by George Grasse

EDUARD 1:48 SCALE MULTI-MEDIA KIT BUILT FROM EU8113 ALBATROS D.V

EDUARD ALBATROS D.V BOX ART

ALBATROS D.Va 3-VIEW

This 3-view drawing taken from Fighter Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War  compiled by O. G. Thetford and E. J. Riding, Harleyford Publications, 1954.  The D.V and D.Va were virtually indistinguishable at first sight.  Both used the same wingset as the D.III except for aileron linkage.  The D.Va had a reinforcing strut attached to the lower front portion of each wing strut.  The headrest was removed more often than not.

THE MODEL TO BE BUILT

Albatros D.V (serial unknown) flown by Ltn Hans Bohning of Jasta 36, Belgium,  October 1918.    Profile by Bob Pearson from  Albatros Aircraft of WW1, v.4, pg 144, Aeronaut Books.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No.1

Once I got started on the fuselage interior, I couldn't stop until every part was installed.  I used four Vallejo colors for various components of the interior.  Vallejo 912 Tan Yellow washed with thinned down 872 Chocolate Brown was the basis for the interior walls.  All other wood parts were either 824 Orange Ochre, 856 Ochre Brown, or 929 Light Brown, all for contrast.  My new "best friend" for aluminum finish is Vallejo 782 Duraluminum.  Other shades in their "Metal Colors" series will be used in the future for contrast.  The brass rods protruding through the last bulkhead are reinforcements for the flimsy framework on which the seat sits.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No.2

The fuselage halves are glued together, lightly sanded at the seams, and panel lines are re-scored.  The bottom wing is shown not yet attached with one side covered in Aviattic's ATT48040 Albatros D.V/D.Va 5-color lozenge with blue tapes.  This lower wing is intended for another Albatros D.V.

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No.3

The fuselage has received my full attention.  The Bavarian motif decal set by Print Scale (Camou Series 010) was difficult to attach and was done in many pieces except for the vertical tail and tailskid structure.  Next, the remainder of the fuselage was painted in two coats of Vallejo 913 Yellow Ochre.  Over this was painted Burnt Sienna in oils and carefully brushed away leaving a honey-colored wood finish.  All metal parts on the wood surface were painted in my mix of grey-green.  The cowling metal parts have to match the color of the Print Scale diamonds and, so far, I've not quite gotten it.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No.4

The bottom wing was attached first.  I discarded the kit's landing gear and made my own out of brass tube and rod as shown above.  The landing gear airfoil was made  from a piece of heavy gauge lead sheet, folded over with a brass rod inserted as the axle bar.  Fine electrical wire and super glue was used to "bind" the struts to the axle.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No.5

The fuselage struts are for each side two brass tube and rod units.  Joining the pair is a trimmed plastic piece taken from the kit's fuselage struts.  The bottom wing has been painted in a two-color dark green and mauve scheme.  Fuselage and tail iron cross decals are from the kit's decal sheet.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No.6

The rear of the fuselage has several PE parts attached.  The prominent parts are the two elevator control horns taken from an Eduard 48406 Wire Stretchers & Control Horns PE set.  All of the other PE parts are rather small and do not show up in this photo.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No.7

This photo shows the installation of the two Spandau machine guns, the fuselage struts, the two-color camouflage on the lower wing, and engine detail.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No.8

The top wing was initially attached to the fuselage struts, made of brass tube and rod.  The center "dummy" strut was added later, trimmed to fit.  The outer wing struts came next.  The main strut supporting the outer wing is the vertical made of brass tube and rod.  The front angled strut also made of brass rod and tube was essentially cut to fit with a brass rod to the wing and the lower part of strut cut to fit the angle.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No.9

This photo shows some aspects of the wing rigging using .006 MFT.  The propeller was hand-painted first in a base coat of Vallejo 824 Orange Ochre and then stripped with Vallejo 984 Brown.   When dry, the overall surface of propeller was rubbed with five shades of brown colored pencil.  Axial decals were applied.  Note that the wing struts have yet to be primed and painted.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No.10

This photo and the next to No.15 are of the finished model.   There are several steps to completion and this photo highlights (1) the drag wire from the upper forward wing strut to the cowling, (2) the radiator line from the top wing radiator to the forward engine intake but note that the return line is not visible, (3) the addition of the weight table decal, and (4) the painting of the outer wing struts.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No.11

This finished photo does not reveal any new features marking the completion of the model.  The return radiator pipe is still not visible hidden by the struts.  What is barely visible at the forward top of the engine is a piece of PE material shaped as a front post gunsight.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No.12

This photo shows the finish of the propeller first painted in two shades then rubbed with several drawing pencils in various "brownish" shades as previously explained in photo No.9, above.  Propeller decals were "borrowed" from another kit's decal sheet.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No.13

This photo shows the top wing's radiator expansion tank which I built up from scrap material since I "lost" the kit's part for this.  You can see both radiator lines to and from the engine (both made from brass rod and left unpainted).  some aspects of the wing rigging using .006 MFT.  The propeller was hand-painted first in a base coat of Vallejo 824 Orange Ochre and then stripped with Vallejo 984 Brown.   When dry, the overall surface of propeller was rubbed with five shades of brown colored pencil.  Axial decals were applied.  Note that the wing struts have yet to be primed and painted.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No.14

This photo shows the two-color upper surface camouflage of lilac/mauve and dark green, using my own Vallejo paint mixes.  The scheme was taken from page 138 of Albatros Aircraft of WW1, Volume 4, Fighters, rendered by Bob Pearson (see bibliography).

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No.15

This photo shows more of the two-color camouflage.  The underside of the flying surfaces was painted in my mix of a pale light blue.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No.16

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No.17

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Bibliography:

Bar, Ronny.  German Fighters of the Great War, Volume II.  Horncastle, UK: Tempest an imprint of Morton's Books. 

Franks, Norman and Frank Bailey & Russell Guest. Above the Lines - A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces of the German Air Service, Naval air Service, and Flanders Marine Corps 1914-1918.  London, UK: Grub Street, 1993. (see page 79 for Bohning)

Gray, Peter and Owen Thetford.  German Aircraft of the First World War.  London: Putnam & Company Limited, 1960.

Greer, Don.  Albatros Fighters in Action.  Carrollton, Texas.  Squadron/Signal Publications, 1981.

Herris, Jack.  Albatros Aircraft of WW1, Volume 4: Fighters.  Aeronaut Books, 2017.

Kowalski, Tomasz J.  Albatros D.I - D.V.  Lublin, Poland: Kagero Studio, 2006.

Lamberton, W. M., Compiler, and E. F. Cheesman, Editor.  Fighter Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War.   Los Angeles, CA: Aero Publishers, 1962.

Rimell, Ray.  Albatros Fighters, Windsock Datafile Special.  Berkhampstead, UK: Albatros Productions, 1998 (3rd Edition).

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20 October 2025