Albatros C.III

This is the box art. The kit does not include the over wing fuel tank. Thanks to the Gentleman who offered me the kit when he won it at our local model contest. 

This picture provided me with an idea of what clear doped linen looks like from below.  

The base color is Tamiya Linen with some flat white added to lighten it up. Brown was painted on the underside where the spars and ribs were located. Masking tape had to be cut in .75mm strips to cover the spars and ribs for painting. 

I used this setup to cut uniform strips of FROG tape using a .75mm styrene rod as the template. You can change the width of the template to vary the width of the cut if you need to. 

I also painted the Balkenkreuz on the bottom of the wing and oversprayed everything with Tamiya white mixed with a small amount of Desert Yellow. 

This is the top of the wings. The Special Hobby decals snug down well, but are a bit fragile. Of course I have no Idea how old these decals really are. 

The inside of the fuselage. The decals and bezels are Airscale. Very little of the cockpit will be visible later. 

fuselage interior 

The fuselage plywood is replicated with HGW Red Wood transparent decals over an off white base with some pre-shading. You apply and trim the decals to each individual panel on the aircraft and can change the direction of the wood grain. 

Different types of wood veneer that was glued into blanks for propellers. 

The bottom propeller will be used for the Albatros.  

Again I borrowed the grandkids Legos to use as an alignment jig for the wings. This picture was taken after the build just to demonstrate the technique. 

The Top wing, bottom wing, and wheels all seem to be in alignment. 

Special Hobby includes some PE turnbuckles, but they don't look right. I made the rigging from GasPatch turnbuckles, .5mm Albion Alloys micro tube, Infini Aero Rigging and home-made eyes from copper wire.  

I like to use Infini Aero Rigging because it will stretch. I usually stretch it to 150% or its normal length. This product will not add any real strength to the aircraft, but if I accidently stick my finger in the rigging it won't destroy the whole build. 

The Albatros C. III has a lot of rigging! 

 

I like to move the control surfaces when I can.  

I still have to mount the machine gun and finish up some minor details. 

The Special Hobby rear machine gun is not bad. I added an Albion Alloys micro tube for the barrel of the weapon. 

This specific aircraft did not have the above wing fuel tank. The kit does not include the tank which was installed on many C. IIIs. The Radiator hose is lead wire