Battle Axe 1/32
Fokker E.V

Background

The model E.V was to be the last fighter to be designed by Fokker in WWI. Designed with a single high 'parasol' wing, the aircraft had excellent performance. It entered service in October 1918, but after two accidents within days of one another, all Fokker E.Vs were returned to the factory. The problem stemmed from structural failure of the wing and the aircraft were all strengthened to compensate. When the aircraft were returned to duty, the modifed aircraft were dubbed Fokker D.VIII.

While one Fokker E.V/D.III did score a kill, the war ended before the type could fully enter service. Of the 289 aircraft constructed, many found themselves pressed into service in Poland, Russia and elsewhere, while others would become war prizes in Holland, Great Britain and the US. The remainder were scrapped per the terms of the Armistice.

The Kit

While not clear in the sprue photo, the parts are molded in white styrene with finely scribed details and even rib tape molded in the wing surface as well.

Resin parts are provided for the rotary engine and twin machine guns. Photo-etched parts are included with the pilot's belts and harness, machine gun jackets, and various cocpit details.

The cockpit is nicely detailed with internal framing molded as separate parts, which capture the fuel tank, rear cockpit bulkhead, pilot seat frame, and floorboard containing the joystick and rudder pedals.

The resin engine is built up with the resin intake manifolds that are also included plus stretched sprue or wire for the pushrods on each of the nine cylinders.

The nice part (for me) about this kit is that as a monoplane, it only has rigging wires to reinforce the landing gear. The wing-to-fuselage structure does not require rigging.

Markings are included for two aircraft:

• Marinefeld Jasta 2 (Osterkamp), 1918
• Jasta 6 (Wenzl), 1918

The kit also includes a lozenge camouflage decal sheet.

Conclusions

This is a nice looking kit. It is definitely a limited production kit which will require some modeling skills to get the best fit out of each part, plus with the use of resin and photo-etch, cyano cements will also be required. With the absence of any serious rigging however, this should be a relatively quick and easy build.

My sincere thanks to Squadron Mail Order for this review sample!