Lufthansa 1049G Super Constellation "D-ALEM"

Here's another "real" 50's Lufthansa livery, this time in /144 scale. This kit is a Revell #04252 Lockheed 1049G Super Connie built straight out-of-the-box. My first Constellation kit was the Heller 1/72 with decals for TWA and I was quite enthused about building one in 1/144 scale too.


The kit looks Connie all right and the decals are quite fine. I'd like to try this kit again with the landing gear down, it might look even better that way. Like, it's a good model now but not necessarily great in this guise.



I think the longer radar nose suits Super Constellation better, unfortunately all Lufthansa planes had the short nose which looks a bit stubby in comparison. Likewise wingtip tanks were fitted on all Lufthansa Constellations.



The curved fuselage was a result of propeller clearing and tricycle landing gear.




Story goes that Howard Hughes insisted on that the Constellation should fit exsisting hangars, so a triple tail was designed.





All painting was done with an airbrush and enamel paints. The final glosscoat over the decals was brushed with Johnson acrylic floor wax.

Lufthansa Airbus A321 "D-AIRX"

Airbus A321 in retro livery celebrating the 50th anniversary of Lufthansa. This model is a Revell kit in 1/144 scale, approved by Lufthansa.

The kit itself is nothing exceptional, builds nicely though but the decal sheet is the main attraction here.

I left the cabin windows open and used the cheatline decals. All door outlines and small details were printed really nice and decals were easy to apply and handle.




This 1/144 model was painted with an airbrush using Revell and Humbrol enamels and acrylics glosscoats. Final topcoats are a tad heavy, but it makes dusting the model easier.




There is, as always, room for improvement in this model too, but I think it gives a nice illusion of the original plane.





This retro airliner resembles a real 50's Lufthansa Boeing 707 despite the missing 2 engines, I'm looking forward building the 707 in Lufthansa livery some day.




Here's a study for a more realistic background. I took the photo outdoors using stained metal table and real sunshine.

Deutsche Luft-Hansa Heinkel He-70 Blitz "D-UMIM, Albatros"

This small plane was used for Lufthansa express and mail routes within Germany in the 1930's. I built this 1/72 scale model from a Matchbox kit some 10 years ago, using "Ernst Heinkel - Pionier der Schnellflugzeuge" book as a reference. I got a 1950's edition as an interlibrary loan from Germany.


At that time I was quite pleased with my building results, today I would do some things a bit differently. It is a nice kit anyway (Revell has reboxed it recently) and despite the errors I made it is an example of my building history and valuable for me in this aspect too.


All streamlined features like retractable landing gear, flowing body lines and elliptical wings are well represented in this kit.





With a length of 12 meters and wingspan of 14.80 meters it was a compact plane for 4 passengers and crew of 2.






This model was hand painted with Revell enamels and decaled with kit decal sheet. Final matt varnish is Revell also. Decals matched original photos quite well.




Landing gear assembly looks more complicated to build than it actually was.

Lufthansa DC-3 (C-47) "D-CADI"

This DC-3 is the old and good Italeri kit #132 in 1/72nd scale built out-of-the-box with kit decals. I built this model quite a long time ago and started my Lufthansa collection with it.

From Künnapuu, Ants: 100 Ōhusōidukit. Illusteerinud V.Tōnisson (Valgus, Tallinn, 1975)

Other decal options were 2 Swiss airlines, KLM, Air France and Alitalia. I recall it was a easy build and lots of fun. As a matter of fact, I'm building this same kit from Revell reboxing using the old Air France decals and original instructions.



I found generic Lufthansa DC-3 pictures for reference from the Airliners.net, but some details may still be inaccurate for this particular airplane. As many civil DC-3s of the time, it was converted from a C-47 military transport after the war.





This model was painted by hand with Revell enamels and glosscoats. I still like to paint some of my 1/72 scale models partly by brush instead of an airbrush, because it gives a subtle touch for the finish and looks better to my eye.



I like this particular Lufthansa classic 1950's livery, because it suits every airliner they used at that time and even the modern Airbus 320 painted in retro colours today.

Deutsche Luft-Hansa Junkers Ju 52/3mg4e "D-ATVO"

Italeri #1265 "Toucan" 1/72nd scale model kit. Built straight out-of-the-box except for the registration and "Lufthansa" decals. Tail markings from the kit sheet. Hand painted with Revell and Tikkurila enamels. Final acrylic clearcoats applied with paintbrush as well. Relatively easy kit to build with moderately good fittings, some putty needed.

From Künnapuu, Ants: 100 Ōhusōidukit. Illusteerinud V.Tōnisson (Valgus, Tallinn, 1975)

This model is a part of my Lufthansa fleet collection in 1/72nd and 1/144th scale. Italeri has released a dedicated civil version as well, but I wanted to try something less obvious and off the beaten track.



Wing registration markings are modified from an Italeri DC-3 kit sheet, they are probably slightly too small for a 1930's Ju-52 but there were variations also in that time.




Engine front covers are not installed, but they are included in the kit and may be added later if need be.





The Lufthansa Crane is most likely correct here. There were no names listed for this registration, so the space below cabin windows is left blank in purpose.