Fokker D.II D.560_15 (8253) SO4038 Page

The Fokker D.II to be Built

The model to be built is Fokker D.II D.540/16 flown by Ltn Otto Kissenberth, Jasta 16, late 1916. The German Aviation Inspectorate (Idflieg) originally specified a two-color dark green and red brown color scheme early in 1916. This was changed to avoid a similar scheme adopted by the French; so, a third color, light green, was added. Most German airplane manufacturer understood the new requirement but Fokker, as always, came up with various alternates. In some cases, Fokker D.II aircraft left the factory finished in clear doped linen (CDL). When they reached field units, the three-color scheme had to be implemented and Jasta 16 were then ordered to comply. The scheme shown above was adapted by the unit and would appear that, perhaps not having light green available, opted to not over-paint the CDL where light green was to be. That is my interpretaion. The profile above was created by Bob Pearson for Aeronaut Publisher's book Fokker Aircraft of WWI, Volume 3: Early Biplane Fighters, by Jack Herris and Jorn Leckscheid, page 179.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #1

Working on the cockpit interior is usually the first step as shown in this photo. The instrument panel was augmented with Eduard WW1 Instruments. Interior fabric was painted in Humbrol 103 Matte Cream. a few formers and the side-mounted fuel tanks. I use Vallejo VC0856 Ochre Brown for the wood interior and a pre-mixed metallic gray-black for metal components.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #2

A few cockpit instruments were added and the fuselage halves were glued together. After drying overnight, the landing gear was addressed. I wasn't satisfied that the plastic struts were strong enough and opted to make a braas rod strut with part of the well-trimmed plastic strut glued to the forward strut member. The axle rod was not added, waiting for the strut legs to dry. In the meantime, the machine gun was glued in place along with its resin components as shown. Next, I had to figure out the somewhat complex tail skid assembly to which the bottom of the rudder fits. When the dry, I glued the horizontal tail unit to the back of the fuselage and the rudder to the same plus glued to the tail skid. See next photo of the fuselage underside.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #3

This view clearly shows the landing gear modification and the tailskid sub-assembly. The drilled hole above the forward landing gear strut is for the lower wing.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #4

This is a test run on colors I mixed for this model. My supply of really old Misterkit World War 1 paints has pretty much dried up. Fortunately, I always make a sample chip of all paints I use. I did not have a view of the right side of the Fokker D.II so I interpreted the color patterns by looking at the top view and projecting the colors to the right side. I feel that the dark green is a bit too dark but the red-brown and CDL portions are correct. After all, it's whatever I feel it should be!

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #5

This view shows the underside of the top wing which has be pre-painted with two coats of Vallejo 837 Pale Sand which is my interpretation of CDL fabric. Each rigging hole was carefully drilled out so as not to appear on the other or topside of the wing. In the event an accident happens, one has to carefully fill in the hole and use nothing but the finest sand paper so as not to leave obvious scratch marks. Superr glue was used to cement the end of each .005 monofilament thread into a rigging hole.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #6

My supply of Misterkit World War 1 colors, except for a few bottles, has dried up or been exhausted; so, I had to create a batch of dark green and red-brown for this model. Compared to an older model of the DFW C.V built in 2007, the colors above are, in my view, a bit dark but acceptable. The beige color is Humrol 103 Matte Cream. At the time of this three-color scheme, light green (sometimes referred to as 'Brunswick' light green) was to be the third color. Photogrpahs of this Fokker D.II flown by Kissenberth reveal an exceptionally bright light color. It has been asserted that the scheme was completed at the site of Jasta 16 so it's possible that light green was not available or some other reason. However, it's also possible that the light color is indeed light green!

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #7

The first struts to be attached were the those attached directly to the fuselage. Photos show that these were apparently hollow steel struts. So, I used brass rod and a lot of trial fitting. My supply of Misterkit World War 1 colors, except for a few bottles, has dried up or been exhausted; so, I had to create a batch of dark green and red-brown for this model. Next step was to glue the top wing onto those fuselage struts. Each of the kit's plastic wing struts were glued into place starting with the inside struts on both sides then proceeding to the outside struts. About 85% of the rigging was already attached to the underside of the top wing. These were then drawn through the corresponding positions in the lower wing and super glued with attached weights.

FINISHED PHOTO #8

Kit decals did not have the white border and were replaced with others from my decal collection. My interpretation of this aircraft represents the idea that this three-color scheme was done at the Jasta 16b airfield and not in the Fokker factory. This was done to comply with the Idflieg requirement that changed the camouflage from a two-color to a three-color scheme in order to differentiate German aircraft from French aircraft which used similar colors.

FINISHED PHOTO #9

Kit wing struts were used except that the inboard rear struts which have a cut-off for wing-warping wires had a thin brass rod glued to the front of the strut. As with many field-applied paint schemes, the serial number was obliterated and rarely replaced with new lettering which is why I have elected to leave the serial number off.

FINISHED PHOTO #10

All rigging was with .005 nylon monofilament thread. The propeller was painted in tan yellow with brown-painted plywood in between; the propeller was then finished in several shades of colored pencil with each coat rubbed into the paint. Wheel covers were painted so that from either side, dark green on one wheel was viewed with red-brown on the other.

FINISHED PHOTO #11

The round disc at the top of the rear fuselage wing strut (near the windscreen) represents a pulley wheel that allowed the wing warping wire to move to create a roll manuver since ailerons were present on this model. Later Fokker aircraft, starting with the D.III, had aileron control instead of wing warping. Pulleys were on both sides.

FINISHED PHOTO #12

The three camouflage colors shown are clear doped linen (CDL), red-brown, and dark green. The Idflieg specification called for light green not CDL. From the photos of this aircraft it appears to me that the light portion of the camouflage is too light to be light green. This field-application did not include light green perhaps because it was not in stock. At any rate, this is my interpretation to account for the exceptionally light "third" color.

FINISHED PHOTO #13

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Bar, Ronny. Ronny Bar Profiles, German Fighters of the Great War, Volume 1 (Fokker D.II pages 75-80). Horncastle, UK: Tempest an imprint of Morton's Books. ISBN: 9781911704096.

Gray, Peter and Owen Thetford. German Aircraft of the First World War, scale drawings by George Haddow. London: Putnam & Company Limited, 1962.

Grosz, P. M. Fokker Fighters D.I-IV - Classics of WW1 Aviation Series No.2. Berkhamsted, UK: Albatros Productions Ltd, 1999.

Herris, Jack. Fokker Aircraft of WWI, Volume 3: Early Biplane Fighters. The Internet: Aeronaut Books, 2021.

Lamberton, W. M., Compiler, and E. F. Cheesman, Editor. Fighter Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War. Los Angeles, CA: Aero Publishers, 1962.