Alpine Albatri

[Chief Cohiba]

After some time where I spend only limited time here, just adding some unqualified posts here and there on some fellow BM's builds (sorry guys), I thought I start something on my own again. So, please feel invited to pay me back and drop your load of happy nonsense here... 😉 

 

I don't know, though if this will tick anyones boxes; I felt like entering some more familiar ground again and do something in my homeground of biplanes in quarterscale - and, by using plural in the title, you might have guessed it will be a double build. I messed it up the last time and failed on the Camel, so why not do it again and wreck twice at one. 

 

Anyway, it's something I have in my stash and planned for quite some time now, building two variants of the famous WWI fighter, the DV from the Berlin based Albatros Flugzugwerke and the Oeffag license build DIII from the second 253 series. 

 

Both models are based on Eduard kits, one the standard Profiback, which I think is still available, and the other from the "Viribus Unitis" boxing, which I think was a limited series. 

 

 

The DV will be Otto Kissenberths famous black Edelweiss 2263/17, and the DIII will be Fiala von Fernbruggs 253.24. These variants, as pictured in the - as usual quite good - Eduard instructions: 

 

 

 

I try to build the Dv a bot more weathered than usual, while on the Oeffag I will put my emphasis on textures; the wood from the fuselage, the linen on the wings, the metal cowling and fuselage applications. 

 

So, if you feel this might be your cup of tea, grab a wicker seat out in the airfield, don't be afraid of oil stains from the Daimler engines and have a Schnaps. 

 

An guadn, as the bavarians say!

[Chief Cohiba]

Above I said something about "usual playground", but it will include some firsts for me. 

 

I will use some of Uschi's wood grain decals, but this is no news for me. This time it's the Ronny Bar edition, which I never used before and which have a more distinct wood grain, but I guess otherwise these are as easy to handle as the other types. Maybe a bit different use of base colour, a bit lighter due to the stronger grain, I would say, but that's no rocket science. But I also got me some specifically decals for the Oeffag from HGW, which I only used once before - and found them quite difficult to handle as they easily tear and break. But what's life without a challenge. 😉 

 

Another first, but one I'm looking forward to, is some Quinta Studio 3D decals for cockpit, which also includes some parts for the exteriour fuselage as well. I'm quite curious about these, as I always wanted to try them. 

 

Here's the extras: 

 

 

The others are the included PE parts for both Eduards kits, I will use a mix of EZ line and Uschi's rigging thread, and, knowing myself, will find myself on the Gaspatch page at some point during this build. 

[RichieW]

Looking forward to this Chief, I've become a real sucker for WW1 types. Will follow along with great interest.

[Chief Cohiba]

1 hour ago, RichieW said:

I've become a real sucker for WW1 types

Tell me about it; this can become quite an addiction! 🙂 

 

Further plans are to build about 4 Oeffag Albatrosses, of each the mayor Austrian aces - and some Phoenixes. And a Lloyd. And that's only the Austrian types...

 

But back to this mountaineer-inspired build; I already worked on the inside of the DV, trying the new-to-me "Ronny-Bar" decals. And thoug I used the "Pale"-decals rather than the "Rich" ones pictured about, it turned out that the base colour I used, a shade of some light woodish brown, turned out to be to "reddish", like some politicians skin. 

 

I will not mind, it looks ok-ish and will be hidden inside anyway, but it wasn't the effect I was looking for. 

 

 

The engine department will not receive a further treatment, I'm simlpy to lazy for that. Hence I also didn't work on the pin marks - they won't be seen...  😉 

[Chief Cohiba]

I prepared a few more piece with different base colour. 

 

(sorry for the poor quality, I just had my smartphone in my poorly lit workbench at hand)

 

I used a similar brown on the front (upper, with the cartridge case) bulkhead, which had almost the same effect, as well as the engine mount, the  upper right part, on which I tried to create a oil-stained look from the Daimler engine. 

 

On the aft bulkhead as well as the  floor plank (with the instrument on it) I used a combination of brown and light grey which turned out much better and shows the beautiful effect of the wood grain decals. 

 

 

[Martian]

So that's where you're hiding! A good start on a couple of very interesting subjects, Now get that Zeppelin out you evil child! 

 

Slave Driver of Mars 👽

[Marklo]

Lovely, can’t have too many albatri ( the official plural as coined by the RFC  ) I  finished both a DII and an Oeffag DIII and a CIX ( which was more or less a two seater DIII) last year, must find an excuse to dust off a few from the stash sooner rather than later.

Edited December 3, 2022 by Marklo

[RichieW]

The decals may not be the effect you intended but they look very good to me.

 

Richie

[k5054nz]

I love the engine area's treatment, it looks properly worn. An exciting build!

 

I thought I'd taken photos of a repro D.V(a?) in that scheme but this is the closest I have for inspiration:

 

Edited December 3, 2022 by k5054nz

[Chief Cohiba]

17 hours ago, Martian said:

So that's where you're hiding!

Well, yes, and including some other thing of rather less exciting nature, they call it "daily work". Horrible - don't bother with that. It's a disgrace! I don't know why almost everyone seems to do that on our little yet weird ball in space. 

 

17 hours ago, Martian said:

Now get that Zeppelin out you evil child!

I felt too much of that pressure from strange extraterrestrial tentacles reaching out, forcing me to start working on German Luftschiffs (and while not actually in person, than in the urge to follow the standard you showed in your build). Honestly, I thought about starting it some time, but still shying away from the initial scribing of the chamber segments. Too much thinking of it, but too little action. 

 

15 hours ago, Marklo said:

albatri ( the official plural as coined by the RFC  

Hmmm, I have to learn a lot, I see. I would have thought of Albatrix, or Albatricces being possible as plural form as well, but Albatri didn't came to my mind. Thanks for clarification, sir. 🎩

 

15 hours ago, Marklo said:

I  finished both a DII and an Oeffag DIII and a CIX

I wasn't aware of that - I have a CIII from Special Hobby in my stash, but no DII or CIX on my radar. I'd love to have a BII, to rebuild the one in our Vienna HGM, but there seems to be nothing available for that (but no real research has been done). 

 

12 hours ago, RichieW said:

but they look very good to me

Thank you, sir! I'm quite good in messing thing, so an oil stained interior, quite runs up my alley. 😉 

 

12 hours ago, k5054nz said:

I thought I'd taken photos of a repro D.V(a?) in that scheme but this is the closest I have for inspiration

Thank you, looks good. I guess I take WNWs page of their 1/32 Kissenberth machine for research, and for the 253 Oeffag there is something  rather amazing, and a reason I choose this: 

 

Craftlab Albatros

 

More of this here, but beware, it will kill some of your time. 

 

https://www.craftlab.at/fliegen-albatros-d3

 

 

[Marklo]

The DIII was a glencoe kit, the DII was converted from the same and the CIX was Scratchbuilt.

[Brandy]

This looks interesting, I'll take a seat at the bar and watch from there!

You're right about it being addictive though, the "dark side" of modelling seldom lets go!

 

Ian

[Paul Thompson]

34 minutes ago, Chief Cohiba said:

 

I wasn't aware of that - I have a CIII from Special Hobby in my stash, but no DII or CIX on my radar. I'd love to have a BII, to rebuild the one in our Vienna HGM, but there seems to be nothing available for that (but no real research has been done). 

 

 

1/72nd, an old Formaplane vac, which isn't too bad really. 1/32nd, WNW, but only the unobtanium version. 1/48th ......................  probably not a bad subject to scratchbuild, the shapes are fairly simple, with the added benefit of not having any other choice.

 

FWIW I use Humbrol 71 (satin oak) as a base colour for Albatros types.

 

Paul.

[Martian]

5 hours ago, Chief Cohiba said:

I felt too much of that pressure from strange extraterrestrial tentacles reaching out, forcing me to start working on German Luftschiffs (and while not actually in person, than in the urge to follow the standard you showed in your build). Honestly, I thought about starting it some time, but still shying away from the initial scribing of the chamber segments. Too much thinking of it, but too little action. 

The scribing is not that bad. I have got about 75% of the latest Zeppelin done in a couple of hours this morning and would have the whole of it done by now had I not got to go and do the weekly shop with Mrs Martian.

 

Hen Pecked of Mars 👽

[Brandy]

They have hens on Mars?

 

Ian

[Martian]

22 minutes ago, Brandy said:

They have hens on Mars?

 

Ian

Where do you think the Iron Chicken in the Clangers series came from?

 

Martian 👽

[k5054nz]

9 hours ago, Chief Cohiba said:

and for the 253 Oeffag there is something  rather amazing, and a reason I choose this: 

 

Craftlab Albatros

Koloman's work is achingly beautiful. TVAL's D.II was built by him and his team. I would love to see his other aircraft in person. True time machines!

[Chief Cohiba]

47 minutes ago, k5054nz said:

Koloman's work is achingly beautiful.

It truly is. I need to ask if there's a chance for a factory visit (it's only 100km away from Vienna and would be definitely worth the drive). 

[Chief Cohiba]

6 hours ago, Martian said:

Where do you think the Iron Chicken in the Clangers series came from?

And the Chicken Tikka Masala I had last friday? Not from any earthly born chicken, I'm sure!

[Chief Cohiba]

Only little process, just glueing ridiculously tiny parts (mostly with CA due to the plastic being covered with decal) in the DVs cockpit.

 

 

I call it a day...

[NAVY870]

"Do you get wafers with it?"

 

(Seriously do I have to do every silly comment? Some of you guys are really letting the side down)

[Chief Cohiba]

On 12/4/2022 at 1:27 PM, Paul Thompson said:

1/48th ......................  probably not a bad subject to scratchbuild,

As I build most in 1/48 (WWI almost exclusively, except for some 1/32 leftovers and, of course, airships) this would be the option. And, knowing my current velocitity in this, I guess this is a thing for my retirement. So don't expect a WIP here too soon... 😉

 

On 12/4/2022 at 1:27 PM, Paul Thompson said:

I use Humbrol 71 (satin oak) as a base colour for Albatros types

Looks just the part, just like the Life Color Stone Grey (I guess, can't really remember) I usually use. But can't really say how much the HGW decals will add in colour.

[Chief Cohiba]

On 12/4/2022 at 2:47 PM, Martian said:

The scribing is not that bad.

I really just need to start. But for an initial step it is a little too big for a workpackage with which I usually start my builds. It's usually a small first step, which lurks me into a build...

 

Did I mention already that I'm quite a lazy guy?

3 hours ago, NAVY870 said:

Seriously do I have to do every silly comment? Some of you guys are really letting the side down

Hmmm. Myself I only do that in other WIPs, soo...

[Brandy]

Coming on nicely.

I assume you have seen the announcement from Lukgraph of their upcoming Lohner Type L in 1:48 and 1:32!

 

Ian

[Paul Thompson]

32 minutes ago, Chief Cohiba said:

 

Looks just the part, just like the Life Color Stone Grey (I guess, can't really remember) I usually use. But can't really say how much the HGW decals will add in colour.

I used to use something darker until I realised what my eyes had been telling me for years, which was that the modern repros and restoration work really did show a very light wood, so no good starting off with something the right colour before wood graining.... That, and contemporary RFC references to Albatrosses as flying bananas. Bit of a clue there.

 

OTOH by the time I settled on H71 I'd already built over 30 Albatrosses of various flavours over 20 years, so I'm definitely not re painting them now.  Especially as the acrylic version of H71 seems to be one of the colours recently discontinued by Humbrol.

 

If using the HGW decals perhaps worth trying a tiny test bit over the Humbrol CDL colour (H74), which is very yellow but might need a bit of white mixed in? It would be nice to find a use for the stuff.

 

Paul.