Siemens Schuckert D.III  8356/17 

'Roll out the Barrel’

The Siemens Schuckert Werke D.III type fighter was the marriage of several great ideas. First the “monococque” fuselage was a wooden frame with 3mm plywood panels as a skin. The rudder, elevators and wings were fabric covered and conventionally built. with ailerons in both upper and lower wings. The motor was the Siemens-Halske Sh III 160 hp, 11 cylinder  counter rotary motor. The motor turned in whole one direction while gearing allowed the four-bladed propeller to turn in the opposing direction. Rather than a standard rotary that turned motor and propeller in one direction at 1400 rpms, the counter rotary turned 700 rpms and the prop turned 700 rpms. This counteracted the torque inherent in the standard rotary and the motor‘s life span was increased. Later a modified version, the Sh IIIa put out 200 hp. Highly maneuverable and a fast climbing machine it became ideal for Home Defence units known as KEST ( Kampfeinsitzer staffeln.)   Some examples  were flown by front line pilots like Oblt. Ernst Udet and Ltn. Alfred Lenz successfully.

This is the Eduard kit built mostly out of the box with the exception of the rigging. The kit did not provide the material so I used monofilament. The 5 colour Lozenge and rib tapes decals are from Eagle Strike to simulate the look of the original aircraft. The propeller laminations were my first attempt at making decals on a laser printer.  The national and personal markings are from Aeromaster’s SSW decal sheet.  The figure is a modified Jaguar item.