WWI Albatros DIII - 2

This is a 1/300 scale Albatros DIII that I use for playing Blue Max . It is from Irregular Miniatures 6mm World War I Aircraft range and has the code GWP15. The model itself is only about 2.5cm (1 inch) in length. I painted it in the colour scheme of an Albatros DIII flown by Ltn Hermann Frommherz of Jasta 2 Boelcke in 1917. (source - Norman Franks, Albatros Aces of World War 1 - Osprey Aircraft of the Aces No. 53, 2001). He dubbed this aircraft Blaue Maus ('Blue Mouse'). Hermann Frommherz was credited with 32 victories. He survived the war and died in 1964.

Once again I used 1/285 scale decals. On this particular aircraft I also had to draw in the tiny cross on the tail fin with a black micropen.

I had to do a lot of preparation work prior to painting these miniature aircraft. Most of the surface area of the model was rough and irregular and needed filing with a needle file to smooth it down. I filed off the static propellers as I wanted to achieve an 'in flight' effect. To achieve this I punched out a small circle of clear plastic with a hole punch and attached it to the front of the plane with a cut-off pin head. The only other modification I made on the Albatross DIII was to to extend the elevators on the tail to the appropriate length and shape with Milliput.

The Albatros DIII was a single-seat fighter employed by the Germans in WWI from the spring of 1917. You can click on the image for a closer view.