Review of Reduced Aircraft Factory Color Gabriel Fokker D.VII

[camelbeagle]

We have all seen Reduced Aircraft Factory post some of the color 3D printed planes that he has been working on. I chewed the cud a bit and decided to pull the trigger. I figured that if I didn't have to mess with the wing Lozenge it would be a good thing. Some individuals have done amazing decal works on their Fokker D.VII. I just do not have the patience for that. All I have to say is WOWZER! For a 3D printed plane it is amazing. The color looks really good. The wings are amazing! I really really like how the wings turned out. My perfectionism wants me to make notes about two things. First, the color in the prop isn't consistent. Thought about painting it, but heck with it. It is a game piece, not a museum piece. Second, it has the typical shapeways texture that we all know. I expected this, but my car modeler days has perfect shiny finishes burned into my brain. Again, I tell myself it is a game piece, not a museum piece. Like I said, that is my insane perfectionism bringing these up. Most people would probably not be bothered by those items. I put this thing under my magnifying glass I use for painting and those two minor details are the only things I have a twitch about. Heck, it even has the peg on the bottom so you don't have to mess with magnets and such if you don't want to. It does have a slight gloss/satin look to it. You can see it twinkle with my flash in a couple of the picture I have attached. I would say if you don't want to paint your own, and don't mind the premium, buy one. Hopefully the prices will come down in time. We will have to see.

My final thoughts. I love this plane! Amazing work. Reduced Aircraft Factory has a home run here. I hope he does other models like Albatros D.Va Jasta 5, Siemens Schuckert, more Fokker D.VII schemes, and other great paint schemes. Big thanks and kudos to Reduced Aircraft Factory!!!

Here are some pictures of the one I received.

[malachi]

Very nice, Dan, thanks for the pics. I look forward to getting mine in a few days

[RJG173]

Is it my eyes or is the upper wing a bit droopy?

[Flying Helmut]

Thanks for posting the review, Dan.

[Teaticket]

Wow, thats better than I imagined they would turn out. This is a threat to us painters everywhere!

[Jager]

Wow, thats better than I imagined they would turn out. This is a threat to us painters everywhere!

Probably not, unless your making a living at it.

I'm still thinking about this, esp. with the cost. However, if I sell some of what I have for repainting.........

Karl

[Flying Helmut]

Right now, it's beyond what I'm willing to pay.

It's also a paint scheme which I'm capable of doing for myself - it's only the plethora of other painting/modelling jobs which are in the way which prevent this.

If the price comes down sufficiently before I get around to doing my own, I may well bite.
If schemes get produced which I'm NOT confident of doing for myself, then that's a different matter.

[Jager]

If schemes get produced which I'm NOT confident of doing for myself, then that's a different matter.

Boy; I'm not sure I want to see a paint scheme that you can't do, Tim.
It might make us dazzle-happy
Karl

[malachi]

My Gabriel and Degalow D.VIIs arrived - in a Hero Forge box, return address was Shapeways, Queens, NY. Great designs by Daryl. It's pretty cool to see the accuracy of certain tiny details.











Admittedly, it's a small sample size but perhaps droopy wings are a Hero Forge specialty:




I heated some water on the stove to near boiling and placed a bowl of ice water next to it. I dipped them using tweezers for about 15 seconds in the hot water then immediately iced them. I had to repeat a couple of times but they straightened out just fine.

[greenalfonzo]

Kinda exciting! Am I missing the obvious link to his store or full lineup or something?

Also, did you have to straighten the wings manually, or did they straighten themselves when dipped in the ice water?

Thanks!

[malachi]

At the moment it's an Etsy store because Shapeways can't get their act together: Reduced Aircraft

The wings naturally resume their original shape, no bending necessary.

[Stumptonian]

I like the look of the Degelow - I might have to treat myself to one at some point.

[camelbeagle]

I will have to try that technique Chris. Mine isn't that bad, but if you look closely you can see the droop.

[Brak Morn]

Kinda exciting! Am I missing the obvious link to his store or full lineup or something?

Also, did you have to straighten the wings manually, or did they straighten themselves when dipped in the ice water?

Thanks!

Same question I have. Chris?
OK, just saw you're reply. Thanks Chris!

[ReducedAirFact]

I had the same problem with some bend to the wings, and I was curious whether that would show up for others. It's certainly not built into the D.VII model! What I did was to heat up the model for a few moments under a blow dryer and gently bend the wings straight. I suspect it doesn't take a lot of heat to make it a pliable enough for the corrections. The straight wings seem to be holding.

Thanks for the review and complements! I'll be doing more paint schemes soon. Yeah, I wish they were cheaper but Shapeways starts at $30-40 for the raw plastic print and then both Shapeways and Etsy start piling on a bunch of fees on top of that. (For instance, Etsy adds on 5% to the shipping even though they are never involved in the shipping.)

Since I don't want to tread too close to this site's restrictions on advertising, I will soon be just making announcements on the facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ReducedAircraft (feel free to subscribe!) and updating the top post on this local thread: https://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sh...D-Prints-(RAF)

[milcoll73]

wow! what a wonderfully modern age we reside in!

[camelbeagle]

Okay, I found another way to straighten the upper wing out without heating it up. I took some thick, strong craft sticks and a couple of rubber bands. Make sure the sticks are stiff and don't bend. Also, make sure they are as wide or wider than the wing. Basically, it needs to be as wide and as long as the top wing. Use the rubber bands and band the upper wing with with the craft sticks. If you look, you will see that the wing is straightened out against the stick. I then let it sit like that for four days. When I took the rubber bands off and removed the craft stick, the upper wing was nice and straight. It has been three days since I took the stick and bands off and my plane wing is still straight.

[Brak Morn]

And method #37, mine. Place the DVII upside down on a hard, flat surface. Place one craft 12 oz. paint bottle on the bottom edge of each upper wing. Wait 4-6 days. Problem fixed, perfectly straight wing, no chance of damage to your $$$$ aircraft. cheers.

[ReducedAirFact]

Thanks for the added tips! I'm too impatient to wait but it is certainly a lower-risk method. No chance of turning your airplane into a puddle.

[Hedeby]

I’m staggered at what you can do on a 3D printer, just think a couple of years ago it would have been unthinkable.

[Brak Morn]

I’m staggered at what you can do on a 3D printer, just think a couple of years ago it would have been unthinkable.

It has gradually occurred to me, since Daryl started making these(and I know what a 3D printer is, but just cannot get my head around HOW these multi-color beauties are done!) that Ares and their problems are now a moot point. And my stressful chase/search for Jasta decals over the past year just got a bit less stressful. Based on my Gabriel in hand, and the other fantastic aircraft I'm seeing listed by RAF, what, exactly, cannot be done? I think we have reached an important mile marker in the history of WoG WWI. Awesome, folks, if you think about it.

[camelbeagle]

Brak Morn, I agree! I would love to see him offer multiple planes from a specific squadron like Jasta 11 or Jasta 5. Some beautiful planes, that if decals were applied it would be quite the job. That is if you can find any decals or have the ability to make your own. I am eagerly watching what he is releasing.

[ReducedAirFact]

I got a SPAD 13 90% done and then decided I needed better references on the camouflage patterns used by the various SPAD 13 manufacturers. (Each manufacturer used a slightly different pattern, so that explains the differences between, say, a Rickenbacker SPAD 13 and a Luke SPAD 13.)

So then it was off to ebay to buy some fifty year old copies of Cross and Cockade journal, where the definitive French camo pattern articles live. It's funny in these days of the internet that you still have to go diving through old magazines and books to find such essential information, but that's the downside of copyright.

[camelbeagle]

Sounds awesome! Waiting to see the results with much eagerness and anticipation!

[Jager]

So then it was off to ebay to buy some fifty year old copies of Cross and Cockade journal, where the definitive French camo pattern articles live. It's funny in these days of the internet that you still have to go diving through old magazines and books to find such essential information, but that's the downside of copyright.

Really? I thought they were available to purchase online.
Karl

[ReducedAirFact]

Really? I thought they were available to purchase online.

You can buy CDs of them at $25 per yearly-volume, and they're made on demand, so it may take 6-10 weeks to get them. https://www.overthefront.com/over-th...cockade-issues. It would be much better if you could buy PDFs and get them instantly, but they haven't caught up with that yet. I'm not sure how good their scans are (I'd rather have the paper copy).

By the way, the articles of Cross&Cockade (US) I needed were 1968 Vol.9 No.1, 1972 Vol. 13 No.2 and No.4, which contain the "Project Butterfly" articles. From what I've gathered, they cover not only the 5-color paint schemes of various manufacturers but the lettering on the rudder. And hopefully they cover SPAD 7, Salmson 2, and other planes beyond SPAD 13, but I'm not sure about that. I'll give a better description once they arrive.