Rudolf Berthold, JG2, 1918

This was another of my “shelf of doom” models that I’d started at least 15 years ago. What stopped me then was a lack of lozenge decals and my inability to paint them.

The Subject

If you know very little about World War I aircraft, you probably know about the Fokker DVII. For many years, as a young boy, I thought all German aircraft from the war were Fokkers, the British flew Camels, the French Nieuports and the Americans flew Spads. Of course as I got older, did a bit reading of real history I quickly realized that not only were there many, many more aircraft, but also more belligerents.

Until a few months ago, when I decided to finish this diminutive model on my shelf of doom, I thought there was only one kind of DVII. I’ve since found that at least 3 variants existed, the major external differences being the engine and cowling. I’m not sure which variant this kit is supposed to represent, as I don’t have much for reference materials for World War I other than the internet.

I did find quickly the pilot, Rudolf Berthold finished the war with 44 kills, but died during a mob uprising in 1920 (he was their leader).

The Model

This is an old kit, but I’m not sure how old certainly before 1980. It is NOT the Revell kit, while similar is not laid out the same on the sprue. I purchased the Revell kit assuming it was the same only to be disappointed. The ESCI kit is much nicer in terms of surface detail and appears much easier to assemble.

The kit went together very easily. As I noted above, I stalled when I realized I didn’t have lozenge decals and didn’t have the ability to paint them. So I waited…still not having the ability to paint lozenge I finally purchased a sheet from Aeromaster. I got the day, 4 color scheme. I botched them.

Try as I might the lozenge decals gave me fits. Either my setting solutions were too strong, or too weak. Eventually I was able to get it all on, and touched up some spots and out of frustration called it “done.” Then I went to pull the kit decals from the “WWI German” folder and…you guessed it, nothing. No idea what happened to them so I went to my stash and opened up the other ESCI DVII and…no decals!?

My problem is that I’m an organizer. Not a good one, but I have a folder in my cabinet for every aircraft I want to model. In that folder I keep instruction sheets, decals (in ziplock bags), notes you name it. My WWI folder for German aircraft has all the above but absolutely no decals. The only other place I keep decals are in the original boxes, sealed. So when I searched around and realized my Revell DVII was still sealed, I realized I might have workable decals.

The good news is that yes, I had decals, the bad news being they were terribly off register. So I searched about and found some German crosses in other kits that would work, and used the Berthold eagle from the Revell kit. Crisis averted but significantly more work on decals than I’d wanted.

Summary

When next I’m in the mood for a World War I subject, I may break out my Revell and ESCI kits and finish my Fokker DVII builds. Of course, I need to find some adequate decals, and unfortunately I know now that variations exist. So…I’m likely to look for the Eduard or Roden kits and never finish my easy to make older kits. Unless of course that I forget about the minor detail of variations.

Thanks for looking…