Luedemann resin 1/72 Albatros B.I (Phönix)

The Plane

The Albatros B.II, although quite usual in appearance – box-like, slab-sided fuselage and straight, rectangular wings – deserves some respect. Why? Not only because it was the main workhorse of the German aviation in the early stages of the Great War (and the main trainer till the very end of the war), but also because it was the grandfather of the whole family of famous Albatros planes, probably the most widespread in WWI German aviation.

Basic construction of this airframe – plywood fuselage and wooden, fabric covered wings – was used in virtually all "Albies" during the whole war: B.I and II were almost identical, C.I was in fact B armed with the gun and bombs, then came very popular (and similar!!!) C.III, later C.V, C.XII, C.XV (a bit more sophisticated, but in fact the same plywood fuselage, only a bit more streamlined). Also sucessfull D.I-V fighters family had the same basic fuselage construction, and D.I-II had even very similar wing cellule (though, of course, single-bay one).

This airplane is also some kind of a symbol of success of the German aviation industry – widely used as early as 1914, had a shape of the normal, "modern" biplane. At the same time French and British airforces used mostly strange-looking, fragile pushers, more similar to Wright's "Flyer" than to a "real" airplane.

Now I'll solve the puzzle as to why I'm writing about Albatros B.II in the review of the Albatros B.I kit: Albatros B.I (Phonix) is Austro-Hungarian built version of German Albatros B.II. Austrians strengthened the airframe, made the plane a bit bigger, and equipped it with stronger engine (145 h.p. instead of 100-120). Airplane was used for virtually every tasks, from rec and artillery spotting missions, to bombing, liason and finally for training, when more modern planes replaced B.I in frontline units in Spring 1916. B.I (Ph). is also famous from the first aerial victory scored on the Italian Front. 13th September 1915 Polish observer, Oberleutnant Roman Florer, shot down with Mauser pistol an Italian Farman.

The kit

Typically for Luedemann, the kit is packed in plastic bag with no trace of decals, and the only thing which is not resin-cast in this set is a xeroxed piece of paper with basic general drawings of the airplane. The rest is the resin. My kit parts came in two colours – as you can see on the photos, some parts are green, and some are ivory-coloured.

The big parts are very good: casting is flawless, and details, especially on the outer surfaces of the fuselage are simply excellent - smallest rivets on the engine cowling are even and crisp, also wing surfaces have beautiful ribs and properly thin trailing edges. The only problem can be with the fuselage interior – there is no trace of the internal structure on the fuselage halves, and walls are very thick and uneven, so modeler will have to work a lot thinning them (I suggest dentist-like motor-tool and good vacuum-cleaner to remove the tons of created dust).

Majority of the smaller parts area bit less perfect – as you can see on the photos, there are some single air-bubbles and a lot of flash, but average experienced modeler won't have any problem with filling and sanding them. Also some smaller parts, especially the cockpit interior, are somewhat "generic" and simplified, so more demanding modellers will probably choose to replace some details with aftertmarket or scratchbuilt parts.

Conclusion

This kit is a very good and dependable starting point to build very good model of this important aircraft. Main components, like wings and fuselage, are excellent in quality and accuracy and don't need corrections, but definitely a lot of work and skill is necessary in detailing the model. Also there is a need to look for some proper decals. So: not for the beginner, but the more experienced modeller will be very happy with this kit.