Albatros D series

[Jesters-Ink]

Bloody good find JFM, thats why this place is so good, because people like you come in and point us in the right direction. I never would have even thought of checking it myself.
Thank you.

[BLOWHARD]

Thanks JFM, I'm aware of the logo backwards thingy but I haven't really gotten that far yet. That's the logo as it is on the NASM plane as you guessed. I do know the little Albatros head points to the front...if I ever get around to finishing it, that will get fixed...if I remember
Nice photos though, thanks for posting!
And what about that Albatros you have as your avatar? Is that yours? If so, I want to see it

I don't suppose you have any good photos of the second of the two factory plates that are mounted on the left side of the forward fuselage? I have NASM D.Va book and so have a good reproduction of the Albatros ID plate...but that other one??? Does it say Flugzeug-type ot Militar Flugzueg like similar plates on other aircraft?

I never would have even thought of checking it myself.

I would have but it ended up being forgotten in a LONG list of things I need to do on this plane

[gamary]

@JFM: welcome to SPS. It's always nice to have new (and knowledgeable!) opinions in these parts.

[JFM]

Hey,

Thanks for the welcome. I've been aware of this place but lost track of it. Someone pointed to it from another forum so now I've bookmarked it.

You're on the money, Blowhard. Ask and ye shall receive:



The serial number goes in the blank square. D.484/16, in this case, which means this is from an Albatros D.II. On my profiles I usually sneak my signature on this plate.

Yes, that little Albatros avatar is mine, scrunched down to miniature from a full-size profile. I've drawn a zillion of them. But I don't want to be rude and hijack your thread with my planes.

Let me know if you need more photos, etc.

[BLOWHARD]

Thanks JFM! I hadn't gotten around to asking for that plate at the Aerodrome yet. The nice thing is that I've already done that plate for my Halberstadt

Let me know if you need more photos

How about a good photo of the foot step? Any good information showing the correct wood panel and screw/brad locations for the fuselage section under the horizontal tail and tail skid fin? I still don't think I have this correct.
How about the metal fitting on the tail skid that touches the ground?

But I don't want to be rude and hijack your thread with my planes.

It's not rude if I ask you too is it? Or if not here, could you start a thread on them, or at least post a link?
I take it by the "JFM that you're James F. Miller, author and artist? I did think that profile looked familiar!

[JFM]

Hey, BH,

Yes, you got it! Already made one before; excellent. Look better than mine; parts of mine are too white and not metal-looking enough. All my Albs are a bit aged and are in the midst of receiving a major facelift. You know how it is, as time passes one gets better. One major thing I've grown to dislike is my wood; it looks more like pine than birch. Your wood grain looks much more like birch. I think my DVs and DVa fuselages are a bit too beefy, too. They really were streamlined machines.

Okay, here's a pre-facelift D.Va that I drew:



Here, see the piney wood?




(Man, this place shrinks the images.)

Beware that some wing root fillets were made of wood. Just drew some profiles of LVG-built Alb DIIs for Over the Front and all the wing root fillets were wood. Now I'm going back through my archives to see which planes had wood and which had metal to see if I can discern a manufacturing pattern. Of course, this is moot regarding the DV and DVa. In any event, I believe D.1724/16 had wood fillets, I just haven't switched 'em yet. On some DII and DIII photos you can see wood grain on the fillets and extra rows of nails. Also, they'll closely if not exactly match the fuselage wood in color but the metal access hatches, vents, flare tubes, footsteps, etc will be much, much lighter. Sometimes the fillets appear lighter than the fuselage, especially the forward one, but that appears to be due to the different reflections from the different compound surfaces of the fillet and the rounded nose section. See why my Albs need a facelift? Anyway, the research never stops.

Oh, okay, just slapped on some wood fillets. Of course, in a great photo of this machine Schaefer is standing right in front of the forward fillet. Never fails, eh? I need to update the panel lines, etc., but I'll post it here anyway.



I'll go through my photos and see if I can find what you need. I'll be back to post soon, if so.

Yes, I am James F Miller; I'd put that in my signature if I could figure out how to access it! Call me Jim, please, btw. I am a researcher/author (working on book two) but I balk at "artist." Russell Smith is an artist; I just color in line drawings and not nearly as well as most 'round here.

[Jesters-Ink]

"Thanks for the welcome. I've been aware of this place but lost track of it. Someone pointed to it from another forum so now I've bookmarked it."


You're welcome guys

[BLOWHARD]

NICE JIM! Thanks for posting those I did a little digging at the Aerodrome, I thought I recognized your name from over there.
That was just the shot I needed to get back to this project. I've got those (little tiny) plates in and I fixed the Albatros logo. I'm also trying out a new serial from one of your photos. It's hard finding D.V/D.Vas in factory finish. I don't suppose you have other information on 7287 or any other photos?

I also did a little rework on the tail for Ink. I still don't have it right but it's a little better.

[elephant]

Great!
May I ask, what type of font you are using for both tail and wing stencils?
I'm making some skins for Rise of Flight and it would be more than usefull...

[JFM]

In my case, I drew them by hand based on a photograph; I imagine Blowhard did as well. The Albatros serial numbers were hand-painted so although there is a uniform appearance to them, if you compare machines you will see each one is just a little bit different.

Off the top of my head 7287/17 doesn't ring any bells, other than it was from about the middle of the last D.Va production batch ordered in October 1917. With a D.V or D.Va factory photo, what are you looking for specifically? I have a nice shot of a D.V 2004/17 taken at Johannisthal; it's a forward starboard quarter view. Still has the headrest. PM email because this place will shrink it too much. I have a front view of this plane as well, and some various views of a factory fresh, unarmed D.III.