Scale aviation modeller international

the preferred method,

provided you get it right

(and of course you do

have the plastic version

as a backup, just in case).

THE WINGS (OF A DOVE)

Each of the massive wings is

supplied as a single piece, and

they are the most detailed and

comprehensive mouldings I have

seen in any model. The main body

of each wing is 3 mm thick, without

a hint of a sink mark. They then

taper to trailing edges so sharp

you could shave with them!

In reproducing the flexible

warping tips, WNW have pushed

the limits of what is possible in

plastic moulding; they are truly

wafer thin. But that’s not all. Each

moulding includes a cruciform

kingpost on the tip, along with

spar detail on the root and a

pulley on the leading edge.

The tail feathers are equally

impressive, and like the wings, are

going to present something of a

challenge to paint convincingly.

PAINT. LOTS OF PAINT

I chose Option ”C2” (A.271/14)

for a number of reasons. First, I

wanted an Argus-powered aircraft,

because I’m bored with building

Mercedes engines. I was also

taken with the enormous – 75

mm sq – eisernkreuzen on the

wings (I don’t do subtle). There

are several photographs available

of this particular aircraft, taken

in 1915 (possibly even 1917), when

presumably it was near the end of

its active life, and logically would be

getting rather threadbare – a state

confirmed in said photographs.

Stains are clearly visible on the

fuselage along with patches

under the port wing.

I decided to use the

same sequence of paints

I previously used on the

wings of an Albatros

B.II. Having primed the

wings and fuselage, I gave

everything a rough coat of my own

mix of clear doped linen (CDL) – 1/

XF-57 Buff, 1/3 XF-2 White, and

1/3 X-22 Gloss. Once this was dry, I

taped and lightly pre-shadowed the

ribs, as well as adding a few darker

areas as random stains. I also

masked patches here and there with

small rectangles of Tamiya tape.

Once all was prepared, it was

on with several thin coats of

XF-22 RLM Grey, being careful to

let the pre-shadowing and stains

remain just visible. After a quick

blow-over with gloss varnish to

reduce the fragility of the paint,

10 • MARCH 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

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