Featured Project: World War 1 Era German Albatros D.III Biplane Fighter
The next phase of mY pretty ambitious aviation history project, which was considered quite a nemesis for the Nieuport 17, was the Albatros D.III. There were several variants of the Albatros and this particular project focuses on the D.III model. The D.III was piloted by many top German aces, including Manfred von Richthofen, Ernst Udet, Erich Löwenhardt, Kurt Wolff, and Karl Emil Schäfer. I wanted to be historically accurate as to depict a real air battle and research shows the Nie.17 and the Albatros D.III went head to head on several occasions and several D.III aircraft served on the front lines through 1918.
The D.III had a beautiful design to it which makes it a great study in the history of Military Aviation.
 |
 |
These are the earlier renders of the progress so far on this most beautiful of WW. I aircraft. Basic setup and construction has begun starting with the main fuselage, landing struts, cockpit area, tail section and the upper wing.
More coming very soon. |
Update: Aug-12-2008.
Here's the model after some building out of the structure. Tightened up the ribbing the on the upper wing as well as building of the bottom wing.
Also worked on the tail section.
More coming soon. |
 |
After some technical advice from Russell Smith, i've modified the main rudder to be more consistent with the D.III's of the time. Apparently more had the rudder with a straight edge and not rounded.
Also continuing with more small details. |
 |
This is the Spandau Machine Gun that was used for the Albatross. And the Albatross, like many WW.I German fighters of the time, used 2 guns side by side making it that much more lethal.
This particular model you see in progress here is considered the "high-resolution" model. The "low-resolution" model will be optimized to be used for the entire project.
This hi-res model is considered a little project unto itself and will be used to highlight more of my 3d technical illustration services.
|
 |
Work continues on little details of my Albatros D.III. Is this case, the tail section, rudder and horizontal stabilizers are getting the details they need.
|
 |
Here's a current update of the Spandau Machine Gun. I've been delayed the last few weeks working on freelance projects in order to get my design studio moving in the right direction of independence. After a colleague forwarded me some wonderful reference photos, i went back and added more details for a little more realism. As with the upcoming engine, this is considered a stand-alone project in order of technical illustrations and renderings. |
 |
Work has begun on the Mercedes Engine for my Alabatros D.III. Plans were provided by an associate on Military-Meshes by the screen name of Lukem, and they've been very valuable to this point. As with the Spandau Gun, this Mercedes engine is almost a project all by itself and is a standalone technical illustration for demos and future publication works. |
 |
Here's an update as of mid October. This is a very complex engine build and is taking a little longer than expected. However, it'll be worth it when it's done. |
|
