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Aviattic (link) is to release a 1/32nd Pfalz D.VIII multi-media kit - ref. ATTKIT012 Sources: https://www.facebook.com/aviattic/photos/a.3309406455822604/4433822456714326/ https://www.facebook.com/aviattic/photos/a.377742595655686/4444464268983478 V.P.

Building the Wingnut Wings Pfalz D.IIIa in 1/32 scale By Gary Boxall KLP Publishing Received from KLP publishing is the latest in the 'Build Guide' series, covering the beautiful Wingnut Wings kit of the Pfalz D.IIIa. The book is an online publication available to download in .PDF format, rather than a physical object. It covers three builds of the Pfalz - two D.IIIa's, and a conversion to backdate one to the earlier D.III, interspersed with a couple of tutorials, and appendices covering aftermarket products and decals, masks, and reference books currently available for the kit. Contents: About the kit - Page 6 About Gary Boxall - Page 12 Build 1: Eugen Siempelkamp's Pfalz D.IIIa - Page 13 Tutorial: Rigging -Page 223 Build 2: Hans-Georg Von der Marwitz's Pfalz D.IIIa - Page 236 Tutorial: Masking over decals - Page 260 Build 3: Alois Heldmann's Pfalz D.III (Conversion) - Page 269 Appendices - Page 348 The three builds are sensibly divided, with Build 1 being by far the most detailed as it covers 210 pages of descriptive text supported with superb photographs. The idea is that the first is the most comprehensive, Build 2 dispenses with the constructional details already covered and concentrates on painting and finishing, and Build 3 shows how to tackle a conversion using some scratch building and modification of the kit parts. This is a really good idea as it allows so many useful techniques to be shown, whilst avoiding any repetition. I was genuinely impressed with some of the innovative ideas and approaches that are demonstrated. There is a lot of information, from assembling the parts in a sensible sequence to aid painting, to showing multiple steps for creating finishes for wood and leather. I particularly liked that each step is illustrated with the part being worked on, and a picture of the paint being used. So when he is using Tamiya 'Fine Surface Primer' or Vallejo 'Chocolate Brown (70.872)' we get to see exactly what they are. Brilliant! I know what to look for on my next visit to the model shop. I particularly liked the section on painting the fuselage, which is basically green. Using a mottle mask to pre-shade and small amounts of oil paints after decaling, the result is a superb natural looking green fuselage. So much better than the monotone plain green fuselage that I would likely have achieved! The engines he builds are astonishingly realistic, I've always added the ignition wiring from the magnetos to the spark plugs on my models, but Gary shows a much easier an effective method. I'm itching to try his method on my next build, as well as the weathering applied to make it all look like a real engine that has been well used. How inspirational is this: Between Builds 1 and 2 a detailed tutorial shows how to use Gaspatch turnbuckles and Modelkasten stretch rigging. The photographs are again very useful in explaining it all. It is not something I have ever tried myself, but I am now tempted to try this process as it undeniably produces a much superior result to the simple fishing line method I have been using all these years. Build 2 covers an overall burgundy with silver undersides D.IIIa of Hans-Georg van der Marwitz, this time concentrating on painting and using masks to create the markings. The results are very impressive, and far better than can be obtained with decals. Again copious amounts of photographs help to make each stage clear. Between Builds 2 and 3 there is another short tutorial showing how to mask over decals. This is something particularly useful on German lozenge covered aircraft of this period, when the 'Eisenkruez' styles of wing crosses were changed to 'Balkenkruez' according to the German Idfleig command. This often resulted in a 'shadow' of plain paint covering the old cross being visible under the new straight armed cross painted on top. Full explanation is given on how to achieve this by masking on top of the lozenge decaled wing. The final build shows how to backdate the D.IIIa to the D.III, which in simple terms means lowering and covering the machine guns so that they are fully enclosed in the fuselage, and reducing the size of the horizontal tail plane. Further work is done on the engine to create an earlier version with the aid of sets from Taurus Models covering valves, lifters, timing gear, spark plugs, and manifold nuts. Again, another astonishing ultra realistic engine is the result. Further information is given on improving other areas of the kit using solder for pipework, photo etch, thin brass sheet for making access panels etc, with some really useful ideas. The modified fuselage with guns now mounted inside: And the finished result. How fabulous is this, just look at that prop. The book concludes with appendices in 3 parts. The first covers resin, etch, white metal, and fabric seat belts available, while the second looks at decals and masks. The third part looks at reference books from publishers such as Kagero, Albatros, and Aeronaut. Conclusion. As most of us know, Wingnut Wings ceased production in early 2020, but there must be thousands of their kits in various stashes around the world. If you are fortunate enough to own any, you will want to be sure of doing a good job on these precious kits, and this guide provides a wealth of interesting and innovative techniques to get the best from them. All three models are of museum quality, and absolutely breath taking. Even if you do not have a Pfalz D.IIIa in your stash, it is still highly relevant to other Wingnut Wings and Roden WW1 kits. I am hugely impressed by the the layout and contents, and most especially by the clear explanations of how to achieve some very high quality results. It is full of ideas that will suit everyone from beginner to advanced modeller, so you can pick and choose what you would like to try on your next model, advancing your skills with each subsequent build. I know I haven't mentioned it in this review, but I'll certainly be making use of plumbers PTFE tape on my next build! Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Finished at last. Here are my two little Pfalz scouts in 1/144. Little wasps... I'm normally more of an RFC type, but I'm really happy with how they came out. I hope you like them. Here is a link to the work in progress thread for some photos taken along the way:

Wingnut Wings is to release mid November 2019 1/32nd Pfalz D.IIIa special boxing - ref. 32909 - Pfalz D.IIIa 'Flying Circus part 1' - http://www.wingnutwings.com/ww/product?productid=3219 - ref. 32910 - Pfalz D.IIIa 'Flying Circus part 2' - http://www.wingnutwings.com/ww/product?productid=3220 V.P.

Part 1 of my triplane build, Fokker Dr1, Sopwiths Snark and Triplane in progress, others may follow ...

Hi all!, While waiting for supplies for the Fairey Battle build, I've decided to go ahead and restore the Pfalz E.IV that was damaged when I relocated. To make it more interesting I will also build the AZ Models E.I alongside it. This is the reason for the restoration/repair Surprisingly it came apart (even more) very easily and it wasn't long before I had this The elevators have been reconnected with brass rod, and the odd curve that I had toward the rear of the wing undersides has been removed and the trailing edges sharpened up. It's all been sanded down and is about ready for the first coat of paint. I've sourced replacement crosses but will lose the (very small) airframe numbers behind the cockpit and at the top of the rudder. I don't think that will be a major problem. As for the E.I, here's what we have The plastic is very soft and there's a fair amount of work to do cleaning up mould lines, but otherwise not too bad. The PE is for an E.IV but I should be able to use some of it, we'll see! The first thing I noticed was that the wings are too long, but that appears to be because the same moulds are used for the M-S Type H and G, the latter of which has the longer wing. The instructions tell you to remove the inner end of the wings at the first rib mark to correct the length. This I duly did, then realised that the outer ends are the wrong shape and need correcting. This would have been far easier to do if I'd known before hand - instead of removing the inner rib, just reshape the outer tip! i tried reattaching the removed part to the outer edge, but that is not going to work. The wings are also way too thick and also too deep chord wise, needing a couple of mm removed from the trailing edge. The result of all this is that I will be scratchbuilding the wings, and also new tail surfaces as the kit ones are too thick. Nothing unusual there, it's pretty standard with any WWI kit! Oh well, here we go, Thanks for looking in! Ian

Pfalz D.IIIa 1:48 Eduard WEEKEND Edition Before WWI the Pfalz company produced Morane-Saulnier aircraft under licence. In late 1916 they hired Rudolph Gehringer as their chief designer to work on an original fighter design. This would become the D.III and it emerged in April 1917. The new aircraft used a plywood monocogue fuselage with plywood strips being formed over a muold to form the fuselage.Once glued together the fuselage halves were covered with a layer of fabric which then doped. This gave great strength to the fuselage and was the same as used by Roland. The wings were of conventional construction for a biplane. Ailerons were wooden and the tail featured an inverted aerofoil section. The Pfalz was well suited to diving attacks due to the strength in its lower twin wing double wing spar. However there were problems with the design and pilots reported they were unable to clear gun jams as the guns were buried in the fuselage. The D.IIIa would cure this by relocating the guns to the upper fuselage decking. In addition it gained enlarged horizontal stabilisers and a more powerful engine. The Kit The Eduard kit of the Pfalz D.IIIa has been with us since 1996, bit has not been re-issued since 2010 according to our friends at Scalemates. The kit arrives on two sprues of grey plastic. There are no signs the moulds have lost anything over the years. Construction starts in the cockpit with a handful of smaller parts being added into each half. To the floor is added the seat, control column, rudder pedals and forward bulkhead. Seatbelts are provided on the decal sheet. The floor and instrument panel (instruments provided on decal) are added into the left fuselage. The engine is built up and provides a good representation of the real thing. This is then also added into the left fuselage along with its support structure. The main fuselage can then be closed up. The tailplanes, rudder, tail struct and lower wing can then be added. The Eduard instructions have you round of the wing tips from the lower wing which are triangular, but strangely on the sprues is a complete lower wing with rounded tips which is not even shown on the sprue layout in the instructions?? The engine exhaust is now fitted along with the guns in front of the cockpit. The upper wing can now be added being careful to line up the wing and fuselage struts. Lastly the landing gear is added along with the prop. For those who are not to great at rigging Eduard have included a diagram to show where it goes. Decals There is one sheet of decals for the aircraft markings. Decals are printed in house by Eduard and look to be good, in register and colour dense. 2 options are provided; which seems the norm for Weekend kits at present. Flown by Oblt B von Alvensleben, Jasta 21, Boncourt, France June 1918 (Box art) Flown by Olbt W Ewers, Jasta 77, Vraignes, France April 1918 Conclusion This is a great kit from Eduard and it is good to see it released in a Weekend boxing. The parts count is not that high that this kit would be a good start for those wanting to try a WWI Subject. Recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Special Hobby is to release in August 2016 a 1/48th Pfalz EI kit (ex-Gavia plastic) - ref.SH48176. Source: http://www.specialhobby.net/2016/06/sh48176-pfalz-ei-148.html Box art V.P.

Aviattic is to release in the Summer 2016 a 1/32nd Pfalz Dr.1 resin kit. Sources: https://www.facebook.com/richard.w.andrews/media_set?set=a.10206471254194071.1073741877.1051020198&type=3 http://earlyaero.com/first-look-aviattics-upcoming-132-pfalz-dr-1-model/ V.P.

AZ Model (http://www.azmodel.cz/) has just re-released its 1/72nd Pfalz A.I kit in a limited edition - ref.AZ7495 Source: http://www.modelarovo.cz/pfalz-a-i-172-azmodel-az7495/ V.P.

Pfalz D.XII 1:32 and 1:48 Pheon Decals 1:32nd scale sheet 32030. 1:48th scale sheet 48022 The Pfalz D.XII was a development of the earlier D.III, and shared a similar fate in that it was outperformed by another manufacturers product. With the D.III is was the Albatros DV that was considered to be the better aircraft, while the D.XII couldn't compete with the superb Fokker D.VII. The major developments applied to the D.XII were a nose mounted radiator and replacement of the sesquiplane wing arrangement with more conventional wings of more equal span and chord. It also had conventional strutting and drag inducing rigging which the Fokker was designed to do without. Although it was a perfectly competent machine, it could not climb or manoeuvre as well as the Fokker D.VII so was never a popular choice for the Jastas. Pheon decals have issued two decal sets for the D.XII in both 1:32 for the Wingnut Wings kit, and in 1:48th for the Blue Max or Special Hobby kits. I bought the Wingnut Wings kit as soon as it was released, and as expected it is a beautiful set of mouldings well up to the high standard we expect from Wingnut. The kit offers five finishing options which cover a good range of the D.XII's short career, but only 1 of them (Option B, Jasta 49) really grabbed me. So it is great to see that Pheon have produced a set of 10 further options to tempt us with. Produced in their now familiar A4 format the set consists of a paper sheet showing all 10 options available (11 on sheet 48020) . There are then 3 sheets of profiles showing each one in more detail, with 3 or 4 drawings per sheet. Then we have the very helpful A5 booklet giving some background information on the aircraft, and written details of each aircraft option. There is a lot of useful information in here, pointing out where there are difficulties in interpreting colours from old black & white photographs. Although the Wingnuts kit supplies both early and late style fin/rudder units, Pheons sheet covers only the later aircraft. Shown here are the profiles from 32030 on the left, with 48022 on the right. The Options are; 1.D.XII 2695/18, pilot and unit unknown, Autumn 1918 2.D.XII 1460/18, pilot unknown, Jasta 23b 3.D.XII, serial and pilot unknown, Jasta 17, probably Autumn 1918 4.D.XII 1416/18, pilot unknown, Jasta 17 5.D.XII 2525/18, Vfw. Ludwig Marchner, Jasta 32b 6.D.XII 1443/18, pilot unknown, Jasta 77b 7.D.XII, serial pilot and unit unknown 8.D.XII, serial pilot and unit unknown 9.D.XII 2867/18, Belgian markings, post-war 10. D.XII, serial unknown, Ltn. Josef Reasch, Jasta 43, Harbourdin, August 1918 Sheet 48020 only; 11. D.XII, 1445/18 pilot unknown, Jasta 49 (the same as Option B in the Wingnuts kit.) The decals. Both sets are printed by Fantasy Printshop, the 1:32 on an A4 sheet, 1:48 a little larger than A5, and they both show the same high standards we have come to expect from this source. The sheets are logically laid out, with each option having its own section. The colours are good and a typical Pheon touch is that where there is a possibility that a marking could have been one of two colours, you get the decal in both, such as the white or Blue 'M' for option 5. Printing is pin sharp and the carrier film is minimal. Some slight extra carrier film is used on the wavy yellow band on option 2 to help it hold its shape. This is pointed out in the instructions so that you can keep or remove it as suits your preference. Sheet 32030. Sheet 48020 48020 contains a small supplementary sheet of Pfalz logos. Rather than repeat items that are in the kit, Pheon use the space on the sheet to give you more options. Therefore you will need to take some of the items from the wingnuts kit, particularly the lozenge for the wings and the Balkenkreutz etc. The Belgian option however does supply all the roundels and rudder stripes. Conclusion. Another lovely and well thought out set from Pheon. Split between 4 camouflaged, 4 silver-grey, and 2 black examples, giving a good range of extra finishes to choose from. The two black options look particularly sleek, whilst the captured Belgian example really offers something exotic. Whichever your preferred scale either of these sheets will make a great addition to your stashed Wingnut Wings, Special Hobby, or Blue Max kits. Very highly recommended Review sample courtesy of Pheon Decals

Pfalz - Fighter Aircraft from Rheinland the wine country Kagero Publishing This latest addition to the 'Legends of Aviation' series from Kagero Publishing comes in the usual A4 sized softback format. The layout of the chapters is entirely logical, following a largely chronological sequence over 72 pages. Starting with the early days the first chapter explains how Pfalz started out by licence building machines from other manufacturers, particularly the French Morane company, and went on to develop thier own enhancements and eventually complete aircraft. The illustrations are well chosen and relevant to the text, some of them I have seen before but many are new to me. The bulk of the book concerns itself with sections covering Pfalz aircraft 'In Combat' and 'At the front'. These are always fascinating to read, as they reveal much about what the aircraft were like, and their strengths and weaknesses. It has always surprised me that an aeroplane as beautiful as the Pfalz D.III didn't seem to be as good as it looked. The text is largely interesting and informative, filling in gaps in my knowledge, particularly on the Pfalz triplanes and the diminuitive little D.VII. Five appendices are included towards the end of the book with aircraft specifications, Jasta markings, production data, 'Entente' (I think they mean 'Allied') Pfalz killers, and an interesting little summary of the Adlershof fighter competitions. (Interesting little 'aside'. I notice that in the table of Pfalz Killers is Charles G. Gass of 22 Sqn. with 8 Pfalz kills. Although he is not well known, he is to me one of the most interesting of WW1 aces, with a total of 39 confirmed kills. None of these were achieved as a pilot, in fact all came from his time as gunner/observer on the Bristol F.2b). Next up we have several pages of D.III drawings taken from a variety of sources such as factory drawings and 'Flight' magazine. The detail drawings are really useful in understanding such things as the strut fittings and control wire rigging. The 3-view id reproduced from a factory drawing but no scale is stated, although it appears to be in 1:72nd. Finally we have five full colour 4-views, (three D.III's and two D.XII's) by Ronny Bar, all of which will tempt you into building a model. Conclusion. A very nicely produced book which acts as both a 'coffee table' read, and a reference source. It is probably ideal as an introduction to the Pfalz range of aircraft, as unlike other publications it is not limited to a single aircraft. Growing your knowledge in this way is a welcome side effect of building models, and reading books like this often leads to further inspiration. Highly recommended Review sample courtesy of