Mobile

[acptulsa]

I guess this qualifies as art. When I was a kid, my dad made a mobile of 1/72 kit WWI fighters, and years later I did the same.

I considered making it a particular dogfight, such as when Ray Collishaw and his Black Flight downed Allmenroder (sp?) and other fliers of the Circus. But as much as I love Sopwith Tripes and Albatrosses, I wanted variety.

So, I aimed for a vaguely 1918 timeline, so there wouldn't be planes that couldn't possibly have met each other under any circumstances, and set out to fill the spars with Aces of Aces.

There were sentimental favorites in there, like Werner Voss, who didn't work hard enough at getting confirmations to rack up the kills, but I declared him the All Time German Jewish Ace of Aces, which I think is a safe bet. I also couldn't resist Schleich. Was he the Bavarian Ace of Aces? In any case, I decided to create a category for him, too, the Two World War Ace of Aces. In addition to the 36? victories in the Great War, he downed five as a Nazi.

I had to get a little creative, particularly with the Axis side, as there were basically only two air services that produced any aces at all. But there were Allied compromises as well. I really wanted Belgian Ace of Aces Willy Coppens, but couldn't find a Hanriot. I could find a Nieuport 28, though, so Eddie Rickenbacker made the cut in his place.

Left to right, from the top:

Schleich, whose Albatros D5a I should have painted black and gray,

Godwin Brumowski, Austro-Hungarian Ace of Aces, whose license-built OEF Albatros D3 is a rare kit and my favorite model of the bunch,

Andrew McKeever, Ace of Aces among two-seater pilots, in his big Brisfit (I love the Bristol),

Rickenbacker, the U.S. Ace of Aces,

"Mickey" Mannock, British Ace of Aces, SE5a,

Voss in his rumored black Dr1,

Richthofen himself, who flew a Pfalz D3 for a time, but never bothered to paint it red. I had to kitbash it from an Albatross,

René Fonck, French and Allied Ace of Aces, in his Spad XIII,

Collishaw, the Naval Ace of Aces, in his Camel,

And the surviving German Ace of Aces, Ernst Udet, in the Fokker DVII Lo. Du doch nicht!