Avis 1/32 Fokker E.V

KIT #: 3201
PRICE: $46.30 from http://www.scale-model-kits.com
DECALS: Two Options
REVIEWER: Scott Van Aken
NOTES: Short run plastic

HISTORY

THE KIT


This is not the first Fokker E.V done in 1/32. I have been struggling on and off (mostly off) with a Battle Axe kit for the last 5-6 years or so with little progress made. It is typical of bad French short run kits. This one is not.

Though it is short run (and you can tell from the slight overlap of sprue attachment points onto some parts and the very large ejector mark on one wing half), the rest of the kit looks to be as well molded as anything from current MPM or Sword or any other quality short run maker. The grey sprues come packaged in a zip bag so you can actually keep pieces from disappearing once you open the bag. The decals are in with the bag and this allows them to get somewhat crunched during shipment. It would be wise to put these in a separate bag on the bottom of the box.

I found a teeny amount of flash on a couple of parts and a few sink areas where there was thick detail on the other side of the part. Easily cured. The mating surfaces of the wings will also require sanding down before gluing. There is detail inside the fuselage halves and you also get framework to put on the inside. The engine makes up out of a number of pieces and includes separate cylinder heads.

The kit provides two different prop blades but only calls for the one with more rounded tips to be used. Machine guns are nicely molded and should look the part. A very nice touch is separate tires from the wheels. This allows them to be painted without all the masking or other fuss generally associated with painting wheels.  Separate ailerons are provided to add some interest to the pose and while the rudder and elevators are molded in place, it should be an easy task to cut and re-position them. Rigging is pretty well limited to the landing gear and the control surface control lines. Entry and exit points on the wings and fuselage for these lines are clearly shown. There is an acetate sheet for instruments and a windscreen. There are NO photo-etch or resin parts to have to deal with.

Instructions are well drawn though a bit busy at times. Colors are generic and there are two markings options. One is the box art plane of Theo Osterkamp when with Marine Feld Jasta. Though the box art shows the lozenge completely under the wing, the instructions show it only on the leading edge. The other is Friedrich Altenmeir's plane with Jasta 24. This has no wing lozenge, though the upper circumference of the wing is outlined in white. His plane has the three intersecting circles. The decals appear to be very nicely done. I'll leave it to WWI enthusiasts to determine if the colors are correct or not. The instructions show exactly where every section of lozenge is to be applied. It appears you are give sections large enough to install and then cut off excess before it dries.
CONCLUSIONS

Though I'm a wuz when it comes to rigging, this is the sort of WWI model I can handle. I look forward to building it as I've always liked the aircraft. With a production run of 1,000 kits (according to the box), it might be a good idea to grab yours while the getting is good. Though I'd not recommend this to the beginner, those with short run experience or experience where modeling skills are used, should have little trouble with it.

REFERENCES

May 2009

Thanks to http://www.scale-model-kits.com for the preview kit. Get yours today from the link at a considerable savings over retail.

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