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A question about Max Holtzem's Comet, and the Pfalz D.IIIa seat


Eivind Lunde

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I'm building Max Holtzem's well known Pfalz D.IIIa, and while doing some research I've found some pictures in the WnW instructions making me doubt some facts about the comet he had painted on his plane.

It is described as being black and white, both in the WnW kit and the Aeroscale decal sheet I'm using, but looking at the pictures it only seems to be black on the silver gray fuselage paint?
51004441522_f496d5fc66_o.jpg

The balkenkreuz is black on white of course, and is noticeably whiter than the comet's background, so how do we know it is white? 
Is it perhaps unfinished in this picture, or is the comet white and its tail black on silber-grau?
 

And my second question is about the seat. Again, both WnW and Eduard says in their paint instructions that it should be painted leather, but this picture from the WnW instructions* suggest it was painted in the interior colour. 
51004441532_b5d264d2c0_o.jpg

Or was it an aluminium frame with leather upholstery?

 

*I'm assuming using pics from the WnW instructions are OK since they are no longer in business, and they are likely public domain anyway.

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The seat looks like an aluminum color with leather upholstery, although it could be the exterior portion of the seat could be the interior gray-green the WnW instructions show for the interior of the fuselage.  Based on the photo shown it can't be all the same leather color.

Later,

Dave

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There is a definite tonal difference in the comet 'white' and the silbergrau and also like at your DIY store 100 years later, there are dozens of shades of 'white' which will look much different when painted side by side. Also, the  balkenkreuz may have been painted (after) the comet hence the differences; there are a whole raft of possibilities to explain the differences. Most convincing, WNW were fastidious in the research phase for their kits and would have arrived at the most likely determination for accuracy when deciding on colour. 

 

Seat - again they would probably have recycled seats with some painted and some unpainted at factory and squadron level and also of course if, say, the factory making the seats couldn't get paint. I doubt work would have been held up on the production line because paint for the aluminium seats hadn't arrived on time.

 

Ultimately, your kit - your call. Either way, of the 8 WNW kits I have built so far, it was the most enjoyable build of them all and is just a lovely and perfectly engineered kit.

 

Gary  

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