Manfred von Richthofen Modeling project.

[Otis Glenn]

Hello Everyone:

I have started a rather large modeling project focusing on the various aircraft flown by Manfred von Richthofen starting with his Albatros D.II and ending with Fokker Dr.I 425/17. I wanted to run the aircraft I am planning on doing by the members of the forum in hopes of closing some gaps in my research and maybe picking up some tips pertaining to camouflage, painting, marking and the like. Also, if other modelers know I am involved in the project it will be harder fo me to slack off and not get it done.

There will be nine models in all and almost all of them have turned out to be Eduard 1/48 kits with the exception of one. The first one is the following:


There were several pictures of this Albatros D.II taken with Richthofen standing in front of it during his time with Jasta 2. It is likely that this is his D.II 491/16.



This Albatros D.III was one of the first (some books state the very first) of this series to be flown flown by Richthofen. He flew it around the time he first came to Jasta 11 and it was eventually passed on to his brother Lothar. Could this be the aircraft he was flying when his lower wing cracked? Serial numbers unknown.


This is a Halberstadt D.III. Richthofen flew the Halberstadt while the Albatros D.IIIs were grounded due to the wing failures. Most publications Show this as a D.II, but there were more recent D.III and D.V Halberstadts available to Jasta 11. Records only mention a “Halberstadt D”. There is a Richthofen Halberstadt thread on the Aerodorme that has been helping me with this, but I would love some more information. I will be using the Blue Max Halberstadt kit for this.


This Albatros D.III is in the markings of the one he used during Bloody April. I have seen a few different serial numbers for aircraft he flew including 2253/17, 789/17, and others. I need to know which Albatros he most likely flew during Bloody April, because the serial numbers will let me know the position of the upper wing radiator.

This is the end of part one of this post.

[Otis Glenn]

Continuing with this thread:


This is Albatros D.V 1177/17. He was flying this aircraft around the time he took command of Jagdgeschwader Nr.1 after he came back from extended leave following his 52nd victory. It was one of his all-red machines.


This is Albatros D.V 4693/17 and is the aircraft he was flying when he received a head wound during aerial combat. He crash-landed this machine and there are several photos of this plane. Some sources say he was able to fly this aircraft again upon his return to service.

The next aircraft covered are his Fokkers and I am still waiting to decide on some research that I am conducting. This focuses on the possible interpretations of 477/17. I currently have another thread on the aerodrome about this.

Need help on Dr.1 477/17 for MVR Aircraft Project

Basically, the other Triplane I build in 1/48 will be determined by how 477/17 is marked. If it looks like either of these:



Then I will build 152/17 in the following markings:


If I decide on the following scheme for 477/17.


I will probably switch from 152/17 to 102/17:

The centerpiece of this collection will be a 1/32 model of Dr.I 425/17. This kit is actually very far along and is almost ready for painting. The interior is done and I just need to do rigging pre-work and some touch-up filling and sanding before painting. I wanted to get the Roden kit out of the way first because of all the detail available to 1/32 scale and because there are a lot of corrections that need to go into the Roden Triplane.

There is one other plane that I would love to include in this collection that I have virtually no information on. At the beginning of his career, while serving with Kasta 8 over Verdun, Richthofen fitted a machine gun to the top wing of his Albatros C and shot down a Nieuport with this arrangement. Although not officially credited with the kill, this is one of his first combat successes. I would love to depict this airplane although I know that finding the exact aircraft would be next to impossible. I would be glad to settle with a generic Kasta 8 Albatros C fitted with a forward gun and accurately marked for this unit at the time of this event, 26 April 1916. I have seen some references that this was an Albatros C.III. I happen to have one of the old Eduard kits of this plane and would love to add Richthofen’s Albatros C to this collection, if possible.

Thanks for looking at this loooooong thread. If anyone has any suggestions or can offer any information to help, it would be greatly appreciated.

Happy Modeling everyone!

Glenn

[StephenLawson]

Just a bit of a correction for you. 4693/17 was not flown by MvR until Nov. 1917. The serial for the machine he was shot down in on 6 July 1917 is unknown. It also had a dark (presumably red) pennant on the spine aft of the fuselage where the early form headrest was removed. Good luck.

[Laserlloyd]

Glenn:

Here is a close up of the rear section from the 477/17 photo.


As you can still see the 20mm blue on the bottom and it still looks to be the original camo.

Lloyd...

[Otis Glenn]

Hey Lloyd:

Thanks for posting the photo. I'm running back and forth between this thread and the other one so I might be repeating myself here, but I am just about ready to rule out the LeChelle photo in the enlargement above as 477/17. I don't have a really good copy ot this photo but the enlargement definately shows the blue return on the bottom. Also if the top of the stabilizer was overpainted, it should show up on the edges as well, and, as you mentioned before, it does not. All you can see is the standard blue return on the stabalizer edges.

Thanks for the photo. I do think I'm getting close to making a decision.

Glenn

[Otis Glenn]

Originally Posted by StephenLawson

Just a bit of a correction for you. 4693/17 was not flown by MvR until Nov. 1917. The serial for the machine he was shot down in on 6 July 1917 is unknown. It also had a dark (presumably red) pennant on the spine aft of the fuselage where the early form headrest was removed. Good luck.

Thanks for that info. I have seen the dark red pennant on a profile of this plane before, but the way it looked, I thought it was a computer graphic error on the profle.

Glenn

[CWatson]

Originally Posted by Otis Glenn

Thanks for that info. I have seen the dark red pennant on a profile of this plane before, but the way it looked, I thought it was a computer graphic error on the profle.

Glenn

I always thought it was bonding residue from pulling off the headrest.

CW

[Otis Glenn]

Originally Posted by CWatson

I always thought it was bonding residue from pulling off the headrest.

CW

That makes more sense that a red pennant. The person who did the online profile may have been guessing at the color. Would it have been red or just a possibly diffrent color of wood stained by the bonding agent?

Glenn

PS: I better get off the computer for a little while and fix dinner or my wife is going to hit me!

Thanks for the info guys! Be back later.

[CWatson]

Originally Posted by Otis Glenn

That makes more sense that a red pennant. The person who did the online profile may have been guessing at the color. Would it have been red or just a possibly diffrent color of wood stained by the bonding agent?Glenn

I will simply use a must darker wood color when I get to this one, most likely
the darker color I use on the propellers and applied with the same watercolor pencil.

Originally Posted by Otis Glenn

B.T.W.: What aircraft are you including in your collection? I'd love to know.Glenn

Anything with red plus the Roland with black dots on it.

Completed so far all in 1/48:

a. Dr.I 152/17.

b. Red Triplane with early crosses. Some say it is 425/17 or 477/17 since you can't see any #s in the pic I call it MvR's Triplane.

c. Red Triplane with white crossfields,my first build before I had better info.

d. F.I 102/17 factory finish.

e. Albatros DIII red fuselage serial # unknown.

Hope to complete in this lifetime:

a. All red triplane with late style crosses often called 425/17 or 477/17
with no serial# on model.

b. Triplane marked Dr.I 425/17 with factory crossfields and blue undersides
because the wreck of this plane had blue undersides under the red .
It has been debated it had been painted at the factory red, if so red with blue undersides and white crossfields and all stenciling is how I think it would have originaly looked.

c. The same crashed DV with removed headrest mentioned here.

d. His Roland with black dots.

e. Dr.I 114/17.

f. All red Dr.I with the fat strait crosses #s not visible as seen parked next to Wenzl's triplane.

CW

[StephenLawson]

Originally Posted by CWatson

I always thought it was bonding residue from pulling off the headrest. CW

Head-rests were made from formed plywood. Only the flanged perimeter touched the outer skin of the fuselage.