You'd think decal manufacturers
would be falling over themselves producing decals for
this very cool Dr. I. There have been a few, mostly in
the larger more optically challenged scales but in 1/72
there have been only two that I know of; one underscale
and very limited run sheet by Americal Gryphon many years
ago and one laughable Superscale example. That's it. I
grew tired of waiting for someone to come out with these
so I produced my own decals for it (see the Construction
page for details). I may have to bite the bullet and produce
these as screen printed decals under my own Thunderbird
Models brand.
The Eduard kit is very
nice, needing only extra detailing and some refinement
of struts etc. This, along with their Albatros
and Nieuport
kits, was produced back in the day when Eduard seemed
to know what fabric covered flying surfaces actually looked
like, unlike the abominations in their 1/72 Avia B.534
and 1/48 Siemens Shuckert D.III kits. Even the recent
SE5a, though much improved, still has overstated stitching
on the wings that I find disappointing from a company
that was one of the early pioneers of WWI modelling. It's
easy enough to sand down, but should I have to? Wingnut
Wings absolutely nailed the fabric surfaces in their Sopwith
Camel kits (indeed, in all of their kits!) with
subtle representations of the stitching underneath the
fabric tapes, unlike Eduard who seem to think the fabric
is stitched on with rope on top of the fabric
tapes! Rant over. For now....
Hey ho, back to reality.
Paint is black, from the exclusive Humbrol collection.
The prop is carved from wood as usual, in this case cut
down and reshaped from a long-defunct Revell Sopwith Triplane.
The Clerget engine is from Small Stuff Models, and I very
nearly went blind and mad assembling it but am very happy
with the result, once the medication kicks in anyway.
Guns are from the ever
useful Tom's Modelworks photo etched set, as is the prop
boss.
The Clerget engine and
Sopwith Camel prop gives Jacobs' Dr. I a very different
and distinctive look.
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