Rabens Ravens Jasta 18 Summer 1918

[bluewillow]

Last weeks an effort by me to complete my Raben Ravens Jasta 18 summer 1918, 1/72 a mix of Airfix, Roden and Italeri with Wartime Miniatures and Airfix pilots. Pheon decals,I still have four more to complete.














Cheers
Matt

[OSHIROmodels]

Nice 

[bluewillow]

Thanks James, really happy with them

Cheers
Matt

[fred]

They look great.

It’s a really striking colour scheme!

[aphillathehun]

Nice that you have the Pheon decals.  I'm not sure what the future is for them now....

[bluewillow]

Nice that you have the Pheon decals.  I'm not sure what the future is for them now....

Yes Rowan passed away in 2022, but his wife and daughter are supposed to be continuing the business.

Cheers
Matt

[tomrommel1]

looking really good

[wolivant]

They look great.

Do you do commission work?

Regards

Wolt

[Baron von Wreckedoften]

This is really more a tangential question - would a single Jasta have more than one aircraft type and if so, would they be according to the personal preference of the individual pilots?  Did any German (or other) pilots have more than one type of aircraft "in the hangar" according to what mood he was in when he got up that morning (or other more professional reasons!)?

[aphillathehun]

This is really more a tangential question - would a single Jasta have more than one aircraft type and if so, would they be according to the personal preference of the individual pilots?  Did any German (or other) pilots have more than one type of aircraft "in the hangar" according to what mood he was in when he got up that morning (or other more professional reasons!)?

I am on the road.  When I get home I can provide some concrete details (Jasta #s, pilot names)

But yes, there are photographs of two different kinds of planes in a Jasta both with a single pilot's insignia.  And there is plenty of evidence of jastas equipped with a bunch of different kinds of planes at the same time.  A lot of times it's as simple as different versions of the same plane (Alb D III and D V at the same time for example) but there are also examples of Fokker Dr 1s and Albatros in the same jasta at the same time, for example.

[Fitz]

Aircraft were issued to Jasta as they became available, and it was unusual for a Jasta to convert wholesale from one aircraft type to another. As 1918 began, it would be quite usual for a Jasta to be fielding brand new Fokker D-VII alongside Albatros D-V and D-III alongside Pfalz D-III alongside Fokker Dr-1.

The ideal, of course, would be for every pilot to be flying the same type, if only to ease logistics. But having a flyable plane in the air was more important than keeping consistency across a squadron. By the very nature of their construction, WW1-era planes wore out pretty fast, even if they survived combat, so there was quite a lot of "churn" in squadron aircraft types.

In practice, senior pilots could choose the type they flew, but as far as I am aware it was not official doctrine.

Things were much more rigid in the RFC. I don't know much about the culture of the French flying services.

[carlos marighela]

Those are lovely. The raspberry ripple look is quite striking. Sure beats painting lozenge pattern camo or applying decals to wings.

[bluewillow]

They look great.

Do you do commission work?

Regards

Wolt

I do Wolt send me a PM if you would like something done. A little full with commissions at the moment, until June at least with a French cavalry commission and a few smaller ancient and medieval commissions.

Cheers
Matt

[bluewillow]

Those are lovely. The raspberry ripple look is quite striking. Sure beats painting lozenge pattern camo or applying decals to wings.

Yes it is striking, I also have 5 aircraft for jasta 18 in the earlier blue and red.

Cheers
Matt

[wrgmr1]

These look fantastic!
Well done.
I painted up 5 of these some years ago.