Albatros D.II, D.II Oeffag and D.III

Roden

Roden's 1/72 scale Albatros D.II and III Kits are available online from Squadron.com

Reviewed by Robert Baumgartner

Contents

Roden continue with their Albatros fighter series with three more welcome additions to the family. As indicated by the previous release of the D.I, common sprues are the order of the day. While this leads to a cheaper product because of the reduced tooling costs, it does make assembly a bit trickier. Each kit contains over 65 well-moulded parts with the sprues distributed as follows:

• Albatros D.II, sprues D. B. A. C. Z.

• Albatros D.II Oeffag, sprues F. B. A. C. W.

• Albatros D.III, sprues D. E. A. C. Z.

Lets take each kit in turn:

As expected the sprues are unchanged from the Albatros D.I kit. Sprue Z contains our engine selection as well as the machine guns. These are beautifully moulded and of course are used for both this and the D.III kit. Sprue B supplies both the upper and lower wings. The trailing edges on these parts are very thin and the surface exhibits subtle rib detail. The top wing is in three pieces and although this looks troublesome, the fit is almost flawless. The separate center section gives you a choice of doing either the early version with the Windhoff radiators or late version with the wing-mounted Teeves and Braun radiator. If choosing the former, small sink marks will have to be filled.

Click thumbnails below to view larger images:

The fuselage halves match the plans perfectly, which surprised me because an early example of this sprue in the D.I kit showed this part to be slightly short in depth. I checked the original sprue many times to make absolutely sure that this was the case. Inside the halves there is a delicate representation of the interior structure. There are many details moulded onto these parts to accommodate the different variants and those that do not apply are to be removed by the builder. This is clearly indicated in the instruction sheet.

Sprue C. contains the many struts and these are superbly thin and as near to scale as possible. Naturally great care must be used when removing these.

Roden always keep the spares box full due to the commonality of sprues between kits. Thus we have extra propellers, exhaust, engine, machine guns, struts and wheels. The interior of all three kits comprises a seat, control column, rudder bar, and handgrip. There is a lot more that can be added by the modeller here, and consulting your favourite reference material is advised.

Marking Options

An astounding nine examples are offered.

Alb. DII, 491/16 Jasta 2, Autumn 1916 flown by Ltn. Manfred Frhr. Von Richthofen.
There is a lot of controversy regarding this machine. Some sources state that this should be 481/16. Also note that three different photos show that the spinner is not the same colour as the engine panels, the former looking more like natural metal (a replacement?). As with the other options, there is also debate as to the validity of the three colour top surfaces on the D.II. Some may choose conventional wisdom and select a dark green/chestnut combination.

1. Alb.DII, 1717/16 Jasta 14, 1917 flown by Oblt. Rudolph Berthold.

2. Alb.DII, 1782/16 1916 unknown pilot and unit. Skull on fuselage band.

3. Alb.D.II, 1753/16 flown by Godwin Brumowski training with Jasta 24. This pilot also flew Alb.D.II 1769/16 while with Jasta 24.

4. Alb.D.II, Fl.Abt.21 flown by Ltn. Knappe. Vzfw. Richard Scholz also used this machine occasionally. Note that apart from a circular mirror that was added to the top wing, there was also a downward pointing flare tube below the cockpit on the starboard side.

5. Alb.D.II, 910/16 Jasta 5 flown by Lt. Max Boehme 1917. A much-photographed machine, it is clear that the upper surface colours progress to the fuselage and end with the sky blue undersides. Many will question the tri-colour scheme here, and the red band in front of the tail assembly appears incorrect, the red/green tails emerging after Jasta 5 switched to the D.III. Roden have missed the repeating of the “8” in black on the underside of the fuselage.

6. Alb.D.II, 1724/16 Kampfstaffel 11, Kamfgeschwader 2, late 1916 flown by Ltn. Karl Emil Schaefer. The wheel covers are believed to be white here. The instructions also miss the painted out white cross-fields on the top of the wing. These being quite discernable in the photo in darker prints of this aircraft. On the port side of the fuselage, there should be a flare rack and a downward pointing flare tube.

7. Alb.D.II, Oblt. Stephen Kirmaier Jasta 2 1916

8. Alb.D.II, Hptm. Oswald Boelcke Jasta 2.

Two new sprues grace this kit to allow the building of this license built version. Naturally a new sprue is required for the Austro-Daimler engine. Three engine halves are provided, the extra piece being for the upcoming Albatross D.III Oeffag kits that need the different intake manifold on the 153 and 253 series of aircraft.

Click thumbnails below to view larger images:

Sprue F	Sprue W

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Apart from the aforementioned sprue W, we have sprue F. This contains the correct larger exhaust, new propeller and revised fuselage forward section. Thoughtfully, Roden even supply the engine hood, which was seen on some examples. Again, we find very little discrepancy when comparing the kits parts with published drawings.

Marking Options

1. Alb.D.II (Oeffag), 53.03 Flik 14 flown by Fw. Rudolf Lonstak 1917.

2. Alb.D.II (Oeffag), 53.11 Flik 3D flown by Oblt. Rudolf von Szepessy-Sokol 1917. On the 20 September 1917, the pilot shot down a Russian Nieuport two-seater in this aircraft.

3. Alb.D.II (Oeffag), 53.08 Flik 22D 1917.

4. Alb.D.II (Oeffag), 53.02 Flik 24 flown by Fw. Julius Kowalczik 1917. Kowalczik used this plane to shoot down a Caudron while it was on a reconnaissance mission. This was also the first victory for this aircraft type

5. Alb.D.II (Oeffag), 53.05 Flik 25 flown by Kpl. Rudolf Blass 1917. Note that this aircraft carried an anemometer on the right front wing strut.

6. Alb. D.II (Oeffag), A-62 (ex 53.05) flown by Zdenek Lhota 1922. The Falco Company of which Lhota was a joint owner flew this aircraft at air shows.

The only difference between this, and the Albatross D. II kit is a new pair of wings. This is found on sprue E. Once again we are blessed with very thin trailing edges and beautifully restrained rib detail. Despite the finesse of the wings Roden have managed to provide the modeller with a superb rendition of washout that was so obvious on this range of fighters.

Eagle eyed viewers will recognize an additional set of separate scalloped ailerons to be used on the upcoming series 253 Albatros D. III. And yes, they also contain washout. The upper wing is once again in three parts to allow for the selection of the different positioning of radiators that were applicable to early and late versions of this fighter.

While comparison with plans show an almost perfect match, the fastidious may want to round off the lower wing outboard leading edge slightly. The previously mentioned sprue C gives the distinctive rudder seen on OAW built machines.

Marking Options

Another huge number of options offered:

1. Alb.D.III, Jasta 14 flown by Oblt. Rudolf Berthold, 1917.

2. Alb.D.III, Jasta 11 flown by Lt. Karl Allmenroeder, 1917. The upper wing colours are more likely tri-colour scheme of “light Brunswick green, Venetian red and dark olive green”, than the dark green/purple combination quoted in the instructions.

3. Alb.D.III Jasta 11 flown by Lt. Karl Schaefer, 1917.

4. Alb.D.III Jasta 11 flown by Lt. Lothar von Richthofen, 1917. Other sources suggest the tri-colour upper wing pattern with a darker than usual stained fuselage. This aircraft was a “hand me down” from his brother Manfred.

5. Alb.D.III Jasta 11 flown by Lt. Manfred von Richthofen, 1917. Note that the Albatros logo on the tail was not applied over the red, rather the red painted around the masked off logo. Thus there should be a square of varnished wood on which it sits. This aircraft would later also have its wings painted red.

6. Alb.D.III (OAW) Armee Abteilung B 1917.

7. Alb.D.III 2096/16 captured by the French 1917.

8. Alb.D.III Jasta 26 flown by Lt. Bruno Loerzer 1917.

9. Alb.D.III, Jasta 10 flown by Oblt. Erich Loewenhardt 1917.

10. Alb.D.III, Jasta 2 flown by Lt. Werner Voss 1917. More likely this had the tri-colour upper wing surface scheme.

11. Alb.D.III, Jasta 30 flown by Lt. Joachim von Bertrab 1917.

These latest releases from Roden add to what is becoming the most complete family of Albatros fighters produced. As usual, the research that has gone into these kits is first class.

It’s a pity that the different fuselage parts couldn’t have been made in one piece per half per their Fokker D.VII releases. The result is that the fit of the nose and engine panels is not easy. Once this is overcome, however, the rest of the assembly is plain sailing and the final result is one to please any modeller.

Recommended.

Thanks to Squadron.com for the review sample.

Review and Images Copyright © 2002 by Robert Baumgartner
Page Created 21 May, 2002
Last updated 22 July, 2003

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