Mirage 2000EM, Egyptian Air Force

The French know how to build beautiful aircraft, and I assume that they are still recuperating from the boxy bombers of the inter-war years. The Mirage 2000 is one of them. This is a Heller kit from the mid- or late 1980s, so we have to deal with partially raised panel lines, uninspiring missiles and fairly minimalistic wheel wells and cockpit. There were some issues when trying to fit the wing to the fuselage, and putty followed by careful sanding was required. Then there was the excellent decal sheet with options for the French and the Egyptian Air Forces. I chose the latter, and patiently dealt with several dozen well-printed stencils as well as the national and tactical markings. It was well worth the effort. The Egyptians bought their 18 Mirage 2000s in 1986, and they still equip the 102nd and 252nd Tactical Fighter Wings. Four are apparently used for conversion training. 

Aichi D3A1 Val

Airfix has, of course, produced a number of kits, and although I did build many of these kits as a child, the Aichi d3A1 Val was not one of them. So, when I saw a re-issue of the 1965 kit in a hobby store in Riga, I bought it just for fun. The cartograph decals wsere not from 1965, and the kit provided me with two or three evenings of good entertainment, rivets and all. I chose the markings of an aircraft that took part in the Pearl Harbor attack as depicted on the box cover art.

Albatros D.II/Oeffag S.53 of Feldwebel Rudolf Lonstak

The Ukrainian model company Roden has made various makes of the Albatros, from the D.I to the D.V and both German and Austro-Hungarian versions. They are all of decent quality and well detailed, although dry fitting is highly recommended, and certain parts are quite fiddly, most notably the lower wings and the engine coolant pipes. One should also be careful when applying the decals, since they are quite brittle. With this being said, the Roden kits are just a step below the Eduard kits, and they are well worth spending time on. This particular Oeffag (Oesterreichische Flugzeugfabrik AG) Albatros came with half a dozen different markings, and for no reason inparticular I decided to finish this one in the markings of 53.03 flown by the Hungarian pilot Feldwebel Rudolf Lonstak. Vallejo Paints were used, and rigging as well as a windscreen was added before mounting the D.II on an old hotel key card covered with static grass.

Only 16 examples of the Oeffag series 53 were built before production shifted to D.III aircraft. The series 53 Albatros had a stronger 185 hp Austro-Daimler Engine than the German D.IIs, a Teves und Braun wing radiator and the machine guns were fitted within the engine cowling. The Oeffag D.IIs soldiered on throughout the entire war, and some survivors even found their way to Czechoslovakia after the war.

Rudolf Lonstak flew for Fliegerkompanie (Flik) 14 in Galicia on the Eastern Front, and he had four victories. Albatros D.IIs were delivered to the Eastern Front during the early summer of 1917, and Lonstak flew 53.03 during the Kerensky offensive that summer before colliding with Russian aviator A. P. Chudnovskiy in a Nieuport XXII of the 2nd Corps Aviation Detachment (2-й корпусной авіаціонный отрядъ) on September 1, 1917. However, 53.03 was not flown by Lonstak on the day of the collision, and it served as the mount of Corporal Blass of Flik 25 during at least November of 1917. Lonstak was posthumously awarded the Golden Bravery Medal on August 31, 1918, while 53.03 survived the war, ending up at Radioversuchsstelle Aspern without an Engine

Sources:

aerodrome.com

www.vrtulnik.cz/ww2/flik_14.htm

The drawing depicts 53.03 with the engine cover. This was often removed to improve cooling. The fin is depicted as painted white, although the Roden instructions claimed that it was natural linen.