Gothaforce 1/32nd Fokker D.VII
By Ernest Roth
I just finished building the Gothaforce Fokker DVII "Rudolf Stark" kit. The kit was a first for me in a couple of areas. It was my first nearly all-resin build and it was the first kit that I have ever pre-ordered. I won't bore you all with a detailed description of the build; there is an extensive build thread in the "Works in Progress" section of the forum for any of you interested in looking through it. I built the kit entirely out of the box with the only add-on being the very nice resin figure that was gifted to me for me to paint by my friend Jim Barry.
Some background on the actual aircraft and pilot. The model represents the Fokker DVII flown by Rudolf Stark when he commanded Jadgstaffel 35b, a Bavarian unit, during the summer and early fall of 1918. Stark was originally a cavalryman serving in the 2nd Bavaria Royal Uhlans before switching to the Air Service at the fairly late date of 15 November 1917. Stark finished the war with 11 confirmed and 5 unconfirmed victories and was also somewhat of an artist, painting several pictures of air combat while serving at the front. He also wrote a book about his experiences while serving as a pilot and staffel commander during WW1 entitled, "Wings of War: an Airman's Diary of the Last Year of World War One". He donated a few items of his DVII and a couple of his paintings to the Bavarian Army Museum in Ingolstadt which can still be seen at the museum today. Stark remained in his native Bavaria after returning from duty in WW1 passing away at 85 years of age in 1982.
I kept the weathering restrained as the aircraft had a short service period that was during mostly times of good weather. As you can see from the close-up photos the parts look very nice and the fit is quite good overall.
The kit prop is resin. I used a combination of artist's pencils, a burnt umber oil wash and Tamiya transparent orange to simulate wood.
The 3D printed figure is a very accurate likeness for Stark. The pose replicates one that was captured in a photo of Stark with this aircraft in 1918.
Enjoy!
© Ernest Roth 2026
This article was published on Thursday, July 02 2026; Last modified on Thursday, July 02 2026