Online Build - Roden 1/32 Albatros D.III

Brad Cancian · 28 April 2007, 05:12 AM

Hi all,

Last October, a good friend of mine and fellow forumite, Paul Charal (otherwise known as "PC777" here on the 'drome), who is a mad keen fan of

Werner Voss, asked me to build some of Voss's aircraft for him, namely the Roden 1/32 Fokker F.1 and Albatros D.III. I quickly agreed, and Paul quickly got hold of the kits, etched goodies and decals to allow me to do the job. Also a while back, I was asked if I could do a bit of an "online build" of one of my models, so I figured that this would be a good model to do it on (plus Paul can see that I am actually building his kits for him!

). Hopefully you all approve of me doing it here.

As a number of you will know, I mainly build in 1/48 scale. My last project was in 1/72 scale and was quite an eye strain, so moving stright from 1/72 to 1/32 was a bit of a jump. Alot has been written already on the Roden Albatros, so I will not repeat it here, rather I will show what I did and let you decide on the merits of the kit for yourself!

The first step was the engine - Roden has made a nice representation of the 160HP Mercedes D.III, but improvements can be made. Firstly, the distributor boxes (parts 8Z) have major sinkholes that need filling. I did so with putty. The prop shaft (part 9Z) is not included in the instructions - it should be sandwiched between the engine halves in step 6. I drilled holes in the distributor caps on part 8Z to accept the ignition wires. Roden represents the spark plugs as little blobs on the side of each cylinder - I cut these off and drilled holes in their place to take lengths of fuse wire to represent the ignition wires. Over these wires, I threaded some finely heat streched Q-tips cut to size and glued them at the cylinder end to represent the end of the spark plugs - these to me look much better. I also replaced kit parts 6Z, 3Z and 7Z with plastic rod or fine solder as the kit parts were not round and had seam lines that would require clean up (hey I'm lazy). The kit engine's rocker arm springs are also a bit too blobby - I replaced these with wound fuse wire, added caps from sliced plastic rod, and arms from wire. Again, in my opinion these look much more convincing. Other additions included scratchbuilding the can type thing on the front of the engine (why do manufacturers ALWAYS omit this from their kits??), and adding some other bits of wiring.

Here are some pics of it all dry fitted together:

Brad Cancian · 28 April 2007, 05:14 AM

There were other details I could have added, but these would be practically hidden from view (no doubt the Mercedes Experten will spot any major errors for me!) Next, onto painting.

Thanks for looking!

BC

StevePratt · 28 April 2007, 09:11 AM

Brad, what adhesive do you use to hold pieces together during dry fitting?

Thanks,

PC777 · 28 April 2007, 08:23 PM

Brad I can only say a big thank you for posting the build.

I am sure it will be a very exciting journey for all of us as we watch your progress. It will also be interesting to hear your opinions on the new Roden 1/32nd scale kits.

The wonders of the internet never cease to amaze me

I will of course be especially interested.

Thank you once again and I already look forward to your next instalment!!

Regards

Paul

Patrick · 28 April 2007, 10:13 PM

Brad, thank you for taking the time to share the build with us. I followed your 1/72 Alb build -- great stuff!!!

I've got a 1/2-built 3D computer model of the Mercedes engine I've been working on (yeah, 1/2-built forever; I really need to get back to that

). That "can type thing" at the front of the engine is actually an air pump that runs off the end of the cam shaft. It's used to pressurize the fuel tank -- nice detail to catch because it's completely visible & yours looks good! In looking at the Roden Mercedes, the part that looks like it needs the most detailing are the rocker arm boxes since they're the most exposed part of the engine. Here's a very good picture of the 160 hp Mercedes top showing the details:

http://www.idflieg.com/walkaround/bu...es_diii-10.jpg

I think what stands out most are the hollow pins that the rocker arms pivot on, that protrude through the box ends, and two nuts that hold the cover on (not four at the corners -- that was the later models after this part was redesigned).

OK, enough of my nit-picking. I'll just sit here quietly & enjoy the show

Brad Cancian · 29 April 2007, 02:52 AM

I've now slapped some paint on the engine:

Brad Cancian · 29 April 2007, 02:55 AM

To answer the queries -

Steve - I usually use blue-tac to hold things together for photos - it's the same stuff you use to hold posters on walls (i'm not sure if it is called the same thing everywhere)?

Patrick - thanks for the info on the rocker arm boxes - silly me had put paint on the darn thing before I saw your post, dang! (Sorry Paul, I hope you don't mind too much!), I can probably make some minor fixes to the bolts on the top of the box and re-touch up with paint...

Anyways, next is the cockpit.

BC

StephenLawson · 29 April 2007, 03:47 AM

Looking good Brad. Please tell me that the cowlings will be off. Then there is the Model Cellar 1/32 figure of Voss. Have a couple of paint brushes sticking out of his pants pockets. Go Brad go!

Patrick · 29 April 2007, 04:14 PM

That is some fantastic detail on the ignition wires & routing tube!

lars qvarfordt · 2 May 2007, 08:57 AM

Hopefully you get yours together before I can restart mine. I love thart engine

Lars