Fokker D.VIIF

 My 4th build of 2025 is this 1:48 scale Eduard Weekend edition of the Fokker D.VIIF

This is my interpretation of the Fokker biplane flown by Ltn. Ernst Udet, in 1918. It’s a little different from the version in the kit as rather than fitting the lozenge pattern decal to the upper wing I masked and painted the stripes that Udet had on an earlier aircraft and  is believed he went on to add to this one too. I also painted the stripes on the tailplane to match before realising a decal was included. Ernst Udet the most successful surviving fighter aces of WWI, with 62 confirmed kills. He named his aircraft, LO! after his fiancée Eleonore ‘Lo' Zink.

I found this a nice enough kit to build, although as I usually find on biplanes, the holes in the wings had to be drilled out, they are never large enough to hold the struts; the length of the struts are either too long or too short for the gap between upper and lower wings and without a jig, the whole thing can all too easily slip out of shape! The decals look great but I found the amount of carrier film to be excessive and the many additional lozenge decals for the wings with little or no instruction somewhat confusing. Some of the detailing is excellent, especially the engine. I welcomed the addition of harnesses decals, although they look a little unconvincing when applied.

This has been both the first 1:48 scale biplane and the first Eduard kit I’ve built.  I was very impressed with the presentation: the quality of the instructions, the layout of the sprue pieces and the range of decals. I thought this may even have been the start of a WWI aircraft building phase for me, alas no. I’m still not a fan of how biplane kits have to be constructed and I can’t seem to make them look more than just a toy aeroplane.

However, I built this kit to illustrate a popular form of WWI nose art for a talk I’m doing later this week, and for this it’s perfect. It is also because of this that I have omitted the rigging. If, however, the model survives being transported to and from the event, I may have a bash at rigging it.