Albatros D series

[BLOWHARD]

Thanks John

horizontal nose plank arrangement

OH HELL! I knew that! I goofed up with the weathering, it has oil soaked in along the vertical panels. I'll have to fix that. The plane itself does have those early panels, it uses the same template I first did those panels on. I feel stupid for missing that.

Thuy's plane is interesting too me, two planes marked the same way? It give a little more credence to the idea that these were part of a factory painted batch, possibly in silver-gray like Udet's plane? Although I have to side with blue or something else since these two planes don't show the silver sheen.
There's one close up of Schleich's plane that shows the tow access panels and the louvers looking much lighter than the cowling panels. I'm not sure what to make of that, although I've tried indicating it with the factory green used on wood fuselaged planes.

You can also see what's left of the rigging diagram. Do those louvers look silver or bare metal to you?
I'm not too sure of the colors of the star either, black and blue, black and gold, blue and gold????
No serial can be seen but It looks like Greg Van has it being D.2034/17. Maybe that comes from flight records?

No matter what, it's quite a striking personal paint scheme!

[BLOWHARD]

I finally got around to doing that silly ASI and the flair rack! I think it's finished unless I pick up some new color info-

And now some fun, a nod to the old classic Profile Publications version, the one I stared at for hours on end at the local library when I was a youngster-

And quicky in the Old Rhinebeck colors-

[GiantFlyingRobots]

Looking at the photo above, I wonder if the green line under the flare box is a little more curved than in your in your profile. Either that or the box doesn't run square with the line. I know they are ridiculously minor and pedantic points, but you've come this far.

[inkworm]

Works a treat, really need to go back and sort out my poor efforts on this aircraft if I ever get 30 spare seconds.

[Mangas]

Dave, amazing work.
The only thing I'm not sure of is the lion (or whatever beast) emblem -- it looks kinda 2D plain (flat)... I had the same problem with Hinomarus on IJA/IJN fuselages... (That's seems to be a common flaw since most of us make markings layers top of 3D shades... ) Maybe add a little dark area on it's lower part & a little highlight on it's upper part (so that it gets together well with main fuselage highlight line)?
Another option is to overlay it & duplicate 2-3 times and tune the colors afterwards...

[Supah]

(That's seems to be a common flaw since most of us make markings layers top of 3D shades... )

Eh ... no?

[Mangas]

Eh ... no?

No, not me. (Not anymore... )

[GrubbyFingers]

Beautiful, beautiful work, Dave.

[Vuk]

Superb work, Blowhard!
Just a question regarding the Old Rhinebeck: are these guys made a mistake while restoring this bird or what?

[BLOWHARD]

You're 100% correct GFR. I was looking at it just before shutting down last night and noticed that. The poor haphazard line on the real plane is a little too uniform on mine!

Also good catch Mangas. I did a lot of work on shading the fuselage cross but I skipped the lion thing. I'll fix that.

Hey Vuk, that isn't a restored plane, it's a replica. Most of it's structure is pretty accurate from what I've read, except for the engine, cowling and propeller. that's a more modern engine, I think a Ranger. The fin and rudder are probably reshapped for the new engine mounting, it's definitely a different shape than on real D.Vs. The markings are loosely based very old research made from only a few photos. Since that research, I think done in the 1960s, more and better photos have surfaced and a whole lot more is known about that plane's markings. The colors can be debated but it is certain that the fuselage and fin were painted, not natural wood and white. The very dark green is based poor research made in earlier restorations. On top of that, as far as Rhinebeck is concerned, they might be more interested in a certain look that has more to do with what they feel their audience would like to see rather than being accurate, but that's just a guess on my part.
Here are some photos of the real plane, you'll notice that liberties were taken with the lion emblem too-



Just looking, I see there are two different versions of the windscreen, there is a rear view mirror in one and the spotting scope is different from mine, but not in the other photos at all. Hmmmm....