My own very simple Red Baron's Fokker Dr. 1

[Rubenandres77]

Actually...
this is kind of a gift from the 33-years old me to the 8-years old me.

This started about the same time I built the 1:50 version (here)
I built that Fokker Dr1 because I wanted to start building models again with the first craft I ever assembled.

Marek's 1:50 proved to be a challenge. And remembering how easy and simple was the triplane I assembled when I was a kid, I thought on re-creating it.

The idea was to design a simple, easy and fast to build paper model that could be enjoyable for a child, with no more than 20 pieces, as less sheet parts as possible, and very clear instructions.

It also had to be as close as possible as the one I built some 25 years ago, since even today I can still remember how some parts were developed. Yes: that much I loved that paper plane that I looked at it every day and even disassembled some of the parts just for the sheer pleasure of building them again. that's why I have so clears memories about it.

I wanted the 8-year old me (or actually, any little kid nowadays) to look at it as if it were an open and friendly door to the world of paper modeling/crafting. Maybe this will be some kid's first model, and will inspire him/her to follow the path of the paper.

Problems there were many. Given the self-imposed restrictions a lot of details had to be discarded. Parts had to be designed in the most simple way (and not always accurate to the real plane). It had to be so simple than even a non-initiated adult could assemble it.

As with everything: when you want to make something simple, you must put a lot of effort to achieve it. The end result may be very simple indeed, but the amount of work is huge. I looked at references, photos, blueprints, magazines, other paper models, plastic models, radio control models.... draw several versions of it until I was satisfied.

Given its simplicity this will probably be considered closer to a "paper toy" than to a "paper model". However, I'll be more than glad if anyone finds it interesting, or at least useful to spend a nice afternoon. For me, it has been pretty satisfactory, and that's all I wanted. And the 8-years old me is very happy indeed .

I will publish here photos of the process. I'm already finished with the design, and will undoubtedly release it as a free download as soon as I make the final build (in these days to come... printer is far from home).

By the time being, here's the first doodle, and a first attempt at tracing the plans in Corel following a 3-view plan. I also attach the pictures of the 1st beta build. It looks awful, because it was printed on photocopy paper, but I only wanted to see if pieces fitted or if there were any design mistakes (there were, and had to be corrected afterwards).

[cMags]

Looks pretty darn accurate and "model-like" to me. Very nicely done. Thanks for sharing, can't wait to see what it looks like painted up and done in cardstock.

[cgutzmer]

Looks pretty complex for an 8 year old to me..... looks like a great model though! My main suggestion is that to really make it buidable for most 8 year olds you are going to have to make flat wings....
Chris

[Rubenandres77]

Originally Posted by cmags

Looks pretty darn accurate and "model-like" to me. Very nicely done. Thanks for sharing, can't wait to see what it looks like painted up and done in cardstock.

Thanks for your words. Hopefully by the weekend or the beginning of the next week it'll be completed.

Originally Posted by cgutzmer

Looks pretty complex for an 8 year old to me..... looks like a great model though! My main suggestion is that to really make it buidable for most 8 year olds you are going to have to make flat wings....
Chris

Thanks for your opinions
There's certain complexity indeed, Chris. Mostly in the "V" and "Λ" supports, I think they can be the most difficult parts of the plane. Hopefully, they will not be discouraging. If they prove to be too small/complex in the final build I might have to redesign them properly.

I'm not sure if the wings can be a problem too. I don't remember to have problems with them as a kid. And in fact I enjoyed to discover the basics of lift and aerodynamics with those exact wings. The original plane glided in the air... shortly, but it did!!! I would like to preserve that as much as possible.

[cMags]

I don't see any problem with 3D wings, and agree that a simple airfoil shape can spark lots of learning. The struts may prove difficult, however very easily simplified for beginners by not cutting out the center of the V.

[Rubenandres77]

This are pictures of the second attempt. Here some glitches were fixed. The most notable change is the addition of a part I'd forgotten in the previous version. Namely: the propeller. :o

The changes made the model stronger and gave it nicer lines.

After that, I started colouring the plane.

I printed today what I hope to be the last version. Will start to build tomorrow.

[cMags]

Looking good, but it doesn't seem to be red enough. My graphics program shows an RGB value of 235,60,0 - quite a bit of green there giving the overall color an orange tint. Is this on purpose? If not I'd dial down the green to produce a much redder plane.

[Rubenandres77]

Originally Posted by cmags

Looking good, but it doesn't seem to be red enough. My graphics program shows an RGB value of 235,60,0 - quite a bit of green there giving the overall color an orange tint. Is this on purpose? If not I'd dial down the green to produce a much redder plane.

That's probably due to the Corel interpretation of "red", which uses the CMYK values instead of the RGB.

In Corel the values are:
C: 0
M: 100
Y: 100
K: 0

And it's showing a RGB of: 218, 37, 29

Not pure red as you said :(
Will toy with that to try to fix it before the final release. Thanks for noting it!

[ghshinn]

My ten year old grandson will love this! I've been building FG Dr 1's, but they're a little too complicated for him. This looks great!

Garland

[Rubenandres77]

I finished building the first full prototype after completing the designing process.

Here are the pictures.

The kit will be released in 4 sheets of A4 size. But for this I printed the model in 2 sheets of A3 size 160gr cardstock. I used a laser printer.

The blank beta builds I posted before were made on 1:24 scale. This coloured model was downscaled to 1:33.

This was a fairly hurried built. And I didn't even cared for the edges. I was just too excited to bring this to life. But hopefully is good enough to show how the final model will be.