Albatros D.III In Polish Service....

Lucky13 · Aug 12, 2022

Albatros D.III (Oeffag 253) "5" Serial 253.218 from 7th Fighter Squadron, Kiev, May 1919, personal aircraft of KPT Meria Cooper....

Would these decals be correct, or are they too brown?

Plus, the aircraft behind.... Albatros D.III (Oeffag 253) "13" Fighter Squadron, Bobrujsk Airfield, April 1920....

It says Brown/Natural Wood, I imagine that they mean unpainted wood panels?

Donivanp · Aug 12, 2022

Pretty cool Jan, most interesting.

But I'll not try and answer any of your questions as I would end up being WORNG.

jimmaas · Aug 16, 2022

The OEFFAG Albatroses started out with natural wood fuselages - there are some beautiful reconstruction photos on the web that are well worth searching out. The "davenport" (my term) fabric wing camouflage probably had color variation so the example shown is reasonable, maybe a little stark. Toning it down with a thin tan overspray might help.

GrauGeist · Aug 16, 2022

Jan, the "natural wood" would have been a form of varnished plywood.

As you know, wood takes in a "wet" tone when varnished (clear coated), so it literally comea down to the type of wood used in the construction of the aircraft, which determines the tone of the varnished wood.
There is a difference in shades with Birch, Pine, Spruce, etc.

Wurger · Aug 16, 2022

I agree with GG on the plywood colour and tone when varnished. Just a brief note .. also the wood tone gets darker in time due to the weather conditions. Mostly because of the moisture and the dust.

The answer to your question about the brown colour of the decals .. the Model Maker firm made them after a discussion with experts for the early Polish AF. Actually the camouflage is the WW1 Austria-Hungary equivalent of the WW1 German Lozenge. It is said that the camo was printed as the brown-beige and something else on the green background. IMHO it is very likely that the pattern could have been printed with the brown, light green and the dark green colours while the beige one was nothing more but the fabric colour. It would mean that there was nothing applied and the areas stayed in the natural fabric colour. Just a kind of saving.
Additionally please keep in mind that the appearance of colours of scanned pics in the net is incorrect very often.

Lucky13 · May 24, 2026

Is the art on the by Model Maker Decals wrong, I'm thinking about White 5 and similar, because it doesn't look anything like an Oeffag 253....the Print Scale sheet has me wondering as well, should it be a 153?

Wurger · May 24, 2026

Actually the Oeffag D-III series Ba.153 and Ba. 253 were the same kites but powered by the different engines. The serie Ba.153 had the Austro-Daimler Bauart 19000, 200 KM power unit while the Ba.253 was powered by the Austro-Daimler Bauart 23000, 225 KM engine. IIRC there can be difference in the colling vents but these were almost the same airframes basicly. Poland bought from Austria Oeffag D-III series Ba.253 although a couple of sources say the Ba.153. If you think the difference is the top cover of the engine tappets, it is not. The cover was removed very often in order to improve the cooling of the engine. So you may find the Oeffag D-III with the cap or without no matter what series the kite was of.

Lucky13 · May 24, 2026

Wurger said:
Actually the Oeffag D-III series Ba.153 and Ba. 253 were the same kites but powered by the different engines. The serie Ba.153 had the Austro-Daimler Bauart 19000, 200 KM power unit while the Ba.253 was powered by the Austro-Daimler Bauart 23000, 225 KM engine. IIRC there can be difference in the colling vents but these were almost the same airframes basicly. Poland bought from Austria Oeffag D-III series Ba.253 although a couple of sources say the Ba.153. If you think the difference is the top cover of the engine tappets, it is not. The cover was removed very often in order to improve the cooling of the engine. So you may find the Oeffag D-III with the cap or without no matter what series the kite was of.

You're a star Wojtek, no a LEGEND!

Now I'm looking for these, I'm pretty sure that I've got them somewhere!

Wurger · May 24, 2026

Lucky13 said:
You're a star Wojtek, no a LEGEND!

Now I'm looking for these, I'm pretty sure that I've got them somewhere!

View attachment 880162

My pleasure. Thank you.

BTW the Eduard 8242 , Albatros D.III Oeffag253 kit contains parts for both the top cowling. So no problemo with selection of the correct variant.

Regarding the Albatros D.Va ... it may be the Eduard 8111 Albatros D.Va kit or any of the D.V Weeked Edition ... 8408,8407 or the 8113 D.V Profipack.

Lucky13 · May 24, 2026

Wurger said:
My pleasure. Thank you.

BTW the Eduard 8242 , Albatros D.III Oeffag253 kit contains parts for both the top cowling. So no problemo with selection of the correct variant.

Regarding the Albatros D.Va ... it may be the Eduard 8111 Albatros D.Va kit or any of the D.V Weeked Edition ... 8408,8407 or the 8113 D.V Profipack.

Oh, goody....an excuse to pick up a couple of Eduard 1/48 Albatros D.III/V kits, like I need an excuse or more Albatros kits!

Wurger · May 24, 2026

Unfortunatel .. or more ... fortunately yes you need that ... :lol:

Lucky13 · May 24, 2026

Wurger · May 24, 2026

Yep .. that's a good source. However I would like to make a focus on the colour of the Albatros. In these two shots below it can be notice that she was of the dark ( green not grey ) uniform on the fuselage. And the Polish AF checker was of the thin contrast outline as the order no.15 in 1921 said.

the pic source: the net.

Lucky13 · May 24, 2026

Wurger said:
Yep .. that's a good source. However I would like to make a focus on the colour of the Albatros. In these two shots below it can be notice that she was of the dark ( green not grey ) uniform on the fuselage. And the Polish AF checker was of the thin contrast outline as the order no.15 in 1921 said.

View attachment 880182
View attachment 880183
the pic source: the net.

....I wonder where they got the grey from?

Wurger · May 24, 2026

Lucky13 said:
....I wonder where they got the grey from?

It's possible she could retain the colour because she was purchased from Germans in 1920.

In 1920, two more aircraft were acquired, including one D-Va and one D-V. One was captured in the Leszno area, and the other was purchased in May 1920 by the Gdańsk Procurement Mission. The fighter was assigned to the Naval Aviation Base in Puck. The aircraft participated in an ill-fated air show in August 1922, which resulted in the deaths of many spectators. It was withdrawn from service in November 1922.

Edit ...

Initially, the Poles used equipment left behind by the Luftstreitkräfte, which was supplemented by ad hoc purchases within the Free City of Danzig.

If that's true it means that some of the naval blue-grey paint used by Germans for the Kaiserliche Marine kites could be captured as well. So she could have been painted in the colour initailly if was still unpainted.

Lucky13 · May 24, 2026

Source: Internet

Wurger · May 24, 2026

Yes ... that fits much better to the images.

Lucky13 · May 24, 2026

Wurger said:
Yes ... that fits much better to the images.

I very much agree!

How about the Pfalz D.XII, I see it mentioned but I don't see any numbers.

Edit: 2 aircraft!

Wurger · May 24, 2026

Lucky13 said:
I very much agree!

How about the Pfalz D.XII, I see it mentioned but I don't see any numbers.

View attachment 880249

Edit: 2 aircraft!

Only two German Pfalz D.XII fighters were used by the Polish Air Force. They were purchased in Gdańsk after the end of World War I. The machines were delivered to Poland and became part of the equipment of the Pilot School in Ławica near Poznań (one was delivered in October and the other in December). There are no photos, so this profile is purely hypothetical. If memory serves the kites of the Lawica Station and school didn't have the numbers. Just the serial black number at a white rectangle.

BTW ... The Polish Naval Base Puck in 20'