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1/48 Eduard Pfalz D.IIIa weekend edition


Ted

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Having completed three kits that were languishing for years, I decided to reward myself by starting something new. This little gem calls itself a weekend edition :huh:

 

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Two sprues, a decal sheet and two pages of instructions greeting me. Should be a breeze, right?

 

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Drawn to the lovely wings I clipped them off and cleaned them up.

 

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On to step 1... wait now, I imagine there's some detail missing from these cockpits. Not having a windsock data book, or any other hardcopy references, for this airplane I've hit the wall and need to look for pictures, maybe even having to read the online Wingnut Wings instructions. And of course searching this fantastic forum for expert builds.

 

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Edited by Ted
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Sculpted a cushion and used gel medium to "paint" a padded edge on the seat.

 

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Opened up the air-intakes? on the sides of the fuselage. Before on the right and after on the left.

 

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Some work required on the gun mounts. The kit has you glue them to recesses on the fuselage when in reality there was an opening with framework supporting the guns. It's difficult to see what's going on in period photos so I'll just cut an opening, make up some supports and sculpt the guides/deflectors for the shells.

 

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No lozenge decals are supplied for the lower face of the wings. And only markings for one airplane. According to Wingnut Wings, that airplane had lozenge fabric exposed under the wings. Checked around and aftermarket lozenge will cost twice the kit cost. I don't mind buying some aftermarket bits but this time I think I'll just paint the underside of the wings white.

 

 

 

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Got the interior finished, I added some styrene strips to mimic a fuselage frame. The machine gun supports will (hopefully) be mostly covered by the guns and deflectors. Also added the missing air pump on the motor.

 

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I found some inexpensive lozenge camo decals for the underside of the wings at Jadar hobbies. Should be here in a week.

 

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Got the fuselage closed, lower wing glued on, puttied and sanded. I used tack putty to hold the wing struts and align them to the top wing before zapping them to the lower wing with Tamiya thin cement.

 

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I owe a lot to Wingnut Wings for their models and the research they do for their products. I referenced one of the profiles from a decal set they sell for the 1/32 Pfalz Diiia.

 

Painted with Vallejo, airbrushed the three main colours and brush painted some of the details. I masked and airbrushed the cross on the stabilizer. Now I have to wait for some lozenge decals I ordered from Jadar. I'll weather and add more details after the lozenge is on the wings.

 

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Edited by Ted
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Coming along very nicely!

Your rudder cross is a little wonky though, it may look odd when finished. It should be square to the front edges of the rudder where it meets the vertical fin. (see the box top for what I mean, not sure I've explained it well).

 

Ian

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1 minute ago, limeypilot said:

Coming along very nicely!

Your rudder cross is a little wonky though, it may look odd when finished. It should be square to the front edges of the rudder where it meets the vertical fin. (see the box top for what I mean, not sure I've explained it well).

 

Ian

Thanks Ian, it certainly is wonky. I decided not to use the kit-supplied decals and scheme and followed the references from one of the profiles on the wingnut wings site showing the strange alignment. It roughly matches a period photograph of this airplane.

 

I imagine the cross was painted plumb when the airplane was sitting on its wheels and tail skid.

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Curious.

 I've never seen that before so I just took a look at the WnW site and couldn't find it anywhere. It would be interesting to see the pics if you have a link.

 

Ian

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16 minutes ago, limeypilot said:

Curious.

 I've never seen that before so I just took a look at the WnW site and couldn't find it anywhere. It would be interesting to see the pics if you have a link.

 

Ian

It's in one of their decal kits for Pfalz of the Flying Circus. I had to find a paint scheme that painted over the specifications stencils on the fuselage sides because my kit didn't come with decals for those.

 

I was in a bit of a quandary with this kit. When I looked online there were many builds of the kit-supplied profile so I wanted to do something different (would have had to buy aftermarket lozenge decals to do that one anyway). I also didn't want to spend too much money as I have many other builds that I'm more emotionally invested in. This one was supposed to be a cheap, quickish build. :fool:

 

So I wanted to find an interesting profile with minimum investment, and Wingnut Wings came to my rescue thanks to their excellent research.

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  • 4 weeks later...

So six weeks later, my lozenge decals arrive from Jadar. I have had quick service from them before. <_<

 

But enough griping. I started on the underneath.

 

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Edited by Ted
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Well, that was an ordeal. After patching a few tears, and about 20 coats of Solvaset, the lozenge is ready for clear coat. Then I'll have to touch up a few spots with paint.

 

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Starting on the big list of details now. I wrapped the axle business with solder to represent rope/spring suspension.

 

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And painted some details and added crosses to the upper wing. Next I'll complete the detail painting and start the rigging. :mellow:

 

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Once it's assembled I also have to add the lines from the upper wing radiator and fuel tank to the engine.

 

 

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  • 9 months later...

This one languished for a long time but I finally finished the rigging. I used ez line, CA glue and accelerator.

 

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