Junkers F.13 - Revell 1/72 kit with minor touches

 

The Junkers F.13 was the first all-metal, passenger-carrying plane... in 1919!!!

As I expressed in the building post, we also have to consider that it was a modern cantilevered monoplane, in an era when the standards were clumsy biplanes (and even triplanes) of wood and fabric, with lots and lots of wires.

For a discussion of the hits and misses of the Revell kit please visit the step-by-step construction article. Although I am very grateful for this civil kit of an iconic plane, there are some things that Revell missed:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2020/05/junkers-f13-revell-172nd-scale-with.html

That I know of, there only two photos of the intended subject: one from above and behind, and one from the front at ground level.

The latter shows compensated "earlobe" ailerons, and a color division at the leading edge.

The former shows normal ailerons -but with the correct curved aileron trailing edges- and the black color underneath wrapping around the leading edge and going up to more or less the first quarter of the chord.

This photo also shows an erased "D" on the right wing that was part of the former registration, D-183, and yet not repainted.

This is a kit that I have seen modeled in a number of occasions, which is a very good thing, more surprisingly so because it's a not a military plane as offered. Revell has released it throughout the years in a number of different civil schemes, not all completely accurate, but hey, at least they released them. This is my second model of it, and have another kit still in the box. It's pleasant in general to build, but it has a few quirks, as most kits do. 

I substituted the kit's scheme and decals with a sheet from Arctic Decals, and replaced the inaccurate ailerons, the too-thick windshields, the prop for a laminated wood one, the too heavy Venturi and its mast, and added control horns plus a couple more things.  The model represents the first of the re-registered planes in Germany, starting a new series as D-1. This plane as explained was former D-183, and there are a number of photos of it in both regs showing of course some differences. The chosen scheme came to be only after lengthy research and discussions, mainly with friend and fellow modeler Sönke Schulz. I must confess I ended up acquiescing to some of his suggestions -given his extended knowledge of the matter- but still harbor some doubts myself.  Again, we did the best we could with what was available to us at the time of the build, and with only two photos in that registration, at different times of the plane's life.

So here it finally is, in all its beautifully corrugated splendor!