Kit: 8436
Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer:: Eduard from Czech Republic, available from Squadron Mail Order, 972-242-8663, www.squadron.com
Price: $10.98
Comments: Injection-molded, 57 parts, decals
Pros: Crisply molded parts, good fit
Cons: Missing radiator pipe, no windscreen, wheel diameter noticeably small

The Albatros D.III was used effectively by German aces like Manfred von Richtofen and Werner Voss and played a major role in 1917’s “Bloody April,” when the Allies sustained great losses of pilots and aircraft. Eduard has repackaged its Albatros D.III – first released in the late 1990s – as part of a new marketing approach refered to as Weekend Edition kits. They come in a box with color profiles on the cover and sides instead of the usual box art. You get no etched metal, no masks, decals for only one marking scheme, and a simple black and white folded page instruction sheet including a parts map and rigging instructions.
The single marking schemes chosen for these kits are exceptionally colorful and appealing; the Aviprint decal sheet in the D.III containing the green tailed markings of Jasta 5 is almost worth the price of the kit. Priced from $10 to $12, these kits are real bargains.
The D.III kit has 57 crisply molded tan plastic parts and includes two upper wings and two vertical tails for alternate versions. The kit has three shortcomings: there are no pipes from the wing radiator to the motor, there is no windscreen, and the wheel diameter is noticeably too small. You could use aftermarket wheels and scratchbuild the pipes and windscreen. However, if you are really into the weekend thing you could leave out some of the cockpit detail and even skip the rigging. I built the kit out of the box but added all available detail and rigged it.
The detailed cockpit and engine fit nicely within the fuselage halves. The top wing with offset radiator is used but the instructions are in error in calling for vertical tail part No. B21. Part No. B20 should be used instead or the tail decal will not fit. I painted and decaled the wings and fuselage separately before assembly. I needed a little filler around the fuselage and horizontal stabilizer joint. I used Mister Kit acrylic World War I paints on the wings. The fuselage was painted with Polly Scale tan special and streaked with a mix of Vallejo tan and brown glazes. Red brown pastels were used on the plywood seams. The Aviprint decals work beautifully but care is needed in applying the red stripe decals around the green horizontal tail surface. I attached the lower wings to the fuselage trapping two loops of rigging line at each wing root with small brass wires at the joint. The holes for all the struts were slightly enlarged and test fitting was done before gluing. The cabane struts were glued to the fuselage and upper wing and before the glue was completely set the interplane struts were added. Rigging was later done using Aeroclub’s silver elastic rigging line from Roll models. It is easier to stretch and tie off at struts but is harder to push through holes than monofilament nylon. I fastened it with Polly Scale clear flat in addition to tying were possible.
I think the Weekend Edition concept is a great one. The other models in the series can be easily built over a weekend but I’m afraid I got carried away and spent about 30 hours on the D.III, a lot of that because of the masking needed for the multiple color scheme. These kits are strongly recommended to intermediate modelers.
– Dr. Bill Funcke