Sunday, June 26, 2016

Mostly done - the Shapeways Fokker D.VI

I've finished another 1/144 model to add to the collection of World War I fighter planes for use with Wings of Glory - the Fokker D. VI. It's an interesting model. It's parentage is clear - the body of a Fokker Dr. I triplane married to the wing form of the Fokker D.VII biplane.

Production was authorized in 1918, but it was a case of too little too late. The shortage of appropriate rotary engines, the shortage of castor oil and the poor quality of the synthetic replacement "Voltol" hampered engine performance and durability.

56 aircraft were delivered, seven of which were sent to the Austro-Hungarian Air Service.

The model was from the shapeways shop of Kampflieger. The model was printed using Black, Strong and Flexible as it's an improvement is surface quality over the standard White Strong and Flexible. After you've smoothed the surface of a bunch of 1/144 WSF models, the upgrade to BSF is worth it!

The model is depicted as one of the seven aircraft delivered to the Austro-Hungarian Air Service. The summer lozenge camouflage is from the shop of 1/144 Direct. These decals are superb and the shop is a superb retailer. I've placed multiple orders without a problem.

This overhead image was taken after topcoating with the gloss and matte finishes. The gloss was a little sticky and when the plane was inadvertently flipped, some of the decals got scraped off. 


A front on view.

Those chips and scrapes in the decals really bothered me.

...so I fixed them with a little painting touch up! 

Almost good as new.



Ready for the tabletop! 

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