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The Blue Max


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Hello everyone,

 

Here are some pictures of my latest completion, the Encore (Roden) 1/72 Pfalz D.III. This is their “Blue Max” boxing, which depicts the aircraft flown by Ltn Bruno Stachel (George Peppard) in the 1966 movie “The Blue Max”. If you haven’t seen this aviation classic, I strongly recommend it.

 

bluemax3_zpsnyy5wa8y.jpgTadlow-BlueMax-CD-Booklet-1_zps21osxxuj.

 

The kit was built with the addition of the PART photo-etched set. The kit itself is a bit rough around the edges, and requires a bit of refinement, but it looks like a Pfalz. The Lozenge decal is from Aviatik, and presents some better colours than those included in the kit. These decals are excellent; translucent (which makes them good for pre-shading), very thin, durable, and able to be contorted across compound curves (mostly). This was especially useful given the compound curves of the fuselage; I didn’t get it perfect but I was happy enough in the end. Rigging is from Uschi brand elastic. 

I didn’t go for a ‘movie perfect’ model; rather, I built is as a ‘normal’ Pfalz (though I did mix up the D.III and D.IIIa parts, deliberately), with the markings broadly representative of the movie aircraft.
Here’s some pics of the model:


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I also decided it would be cool to mount this one to a more appropriate base:

 

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I added a pilot from the spares box, with a rather stern looking head from an Airfix BE-2C crewman, and a scarf made from foil. I tried to replicate a spinning propeller, but nothing I tried or looked at really looked convincing, so I simply made a prop-less spinner from scrap plastic.

Overall this was a fun little build.  Good hunting, herr Leutnant! 

 

BM15_zpsjxw3lz00.jpg
 

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Oh I've seen the movie but I also saw movie being made and learned to fly at the very Airfield where it was filmed. I actually used to see dogfighting for the movie in the air near my home as a small child.  I think the Blue Max and a later movie inspired my love of aircraft and flying. 

Yours is a great tribute to that moment in time. 

Thanks for that.

Edited by noelh
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I have abandoned tiny single engined aeroplanes in 1:72 long ago, because I found them not to be worthy of my time and effort.

But every now and then I stumble on an exceptional model that proves me wrong.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Excellent model and dynamic display Brad.  I think the prop less spinner is one of the more convincing ways of depicting an aircraft in flight too.  Its been a while since Ive seen the movie, hard to find these days

 

Nice work

 

Bruce

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