Eduard 1/48 scale Airco DH-2 "Profipack"

Kit: No. 8094
Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: Eduard, www.eduard.cz
Price: $39.95
Comments: Mixed media, 191 parts (86 injection-molded, 105 photoetchedmetal), decals, vinyl paint masks
Pros: Excellent detail, scale accuracy, top-notch photoetched parts, helpful paint masks, good fit, good decals
Cons: Complex and fragile, not for beginners

The DH-2 was a significant British single-seat fighter in the early stage of the Great War. Its interesting "pusher" configuration allowed unobstructed forward firing of the cockpit-mounted Lewis machine gun. It played an important role in halting the devastating "Fokker scourge," when the Fokker monoplane, armed with its synchronized machine gun, dominated the skies over the Western Front. The DH-2 was designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the Aircraft Manufacturing Company (Airco).

Eduard's Profipack 1/48 scale kit of this aircraft is a gem! It contains 86 wellmolded, tan plastic parts, more than 100 photoetched parts, vinyl painting masks, an excellent 12-page instruction manual, and color profiles for the four marking schemes covered by the excellent decals. The decals also include individual instrument faces, tiny logos for all the struts, and manufacturer's white lettering on the tires! Three pages of extensive rigging diagrams are provided, too.

The parts required just a little cleanup, and the fit was very good. The highly detailed interior with its instrument decals and photoetched-metal bezels was completed first. I left off the tiny photoetched rocker arms for the Monosoupape rotary engine, as they were too small for me to handle. The engine looks fine, nonetheless. The Lewis gun and its ammunition drums are beautifully molded.

The only fit adjustment needed for the whole model was deepening the side channels on the cockpit floor, which is a part of the lower wing. This correction made the cockpit bottom flush with the sides of the nacelle. For the exterior of the nacelle, you can choose plastic or photoetched bins for extra ammunition drums.

Before assembly, I painted the major parts with lightened Polly Scale British drab for the upper surfaces and French beige for the under surfaces and nacelle sides. Decals went on fine without a gloss undercoat, but I did use a few drops of Micro Set.

All the interplane struts fit fine, and I drilled them with a No. 80 bit for the rigging. I used two-pound monofilament for the landing and flying wires, and the braces between the strut pairs.

The most difficult stage was building the fragile booms that hold the tail plane. To keep them from being damaged, I painted them, drilled rigging holes, and laced them with monofilament before separating them from their sprues.

I used the kit-supplied painting masks for the wheels and the propeller blade tips. I couldn't find photos of the fuel line running around the upper wing's leading edge from the gravity fuel tank in Squadron/ Signal's DH-2 in Action, so I left it off.

When finished, the model looks just right. Planning, patience, good vision (with magnification), steady hands, and lots of time are needed to complete this model, but it is well worth the effort. It's not for beginners; I have a lot of experience with rigged biplanes, and this one still took me more than 50 hours to complete.

- Dr. Bill Funcke