Wingnut Wings

1/32 Albatros D.V

Kit Number: 32009

Reviewed by  Jim Stratton, IPMS# 20703

MSRP: $59.00 (includes shipping!) Review kit supplied by, and available only from, Wingnut Wings: www.wingnutwings.com This new release from the guys at Wingnut Wings is a beautiful rendition of this notable aircraft from the First World War. This is my first kit build from WNW and based on the degree of accuracy detail, it won't be my last. I enjoyed building this kit from the onset. While browsing through the instruction booklet I just couldn't wait to get going. The instruction booklet is worth the price of the kit alone. It is a detailed, color, reference guide that is so detailed you could build this kit without any other references needed. The booklet includes detailed color construction diagrams with paint color callouts for each piece. The main paint chart has paint numbers for Tamiya, Humbrol and Misterkit paints. After the first few construction steps the booklet has a detailed drawing of the model with each part colored according to the callouts in the previous steps. This is a real nice touch. The people at Wingnut Wings should be commended for their effort in giving the builder everything needed to build an accurate model. The booklet also contains several rare, detailed B&W and color images of actual aircraft as well as aircraft that have been both restored and under restoration, once again, a clear indication of the amount of effort put into this kit by the WNW people. It's easy to tell they are modelers that have a passion for their work.

The build begins with the cockpit and interior details. The fuselage formers are included as well as most of the interior components to fill the void with details. The kit included photo etched detail parts which include the harness as well as other detail pieces. Instrument faces and data placards are supplied on the immense decal sheet. Extreme care needs to be used when removing the parts from the sprue. I broke one of the seat mounting rods (part D12) when removing from the parts tree. Fortunately this was easy to repair and once completed with the rest of the cockpit formers it was strong enough to handle while detailing and fitting inside the cockpit. I added the seat belts at this time. I found it best to heat treat the PE harness to make it more malleable. This helped quite a bit because as stated earlier the entire component is very fragile and trying to bend the stiff belt into place could be problematic. I did the same heat treatment to the machine gun jacket.

The interior of the fuselage was marred by a few knockout pin marks. I sanded and removed the ones in the cockpit area but ignored those in the engine bay as they would not be seen after the engine is in place.

Interior construction continues with the forward former that has the fuel tank and ammo cans attached to it. Again the fit of the parts was noteworthy with no problems encountered during the construction.

I drilled holes in the cockpit formers (parts A19 and A21) to accept the control lines running from the rudder pedals and control stick. I just lined the holes drilled in the formers to the ends of the rudder pedal and control column. I then used thin invisible thread to complete the control lines.

The Daimler-Mercedes D.III 160hp motor is next to build. The kit included parts for both the D.III 160hp as well as the later D.IIIa 180hp motor. You need to decide which plane you are building then use the proper motor. The excellent instruction booklet points out the differences for each of the 5 marking options included. The wiring loom was extremely fragile. I broke mine removing it from the parts tree. I wanted to add the sparkplug wiring so I ended up drilling through the wiring loom at the molded indicated wiring points. I then pushed the ignition wires through the loom and super glued them in place. Then I trimmed the wires to the loom. This helped in strengthening the fragile loom. The location of the spark plug holes is molded in the sides of the cylinders. So it was an easy task to drill these out to accept the wires that ran from the loom to the spark plugs. I then drilled out the two distributors and wired them to the loom. This took a bit of time to accomplish and unfortunately little can be seen once completed. But I know it's there.

Once the engine is completed, construction of the engine bay formers and motor mounts is next. Once again the fit and detail was superb. I waited to install the motor until later in the construction. Finally all the small components were ready to install in the fuselage.

The fuselage closed up with no problem at all. I did not need any filler due to the precise fit of all the parts. Once the fuselage was cleaned up I added the motor, machine guns, engine bay covers and horizontal stabilizers. I held off in the rudder till later. The lower wings went on next. Before starting the paint job, I needed to prepare the upper wing. The controls lines in the D.V pass up and out the fuselage in front of the cockpit to the upper wing. They pass through a block in the lower surface of the wing. I glued in part A48 which is molded with the control line holes in it. I then drilled through the holes out the upper surface of the wing. Then glue on the PE plate (part P1) to the lower surface only. Once the wing is painted and glued in place on the struts, you pass the control lines through the holes and secure with superglue. Trim and fold down the upper half of the PE plate and glue to the upper wing. Then it's a small matter of touching up the paint job to finish the upper wing.

I had chosen the plane flown by Otto Kissenberth attached to Jasta 16 in mid 1917. He finished the war with 20 victories only to die in a mountaineering accident in 1920. I thought this was an attractive color scheme with a semi gloss black fuselage with a very large edelweiss flower on the sides and camouflaged wings. I started with the undersides painting it light blue. I used a 50/50 mix of Tamiya XF-23 light blue and XF-2 white. After drying I masked and painted the fuselage with Tamiya XF-18 Semi gloss black. After more masking I started the wings with Tamiya XF-61 dark green. I then masked the camo pattern and painted the mauve using a mix of 2 parts X-16 purple and 1 part XF-52 flat earth. The instruction booklet suggested 1 part purple to 2 parts flat earth, but I thought my formula looked better. Once the wings are in place you can add the undercarriage. Once again the fit was superb with no miss alignment problems at all. Finally I get to the decals. The size of the markings had me a little worried. Especially the edelweiss, on the fuselage sides. However, once again the designers at WNW did their homework. The decals were sturdy enough to handle the placement and moving in to final position. The decals acted well to the setting solution. Next up was the rigging. When building smaller scale biplanes in the past, I would drill through the wings and rig with invisible thread, drawing it tight and gluing it with superglue. Then it's a small matter to trim, clean up and re-paint the wings. Because of the detail molded on the top of the wings, I didn't want to drill through and lose the molded details. I thought with the larger scale it would be easy to cut brass rod the proper length and glue in place. WRONG! This is where I made my first stupid mistake. This was not the right approach. This method required several cuts and trial fits, each time picking up and handling a fragile model. It was extremely time consuming and frustrating and threatened to sour the whole build. All this and I was not happy with the final result. In looking back at the project it would have been a very easy task to drill through the bottom wing only as there is no molded detail on the bottom of the lower wing. Then you could glue the line into the upper wing before mounting to the struts; then pass the line through the holes and glue and trim. This method would have cost a fraction of the time needed for the wire method and the final results would have been much better. For my next build, I will definitely drill through the wing and use a nylon thread for the rigging. Conclusion In spite of my problem with the rigging, this was an extremely enjoyable build. Even if you don't normally build airplanes, you will enjoy building this kit. The parts fit together precisely and all pieces line up, which has always been a problem with biplanes and is a reason a lot of people don't build them. With the fit of this kit it is obvious that a lot of effort has gone into the design of the model. It has everything we have grown to expect from a model -- loads of very accurate detail, multimedia included but not overdone, several colorful markings options, and finally an instruction booklet that is worth the price of the kit alone. This would be a perfect kit for a non-aircraft modeler to build, because no other reference is needed to complete the model. Thanks to the detail included in the instruction booklet, an extensive reference library is not needed. It really makes the building experience of this kit enjoyable. Make sure you visit the Wingnut Wings web site. It has a section for each model they produce with loads of hints and reference photos. You can only purchase their kits through their web site. The prices vary and are reasonable considering what you get, and the price of the kit includes postage from New Zealand. Do yourself a favor and visit them and buy yourself a kit. I would like to thank the guys at Wingnut Wings for the chance to build and review this model.