Weekend Fokker

For those who want to build World War I aircraft, but don't want to be overwhelmed with rigging wires and such, the Fokker D.VII is an ideal kit - clean, powerful and almost bereft of flying wires. Which is why I like the Fokker D.VII Weekend Edition - it takes a relatively simple biplane and makes it even simpler.

As with other Eduard Weekend Editions, the markings are for a single aircraft - in this case, the D.VII flown by Oblt. Herman Goering. Overall white, it isn't the most colorful D.VII, but it is distinctive and - because of Goering's later career - historical. The aircraft kit itself is up to Eduard's usual standards (which - especially for a limited run kit - is remarkably high).

There's not a lot to say that hasn't been said about the actual aircraft - the Fokker D.VII was perhaps the best single-seat fighter that saw service in World War I - it was the only German/Central Powers aircraft specifically mentioned in the Versailles Treaty which formally ended the war. Copies were taken back to the US and were used operationally by the nascent US Army air service for four or five years after the end of the war. At the very end of the war, Dutchman Tony Fokker slipped the parts to manufacture 50 or more Fokker D.VIIs across the border into neutral Holland, and used those to get his company restarted in Holland.

The Eduard kit captures the rugged elegance and efficient lethality of the Fokker D.VII - it makes up into a remarkable kit, and the Weekend Edition does it with ease and simplicity. If you want to add a Fokker D.VII to your collection, this is a great kit.