Gotha Ursinus G.1
On 28 April 1914, the German central army approved a recommendation for three categories or aircraft to be used by the military. Type III was to be a three-seater for long flights, designed to lift a heavy load and to fly low within range of enemy fire. Wingspan not specified but to comply with army ground transport requirements, speed over 120km/h, climb 800 metres in 10 minutes, a duration of 6 hours, useful load of 450 kg and an engine up to 200 hp. Assembly in 1.5 hours by five men.
This directive lead to the Friedel-Ursinus B.1092/14 that made its maiden flight on 30 Jan 1915. The license to build the plane was transferred to Gotha in Feb 1915, with a contract for six planes awarded on 1 April 1915. The first plane was delivered on 27 July 1915. The second series designated G.1 40-45/15 was powered by the 150hp Benz Bz.III engine, was ordered on 15 July 1915. The third and last series of the G.1, powered by the 160hp Mercedes D.III engine were ordered on 17 Oct 1915. The Gotha G.1 arrived at the front in June 1915. Field reports said the plane was easy to fly but hard to land. One airman said the Ursinus crates were totally useless. The G.1 did pave the way for the successful line of twin-engined bombers that would be used in the latter part of the war. Standing alone, the G.1 cannot be considered a roaring success but Gotha gained much valuable technical experience building them. There were a total of 18 G.1s built.
First, let me say I pondered buying this kit for quite some time. Finally, with a little extra hobby money and encouragement from Tech Support, I called Aeroclub Models in England and said "Send me one." Five days later, I was the proud owner of Choroszy Modelbud kit #C 15, the Gotha Ursinus G.1. Let me make another 
point very clear. I have never, ever, paid this much money for a kit. Did I mention never? Yes, I think I did. The cost matched the scale of the kit, but that did include airmail shipping from England.
So what did I get for a King's ransom? For one, a very small box, 9" x 6" x 1" with five plastic bags of parts, two pages of instructions and decals. The bags separate the parts into main components; IE, wings, fuselage, wheels, engines and one bag with a million fiddly bits. Well, maybe not a million, but fiddly bits anyway.
What impressed me immediately is the quality of the resin. Holding the parts up to the light revealed no voids in the material. This avoids the grief down the road of spending time to clean a part only to hit a void and lose the part.
I used Datafile #83 and the model matches the 1/72nd plan. The trailing edge scalloping is overdone but I don't consider this to be a big deal. I removed the resin attachment from the fuselage and sanded it with my vacuform sheet of 400 wet/dry sandpaper. The fuselage halves matched exactly. There is a thin spot behind the pilot's cockpit that I strengthened with a drop of super glue. I sanded the resin using a lot of water to avoid any dust. I understand resin dust is not the best thing for us air breathers to suck into our lungs. It will be interesting so see how the very small parts release from their attachment points. I dry fit some of the other parts and at this point, things look good. I have concerns about the survival of some of the very small parts but who knows what awaits me as I built this beauty.
There is not a lot more to say at this time. In the box, it looks beautiful. When I start applying glue and paint it may take on another look.
It is now October 2010 and the kit is finished. It was purchased in 2007 for the sole purpose of being the 200th model in my collection. I will say up front that this was a very nice model to build. Let me tell you about it.
I'm afraid I had a data card failure with my camera and there are no "in progress" photos. I had some good shots since this was to be a special build. Let's see how good I am with words.
All of the interior parts that needed assembly were done at this time. The kit provides three seats even though only one is used. The steering wheel chain survived the cleaning and was installed on its floorboard along with the seat and foot pedals. This unit was glued to the side of the fuselage.
There are several black boxes that are molded to the fuselage sides and these were painted and detailed. The only fit problem was the forward gunner's panel in the very nose of the aircraft. It fits flush in the nose but the kit part is too wide. I trimmed two small side panels on this part and then rounded the back so that it does fit flush in the very forward part of the fuselage. The kit directions are very clear but Datafile #83 adds clarity to the instructions.
With the interior completed, the two halves were glued together with super glue and all seams were puttied with Bondo, sanded and painted. Future floor wax was sprayed, the decals were applied and then sprayed with Future to seal them. Be careful with the fuselage decals as they are very thin and easily damaged. I speak from experience.
The lower wing was sanded, taped down to my work table and the dihedral was set. The kit gives you this angle and it checks out with the Datafile. After a little sanding the wings were painted and the decals were applied. Paint the white background as the decals do not reach from leading to trailing edge. Then apply the decal over your white and over-spray with Future.
The upper wing was lined up and attached with super glue. A little sanding was required to get a flush finish. At this point the aircraft went into the Aeroclub jig and the struts were attached. Here is where I found the kit lacking. There is a big pile of struts but they do not fit and there is no way of telling who went where. I just went from longest to shortest and cut new ones where I needed them. The only struts that are critical are the ones that the radiators attach to. Find these two and put them in place as soon as possible to avoid any mishap down the road. After about 12 struts, I took the aircraft out of the jig and finished the strut placement. There is an exhaust looking piece that is actually the rear center support for the fuselage and it is a little tricky getting in. The wing attachment was very easy and the results are good.
There is one small problem with the struts that doesn't show up until you are installing them. The outermost holes on the right side are out of alignment. It's not much but enough to notice. Putty and re-drill the alignment holes and life will be good.
These are a little challenging. Clean up the engines and then file and sand until the engines are encased in the nacelle. The fit in the front of the nacelle is a little rough so a little putty will be needed after the nacelles are attached to the wing.
When you are ready, hook the nacelle to the leading edge and position it between the wing walks on both sides. Prior to this, I would add the exhausts to the engines. I didn't and it was a little tricky getting them in later. I thought they might interfere with the rigging but that concern was unfounded.
A very easy step. Minor sanding was required, they were painted, decals applied and the rudders were glued into place. Four struts were cut and this step did not take an hour.
Study this step closely. The instructions are a little vague so study the Datafile photos. Once I broke the code, the assembly was quick and easy. The pre-drilled holes are perfect and the kit undercarriage pieces fit exactly as designed. And shock of all shocks, all four wheels touch the ground. There is a fair amount of rigging in the undercarriage so study the photos carefully.
The tail skid is a two piece affair and fit its hole locations. Went together as designed.
I added the streamlined bomb container and added five bombs. Why five you may ask? Because that's how many fit. You can see a bomb hanging down in one of the photos so I added a group of small bombs.
The under wing bomb racks are from the kit and as delicate as they are, they survived the clean up. Two of the four kit bombs were usable and I added them. I may have overloaded the aircraft with bombs but they looked good.
All that is left is rigging and attachment of the final few pieces. This is a very simple kit to rig and it didn't take much over an hour. I, of course, used DURAS.
After the rigging was complete, the wheels, radiators, props and machine guns were added. I put these on last so as not to knock them off during the rigging process. A little Future over-spray and the kit is complete.
This is an excellent kit, very well engineered. It goes together with a minimum of problems and I doubt it took me 20 hours to complete. As with most resin kits, there are very thick attachment points so care must be exercised when cutting the parts off the resin. I saved this model for kit number 200 and it was well worth the wait. I highly recommend this kit and I have nothing but high praises for Choroszy for releasing such a high quality kit of this unusual aircraft. If only they were not so expensive, I would have a shelf full of his fine offerings.
Last Revised 10/21/2010