Another Eduard 1/48 Offag D.III

[coyotemagic]

I recently bought all three Pheon Oeffag sheets, so I'm committed to building at least six of these puppies. The Eduard kit is so beautifully engineered, it should be pure bliss. The first on the list will be 153.06, used by Godwin Brumowski to achieve his 15th and 20th victories. It's #3 on the Pheon profile sheet. I wanted to try the decals for the Brumoski distribution. I'm looking forward to seeing how they work.
:cheers:,
Bud

[coyotemagic]

Pretty much finished with the cockpit. Still have to paint and mount the guns, then I'll be able to close her up. The wood grain in the cockpit is a bit too dark for my liking. I used Sandgelb RLM79 for the base which was fine for the Ansaldo, but too dark for an Albatros. I'll go with more of a buff color outside and make up some lame story as to why the interior is so dark, like it's from smoke and oil blowing back into the cockpit or some such hogwash.
:cheers:,
Bud

[curtisswright]

Hey Bud, who is the US distributor for those decals? What a great selection. Cockpit looks good to me. In fact, that is pretty much the pigment I get using the Tamiya Desert Yellow base and the artists oils brush over. This might sound crazy, but I'm going to experiment with Tamiya's flat flesh for a base. I've also been able to lighten up the wood tone pigment using testors flat tan and just the lightest spray of clear orange. I then tone it down and brush on artists charcol that I crush to a fine powder. You can make it as dirty or clean as you like, but be careful it will bring out even the lightest fingerprints.

I cant wait to lay into that kit. It is a real winner.

[coyotemagic]

Curtiss, there are no US distributors for Pheon decals. You order directly from Rowan and his lovely bride, Sabine, and they are a pleasure to deal with. Here are a few links:

http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/pheon-models/50827-list-products-prices-availability.html

Pheon Models - The Aerodrome Forum (http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/pheon-models/)

http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/pheon-models/47797-pheon-models-news-11.html

These are really the best decals I've ever used. I've used the Jasta 40 sheet on my Fokker D.VII and the Sopwith Dolphin sheet and in my opinion, they're perfect. You get so many extras with each set. Beautiful artwork, a small booklet with some of the most comprehensive research I'ver ever encountered and an assembly jig with a few sets (Macchi M5, Halberstadt Cl.IV and Dolphin). Well worth every penny.
:cheers:,
Bud

[curtisswright]

Thank you Bud. I'm going to follow through on this. Keep us posted on that albie

[Galloway]

Looking good Bud...............your making me want to build one too!
But I have to finish the WNW D.Va I am working on and then some little 72nd scale Hawk IIs for a friend!

I can't wait for the next progress shots!

Keep up the great work!

Ken H.

[albatros1234]

glad to someone else building this one,i built one but i still got 5 more kits on the shelf. i wanna get one of the pheon sheets but i'm confused. i like one or 2 on each sheet. ima tell rowan to cut a few up for me and send the schemes i want. he should do it he has great customer service.

[terri werner]

Your efforts have paid off so far Bud , she is looking really sweet !

[mgunns]

Hi Bud:

Really looking good. I have a small stash of 1/48 stuff, I may have to get this and build it. Really looks good. Looking foward to more.

Best

Mark

[coyotemagic]

glad to someone else building this one,i built one but i still got 5 more kits on the shelf. i wanna get one of the pheon sheets but i'm confused. i like one or 2 on each sheet. ima tell rowan to cut a few up for me and send the schemes i want. he should do it he has great customer service.

You sound like me, Scott! That's why I bought all three sheets. Besides, they were discounted when purchased together. Now I'm scouring the net looking for deals on the 153 series, which is the better of the two kits. Which ones are you planning on building?
:cheers:,
Bud

[coyotemagic]

Your efforts have paid off so far Bud , she is looking really sweet !

Thanks, Terri. Very little effort required on this kit.
:cheers:,
Bud

[coyotemagic]

Hi Bud:

Really looking good. I have a small stash of 1/48 stuff, I may have to get this and build it. Really looks good. Looking foward to more.

Best

Mark

Thanks, Mark. This is easily Eduard's best kit to date. On a par with WNW, imho, and like WNW, the tolerances are really close so excess paint should be scraped off mating surfaces.
:cheers:,
Bud

[albatros1234]

i already finished my 253.24(the one with the red/yellow six pointed star on natural wood).i just ordered the vol 3 sheet from rowan, i am gonna build the following:

1.153.140 with the red arrow.
2.one of brumoskis red jobbies(3 to choose from)
3. a polish one with sworl printed fabric
WINGS PALETTE - Oeffag D.III/Ba.153/Ba.253 - Poland (http://wp.scn.ru/en/ww1/f/175/29/0/7)
(it has sworl on all flying surfaces, i'll be using the ones i bought from doug bauman,as well as the polish fuselage insignia left over from my karaya balilla if the polish checkerboard insignia from that kit dont work i have some from a pzl i might could use)
4.153.45 which is on vol 3 on the page 5 by itself
5. ima do a oef dii by kitbashing an eduard dii with and oef kit, not sure if i'll sacrifice an eduard kit for this or if i'll use my blue max for the bash. i think its 53.13 its the only oef dii (of only 16 total)to have a green sponge paint on the wings and fuselage top.as opposed to the standard natural surfaces.
6.one of the 53's on page one of the pheon set.not sure which one but leaning toward the top one.

i'll finish them all by next week. haha. it will be an ongoing thing obviously.should have them done by next year.

[elarson]

Hi Bud,

It's great to see another of these being built! You're cockpit looks very good. Don't worry about the dark shade - hey, I buy your story about the smoke and oil! :)

I hope you don't mind but I wanted to tip you off on something I noticed in one of your photos. On the inside of the upper fuselage part, there are two casting nubs right at the line where the aluminum cowling section meets the wood part. If you haven't discovered this by now, just know that you will need to sand those down otherwise they interfere with the fit since they hit the upper edge of the firewall. Fortunately, this area is not visible when everything is together so you don't have to worry about touching up the paint.

I look forward to following your progress. Please let me know if you have any questions along the way. Mine should be done in the next day or two!

Cheers,
Eric

[albatros1234]

if you want to do a polish one there more that have the round polish fuselage insignia, not all are woodgrain.this one is nice too.

WINGS PALETTE - Oeffag D.III/Ba.153/Ba.253 - Poland (http://wp.scn.ru/en/ww1/f/175/29/0/1_b1)

http://wp.scn.ru/en/ww1/f/175/29/0/1_b1_a1

and cool ones here too:

http://worldatwar.net/chandelle/v2/v2n2/whitpole.html

[gustav_novak]

Ad Alb...

Maybe you will find it interesting...

GN

Albatrosy D.III (Oeffag) v barv - prvn strana (http://www.feudal.cz/html/albatrosy_d_iii__oeffag__v_bar.htm)

Albatrosy D.III (Oeffag) v barv - druh strana (http://www.feudal.cz/html/albatrosy_d_iii__oeffag__v_bar1.htm)

Albatrosy D.III (Oeffag) v barv - povlen (http://www.feudal.cz/html/albatrosy_d_iii__oeffag__v_bar2.htm)
(including some Polish ones...)

Albatros D.III (Oeffag) 253.116 - historie (http://www.feudal.cz/html/albatros_d_iii__oeffag__253_111.htm)

Albatros D.III (Oeffag) 253.116 - fotografie (http://www.feudal.cz/html/albatros_d_iii__oeffag__253_112.htm)

[albatros1234]

thanks gustav that is very nice.

[coyotemagic]

i already finished my 253.24(the one with the red/yellow six pointed star on natural wood).i just ordered the vol 3 sheet from rowan, i am gonna build the following:

1.153.140 with the red arrow.
2.one of brumoskis red jobbies(3 to choose from)
3. a polish one with sworl printed fabric
WINGS PALETTE - Oeffag D.III/Ba.153/Ba.253 - Poland (http://wp.scn.ru/en/ww1/f/175/29/0/7)
(it has sworl on all flying surfaces, i'll be using the ones i bought from doug bauman,as well as the polish fuselage insignia left over from my karaya balilla if the polish checkerboard insignia from that kit dont work i have some from a pzl i might could use)
4.153.45 which is on vol 3 on the page 5 by itself
5. ima do a oef dii by kitbashing an eduard dii with and oef kit, not sure if i'll sacrifice an eduard kit for this or if i'll use my blue max for the bash. i think its 53.13 its the only oef dii (of only 16 total)to have a green sponge paint on the wings and fuselage top.as opposed to the standard natural surfaces.
6.one of the 53's on page one of the pheon set.not sure which one but leaning toward the top one.

i'll finish them all by next week. haha. it will be an ongoing thing obviously.should have them done by next year.

Really ambitious list, Scott. Get a camera, dammit! Thanks, by the way, for the really cool pics. You too, Gustav! Now I want to do a Polish kite with the sworls. I've got the sworls Doug sent, so maybe...
:cheers:,
Bud

[coyotemagic]

Hi Bud,

It's great to see another of these being built! You're cockpit looks very good. Don't worry about the dark shade - hey, I buy your story about the smoke and oil! :)

I hope you don't mind but I wanted to tip you off on something I noticed in one of your photos. On the inside of the upper fuselage part, there are two casting nubs right at the line where the aluminum cowling section meets the wood part. If you haven't discovered this by now, just know that you will need to sand those down otherwise they interfere with the fit since they hit the upper edge of the firewall. Fortunately, this area is not visible when everything is together so you don't have to worry about touching up the paint.

I look forward to following your progress. Please let me know if you have any questions along the way. Mine should be done in the next day or two!

Cheers,
Eric

Thanks for going along with my story, Eric, and thanks for the tip on those casting nubs. I've been test fitting every step of the way and somehow that nub fits nicely between the bulkhead and the turtle deck. None of the other nubs can be seen when all closed up. I was a little concerned about that.

I'm really looking forward to seeing yours done.
:cheers:,
Bud

[albatros1234]

i couldnt find any good pics of oefs with sworl fabric except the polish stuff.the one on my avatar is completely covered even on the plywood,but thats a bit much i like when its just on fabric surfaces. the polish ones are very cool . like i said the extra decals in the karaya balilla work out great. need be i can paint the white/red checker board. i do need to get a camera, theres just alot of other things more important, least of all more kits and decals. besides its not like i'm as good as bertl or wojtek, people could say that my stuff is built and painted well, but i wont do a build thread. i would probably just post finished photos for people to check out. i'm hoping my wnw lvg and sh morane type n do good in the ipms contest in a couple weeks. i will also enter my eduard oef of 253.24 and a sh phoinix d1.as well as my ft-17 if i can finish it in time. maybe i shouldnt mention it but i also am gonna enter a hurricane mk1 thats just needing decals. although i wish there were more competition. seems like theres only a handful of guys locally building biplanes.

[gustav_novak]

Some A/H camos... Just recent stuff from REVI...

http://www.revi.cz/images/covers/82/28-29.jpg

http://www.revi.cz/images/covers/81/33.jpg

GN

[albatros1234]

i am thoroughly disgusted, i brought my 253.24 to the hobby store to show one of the salesman who loves ww1 aero.on the way home some jerk cut me off and i had to hit the brakes. the box which held the plane flew off the seat and hit the floorboard. the lower wing snapped off ,one of the"v" struts broke and half is gone, and of course my rigging,my beautiful rigging looks like the hair you clean from your bathtub drain. i had spent all afternoon last week rigging that puppy using eduard turnbuckles and stretched q-tip tube with black mono thread from the fabric store.it is so depressing when you build something so nice and have it destroyed in a split second. i might cry.

[JohnReid]

Look at it as a "happy accident" as Brad did ! maybe this is an opportunity for even greater creativity in disguise.;)

[coyotemagic]

i am thoroughly disgusted, i brought my 253.24 to the hobby store to show one of the salesman who loves ww1 aero.on the way home some jerk cut me off and i had to hit the brakes. the box which held the plane flew off the seat and hit the floorboard. the lower wing snapped off ,one of the"v" struts broke and half is gone, and of course my rigging,my beautiful rigging looks like the hair you clean from your bathtub drain. i had spent all afternoon last week rigging that puppy using eduard turnbuckles and stretched q-tip tube with black mono thread from the fabric store.it is so depressing when you build something so nice and have it destroyed in a split second. i might cry.

I'm really sorry to hear about that, Scott. :( The rigging will be the hardest part to repair. Just be glad it's not a FE2b or a DH2. John has a good point, but I know you wanted to enter her in the contest in 2 weeks. If you really focus on it, you can do it. Just rob a V-strut from another kit, very carefully remove the top wing and re-rig her. As long as the fuselage is intact and non of the inards came loose, you should be okay. Keep us posted and good luck.
:cheers:,
Bud

[Galloway]

i am thoroughly disgusted, i brought my 253.24 to the hobby store to show one of the salesman who loves ww1 aero.on the way home some jerk cut me off and i had to hit the brakes. the box which held the plane flew off the seat and hit the floorboard. the lower wing snapped off ,one of the"v" struts broke and half is gone, and of course my rigging,my beautiful rigging looks like the hair you clean from your bathtub drain. i had spent all afternoon last week rigging that puppy using eduard turnbuckles and stretched q-tip tube with black mono thread from the fabric store.it is so depressing when you build something so nice and have it destroyed in a split second. i might cry.

But your safe and not sending car to the auto-body shop......and you did not end up in the people body shop (Some call this the emergancy room) ;) Let it sit a few days and rebuild it again! I know how you feel though I just had to strip a perefectly good WNW D.Va upper wing of paint and decal and re-shoot..... Of course the accident that caused me to do this was my own fault......which may or may not make one feel better????? :blink:

Ken H.

[albatros1234]

yeah, but i dont have time to start repairing stuff that should be done, i still have to finish my lvg, morane type n,ft-17 and hurricane. so it wont make it to the contest. on the brite side i was just at rite aid and was buying batteries, i saw a dig camera for $29.99 and bought it. i dont know how great the quality will be but it should get me posting photos. i will try to take a photo of the crashed diii and post it here. i know how to post pics already from playing the breguet crash file challenge.

[albatros1234]

wow my new camera must really really suck or else i have alot to learn about taking photos

http://i917.photobucket.com/albums/ad15/albatros1234/alboef006.jpg

this is the busted albatros, it has nice woodgrain, you cant tell but i did a decent job on the metal cowl, i did a coat of mm alum buffing metalizer then did the machine marks/swirlies with humbrol polished alum. oh well i guess this camera was a complete waste of money.i guess 4.1 megapixels means its incapable of taking photos that arent blurry.

[terri werner]

Glad to hear that you are alright there Scott !


It will take time to learn about the new camera and lighting .

[MikkoH]

Looks great Bud! Makes me inspired to start mine!:D

[JohnReid]

Nice recovery !:)

[elarson]

[QUOTE=albatros1234;566030...i guess 4.1 megapixels means its incapable of taking photos that arent blurry.[/QUOTE]

Hi Scott,

I am very sorry to hear about your Albatros disaster. I had that happen to me with a 1/32 Hellcat the day after I completed it. Since then, I've learned to transport my models on the floor!

It's not the megapixels. It's knowing the minimum focus distance of your camera's lens as well as being able to adjust the aperture setting to increase depth-of-field. This, as are all of the photos in my Albatros thread, was taken with my old 4.0 megapixel Olympus C-4000 which has excellent macro or close-up capability.

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg61/elarson1123/Eduard%20OEFFAG%20Albatros/P3130045.jpg

Cheers,
Eric

[albatros1234]

oh so what your saying is it has to be a certain distance from the camera. how do you find that out. one this i noticed, in my photo the background is clearer than the plane. i tryed about 10 diff photos and this one was the best believe it or not. i tryed with and without flash, zoomed up and all the way back, i guess its just a crap camera. i just thought i could buy a dig camera with a decent mega pixel amount and get a decent picture apparently its not easy to do.but if my focus area is 6-8 feet away it is useless for taking pics of a close up subject.what a waste, i bought a $39.99 camera then i got home a later on realised that it didnt work without a memory card so i got one of those for $20, you would think $60 you could take a picture of something close up. guess not.

[coyotemagic]

Thank you, Mikko. How is you D.II coming along? Will we see an update soon?

Scott, try experimenting with lighting and distance. Like Eric said, once you figure out what your camera's capabilities are, you'll be able to take great pictures. Your camera must have a macro setting. Find out how to set that. Also, try natural lighting. By the way, from what I can see, your Oeffag looks sweet! Thank you for posting.

Sorry I haven't posted any new pics, but by the time I get home from work, the lighting sucks for taking photos. I should have more up on Tuesday.

:cheers:,
Bud

[elarson]

oh so what your saying is it has to be a certain distance from the camera. how do you find that out. one this i noticed, in my photo the background is clearer than the plane. i tryed about 10 diff photos and this one was the best believe it or not. i tryed with and without flash, zoomed up and all the way back, i guess its just a crap camera. i just thought i could buy a dig camera with a decent mega pixel amount and get a decent picture apparently its not easy to do.but if my focus area is 6-8 feet away it is useless for taking pics of a close up subject.what a waste, i bought a $39.99 camera then i got home a later on realised that it didnt work without a memory card so i got one of those for $20, you would think $60 you could take a picture of something close up. guess not.

Scott,
May I ask the brand and model of your camera? I would be willing to search for info on it and maybe help you figure out its capabilities. I'm no pro but I have dabbled in photography for many years.

The megapixels merely determines the maximum resolution and the size of the picture file produced. The clarity and focus capability still all come down to the lens.

Cheers,
Eric

[albatros1234]

sure eric that would be just great, i have never owned a camera, let alone a digital, besides a polaroid years ago, for fun pics with the girlfriend.what i have is a Vivitar ViviCam 4090 it has a sd type memory card for what thats worth.

[elarson]

sure eric that would be just great, i have never owned a camera, let alone a digital, besides a polaroid years ago, for fun pics with the girlfriend.what i have is a Vivitar ViviCam 4090 it has a sd type memory card for what thats worth.

Hi Scott,

Sorry to say, but what you have there pretty much amounts to a digital version of your old Polaroid point-and-click camera. It is not a good choice for close-up model photos.

If you wish to pursue that activity, I would recommend first learning some photography basics - maybe by getting a book or finding info on line - and then shop for a camera that will do the job. I don't want to try to give you a crash course on photography here but an understanding of what depth-of-field is and what affects it is a good place to start.

A camera with good macro, or close-up, capability is a neccesity. These days there are an overwhelming number of cameras out there and shopping for the right one can be rather frustrating, even for someone with experience.

As in most things, you get what you pay for and decent cameras that will take good model photos are going to start in the $100-$150 dollar range.

Now, one option would be to look for a used camera. While many people are dazzled by megapixel ratings, I think I've proved that a 4-5 mp camera does a great job. My Olympus C-4000 is a fabulous little camera and while I paid around $300 for it new, if I remember correctly, you can find used ones in good condition in the $50-100 range.

Amazon.com: Olympus Camedia C-4000 4MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom: Camera & Photo (http://www.amazon.com/Olympus-Camedia-Digital-Optical-Zoom/dp/B00006F2MW)


I hope this helps. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to post them here or send me a private message.

Cheers,
Eric

[albatros1234]

thanks so much for your effort eric. i read thru the 2 booklets last night to see if i could find how to change settings and, there is no way to do this. it seems like it was a good idea but bad execution on my part. i just thought i could buy a camera and take half decent photos but thats not the way it works. thanx again for your help.

[coyotemagic]

Hey, Scott. I still think you could get some decent shots using natural lighting. Just no close-ups.
:cheers:,
Bud

[albatros1234]

i'll try that bud, did you see my thread "camera practice"? some look better than the first attempt.

[coyotemagic]

i'll try that bud, did you see my thread "camera practice"? some look better than the first attempt.

I sure did! Some great looking models in spite of the camera. I posted and response there, too.
:cheers:,
Bud

[coyotemagic]

Well, finally a little more progress. That little engine is what took so long. "Why?", you might ask. After all, it's just oob, nothing more. Well, the issue is that I was strongly tempted to add rocker arms and valve springs (no mag and plug wiring since that part of the engine wouldn't be seen anyway). While I was wrapping thin wire around a thicker wire, I suddenly remembered why I started this project in the first place. I've been working on Aeroclub's RE8 and about 75% of that build is scratched. Also, I had just finished the Ansaldo. This Oeffag was meant to be a break from all that. Quick and simple.
Another kit issue I decided to address now rather than later are those stupid little wing root tabs. (Thank you for the heads-up, Eric) Even though I've pinned them, they're still kinda wimpy.
Finally, I've included one last look at the office before she's all closed up.

[terri werner]

She is looking really nice Bud ! Engine looks super to boot . Did you add the nail head detail to the fuselage or is this moulded in already ?

It can be hard to build out of the box sometimes can't it ........:blink:

[albatros1234]

your engine is looking great bud, i think its a damn good motor oob,and your right the plug wires would be pointless, i thought about that too, but not only does the cowl hide em but that motor has 2 plugs per cyl on the one side of the motor and 90% of it would be hidden by the intake pipes. cept maybe where the terminate ate the mags but the cowl hides that.
i love that eduard molded the nail details on the fuse. i use an india ink pen to mark my panel separations on my 253 and when i was wiping off the excess with my finger a bit got in a few of the nail holes, so i marked em all with the pen and wiped it off and got perfect nail hole detail. i wish my camera took better pics. now would be a time when i would post a pic.

[albatros1234]

hey bud, and all. dont you guys think the steering wheel on this kit are way too big. it looks more like a 1/32 hand grip to me. especially compare it to the blue max kit in 1/48 it is tiny(too tiny) but the 1/48 eduard is even bigger than the 1/32 battle axe hand grips.?????????? it looks out of scale to me. but who the hell am i?

[coyotemagic]

hey bud, and all. dont you guys think the steering wheel on this kit are way too big. it looks more like a 1/32 hand grip to me. especially compare it to the blue max kit in 1/48 it is tiny(too tiny) but the 1/48 eduard is even bigger than the 1/32 battle axe hand grips.?????????? it looks out of scale to me. but who the hell am i?

You're the birthday boy, that's who the hell you are! Hope it's a great one, Scott. And on St. Patrick's Day, as well.
Yes, I thought the hand grips seemed large at first, then I just forgot about it. One of the benefits of getting older. This is an excellent kit. Probably Eduard's best, to date. However, there are several glaring flaws that one encounters as one progresses. Aside from the giant control column grips, there's the total absence of any reasonable wing root attach point, no locator holes or pins for the undercarriage legs, vague center section strut attach points and oversized elevator control horns (not as bad as those on the 253 kit, but still kinda big). That said, I love this kit. I just wish Eduard had gone just a bit further with it.
:cheers:,
Bud

[coyotemagic]

She is looking really nice Bud ! Engine looks super to boot . Did you add the nail head detail to the fuselage or is this moulded in already ?

It can be hard to build out of the box sometimes can't it ........:blink:

Thank you, Terri. As Scott said, the nail head detail is molded in. A little overdone for 1/48 scale, imho, but will show nicely covered with a wood grain effect.
Yes, sometimes building oob can be downright torturous!
:cheers:,
Bud

[elarson]

hey bud, and all. dont you guys think the steering wheel on this kit are way too big. it looks more like a 1/32 hand grip to me. especially compare it to the blue max kit in 1/48 it is tiny(too tiny) but the 1/48 eduard is even bigger than the 1/32 battle axe hand grips.?????????? it looks out of scale to me. but who the hell am i?

Having seen several photos of OEFFAG Albatros cockpits, I'd say the kit's grip is the correct size. If it is too big, it's not by much.

Cheers,
Eric

[Galloway]

Looking Great Bud!

Which scheme are you going to dress this one up in?

Markings that came in the kit? or one of Rowan's schemes?


Ken H.

[coyotemagic]

Looking Great Bud!

Which scheme are you going to dress this one up in?

Markings that came in the kit? or one of Rowan's schemes?


Ken H.

Thanks, Ken. I'm using Rowan's decals, 153.06. If you check out my first post on this thread, you'll see the one I'm doing.
:cheers:,
Bud

[Galloway]

Thanks, Ken. I'm using Rowan's decals, 153.06. If you check out my first post on this thread, you'll see the one I'm doing.
:cheers:,
Bud

Hello Bud,

That is what I thought without going back and looking sorry Just in from work :huh: ..... I was just thinking who will be the first to do his red machine with the Brumoski distribution applied.... I have the sets and picking one to build is a bit of a conundrum as everyone of them is a very striking scheme..... I did end up with two sets of the
Brumoski distribution so I may give it a go????

Keep up the wonderful work!

Ken H.