1/72 Revell Fokker EIII, Udet´s plane

Gallery Article by Tigre del Aire on Aug 4 2009

 

Greetings from Colombia, this time I bring a little airplane that I used to, nothing more nor nothing less than the frame of Ernst Udet in World War I, the Fokker EIII!

But first, a little history:

The E.III was basically an E.II fitted with larger, newly designed larger wings. It retained the same 75 kW (100 hp) Oberursel U.I engine, but had a larger 81 l (21.5 gal) main fuel tank which increased the Eindecker's endurance to about 2˝ hours; an hour more than the E.II. Most E.IIIs were armed with a single 7.92 mm (.312 in) Spandau LMG 08 machine gun with 500 rounds of ammunition; however, after the failure of the twin-gun Fokker E.IV as a viable successor, some E.IIIs were fitted with twin guns.

Fokker production figures state that 249 E.IIIs were manufactured however a number of the 49 E.IIs were upgraded to E.III standard when they were returned to Fokker's Schwerin factory for repairs.

The E.III was the first type to arrive in sufficient numbers to form small specialist fighter units, Kampfeinsitzer Kommandos (KEK) in early 1916 - previously, Eindeckers were allocated singly to the front-lineFeldflieger Abteilungen that carried out reconnaissance duties. On 10 August 1916, the first German Jagdstaffeln (single-seat fighter squadrons) were formed, initially equipped with various early fighter types, including a few E.IIIs, which were by then outmoded and being replaced by more modern fighters. Standardisation in the Jagdstaffeln (and any real success) had to wait for the availability in numbers of the Albatros D.I and Albatros D.II in early 1917. Turkish E.IIIs were based at Beersheba in Palestine while others operated in Mesopotamia during the Siege of Kut-al-Amara.

The only known surviving original Eindecker has been in the Science Museum's possession since its capture in World War I. It is currently on display fully assembled, but without its fabric covering, to illustrate its internal construction. (taken from wikipedia).

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The need to assemble the fuselage hit the wings, as are the landing gear and cockpit, assembly of the model was relatively straightforward, because the fuselage is in 2 parts snap easily and did not represent any problem, the engine was also armed easily, the landing gear problem was not because the frame comes in 3 parts and the wheels have the ability to be mobile.

The kit decals are excellent, but I decided to mask the white and red to give a more realistic look, the results can see them yourselves.

Finally, after the first coat of lacquer to make the decals I made the position of the aircraft control cables, that was the real problem and what further delayed its completion, and that I did with Sprue stretched to proper size, then painted Sprue these threads to give the final finish, then took the hand of lacquer to seal the final model and. .. voila!

I recommend this model to work a weekend, you can relax and enjoy. 

Saludos desde Colombia, la tierra de Juan Valdez!
Greetings from Colombia, the land of Juan Valdez!

Tigre del Aire

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Photos and text © by Tigre del Aire