Though Fokker had won the love of German fighter pilots in 1915 with their
Eindeckers, their early biplanes were uninspired and suffered from poor workmanship. The inline-engined
Fokker D.I and
D.IV and the rotary-engined
Fokker D.II and
D.III were substandard relative to competitors like the
Halberstadt D.II and the Albatros fighters, and on 6 December 1916 all Fokker biplanes were withdrawn from front-line service due to structural failures both in static testing and in combat use.
The D.III was powered by a 160hp Oberursel U.III two-row rotary engine and armed with a twin fixed machine guns. Like the D.I and D.II before it, it premiered with wing-warping, as this model shows, but late production models seemed to have
converted to ailerons (as had all contemporary fighters). Their first service was in September 1916. 210 were constructed, and though its service life was brief, it was flown by the likes of Boelcke, Udet, and von Richtofen.
This product comes in both 1:144 and 1:285/6mm/1:288 scales.
The 1:285 product includes two aeroplanes, each with a translucent propeller disk. One of the 1:285 aeroplanes use wing-warping; one has ailerons. They are joined by disposable links to keep the price down, since single-part models are more affordable. You can break the links with nail clippers, wire cutters, or similar.
DESIGNER NOTE:
Models at scales smaller than 1:144 may no longer be available. Shapeways discontinued the material for which they were designed, and the newer materials require that each and every model be adjusted to thicken surfaces like wings. If you are interested in a particular model in a small scale, please let me know and I will prioritize it higher in the queue.
For more details and gaming information, see
https://linen.miraheze.org/wiki/Fokker_D.III