Choroszy Modelbud 1/72nd Gotha Ursinus G.I
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A Brief History
On 28 April 1914, the German central army approved a recommendation
for three categories or aircraft to be used by the military. Type III
was to be a three-seater for long flights, designed to lift a heavy load
and to fly low within range of enemy fire. Wingspan not specified but
to comply with army ground transport requirements, speed over 120km/h,
climb 800 metres in 10 minutes, a duration of 6 hours, useful load of
450 kg and an engine up to 200 hp. Assembly in 1.5 hours by five men.
  This
directive lead to the Friedel-Ursinus B.1092/14 that made its maiden flight
on 30 Jan 1915. The license to build the plane was transferred to Gotha
in Feb 1915, with a contract for six planes awarded on 1 April 1915. The
first plane was delivered on 27 July 1915. The second series designated
G.1 40-45/15 was powered by the 150hp Benz Bz.III engine, was ordered
on 15 July 1915. The third and last series of the G.1, powered by the
160hp Mercedes D.III engine were ordered on 17 Oct 1915.
The Gotha G.1 arrived at the front in June 1915. Field reports said
the plane was easy to fly but hard to land. One airman said the Ursinus
crates were totally useless. The G.1 did pave the way for the successful
line of twin-engined bombers that would be used in the latter part of
the war. Standing alone, the G.1 cannot be considered a roaring success
but Gotha gained much valuable technical experience building them.
The Kits
  First,
let me say I pondered buying this kit for quite some time. Finally, with
a little extra hobby money and encouragement from Tech Support, I called
Aeroclub Models in England and said “Send me one.” Five days
later, I was the proud owner of Choroszy Modelbud kit # C 15, the Gotha
Ursinus G.1. Let me make another point very clear. I have never, ever,
paid this much money for a kit. Did I say never? Yes, I think I did. The
cost matched the scale of the kit, but that did include airmail shipping
from England.
So what did I get for a King’s ransom?
For one, a very small box, 9” x 6” x 1” with five
plastic bags of parts, two pages of instructions and decals. The bags
separate the parts into main components; ie, wings, fuselage, wheels,
engines and one bag with a million fiddly bits. Well, maybe not a million,
but fiddly bits anyway.
What impressed me immediately is the quality of the resin. Holding the
parts up to the light revealed no voids in the material. This avoids the
grief down the road of spending time to clean a part only to hit a void
and lose the part.
  I
used Datafile # 83 and the model matches the 1/72nd plan. The trailing
edge scalloping is overdone but I don’t consider this to be a big
deal. I removed the resin attachment from the fuselage and sanded it with
my vacuform sheet of 400 wet/dry sandpaper. The fuselage halves matched
exactly. There is a thin spot behind the pilot’s cockpit that I
strengthened with a drop of super glue. I sanded the resin using a lot
of water to avoid any dust. I understand resin dust is not the best thing
for us air breathers to suck into our lungs. It will be interesting to
see how the very small parts release from their attachment points. I dry
fit some of the other parts and at this point, things look good. I have
concerns about the survival of some of the very small parts but who knows
what awaits me as I build this beauty.
  Final
construction is adding all the final external bits before putting on the
upper wing and finishing off with the rigging.
Conclusion
There is not a lot more to say at this time. In the box, it looks beautiful.
When I start applying glue and paint it may take on another look.
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