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Pfalz D.IIIa flown by Vzfw
Max Hotzem of Jasta 16b.
Added
19-01-2003.
1)
Close up of Interior Detail
This is the non-Profi-pack version, the interior is
essentially oob apart for some piping
(which you can't see in this photo :
) and Eduard WW1 German seat belts and bezels.
2)
Close ups of the engine
The engine took me two weeks to complete. There are nine
different colours and
washes used on the engine. I think it was worth
it!
 
3)
Putty…
Here we see the model with the fuselage joined and the
lower wing attached.The
wing seams needed lots of Tamiya and Testors
putty. Photo three shows the seams after sanding.
4) Disaster
Strikes!
When spraying the Silbergrau, I forgot to thin it for the
airbrush and too my horror
discovered these paint splodges and runs. How
to save the paint job?
5)
Order Restored
Some very careful sanding with a very fine nail file, I
was ableto get rid of most of
the runs without the aftermath being too
noticeable…..
Added 10-02-2003.
Since the last lot of photos, I've made a fair amount of
progress. As you can see, the twin Spandau machine guns have been added,
as have the exhaust pipes. As the photos of Holtzem in front of his
machine show, his Pfalz D-IIIa did not
have the usual 'saxaphone'
exhaust system, but had individual pipes. I made these from plastic
rod.
After weathering the fuselage with an oil wash, I then
added the distinctive fuselage markings. I found this particularly nerve
wracking as the Eduard decals wanted to curl at
every opportunity. I
countered this with a couple of drops of dishwashing detergent in the
soaking water and also by taking them out sooner rather than later, so
they did not have a chance to curl. Despite this I lost the first set of
bands I tried. Lucky I had a spare set!
The next step will be to finish drilling the rigging
attachment points (which I will be
doping with a fine gauge electric
guitar string) and decaling the struts prior to attaching
the top
wing…..
This is a shot of the near completed top wing. I still
have to add Holtzem's star and will
dust the Silbergrau with pastel chalk
dust to lighten this area a bit. Generally fabric areas covered in
Silbergrau were slightly ligher in colour than the wooden fuselage area.
The radiator finish was achieved through dry brushing a number of
metallics over a burnt iron base, finished with a burnt umber and black
oil wash.
Added 10-02-2003.
Added 28-02-2004.
Here’s my completed Pfalz D IIIa on the competition tables
of Model Expo 2003,
Melbourne’s largest annual model show. I had always
set the Pfalz to appear at this
contest but had to accelerate the final
stages into one marathon 24 hour session to finish
it. The top coat was
certainly still tacky when the Pfalz made its debut on the
tables!
Unfortunately about a month later the Pfalz suffered a
nasty accident when I was moving house, involving a cat jumping into the
open box holding the model (and others).
Oscar the cat is now responding
well to treatment and the Pfalz sits in a “to fix box”
awaiting repairs to
undercarriage, struts, and rigging.
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