leave it at that. 

 

Have to move onto the next project which is way out of left field.  My 22yo niece saw some of the diorama's I did for our daughters and wanted one!  And the subject will be Princess Mononoke riding a wolf with fluro (LED lit?) 'tree creatures' in a forest.  A wolf I can get online.  The princess will have to be scratched from 1/48 or 1/35 soldiers. The critters???? God knows as they have to be semi-transparent.

[pheonix]

Like Epeeman I too struggled with this kit some years ago - and for the same reason - a trip down memory lane to my teenage years.

 

This is an old and inaccurate kit but what the hell? It has made into a very fine representation in your hands - a testimony to your skill and patience. Hat off to you sir.

 

P