Albatros Dr.I

Erik Leijdens
Yet another Masterpiece I presume 🙂

bughunter
Welcome to the show, Erik! I added pictures of the working set adjustment.

Derek Huggett
Look out! bughunters at it again! (Great!) 🙂

Erik Leijdens
Amazing work with the adjustable seat! The leather looks great too.

Stefan Fraundorfer
I'm in and I'm looking forward to another spectacular model of yours. The seat is great!

Greg Baker
Oh fer... may as well sign me up. Ho hum... another eye popping project from Bugsy... what else is new. Perfection has become mundane.

Danny Meer
Is that seat taken? 😄

Slavo Hazucha
Lots of wings... good 🙂 Joining the line-up of spectators!

Chris Greathouse
Sweet!

bughunter
The congregation is gathered! A warm welcome to all of you 👍

David Taylor
green monster arrived again.

bughunter
Thx David! As some of you notice (and a admin, who attached the album to the project), this is _NOT_ a Fokker Dr.I but an Albatros Dr.I. It was a unique specimen, abandoned after flight test.

Slavo Hazucha
And now I actually noticed the other 2 guys on the artwork are D's not Dr's! Were there other German series or close to series Dreideckers except the Fokker & this one in WWI?

bughunter
Yes Slavo, since this was the only Dr.I, the performance was compared against normal Albatros biplanes in flight test. For another converted Pfalz D.IIIa see here: Pfalz D.IIIa Triplane Experimental | Project by bughunter (1:48) Compare against the original!
A Pfalz Dr.I is also famous, but there are much more! I own the book "The Fighting Triplanes" and this contains around 25 german triplanes, plus some Austria-Hungary. Also the other nations build a lot of types, the Sopwith Triplane created a Triplemania 😉
I will build in future some more triplanes, and own a kit for a quadruplane 🙂

Wim van der Luijt
Crap on a cracker! That is already very impressive, will it have a working engine too? 😉

bughunter
I will try to add a Vector engine again, but I'm not sure yet about fitting.

Christian Bruer
Excellent start on this unique aircraft 👍

Alec K
Very interesting project. Taking the seat in back, as the auditorium is damn crowded already...

bughunter
Welcome all! It's nice to show something different 👍 More pics the next days ...

Slavo Hazucha
Thanks for the clarification - I suspected there will be some, but not such a full crowd of followers to the Triplane 🙂

bughunter
Slavo, there are more crazy types, like a triple Triplane
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caproni_Ca.60
or a Fokker with five wings:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fokker_V.8
;)

bughunter
After the wood painting of the cockpit parts the air screw is finished.

Stephan Ryll
Looking very good 👍

Slavo Hazucha
Excellent woodwork - although the color assembly on pictures with the direct light would also do justice to a Premium Praline...😉 Excellent weathering on the 1-cent coin too😉😉

Seriously - I really admire the way how you manage to do basically the same thing top pro & always in a different touch and finer details of appearance... 👍

Ben M
watching and learning.

bughunter
Thx! Slavo, you spotted a very bad experience: this April, during work on my Fokker D.VII, I managed to destroy a glass bottle with Alclad black primer with shaking and the ball inside 🙁 Black primer everywhere, on my face, T-Shirt, bench, wall, lamps, parquet, it also ruined the fuselage halfs of the Fokker. The finished wings survived. The smell was really heavy. So this black dot on the Cent is a reminder, to shake those glass bottles only in a Zip-lock!
Regarding the propeller: Since this Dr.I was a unique specimen only two pictures are known (I added them to the project header), so I looked at the side view of the prop and used different kinds of wood accordingly. The shape is may be not correct, I used the Windsock drawing.

Alec K
I had no idea you can break a paint bottle just by shaking it. Or did it fly out of your hand and hit something??

bughunter
No, the bottle was no more full, so the ball could reach a speed in the internal air high enough to crack the glass. I noticed during shaking, that my hand gets cold and wet somehow - too late 🙁

Paul Juliano
Been there, bughunter, but it was more my fault! I just forgot to screw the cap on all the way. Luckily I look good in Russian Tan.

bughunter
The cockpit is prepared so far, but need to do the engine, before the fuselage can be closed.

Derek Huggett
He calls it 'a nice cockpit'...it's an amazing cockpit! Really great stuff! 👍 🙂

bughunter
Thank you Derek! I assume the build of the engine and the closing of fuselage is delayed due to X-Mas.

gorby
Fantastic!
I wouldn't expect anything less from the master modeller himself.😉

Michael Hickey
That cockpit is beautiful.👍👍👍

Slavo Hazucha
I guess even your christmas tree pales in envy loking at your woodwork & "decorations" you put on those builds...😉 Have a nice Christmas!

Bernhard Schrock
As usual I'm fascinated: wood looks like wood and leather upholstery looks as comfortable as my own arm chair at home🙂

Spanjaard
amazing as always

bughunter
Oh sorry mates, have not answered yet - thank you very much! Due to the X-mas Cutting machine present I recovered the project Sopwith Schneider Monaco | Project by bughunter (1:48) But this is done now, so I will continue to work on this triplane.

Alec K
👍

bughunter
Continued on the triplane, only some small steps done.

bughunter
Engine finsihed, so the fuselage halves are closed now.

Slavo Hazucha
At least we've seen it before the burial in the fuselage! Now we all see through the plastic & know what's hidden inside...😉

Predrag Ivanovic
Another masterpiece, great looking three wings Albatros

wilky
At least you don't have to decide which scheme to do with this one

bughunter
Thank you mates!
@wilky That's not so nice of Eduard to write "Profipack" on the pack and then only allow one marking! 😄 😄 😎
After the finish of the Benz Motorwagen 1886 | Album by bughunter (1:24) continued on this Albatros, pictures soon.

Alec K
The wood looks fantastic 👍

bughunter
Thank you Alec! Fighting now against a huge amount lozenge decals on 3 wings 😮

Alec K
May you win this battle 😄

Slavo Hazucha
Making such immaculate wood replica on places where it can be seen = top-class modeling

Doing it even on the connection-planes for the elevators = bughunter...😉 👍

Martin von Schreckenstein
missed the start! I will be wathing the rest no doubt. looking great so far.

bughunter
Oops, have not answered yet. Thank you Alec, Slavo and Martin!
Since the Dolpin project is on hold due to waiting for parts and continued with rib tapes on this Albatros.

bughunter
The ailerons are finished. They are not big, so handle the edges and joints needs to be done very carefully. Looks better then the wings itself.

René "Lord Bilbo" Bartholemy
Love it so far! 👍😉

Slavo Hazucha
That's one spectacular looking tail... I'm sure it would make the cover page of a mermaid fashion magazine...😉 👍

bughunter
Thank you mates! 👍
@John, we have the pictures, so we all know that the details are there 🙂
@Slavo ... mermaid fashion magazine ... 🙂 🙂 🙂 I love your crazy ideas 👍

bughunter
Today the decals on the rudder crumbled when I wanted to make the cut for the separation seam. Really great! 👍 So I was forced to cut masks for the crosses for the first time, which became much nicer!
Again improvement by accident! 🙂 I think I will paint the other crosses too.

Alec K
Nice work on those crosses 👍

bughunter
Thx mates! Lozenge is applied, but some edges needs attention after drying. May be half of the rip tapes is done and some are applied on the leading edges. But how the hell are you supposed to attach the narrow straps to the trailing edge? Do you have a trick or an idea?

Alec K
Looks like you found a way. Can you please explain how Future helped? It does not exactly dry fast...

bughunter
My nickname is Bughunter, and that I have done today. Found bugs in the Datafile drawings.
Alec, Aviattic recommends in the manual to fix loose edges of decals with Future, btw Small Stuff also for mounting small parts on the engines. It is nearly invisible after drying.

Alec K
Thanks for the info. I apologize if you already answered this, but what is the rib tape material you are using?

That surgery looks painful...😄

bughunter
Alec, that are very old Pegasus decals printed 1994. I got some sheets of different types from a friend who moved to the big WNW (come to the dark side of the) scale completely. The lozenge itself looks strange, but the tapes are nice. A quarter of a century old and still working 👍

Alec K
Got it, thanks. I never used decal over decal before.

Darkside, huh? What is the 72nd scale then? The "light" side? 😄 😄 😄

bughunter
Decals on top of decals is no problem. Some machines used also lozenge rib tapes. The normal Aviattic decals are translucent, but for those tapes they offer also not translucent sheets.

I know a 72nd scale modeler who calls it always "God's Own Scale" 🙂

Alec K
I am assuming you first seal the lower decal layer with clear and then apply the second layer? I would be concerned about using decal setting liquids otherwise.

I am not one to propose that 1:72 is better than any other scale, as those espousing such slogans seem to imply😉

bughunter
You may seal the first layer, but it is not necessary. The decals are gloss and I have no need for setting liquids fro the rib tapes. There are no panel lines and the surface is smooth.
Actual state: 3,30m rib tapes applied (no joke!), and this task is not completed yet! 😠

Ben M
I do not enjoy decaling, so I think I better stay away from WWI German aircraft 🙂

bughunter
After big fail with the decals ... I dropped the project, äh, ... no. I started with something different: the wheels.

wilky
So what exactly happened with the Future?
Did it whiten?
What is the solution for the problem?

bughunter
wilky, the Future was not the problem. The problem is, that there are 5 decals coming together on the trailing edge. Lozenge up and below, and rib tapes on top on both sides. The problem was the decals gets lose, shrinkled and bubbles. And the applied Future fixed them in that broken position.

This project does not seem to be under a good star. I'm just screwing up right now! Now I destroyed the rest of the decals during unmasking after painted the crosses. 🙁

Thomas Bischoff
Now the bugs hunt you - hope you can turn the tide again!

Ben M
If anyone can figure it out, it's you bug hunter

bughunter
Thank you Thomas and Ben! After the trouble I put the wings aside for now.
With some other work I like to go back to my comfort zone😉 A rainy Sunday on the bench with some success.

Bernhard Schrock
Pictures 80 and 81: how do you managed gluing the small PE parts so clean? Top work.

bughunter
Bernhard, it is not so clean as I wanted, because one this little beasts jumps out of the tweezers on the model, grrr. I use CA gel, the product is called "100% Sekundenkleber". I preformed the PE maintenance lids prior painting to a "light ball", which helps for glueing too.
Lochsa_River, fill in "Drooling Bulldog" into the Scalemates search engine and you will be enlightened😉

Slavo Hazucha
Come on, admit you bent the plastic parts a bit under hot water to get a "casus belli" to make that magnificent composite metal gear assembly...!😉

bughunter
Thank you Markus for your nice comment, but I think my other builds are much better.
Slavo, the bending is not the problem - the legs are to short! The axle needs to sit on top of the arc, and the struts are slanted in real. That is why Eduard's albatrosses sit notoriously low in front!

bughunter
My last experimental triplane, the Pfalz D.III conversion was unarmed, but this Albatros needs two Spandaus. We live in wonderful times and can buy beautiful accessories, like this set from Master. I have now 5 models in my cabinet with those Spandau sets, the last ones I have mounted on the Albatros W.4.

When it was clear that my stock was exhausted I had ordered a larger quantity some time ago, 10 packs of these pairs, to be exact. There are still enough Fokker, Albatros, Roland, Pfalz, Siemens-Schuckert ... boxes in my stash to put them in. So you can negotiate a good price and it also offers advantages in building.
To get the wonderful details I burnished the parts. I can only recommend not to burnish all parts at once, because they are made of different brass alloys. These react differently to the chemical liquid and it is difficult not to expose the fine particles to chemical attack for too long.
On the other hand, I can now burnish equal parts at once, without too much extra work, and have effective control over the times. Since my liquid has to be heated up to 80-90°C in a water bath, this is always time-consuming.

I think standardization is very nice, so that the German aircraft all had the same Spandaus in use😉

Spanjaard
guns looking great. good idea to burnish them.

Alec K
Looking glorious 👍

bughunter
Thx mates! All my german aircrafts (Pfalz, Albatros, Siemens-Schuckert, Fokker,...) are equipped with (I learned a better phrase today) black oxide finished Spandau guns. Last time I have done 5, the new batch will last longer I hope😉

Bernhard Schrock
Schade dass es keine Gunship - Version der Albatros gab...🙂

Slavo Hazucha
Maybe an experimental Zeppelin Staaken gunship? Surely would look great with these 😄

Nowadays I actually keep a 1-cent coin around just in case bughunter releases some pics, to have a real-world size comparison & reminder at hand... Wonderful stuff - quite excellent source PE material for sure, particularly the aiming crosses, and what a finish... Top notch! 👍

David Andrs
Joining in late, but also watching... 👍

Predrag Ivanovic
Perfect modelling skils , as usual with your models. One questions about landing gear struts on picture 83. Plastic is almost like in the drawing ,dimensional, and ,as I recall on this Eduard Albatros models is about 3mm shorter on both sides. At the end, you made it longer in brass. What is correct?

gorby
I saw photo 95 and thought 'Good god, how heavily armed was this thing!'. Incredible work on those guns Frank - tiny works of art.

bughunter
Thank you mates! Your funny answers make me smile 😉
I did not understand, which Eduard Albatros are 3mm shorter? This Dr.I is in principle a D.V, in the Windsock "Albatros Experimentals" the text of the Dr.I mention also the D.V drawing including page number in the Albatros Fighters Special.
On my pic83 you see, that the axle would go through the strut, but in real it sits inside (on top) of the strut (so the strut needs to be longer), see the following pic on WingNutWing site:
[img1]
Additionally, the drawing in pic 83 shows a side projection. But the struts needs to be longer in real due to Inclined position, again a pic
[img2]
I'm not sure yet about the real length, will be shortened during mounting.

Predrag Ivanovic
I meant for Albatros D. V, Thanks for detail answer.

Christoph Kunz
Massproduction of guns.. Do you have a license? Gunship Zeppelin? What's going on? I think I missed something important...

Derek Huggett
Note to self. - Must get 50%+ enlarged copy of 1c or 1p coin for my photos!! Are Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken aware of their 'bughunter factory'? Excellent, as we have come to expect! 👍 🙂

Roland Sachsenhofer
Simply incredible and beautiful! I can't get enough of it....just the homemade landing gear makes your heart beat faster. I won't miss any more construction progress here! 🙂

bughunter
Thank you very much!
Derek, I can recommend a bug Cent from magic supplies😉
After the guns I decided to continue with the adjustment of the landing gear. It took longer the expected and must be done carefully to avoid scratches in the fuselage.

bughunter
Oh, I missed your answer Roland, our postings was at the same time😉 Thanks and welcome! I hope this ends up not in a heart attack!

bughunter
I made the control horns. This soldering reminds me that I really like it, so I started something different. More soon!

Daniel Klink
Wonderful woodwork Frank..
The overall detailwork is simply incredible and awesome...ans somehow stretching the limits already..
Great Mate

Alec K
Looking over your album again, just to get some inspiration going... 👍

Greg Baker
I do that too... and then the desperation sets in instead....

bughunter
Thank you my freinds, but the decal problem bring in a delay. I need to try some paints urgently, so I doing a different project in parallel.

David Taylor
Are you doing Black Maria Bughunter

bughunter
Yes David, that is another active project (see my projects). At the moment I'm jumping between active projects. I made metal landing gear for both.

bughunter
The landing gear was not yet finished, axle and suspension are missing. So let's continue on that one.
The base was a picture set of James Fahey of an Albatros D.V, thank you very much!
I like the look of the fully scratched metal landing gear, even if the suspension is not working😉

Thomas Bischoff
The landing gear in itself is a masterpiece and I am happy to hear that there is room for improvement :-;
Next time a working suspension please .....

Marcel Klemmer
Unbelievable Bughunter...

Roland Sachsenhofer
.....indeed! Hard to believe, pure joy to see!

David Taylor
above and beyond

Alec K
That suspension is great. I dunno about those tires. I would paint, just to get some toning.

bughunter
Thank you mates 👍 The problem with the working suspension is only to find some rubber, which can hold the model and is stable in long term. The mechanical parts are already prepared😉