HISTORICAL MINIATURES BY GEORGE GRASSE
WORLD WAR 1 AIRCRAFT IN 1:48 SCALE

 

ALBATROS C.X C.9289/16, FA 18, 1917

by George Grasse

JAGER MINIATURES 1:48 SCALE LIMITED EDITION RESIN KIT JMJA03 OF THE ALBATROS C.X

 
UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #1
14 March 2009
OVERALL VIEW FUSELAGE , PROPELLER, AND COCKPIT DETAILS.  THE GRAY COLOR IS PRIMER.

 

UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #2
14 March 2009
FUSELAGE WITH LOWER WINGS AND TAIL ATTACHED.  THE WIRE FROM THE REAR OF THE ENGINE IS THE RADIATOR RETURN LINE.  THE BEIGE COLOR IS THE BARE RESIN.
 
 
UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #3
14 March 2009

HAND-PAINTED PROPELLER AND A DIM VIEW OF THE COCKPIT INTERIOR.
 
 
 
UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #4
28 March 2009

MUCH MORE DETAIL ADDED.  ENGINE HAS A BASE COAT OF A PRE-MIX OF ACRYLIC GLOSS BLACK AND GUN-METAL BLUE.  CABANE TRESTLE IN PLACE WITH WIRE ATTACHMENT "TURNBUCKLES".  FUSELAGE HAS A BASE COAT OF ACRYLIC OCHRE.
 
 
UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #5
28 March 2009

SIDE-VIEW OF WORK TO DATE SHOWN IN PHOTO 4. SPINNER IS PAINTED IN THE SAME COLOR AS THE ENGINE.  A FINISHED COAT OF CAMOUFLAGE GREEN WILL COVER IT AND THEN BE RUBBED DOWN TO EXPOSE "BARE METAL".  LANDING GEAR WAS BUILT USING THE KIT'S WHITE METAL COMPONENTS WHICH ARE WOBBLY.  I PREFER MY OWN SOLDERED BRASS BUT FOR SOME REASON I DIDN'T DO IT HERE.  THE FUSELAGE AND VERTICAL FIN WILL HAVE A COLORED PENCIL FINISH TO SIMULATE WOOD GRAIN.  INSTALLATION OF CONTROL HORNS ON ELEVATORS.
 
 
UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #6
16 April 2009

WOOD GRAIN FINISH HAS BEEN APPLIED USING A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT COLORED PENCILS AND RUBBING IT DOWN WITH NATURAL OIL FROM THE FINGERS AND THE WAX IN THE PENCILS.
 
 
UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #7
6 April 2009

MORE OF THE WOOD GRAIN FINISH FROM THE OTHER SIDE.
 
 
UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #8
6 April 2009

DECALS APPLIED TO THE FUSELAGE.  I USED THE KIT'S EISERNE KREUZ ON THE FUSELAGE AND RUDDER BUT MADE MY OWN DECALS FOR THE WEIGHT TABLE AND SERIAL NUMBER.  NOTE THE TAIL UNIT AND THE APPLICATION OF TWO OF THE THREE COLORS IN THE SUMMER 1916 "THREE-COLOR" CAMOUFLAGE SCHEME DIRECTED BY IDFLIEG.  IN THIS CASE DARK AND LIGHT GREEN.
 
 
UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #9
6 April 2009

DECALS APPLIED TO THE FUSELAGE.  I USED THE KIT'S EISERNE KREUZ ON THE FUSELAGE AND RUDDER BUT MADE MY OWN DECALS FOR THE WEIGHT TABLE AND SERIAL NUMBER.  NOTE THE TAIL UNIT AND THE APPLICATION OF TWO OF THE THREE COLORS IN THE SUMMER 1916 "THREE-COLOR" CAMOUFLAGE SCHEME DIRECTED BY IDFLIEG.  IN THIS CASE DARK AND LIGHT GREEN.
 
 
UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #10
6 April 2009

SAME STAGE AS PHOTO 9, DIFFERENT ANGLE.
 
 
UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #11
3 June 2009

ALMOST DONE.  MOSTLY SMALL DETAILS NOW.  NOTE THAT THE FLARE PISTOL AND THE SMALL RADIATOR EXPANSION TANK HAVEN'T BEEN PAINTED AND AILERON WIRES ARE NOT INSTALLED.  NOTE THE CUSTOM-MADE SERIAL NUMBER FOR THIS FLIEGER-ABTEILUNG 18 AIRCRAFT.
 
 
UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #12
14 June 2009

THE FINISHED PRODUCT: ALBATROS C.X C.9289/16, FLIEGER-ABTEILUNG 18, EARLY SUMMER 1918, FLOWN BY LTN D. R. JOHANNES BÖHM (Flugzeugführer) AND LTN D. R. JOHANNES WOLLENHAUPT (Beobachter).
 
 
This 1:48 scale model is based on photos 12 and 13 appearing in Albatros C.X Windsock Datafile 114 by P. M. Grosz, page 5.1  This aircraft was shot up and forced to land near La Bellevue, France, on 12 July 1917 by Captain Noel William Ward Webb of RFC No.70 Squadron flying Sopwith Camel F.1 B3756.2  The Albatros C.X C.9289/16 of FA 18 was captured intact and assigned the RFC number G.51.  The pilot, Ltn d. R. Johannes Böhm, died of his wounds but the observer, Ltn d. R. Johannes Wollenhaupt survived as a POW.3
 
This Albatros C.X was from the fourth production order of November 1916 for 100 aircraft (C.9206-9305/16) built by the Ostdeutsche Albatros Werke (OAW) in Schneidemühl, West Pomerania, Germany (renamed Pila, northwestern Poland).  By the end of the 19th century the city had become one of the most important railway centers of the region, one of the largest towns in Posen Province, and an important Prussian military city. 

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Bibliography:

1 Grosz, P. M. Albatros C.X, Windsock Datafile 114, "Colours & Markings" section by Ray Rimmel, color profiles by Bob Pearson, scale drawings by Martin Digmayer, Albatros Publications Ltd, Berkhamsted, UK, 2005.

2 Shores, Christopher; Franks, Norman; and Guest, Russell.  Above the Trenches, Grub Street, London, reprinted 1996.

3 Franks, Norman; Bailey Frank; and Duiven, Rick.  Casualties of the German Air Service 1914-1920, Grub Street, London, 1999.

 

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