Box Top
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Overview
This is the latest release in Eduard's series of "Profipack" kits (#8097), and is great for modelers who want an extra level of detail in their kits.
The Albatros D.III was one of the best German fighters of WWI, with the first orders being placed in October 1916, and final production not halted until early 1918, even running in parallel with the D.V, its supposed successor. The design largely followed on from earlier types, built around the Mercedes D.III 160HP engine, but with a lot of changes brought about by the designers admiration of captured Nieuport sesquiplanes (1½ wings). The type proved popular with pilots and by April 1917 accounted for almost half of German fighters at the front. A veritable Who's Who of German pilots flew and killed in the type at some point in their career. All in all over 1300 were built.
The Kit
The kit itself comes in 2 of the usual tan coloured sprues, a large decal sheeet, a very detailed PE sheet and an express mask sheet. There is a large, coloured, glossy instructions sheet. The sprues are are crisply molded with a lot of detail, and are the from the same molds as other boxings of the aircraft. There are no obvious sink or injection pin marks on visible areas. The ones that are inside the fuselage can easily be dealt with, and will need to be in order for cockpit and engine parts to fit.
Fuselage interior
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Sprue A contains the fuselage halves and an upper wing with the radiator offset slightly to the right. This was for later aircraft, and the instructions specify which marking options should have it.
Sprue B contains the wings two types of rudder, but all options here used the earlier, squarer one. The upper wing with the radiator in the center will be the one used on 4 of the 5 options.
Note that the tubing from the radiator to the engine is not included in the kit and if you intend to scratch-build it, be aware of the reason that the radiators was moved on the original aircraft. The tubing got in the way of the pilots' vision, particularly when aiming the guns. It will get very crowded in that small space!
Instructions
The instructions are glossy and so large as to fill the box. The drawings are big and clear, and are detailed in where the PE goes along with the plastic parts and decals, which is especially tricky on the interior.
Th first two pages deal with the interior, engine and fuselage assemblies. The third page handles the wings and undercarriage, and the final page the elevator control horns, propeller, spinner and exhaust, and also contains the rigging diagram.
PE Fret
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The last page calls for drilling holes in the elevator, but I would drill these before I start the whole project, as I do for the rigging holes. It calls for 0.4mm diameter holes to be drilled to hold the control horns, and that corresponds to 0.016" or drill size #78.
Markings
Five marking options are provided. Although none for the more well-known characters to have flown the type, and in all honesty have been kitted numerous times already, each option has its own story and any of them would be a colourful addition to any WWI collection. There are 3 with predominantly beautiful Albatros wooden fuselages, giving the modeler a chance to show of his/her painting techniques and there are two more colourful choices, including 1 with an uncertain colour scheme, freely discussed in the instructions.
Decal sheet
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All share the three-colour wing upper surface camoflage scheme of the D.III and light blue under surfaces, with grey-green metallic parts. Although not specifially mentioned in the instructions, struts also left the factory painted grey-green.
The back page has a diagram showing the positions of the painting masks, and on which parts they should be used.
Conclusion
This is another beautiful addition to the range of Profipack WWI kits available from Eduard. The instructions are clear as is the rigging diagram, and will allow a modeler to build a very detailed kit with the supplied parts. The marking options given are fresh uncommon choices, with colour schemes which will look excellent in any display stand.
Thanks to Eduard for the review sample.