Kit Preview: Czech Master Resin 1/72 Albatros CIII

[jamo]

Czech Master Resin 1/72 Albatros CIII

The Aircraft
The Albatros CIII was one of Germany's most successful WWI aircraft designs. It was developed from a long line of Albatros two seaters, particularly the unarmed BIII and the CI. Production was shared between Albatros, O.A.W., D.F.W., Hansa, Linke-Hoffman, L.V.G. and Siemens-Schukert. Deliveries commenced in December 1915 and about 800 saw service at the Western Front, Macedonia and Russia. The Albatros CIII was replaced in mid-late 1917 by the next generation of two-seaters such as the Albatros CVII, Rumpler CIV and DFW CV. However a further 1500 more were built for use as trainers, where they served until the end of the war. Some were sent to Turkey during the war and after the war it was operated by Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Finland and Poland.

It was one of the first two seaters to be fitted with a forward firing machine gun in addition to the observers Parabellum. If required, a light bomb load could be carried (≈90kg) but it served predominantly as a photographic reconnaissance and artillery co-operation aircraft. It is reported to have had pleasant flying qualities and the plywood covered fuselage made it quite a robust machine.

The Kit
There have been a number of 1/72 kits of the Albatros CIII produced over the years but none from any of the mainstream manufacturers. Kits from Pegasus (short-run injection moulded) and Joystick (vac form with metal parts & decals) are still currently available and in years gone by it was also kitted by Meikraft and Sierra. Czech Master Resin have been producing resin kits for probably 20 years now and this kit is one of their latest releases which include decals. Here is their UK website: http://www.cmrmodels.co.uk

Even before opening the box I was very impressed with the full colour profile on the box top. So what's inside the box? About 43 very finely cast resin parts, a very clear instruction sheet (including dihedral settings and colour guide), five-view scale plans and a lovely decal sheet with markings for FIVE aircraft:

1. C.106/16 (featured in colour on the back of the Datafile) with triangular markings on the fuselage and tail
2. C.736/16 with a different style of triangular markings
3. C.722/16 of Kampfgeschwader IV Staffel 20 with black/white chequered band around the fuselage (also featured on the back of the Datafile)
4. Turkish CIII flown by the German crew of Meinecke and Ott
5. Latvian Naval Aviation Division 1923

The parts are enclosed in a number of sealed compartments within a plastic bag to prevent damage in transit – a great idea considering how delicate some of the pieces are, especially some of the tail struts. Very little flash to clean up. The engine is well detailed and most of the bigger interior features are there (including a tiny control wheel). The wing ribs are very restrained and the trailing edges are commendably thin. I hope my attached photos do the castings justice.

Overall I am very impressed with the quality of this kit. CMR are to be congratulated for a fine production. Even more they are to be congratulated for their customer service – my kit was missing two pieces and they answered my email within a few hours promising to replace them. Thanks Petr Buchar for such an obliging and speedy response.

I purchased my kit from NKR Models via their website: http://www.nkrmodels.com.au/
Usual disclaimer: No connection with Earl, just a happy customer. NKR offer what must be the cheapest prices anywhere in the world and very prompt delivery.

I have the old Meikraft kit in my stash and when I compared the two, there is really no contest. With a fair bit of effort (and scratch building) the Meikraft kit could be turned into something reasonable, but a lot of flash needs cleaning up and the struts would need replacing. One of the two decal options (Bohme's dragon) is now known to be incorrect. On the other hand CMR's kit is just lovely.

[Tom L.]

Thanks for the review, looks like a winner!