Ah! Yes, it took me more than 24 straight hours to complete this little gem of a kit… By midnight on the 17th of November (dubbed Mad Fokker Day), I had the kit built, and the light blue/green camo done, the engine cowling, propeller, wheels, engine and machine guns painted and ready to be installed.
Remained to be added were the black ‘decorations’, the decals, the varnish, the weathering and the rigging. Well, all is done now.
Since I messed up with some of the original decals, I had to buy another of those little Revell Fokker Dr.1, and I think it won’t be long before it appears on my workbench. This kit is GOOD, and I recommend it to anyone, even ‘newcomers’ to WWI planes as there’s little rigging to this plane. A real easy project.
The only things that can cause troubles are the quite awful red plastic and the sheer frailty of some of the parts, but this obviously is also one of the added bonus of the kit!
The model is finished in the colors of Adolf von Tutschek, most probably during the later part of September 1917 and early October 1917 (before all the Dr.1s got grounded and re-inforced is my guess, as a bit later, von Tutschek’s triplane appears in a slightly different scheme). Von Tutschek was a recipient of the ‘Ordre pour le Mérite’ medal.
His military career began in 1910. During the first World War, he distinguished himself in combat while serving with the infantry in France and on the Eastern Front. Severely wounded during a gas attack at Verdun, Tutschek was ill for months but when he recovered, he transferred to the German Air Force.
On 11 August 1917, Tutschek was wounded in the shoulder when his black Albatros was shot down and on 15 March 1918, while the triplanes of Jasta 12 tangled with the Royal Flying Corps near Brancourt, Tutscheck was killed when his Fokker Dr.1 was shot down by an S.E.5a flown by South African ace Herbert Redler. Von Tutschek had 27 victories to his credit. He was 27.
Over 9 days, it took me just over 10 hours of work to complete this kit.