Unarmed Fokker Dr.1 Trainer: 1/28 Revell Fokker Dr.1 Triplane

Hi, everyone. I built this model for the "The Great War: A Tribute to Those Who Served" Group. I don't build biplanes, so my first contribution to the group was an armored car. When the ground machine was done, I thought I might take a swing at something with more than one wing. I have been dragging this ancient Revell triplane kit around forever, so I thought it might be a good opportunity to build something with more than one wing. It was a large model with limited rigging, so my chance of success was approaching 50%. The model is fairly primitive, so this gave me a chance to try my limited 3D design and printing skills to produce some extra detail for the plane. I also found some 3D print files online for an engine, a new cowling, a new front deck for the fuselage, and some small parts. I designed all of the markings and used my wife's cutting machine to cut stencils.

I had been doing some reading about the Dr.1 and came across a photo of an unarmed, early Dr.1, that was used as a trainer for new pilots. I really like the markings and the fact that an unarmed plane was obviously different than most of the triplanes that you see. I couldn't find any photos that clearly showed what the upper fuselage looked like after they removed the guns. In fact, I could find only 2 photos of this unarmed trainer. Without any clear guidance, I created an upper deck that hopefully makes sense. Early in the build I discovered that the ailerons on the upper wing were not the same. I did some research and discovered that the first few triplanes that were built had these asymmetric ailerons, and then symmetric ailerons were used on all later planes. It made sense to me that this trainer might be an early triplane, retired, and turned into a trainer. I decided to leave the ailerons as they were. I also discovered that many of these triplanes had their painted ID info covered over when the planes were repainted, so I decided to leave the kit decals off. The decals were really ancient and I didn't really trust them.

I started the painting by spraying the light blue bottom, followed by Tamiya Deck Tan on the upper surfaces to simulate the linen covering. I used Olive Green artist oils and Turpenoid to create the camo. Once it was all dry, I used masks to create all of the markings. Very thin piano wire was used for the limited rigging. I found the whole rigging process to be frustrating, but there wasn't much of it, so I survived.

I hope those of you who are wise in the ways of WW1 planes will forgive the many inaccuracies in this model. I had fun with this build and think it came out OK, but I can't claim that it is very accurate. If you want more info on the build, please stop by the build log in the Great War group. Cheers everyone.

13 additional images. Click to enlarge.