Eduard 1/72 Albatros D.Va

By Matt Bittner

History

The history of the Albatros D.V/D.Va is vast, too vast for a model preview. There were approximately 2500 built, so the amount of color schemes is numerous. So numerous that one can purchase multiple examples of the Eduard D.Va and not cover them all.

The Kit

The Eduard 1/72nd D.Va is an excellent kit! In fact, I would venture to say this is the best single seat, injected plastic WW1 model. Since this is the "non-profipack" version of the kit, there is only the one fret of injected molded parts, 28 of them in fact.

Comparing the parts to the drawings, this kit is practically spot on accuracy wise. There may be some small discrepancies, but they are too small to truly worry about.

Unfortunately, the worst aspect of this kit is the cockpit. It's obvious Eduard plans on a comprehensive fret of photoetch to compensate in this area. Out of the box some people won't worry about it, but the cockpit is far from being accurate.

Decal schemes are for Vzfw. Jautsch's machine from Jasta 61 and Lt. Max Näther's machine from Jasta 62. None of these machines were covered in lozenge, so those decals aren't supplied. A warning: I have heard and read bad things about the decals coming from the manufacturer of the kit's decals. Before placing on your completed model, I would advise testing one of the decals on a piece of scrap.

Conclusion

While the cockpit could be improved, this is still the best 1/72nd single seat, WW1, injected plastic kit on the market. If you like Albatros aircraft or WW1 aircraft in general, you are doing yourself a disservice by not buying this kit. The more that are bought, the more 1/72nd kits we can expect from Eduard. Equip a Jasta!