Eduard 1/72 Albatros D.V Dual Combo By Dennis Ugulano

Introduction

When the kits arrived, I was in the box and building so fast that I did not think that the kits had not yet been reviewed. So, instead of a first look, this is a passing glance review.

The Build

There is two of everything. Two very crisp plastic trees covered with very nice plastic parts and no flash to clean up. There is one color photo etched detail parts of seat belts and instrument faces for two planes. There is one photo etched detail parts set with two of everything that was on an Albatros fighter (and I mean everything). And there is a painting mask sheet for two planes. There is a decal sheet for four planes and each plane is shown in a four color rendering in the very detailed instruction sheet. The instruction sheet is 12 pages of gloss paper with 6 of the sheets showing exploded views of all steps of construction.

Unless otherwise mentioned, all paints used are Gunze Sanyo acrylics, glue is Testor’s and Weld-On 3 and the decals are out of the box. The kit was not modified in any way and was not checked for accuracy with any references. Windsock Datafile Number 3 was my main reference material source.

Interior Construction

The fuselage sides were sprayed a very light yellow to depict plywood and the framework was dry brushed a wood color to bring out some detail. Wood brown was used to paint most of the interior parts; the engine is burnt iron dry-brushed with silver with drops of other colors for all of the little pieces inside.

The pre-colored seat belts are a very nice touch and they fit on the seat with no fuss. Steps A through D are the seat assembly; engine, instrument panel and engine deck with ammo box. They fit flawlessly into the fuselage half. Make sure PE parts 14, 20, 25 and 26 are attached to the fuselage wall prior to the installation of the seat assembly as they are behind this assembly. With that the fuselage is closed up and the fit is perfect. Only the smallest amount of putty was used and the panel lines were rescribed.

Wings

At this time, the lower wing was dry fit because it will be painted prior to assembly. Both upper and lower wings are painted per the instruction sheet and decals were applied, top and bottom. A coat of Future was applied to protect the wings during assembly. The PE radiator is a three-piece affair. Top and bottom, of course, but with a very nice but delicate radiator adjustment system. Handle with care because it is held on with the smallest amount of super glue. The wings are now complete and put aside until the fuselage is completed.

Fuselage

On Richard Flaschar’s plane, the entire fuselage was painted light Grey and then the tailpieces were added. Using Parafilm as a mask, the tail surfaces were painted bright green. The decals were added at this time. The red trim around the tail surfaces and where the Grey and green meet, are decals. The decal film is very wide so the strips will not fold up making them useless. They went on with no problems and red paint was used to conceal the edges. The dragon’s tail presents a little challenge but with a lot of water and careful moving, it goes on as designed.

Olivier Freiherr von Beaulieu-Marconnay’s plane required a little more work. The tail surfaces were attached first and the entire underside is painted light blue. Then again using Parafilm, the red and blue colors were painted. The decals were applied and both fuselages age now ready for assembly.

At this time both lower wings are attached. Since I pre-fitted the wings, no putty was required.

Final Assembly

The next step for me is to attach the undercarriage and there was no problem here. After making sure of the alignment, I rigged this section and attached the wheels.

Install the machine guns at this time or you will be working between the wings in a very small space.

The upper wing attachment was as designed. The cabanes needed only the smallest amount of persuasion. After the cabanes are attached, I then attached the exhaust. It does get in the way of the cabanes if it’s attached first. Now the only flaw in the kit. There is no piping in the kit, plastic or PE, from the radiator to the engine. It’s not even shown on the instruction sheet. This still has me shaking my head. But some round stock and some heat and this problem was solved.

The model was rigged using DURAS, all of the final fiddly bits were added and the model was finished. I estimate 10 hours per model building time.

Conclusion

I am very pleased with the results of the builds. They went together well and there were no problems in construction or fit. The instructions are clear but another reference is necessary for the rigging, as the instructions are a little vague here.

If you are fan of PE, this kit is for you. In my opinion, there are far too many PE parts. Everything that is on the Albatros (with the exception of the radiator piping) is on the PE frets. I think they went overboard but I’m sure there are modellers that will bask in all of the PE. For those of you out there, this kit is for you. I cheer you on but I’m not going with you. I used maybe half of the PE before my brain fried.

The decals are excellent and go on with no problems or setting solution. Eduard gives you two options for Boning’s plane as I guess there is some question as to the color of the B on the fuselage.

I highly recommend this kit and want to thank Matt (and Eduard) for the opportunity to build them.