Dragon's 1/48 scale
Fokker Dr.I

by Scott Lyle

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One of the most famous fighters in the history of aviation, the Fokker Dr.I Dreidecker (Triplane), actually had a fairly brief and troubled career.  Designed in response to the highly maneuverable British Sopwith Triplane, the Dr.I debuted in early September 1917 and its maneuverability and rapid climbing ability soon made it a popular aircraft.  In late October however two pilots were killed when their Fokkers suffered catastrophic wing failures in midair, resulting in the grounding of the triplane fleet.  By the time Fokker had corrected the problem, a gloomy pall was cast over the design in the eyes of German pilots, and large scale orders were never issued.  Production ended in March 1918 with only 320 being built.

Despite its somewhat star-crossed service record, the Dr. I will always be remembered as the mount of one of the most famous fighter pilots of all time, Manfred von Richthofen, the “Red Baron”.

This is Dragon kit number 5903.

Construction of the DML kit was very smooth and rapid.  The cockpit went together easily, and I painted it in olive drab tones per the kit’s instructions.  The instruments, rudder pedals, and control stick were picked out by hand, and the kit-provided photo-etch seat belts provided a nice touch.  Construction proceeded quickly, as can be typical for such a small model.  Seam cleanup was minimal, and the seams aren’t very long at any rate! 

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Since I was going to be painting the all-red scheme of the Red Baron, I decided to assemble as much of the model as I could.  One nice thing about the triplane was the scarcity of rigging wires – if you want to build a World War One fighter but are dreading the rigging, you can’t go wrong with this one!  With the wheels, tail, prop and machine guns left off, I masked the cockpit with Tamiya tape and headed for the airbrush booth.

Painting

After a primer coat of Mr. Surfacer 1000 was sprayed on the whole aircraft, I sprayed Testor's Acrylic Insignia Red all over the entire aircraft and the hubs of the wheels.  I sprayed the tail Testor's White, and once everything was dry I sprayed Future all over in preparation for the decals. 

The tires were brush-painted Testors Panzer Gray, and then dry-brushed Testor's Neutral Gray. 

The machine guns and the exposed part of the engine were brush-painted Tamiya NATO Black, and then dry-brushed Testor's Steel. 

The prop was painted Testo'rs Wood, followed by some wood grain-simulating streaks in Testor's Leather, followed by a final coat of Tamiya Clear Orange.  The prop hub was picked out in Testors Steel.

Markings & Weathering

I used the kit decals with Walthers Solvaset and had no problems with them.  Next up was an airbrushed coat of Testor's Semi-Gloss to seal the decals and begin toning down the high gloss surface.

Using a small brush I applied a thin wash of 50/50 Lamp Black/Raw Umber to accentuate the features around the cowling and the edges of the flaps.  I then airbrushed a very then mix of the same mix around the flaps, wheels, where the wings and stabilizers meet the fuselage, and especially around the engine and cowling to add a bit more grime to the model.  I added some very subtle paint scuffs around the cockpit using some Testors Radome Tan, and some very subtle paint chips around the nose cowling using a Silver pencil.  My final step was to mist on a bit of Tamiya Desert Yellow around the wheels and rear skid to simulate some dust and dirt.

I have finished two of DML’s currently out-of-production WW1 fighters and have found both to be excellent.  This was one of the fastest builds I’ve had in a while, though some of that is due to the simplicity of the red paint scheme.  Progressing along my list of top fifty fighters of all time, next up is the last WW1 bird on the list – the Fokker D.VII.

References

-  Osprey Publications, Aircraft of the Aces #40, “Fokker Dr.I Aces of World War 1”
-  Squadron/Signal Publications, Aircraft in Action #98, “Fokker Dr.I in Action”
-  Wikipedia, the Online Encyclopedia

Model, Images and Text Copyright © 2008 by Scott Lyle
Page Created 4 February, 2008
Last Updated 4 February, 2008

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