Fokker Triplanes

Fokker Dr.1 Triplane by Eduard 1/72 injection mold.

Ordered in July 1917, the first Fokker Triplanes that saw front line service in August 1917 were two F.1 protoypes, # 102/17 going to Richtofen and 103/17 given to Voss. Grounded due to wing failures, the Dr.1 did not return to service until Dec 1917. Under 400 were built but the Dr.1 was the main weapon of the elite German figther units in early 1918. The Dr.1 remained in service until the end of the war.

This is the easiest kit I have ever built. Building time is less than 5 hours OOB.

This model depicts the plane flown by Lt. Kichstein of Jasta 6.

Fokker Dr.1 Triplane by Revell 1/72 injection mold.

With the exception of modifying the tail plane and adding machine guns by Aeroclub, the kit is built out of the box. The strips were done by first painting the turquoise and then masking off for the red. LO is hand painted. The streaked green is my first attempt of this scheme.

This plane was flown by Ltn. Ernst Udet, Jasta 4, Beugneux-Cramaille Airfield, June 1918. The color scheme is based on an article by Dan San Abbott in WW1 Aero, # 101, Sept 1984, pages 56-61.

Fokker Dr.1 Triplane by Roden 1/72 injection mold with PART pe set.

To insert the Part pe, all interior detail was sanded off and the pe frame fits with no problems. The machine gun pe was wrapped around the existing gun so as not to lose the detail of the kit part. Many of the pe parts were not used, especially at the base of each strut, where the modeller is supposed to sand off the excellent detail and add the pe part.

The red is Model Master Italian Red. The entire model was painted with a light blue that I mixed and then used a heavy dry brushing of a dark green from Pactra that is still alive. The decals are from various sources as the kit decals were badly out of register.

The model represents Fokker DR.1 152/17, one of the triplanes flown by Manfred von Richthofen.

Fokker Dr.1 Triplane by Revell of Germany, retooled, 1/72nd scale

This is the last triplane flown by Manfred von Richthofen. He lost his life on April 21, 1918, after achieving 80 victories.

With the exception of the wheels, props and machine guns, the model was completely assembled and then painted overall red. The problem with the machine guns being too high was solved by attaching the machine guns to the ammuniation chute and allowing to dry. Then the opening in the middle wing was enlarged, allowing the chute to drop further into the model that the directions indicate. This allows the machine guns to fit in their prober position.

With just one color, the kit took less than 10 hours to build.

Fokker Dr.1 Triplane 1/72nd scale by Revell Injuection molded

This Revell kit was built in 1981 and is one the first kits built when I returned to the hobby in 1980. I think I had purchased an airbrush at this time for the yellow and black but I'm not sure. I do know the streaked green is hand painted over light blue. There are no modifications to the kit for two reasons. Number one is there was no after market industry at this time and Number 2 is I had no skills to do any modifications.

I saw the color scheme in a magazine and did my best to duplicate it. I do not remember the pilot or squadron.

Fast forward to 2009. The pilot has been identified as Ltn. Arthur Rahn of Jasta 19, Baltre Airfield, April 1918. The model was returned to the shop where the cowling was painted white and the yellow sides were overpainted. I left the home made decals intact. Other than a clean up, the plane was left in its original condition. I may rebuild it with a newer kit and have the two side by side to show my progress as a builder.

Eduard 1/72 Scale Kit No. 7016 Profipack

This is a staight out of the box build using all of the metal etch parts. The kit goes together very well. Building time was about 7 hours thanks to a very simple paint scheme. This plane is part of growing triplane collection within my collection.

The plane depicited was flown by Ltn August Raben, Jasta 18, in 1918.

Revell/Germany Fokker DR-1 Triplane 1/72nd scale injection mold.

In 2003 Revell of Germany re-worked the original mold of the Fokker Dr-1 Triplane. The results in this modeller's opinion are excellent. The kit has enough detail to satisfy my needs and the kit goes together very well. I experience only two areas of difficulty. One, the machines chutes are too high. I cut them off, positioned the machine guns, shortened the chutes and re-attached them. Two, the forward leg of the cabanes is too long. Shortened about 1/16" solved the problem. No putty was required when joining the wings to the fuselage and only minor trimming was necessary to make all of the parts fit.

The paint is Model Master Aircraft Interior Black. The decals are Americal, Sheet one. The building time was under 10 hours over a one-week period.

Josep Jacobs, commander of Jasta 7, flew the model depicted.

Fokker F.1 by Eduard, injection mold

Fokker Triplanes 102/17 and 103/17 were officially accepted on 16 Aug 1917 and five days later were sent to Jadgdeschwader I at Courtrai, the fighter wing composed of Jagdstaffeln 4, 6, 10 and 11 and commanded by Manfred von Richthofen. They had the designation Fok. F.1, despite the fact that the type was apparently recorded as the Fok. Dr.1 earlier in August during the structural tests of 101/17, and that the official category Dr for single-seat fighter triplanes was promulgated on 19 August.

103/17 became the personal aircraft of Lt Werner Voss who scored the first of his 21 victories flying this plane on 30 August 1917. Voss met his death in 103/17 on 23 Sept in an epic combat with the S.E. 5a's of 'B" Flight, No. 56 Squadron, R.F.C.

This is Eduard kit no. 7015, Profipack. It comes with a resin upper wing, tail plane and cowl to convert the kit to the F.1. The interior and engine went together without any problems. However, there were fit problems in closing the fuselage and things went downhill from there. The wings curved in every direction and I could not get the proper stagger. The resin wing did not even pretend to fit. I re-drilled the holes hoping that would help. After about six tries to get the wings aligned, I gave up and dismantled the kit. I took a 40 year old Revell Dr.1, added the Eduard interior and in less than four hours the kit was complete. I used the Revell fuselage, middle and lower wings. The resin top wing, tail plane and cowl were retained along with the under carriage. I remade the cabanes to fit the kit. Aeroclub machine guns replaced the kit guns.

The kit was painted Light Blue with Gunze Sanyo. The Green is again Gunze Green. I used a small brush in my attempt at the streaked green finish of Fokker aircraft. I estimate 15 hours to complete the kit.

Fokker Dr.1 Triplane by Revell/Germany, injection mold 1/72

This is the re-tooled Revell kit and is a real beauty. Care must be taken with the machine guns or they will sit too high. Also, one of the machine guns has a peg that must be removed.

The model depicted was flown by Ltn. Lothar von Richthofen, Jasta 11, 1918.

The kit is built out of the box using no aftermarket products. The yellow is Gunze Sanyo out of the bottle. The entire model was painted light blue until the red of the plastic was covered. Upper surfaces with streaked with green over the blue. The cowl, struts, wheels and under carriage legs were left the kit color. The surround on the upper wing and fuselage crosses is a misting of Olive Green in lieu of white.

This is a very easy kit to build and it took less than 10 hours to complete.

Fokker Dr1Triplane by Revell/Germany. Re-tooled 1/72 scale injection mold.

Flown by Ltn. Hans Weiss, a Kettenfuher and acting CO of Jasta 11 in late April, 1918. Weiss translates as "white" and his plane was liberally marked with his personal white color. The plane displayed the red colors of Jasta 11 but his plane had the tailplane, rear fuselage and uppersurface of the top wing painted white. The white extended on the fuselage decking almost to the cockpit and when viewed from the top or rear, the plane would give the impression of being mostly a white plane. (A Imrie)

The model is built out of the box in less than 10 hours.

Fokker Dr.1 Triplane by Revell of Germany, retooled, 1/72nd scale

The model depicted was flown by Ltn. Rudolf Klimke, Jasta 27, in 1918.

Since the kit is molded in red, the entire model was primed in light blue, inside and out. Dark Olive was used for the streaking, the rudder is white and all struts, tailplane and cowling are yellow. The decals are from the Blue Rider Sheet # BR245.

Fokker Dr.1 Triplane by Eduard 1/72nd scale injection mold.

This Dr.1 flew with Jagdstaffel 19 in 1918. The pilot and serial number is unknown. The decals are from Blue Rider. Building time is less than 10 hours.