1 /48 Eduard Limited edition Fokker D.VII "Sieben Schwaben"

[Opapapa]

Hi guys! Here's a little wip report... It's going to be deadly slow progress cause I have very limited time for building... And that sucks! But then when I can find some time it's also more rewarding... or I like to think it that way... But please bare with me.

Like I mentioned earlier in another topic I just had to buy this kit because of the Brothers Grimm story "The Seven Swabians". I really like the painting of this aircraft. It was not common to have childrens fairytail painted on a fighter! It was flown by Corporal Wilhelm Scheutzel who served with Jasta 65. He scored one aerial victory (a British DH.4) in August 1918. Later he was wounded in combat but as far as I know he survived the war.

The kit itself is typical Eduard quality I haven't noticed any fit issues or such yet. At first I was a "little" nervous with the large lozenge camo decals but they worked just fine!


Here's my temporary work space by the coffee table... Did someone say "red"?


Here's the box art:


Fuselage halves. The interior colour should be Sail colour. Here's the closest that Revell enamels could offer.


The engine. Too bad that the fuselage will cover almost the whole thing...




Some bits and bobs. I decided not to use Eduards pre-painted PE part for the instrument panel because it looked weird...


Here are the wings with lozenge camo decals. Lots of micro sol...


The decals look awesome but they are really, really thin. Some builders have had problems with these.


Some stripes needs still to be added on top of the lozenge...



Thanks for looking!

Olli

[UKguyInUSA]

It looks really cool what you have done so far Olli!

Those lozenge decals are quite unique, along with the nursery rhyme fuselage sides decals!

I'm a WW.II to Present Day aircraft modeler, but, I just might be tempted at breaking the mold ad doing something colorful like this?!

Cheers,

Martin

[Opapapa]

Thanks Martin!
Yeah this is definitely something different for a chance. I've built mostly ww2 era Finnish airforce planes and needed a break from black-green camo and eastern front markings! Maybe some allied planes next, who knows! I'm not mentally ready for spitfires or mustangs yet though They look too fast for me!

Olli

[rodrant]

Very nice kit , I already thought in trying to do some WWI plane , and this seems very good , lot of detail , great decals , and yours is until now just great with some very nice details , also a very good work with the Lozenge decals , but a lot of stripes to transfer now

Could be a good option to make a nice WWI plane with all options in the box .

The rest of Your build will be to follow by me, that's for sure .

[Rob]

Nice start. Super looking scheme too

[Willem]

Nice work so far Olli. Looks a lovely kit.

Never braced a biplane before and I have something in the stash that is 'calling to me'.

Will follow this and pick up some tips.

[Opapapa]

Thanks guys!

Fokker D.VII is a good choice if you haven't built any biplanes before. There's only minimal rigging to do! I've done a 1/48 Gladiator before, and I can tell you it was a struggle. But I really learned a lot too. I think that a biplane with all the rigging done looks simply awesome on the shelf! Even if the result is far from perfect.

And António: If you like to build a Fokker D.VII you can of course buy a normal Eduard ProfiPack kit. There's more marking options and some funky paint schemes as well! I know I'm going to buy another one for sure!

Olli

[Russ72]

Looking good Ollie. Those Lozenge decals have always kept me from having a go at something like this. I'll get there.

[Opapapa]

Here's some small progress. Baby steps...

I had some small fit issues with the fuselage halves but with some sanding it went together nicely. I think I caused the fit problems myself... Some small caps and seam lines still needs some filling and sanding. Nothing major though.







Here you can see the small fit issue right in front of the cockpit.


There was a lot of work with the decals! I managed to rip couple of these "stripes" but the sheet included few spares. There's still few stencils missing from the wing tips.(small writing or something, I'm blind already )





Thanks for looking!

Olli

[Russ72]

Looking great Olli.

[Opapapa]

Thanks Russ!

Now that I've finally found myself some time for modelling and was planning to post some progress, i got myself completely pissed off with crappy enamel paints (and the fumes) when i was trying to paint the fuselage!!! So i just placed an order to get me some acrylics and Ultimate thinners and cleaners from Helsinki! I ordered some AKAN paints for my I-16 as well.

All the sudden i feel relieved.

Olli

[Opapapa]

And I'm still using acrylic paints!!

Ok... It has been almost a year already... I did lost some mojo with this one and eventually I totally forgot this kit!!! (Seems like the stash has grown too big already...) But, when I noticed this, I decided to finish all my unfinished models before I start a new one. I hope it will stay this way too... But I've decided to tackle this one eventually. Here's the progress so far. I'll have to correct the other mg, because I've somehow managed to flatten it with my fat fingers!

For the fabric wings I will try the AK's ultra matte varnish. Lets see...

[Avgas]

That's looking excellent. I'm just having a go at Eduard's Camel and I wish it looked half as nice as yours!

[Opapapa]

Thanks Avgas! I'll have to get that Camel someday too. These Eduard WW1 kits are a joy to build. I have Eduard's Nieuport 11 and Pfalz D.IIIa in my stash but I won't start them until I have finished few kits...

Olli

[gustavlekstal]

Got to love these ww1 aircrafts! Their thoughts on camo? Pimping? Their planes. Great work on the decaling and interior work. Didn't look easy.

[Avgas]

I have Eduard's Nieuport 11 and Pfalz D.IIIa

Got the same one's myself! I keep opening the boxes and having a look then put them back again...they look so pristine in those bags don't they, then we start them and it all goes to pot from there... .

[Opapapa]

Got to love these ww1 aircrafts! Their thoughts on camo? Pimping? Their planes. Great work on the decaling and interior work. Didn't look easy.

Tackar Gustav! Haha! This "pimping" makes them so special!

they look so pristine in those bags don't they, then we start them and it all goes to pot from there... .

Exactly!


Olli

[rwsmith14]

Looks amazing.. can't wait to see it complete

[Opapapa]

Thanks rwsmith!

Almost there:

My first ever attempt to create a wooden-like propeller with oil colours. Well...















Some bits and bobs still need to be added. I'm not completely pleased with the lozenge camo that came with this kit. For my eyes the overall scheme is too bright.

Thanks for looking!

Olli

[Avgas]

Looks superb.

Can I ask what method you used to fix the top wing on? I'm fine with biplanes, fine with rigging etc but getting the top wing on is pure luck with me. I've had to bin more than one because I can't get the wings aligned which is annoying when you have spent so much time on them.

[Opapapa]

Looks superb.

Can I ask what method you used to fix the top wing on? I'm fine with biplanes, fine with rigging etc but getting the top wing on is pure luck with me. I've had to bin more than one because I can't get the wings aligned which is annoying when you have spent so much time on them.

Thanks Avgas!

I guess I didn't have a method that would work for all biplanes. With this one I simply attached the wing struts on the lower wings and fuselage. Then I put the top wing upside down to the table and glued the struts in position. This way it was easier to locate the correct spots from the upper wing and things went together quite easily. So I simply did the whole thing upside down. But I would imagine that this would not work with more fiddlier Nieuports etc. that have quite tiny upper wing.

I think that I'm going to buy a jig system for biplanes (I remember that some companies makes them) or simply build one myself. I love to build these biplanes but like you said, fixing the top wing can sometimes be quite frustrating.

Olli

[planemaker]

Very nice Olli! Mahtavaa!
Love the wooden propeller and colour scheme. There is something special with the WWI aircraft camoflages.

[Opapapa]

Thanks Sebastian!

[Opapapa]

Ok... I just have to declare this one finished. It took too long... but I enjoyed this kit a lot.







Thanks for looking!

Olli