The Fokker D.VII is widely regarded as the best German aircraft of the war. Its development was championed by Manfred von Richthofen. In January 1918, Richthofen tested the D.VII in the trials at Adlershof but never had an opportunity to fly it in combat. He was killed just days before it entered service. When introduced, the D.VII was not without problems. On occasion its wing ribs would fracture in a dive and high temperatures sometimes ignited planes armed with phosphorus ammunition or caused their gas tanks to explode. Even so, the D.VII proved to be durable and easy to fly. As noted by one authority, it had "an apparent ability to to make a good pilot out of mediocre material." When equipped with the BMW engine, the D.VII could out climb any Allied opponent it encountered in combat. Highly maneuverable at all speeds and altitudes, it proved to be more than a match for any of the British or French fighter planes of 1918. Hermann Göring was one of the first pilots to fly the D.VII in combat.

Long a favorite of WWI modelers (mostly, I think, because of the minimal rigging), the D.VII has only recently seen a new 1/72 kit and that from Roden. Though the Roden kit is more detailed, this one still is pretty accurate and with fewer parts, easier to build.

My example came in red plastic, undoubtedly to make it easier to paint. The molds are still fairly crisp in this 1980 boxing, but the upper surface of the lower wing and under surface of the upper wing suffer rather badly from ejector pin marks as does the tail plane and a few other larger parts. Some flash is to be found, but easy enough to clean up. There is basically no interior with a pilot there to fill the hole!

Instructions are easy enough to follow and consist of several steps with color information given where needed. Decals are of a single plane, which I think may be Ernst Udet's with a red/white striped upper wing surface (which must be painted). The rest of the wings are covered in lozenge which Revell AG offers a painting diagram! Good luck getting all that painted. Fuselage is basically red with a dark green forward section. I'd go for an aftermarket decal sheet on this one when it comes to all that lozenge. Decals are very matte and fairly well printed, but yellowed.

Still a very popular model and one that was an introduction to may WWI modelers.

Review kit courtesy of me.

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