Fokker DR. I 'Red Baron' by Cobi

Fokker DR. I 'Red Baron'

Cobi

The "Red Baron" (Manfred von Richthofen), and his red triplane DR. I (Dreidecker - three wing), are the most iconic flying ace and fighter plane in history. Anyone other than history buffs would be hard pressed to come up with the names of some fighters in use today, but probably no others from World War I or World War II. Cobi has naturally picked the Fokker DR. I to be part of its World war I kits. So, let us see how the kit is to build, and what it looks like when it is finished.

The kit is made up of only 175 pieces, so I was a little concerned about how well it would look when finished. The other kits I have worked on have had a minimum of about 450 pieces. I was wondering if Cobi could pull off a kit as good looking as the rest of theirs with only that few pieces. I should not have been concerned at all. The kit, lined up next to my other Cobi creations, looks just as good as the others.

The building of a Cobi kit has, at times, been compared to building a model. While it is true that a well done model will look like a replica of the real plane or tank, the kits you build from Cobi are also extremely well done. The biggest drawback to doing models, which I love to build, is the painting. Putting a model together gives me a ton of satisfaction, but I never painted my models. I, for whatever reason, cannot paint a model for the life of me. When I have tried, I found the process very tedious, and it was completely unsatisfactory. The Cobi kits come with already colored bricks, so you can get a very good camouflage scheme. I have built two Cobi planes so far, the P-51 Mustang, and the Fokker DR. I. Both kits are proudly displayed next to my other model planes. I now have a damaged right thumb (my dominant hand) that really precludes the intricacy of the extremely small parts that are on models. Cobi kits fit the bill for my urge to build a great looking war machine with the actual construction being much easier. The timeframe for a Cobi build is also much shorter than a real model. It is true that you will need a few hours, especially on a large Cobi kit, but nowhere near the days (or weeks) long process to build an actual model. In these times where we only have X amount of time to spend on our hobbies, a Cobi build fits right in. As you can see by the pictures, the quality of Cobi kits are second to none.

The building of the Fokker DR. I was very satisfying. The plans from Cobi were, as usual, easy to follow and very hard for the builder to get wrong. The two times that I did mess up were entirely my fault in not taking the time to look closely enough to the instructions for that part of the build. I always have a small jewelers screwdriver on hand for my mess ups. This can fit right between the blocks without causing any damage whatsoever to the blocks, It is needed because the blocks in a Cobi kit fit together very tightly. The Fokker DR. I is just as strongly put together as any other Cobi kit. This was one of my concerns with an airplane that has three full wings. The strength of the Fokker DR. I when built is comparable to all of the other builds I have made from Cobi.

Although a little hard to see, the pilot figure is decorated with the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd class, Pilot Badge, and the Pour le Merite.

The build was extremely calming and gratifying. The finished product was better than all of my expectations. As you can see in the pictures the build was fun and relatively quick. The Fokker DR. I is a great addition to my growing collection of Cobi military vehicles. The cockpit, machine guns, and the rotary engine are extremely well done, and are my favorite parts of the build. Thank you Cobi for letting me review this excellent kit. I have two more kits coming up for review. These are the "Douglas C-47 Skytrain Dakota', and the 'LCVP - Higgins Boat' landing craft.