A wonderful entry, Eric @eb801
For sure you will get the rigging done nicely.
Looking forward to it.

Here's the box o styrene

Good choice.

@johnb, spiros@fiveten, @j-healy:

From what I've gathered, Gavia is a Czech Model company (or was) that started up in the early 2000's about the same time as Eduard. Eduard made the PE frets included in this kit beginning in 2001 but my kit is marked 2007 and so is the Eduard PE fret. The color instructions, decals and plastic is very much Eduard and high quality. I can't tell if Gavia still functioning as their last kit seems to have been produced in 2009. There is still a Gavia website out there that looks like it has not been updated since 2005 and may be currently running on automatic. https://www.gavia.cz/en/index_en.htm Eduard re-popped many of Gavia's kits under their own boxing when they first began producing model kits. I picked this one up at a model show last year and the vendor said Gavia models are now "collectible", but don't they all say that?

"Biplanes are evil"? As in "too scary to build"?, George @gblair.

After a little more research and reading what's stamped on the sprue trees, this really is an Eduard kit after all, issued under the Gavia label. What Gavia did was use two sprues from Eduard's 2001 Albatros D. II kit adding a 3rd small sprue tree containing the upper fuselage wing brace that only the D.I used. It was mounted right in front of the pilots field of vision thus obscuring the forward view and gathered lots of complaints. After the initial 50 D. I's prototypes were produced and flown in combat, the braces were modified resulting in the D. II. which became the standard production model with further modifications and variants to follow.

I started reading some build logs and I gather this is not going to be a breeze to complete but I am looking forward to it.

Paul@yellow10: Are you saying you tried three Gavia kits? What difficulties did you encounter? What should I be looking for?

Gavia was Eduard's "overtrees" company.