The Albatros Dr.I is one of those planes that should have been good but wasn't. During the First World War, aviation was in its infancy and a number of interesting designs were flown, but never accepted for service. The Albatros Dr.I was one of those. Built to try to improve climb performance, it used the fuselage and engine of the Albatros D.V and D.Va currently in service. 

It featured rather narrow wings, all of the same span, but was otherwise the same as current D.Vs. It was turned over to the German Air Force for testing in September of 1917. The test pilots were generally unimpressed with the aircraft and complained of it being tail-heavy. Needless to say, this meant no full scale production. The number of prototypes built is unclear, but most think that just this one was built.

Over the years, Eduard has really improved on its kits. While WWI is not my forte, this kit looks to be especially nice. The detailing is very crisp, the sprue gates are small and the parts are free from flash. There are few ejector pin stub or marks and what are there are easily removed and in places that won't be seen when the kit is finished. I found no sink marks, either.

The photo etch sheet contains bits and pieces for all over the aircraft, from cockpit handles, instrument panel and seat to gun jackets to fuselage inspection panels and bell cranks There are also four small resin pieces. These are limited to the main body and the forward barrel of the two machine guns.

The instructions are quite good as one would expect from a 1998 issue kit. It is very similar to Hasegawa instruction sheets in that it is in greys and blues. There are the usual pages of color charts, parts charts, and an 8 step construction sequence. Several of the steps have a number of substeps in them showing exact location and position of the various photo etched bits, so there should be no confusion as to placement of these parts. A complete rigging and painting/decal  guide is also given.

The decal sheet is for one aircraft , but it includes all the upper and lower lozenge as well as the rib tapes for it. Apparently one just folds over the rib tapes. This is a nice touch as it cuts the application time in half!! There is also a sheet of crosses and instrument decals for the instrument panel. The rest of the fuselage is stained plywood. Several aftermarket decal companies make sheets that are suitable, or you can use paint to duplicate the effect.

Overall, it looks like another winning WWI kit from Eduard.

Review copy courtesy of me and my wallet!

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