WGF Western Front 1916-17 - 1/144 Skytrex Albatros D.II, Jasta 2

[Carl_Brisgamer]

My WGF Project # 4 for 2013 is a 1/144 Skytrex Albatros D.II representing Werknummer 491/16 flown by Leutnant Manfred von Richthofen of Jasta 2 in late 1916 - early 1917. Ltn. von Richthofen scored several victories in this aircraft, including his 11th confirmed success over the 'British Boelcke' Major Lanoe Hawker on 23 November 1916. Fast, manouverable, sturdy, and armed with two 7.92mm Maxim machine guns the Albatros D.II gave the newly formed Jagdstaffeln an edge over the Entente aircraft of late 1916.



MvR Alb D.II 1.jpg  Views: 58  Size: 167.9 KB  ID: 92087" class="thumbnail" style="float:CONFIG" />
Manfred von Richthofen stands in front of his Albatros D.II with (left to right) Stephan Kirmaier (11 victories), Hans Imelmann (6 victories) and Hans Wortmann (2 victories). All three of von Richthofen's comrades would fall in combat by the end of April 1917.

This was going to be my entry in the MvR competition, but two nights ago after coming home late from work instead of spraying my finished model with TS80 flat clear I gave it a burst of TS17 aluminium! As a result I had to repaint half the aircraft. I also lost the underside wing and fuselage decals supplied by Skytrex so had to manufacture a replacement set, including removing and replacing the upper surface and rudder decals because they looked slightly different. Result - paint job not as smooth as it would have been, and oh yes - deadline missed by 24 hours.





The fuselage is woodgrain look (light brown with dry brushed flat brown), with aluminium around the Mercedes engine, which is black with some metallic brown 'rust' highlights. The spinner is white and there is a white band around the nose (decal). Upper surfaces are three colour camouflage - red brown, light green and dark green - and the undersides are sky blue. The national insignias are home made, with 8mm square crosses for the wings and 4mm square crosses for the fuselage and tail printed on white decal paper.



The Skytrex miniature has some proportion issues that have been explored in a previous thread - the most obvious being the fuselage is a little slim. If I ever want another Albatros D.II I'll go Shapeways FUD - either that or wait for Ares to produce this pivotal German fighter (hint, hint).

The WGS statistics for this unofficial aircraft have been generated by the Stats Committee -

Manouver Deck: J* deck (J deck with one sideslip on either side removed)
Firepower: A deck
Damage Points: 14
Climb Rate: 5
Top Altitude: 11

[Jager]

Nice job; the wood grain stands out nicely.
Karl

[calm]

Great work !

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Superb work Carl.
Well worthy of being a tribute to the Red Baron.
As has been mentioned the woodwork is extraordinary.
Rob.

[Carl_Brisgamer]

Superb work Carl.
Well worthy of being a tribute to the Red Baron.
As has been mentioned the woodwork is extraordinary.
Rob.

Thanks Rob. I would have liked to put her into the contest, still kicking myself for that lapse in concentration!