with Hans Goerth bust
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#5909 - Fokker D.VII with Hans Goerth bust |
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Bust - 1:12 |
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When people think of German aircraft of the first World War, Anthony Fokker's aircraft spring to mind - most notably the crimson DR.I triplane flown by Manfred von Richtofen. He did make other aircraft, some successful (such as the D.VII) and others not-so-successful.
I'll admit to not knowing much of WWI aircraft, so here's the condensed version of what's in the instructions - The E.V (Eindecker - single wing, model V) aka D.VIII, was developed in response to a fighter competition held in mid-1918. It was considered the best rotary-engine plane in the competition and selected for production. It was delivered initially to Jasta 6. An improved version, the D.VIII was delivered to Marine Feld Jasta 3, where Goerth (the subject of the bust) was serving. He scored seven victories flying both the D.VII and VIII, and was one of the few aces to fly the D.VIII (also known as the "Flying Razor.")
In Box Review:
Now on to something I know. Dragon's WWII-era models, such as the FW-190 series and ME-262s, are known to be accurate but hard to build. (Having built some of the ME-262s, reviewed on this site, I can agree that they're challenging.) So it was with some suprise that I learned that among WWI afficonados, Dr
agon's "Knights of the Sky" series of WWI aircraft are considered the best, and not all that difficult to build. They rank right alongside Eduard in the minds of most WWI fans. I, personally, rarely build biplanes - the last one I tried was the ill-fated Jungmeister with ill fit and finish. So, when I got interested, I asked around, and this was one of the kits reccommended.
This was purchased as part of a shopping trip with my wife - suprisingly, she insisted I get all three kits available in the store! (Gotta love that woman.) Upon opening the box, you notice it's somewhat... empty. There are 83 parts on two photoetch sprues, two grey and one clear plastic sprue, and the parts for the bust. (Note that the bust is a "special boxing," and not a part of a regular D.VIII kit.) A nice touch is found when you remove all this - in the bottom of the box, Dragon has included a 300mm length of wire to rig the kit with. I'm not sure if I'll use that, stretched sprue, or a combination yet. I haven't added all the lengths up to see if there's any spare.
As you look at the sprues, you also realize - this is a tiny airplane! Without 2000 Hp rotary engines, hundreds of gallons of gas, armor, heavy armament, and the like, there wasn't much to the original either.
There are other nice touches to the kit - including the "lozenge" camoflage supplied as decals. This is going to require a definate change in building habits for me - decalling perhaps halfway through kit construction.
The resin bust is nicely done - it seems well detailed, and well molded. Painting it is going to be interesting - I've never painted a figure OR bust this size before. Getting a realistic look is going to be interesting! The bust is also part of the reason I haven't started this yet - I want this to look good. Time to do some technique research before starting.
We'll see what happens as the kit gets built.