Roden 1/48th Fokker D.VII Fokker-built, early By Matt Bittner

History

The history of the Fokker D.VII is vast. In fact, it was the only aircraft specifically named in the Versailles Treaty in 1918 as it was considered formidable.

There were approximately only 200 of the "Early" type D.VIIs built. This type was differentiated externally by a different exhaust, consisting of two short pipes jutting out of a hole on the starboard fuselage side. Another distinguishing feature was that the majority of the aircraft were delivered with the usual Fokker-streaked finish on the fuselage surfaces - the flying surfaces were covered with four-color lozenge.

The Kit

The 1/48th Roden Fokker D.VII "Early" is the first in what appears to be a vast line of D.VIIs. It consists of 93 injected molded parts, although there are spares since Roden created sprues common to all of the D.VIIs. Decals not only consist of full lozenge for all flying surfaces (although some may question the colors) but also markings for four aircraft. First is 278/18 which was flown by Hermann Goering of Jasta 27. Next is Bruno Loerzer's black and white striped fuselage-machine of Jasta 26. The third scheme is for Hugo Schaefer's machine (with the white serpent on fuselage sides and turledeck) of Jasta 15. Finally, the fourth and last scheme is for Rudolf Berthold's "white flying sword" of Jasta 15. Decals appear in register and very well done. Some reviews already written give caution about what type of water to use with the decals. It has been suggested that the best water to use is not common tap water. Instead, use something a little more "pure".

Construction starts with the engine this time. It appears to be very well done and should be treated like a model itself. One of the options with this model is to show off the engine with the front, forward side panels off and all the support "tubing" present. If that option is taken, then you definitely want to spend extra time with the engine.

Construction then moves to the separate fuel tank, assembling the fuselage floor and then construction of the horizontal tail surfaces, assembling the wing halves and then building up the wing axle fairing and the radiator. An extra plus is that Roden provides all control surfaces as separate - a very nice touch that all models (especially WW1) should follow.

Now construction moves to building the front, forward framework if you decide to build the kit with the front, forward nose panels off. Take your time here and make sure everything is square and lines up. This will no doubt help in the long run. If you decide not to leave the forward panels off, then you may want to leave all the framework out of the nose and just add the engine without the framework. There may be fit problems later on. Or maybe even assemble this area after you finish the rest of the fuselage.

The rest of the cockpit is now constructed and the fuselage glued together. Once this is finished then the lower wing and horizontal tail can be added. At this point I would recommend painting and finishing before adding the rest of the struts and the upper wing. As naturally comes with most WW1 aircraft, final finishing consist of rigging the model, unfortunately no rigging diagram is included.

Conclusion

While 1/48th is not my scale, this is a very well done kit, and those that dabble in this scale should purchase this kit right away. In the very near future watch for a full-build review - but not by me!!

My thanks to Roden and Squadron Shop for the reivew samples.