RAREPLANES 1:72 PFALZ D.III

 

Reviewer: Steve Hedoworth (contact via SMAKR webmaster)
Kit Review submitted:  26 July 2009

Aircraft History:

The Pfalz D111 appears to have first flown in the spring of 1917. It underwent acceptance tests in June and was accepted for production, entering service with Bavarian Jastas in August. It was powered by a 160 hp Mercedes and the machine guns were located beyond the pilot’s reach under the forward cowlings. By the end of the year there were 276 D111’s at the front but the improved D111a was now in production and there were 114 in service. In this model a higher powered Mercedes of 175/180 hp was installed, the guns located within reach, the wing tips became more rounded and a larger tailplane was added. In April 1918 there were 433 at the front and the Pfalz served within the ranks of 46 Jastas. As late as August 166 remained on active service. Allied reports of a captured example were praiseworthy and several aces flew the type with success.

The Kit:

This is a vacform. In the days long ago before Roden and Toko and their associates if you wanted something WW1 other than the offerings of Revell and Airfix it had to be a vacform. Their ranges were many and varied as was the quality. And they weren’t cheap. This kit cost me £1.45 at the start of the eighties when Revell DR1’s and Camels retailed at 0.45 pence. Looking at today’s prices a similar ratio exists against mass produced kits. Back then I bought eight vacforms and built three of them. Of those eight I think only two have not been brought out as an injection kit by one or other of the short run manufacturers. Non the less a glance through various company’s product lists will show that there remain many types that will probably never be produced in injection form and these are only available because of the vacform companies. It is because I have my eye on, when finances permit, a couple of vacform WW1 twins that I started looking into the finer techniques of this method of modelling. Of my earlier attempts two have resided in my spares box for years in a dismantled format while the other would benefit from a considerable makeover. It would be fair to say that my techniques in those days were pretty terrible. After studying a couple of decent sites on the web I thought I was ready to try my hand at this discipline again but I wanted to test myself on something expendable.

During my visits to the spares box I had noticed that I had managed to keep practically all of the parts for the Pfalz. Roden kits and their like have leapt in price here because of the demise of the pound against the euro so I thought I might even save a few quid. So for those of you who have some old unmade vacforms lurking about here’s how not to do it but have a bit of fun in the making.

This is a Rareplanes model but I’m fairly sure it also came out under the Warbirds banner. It has single surfaced wings, that is one piece, with fine upper surface detail. This includes a radiator and panelling and very fine ribbing and control horns. The under surface needed to have the ribs and the other details scribed.  As with all other kits the fuselage is in two halves and there is a separate stabilizer/elevator. The moulding includes an engine, propeller, spinner, struts, undercarriage and wheels but with one exception these are of little use. Not that that stopped me trying to use them way back then.

Instructions:

If memory serves me right they weren’t too bad. I have a Warbirds Snipe in the stash and there are 14 exploded views pretty much as one would expect with a decent injection. I don’t recall any problems.

Construction:

First you have to cut the parts from the plastic sheet. When I did this I used a carpet fitter’s Stanley knife and I used the point of the blade to make a series of small cuts around the part. This usually had to be repeated before flexing of the plastic would cause a parting in the plastic. When this happened the knife could be applied again and ran around the piece and remove it from the sheet. The knife was at 90 degrees and a lot of excess plastic remained on the part. More recent research has shown a better way which I will try on my next attempt. With this method you first draw around the part with a thin tipped marker and then follow the base of the line with the knife cutting at a 45 degree angle. This leaves less excess and the marker is your guideline as to how much you need to remove.

After all the parts you need have been removed you have to remove any excess plastic as mentioned. Rubbing against wet and dry on a flat surface is usually recommended but I have a long flat file which produces similar results. In the case of the fuselage halves you will have to open up the cockpit as this will be solid. A nick with a saw to guide a circular file works for me. Construction now begins as like any other short run kit.  With this model you get a cockpit floor, with pedals moulded in, and a seat. Both are useable if you are going to crew up but others will want to use after market products or scratch. I painted the inside wood and installed a pilot. Then the halves were joined together, no problems. One thing I have noticed since is that the tail is thick. Both halves had a tail section and I think it would pay to remove them and install a scratch built unit.

The engine is all that remains to do on the fuselage. Rareplanes moulded the cylinder heads into the sheet and with care they can be cut out, The exhaust and associated piping is useless but the heads can be used as the central part of the engine. I did not open up the engine top covers so that I could cement the heads onto it. The portside pipework came from the engine of an Airfix Hannover that had been modified for use elsewhere. The exhaust was filed from card and fine plastic rod from Contrail provided the manifold pipes.  The other alternative would be to open the top up and fit an engine from another kit or an aftermarket from Aeroclub for example. My worry about a metal engine would be the weight. This is a light kit and may become too nose heavy. But this is out of sequence. The exhaust and pipework is left to the end because you know what will happen to it if it’s done now.

Next are the wings. My first attempt at cutting had left plastic from the sheet on the undersides of the leading edges. This I now rectified as best I could and rescribed the rib lines that were removed.  I painted the wings at this stage. The lower wings are butt jointed to the fuselage and should be supported while the cement is drying. I let ordinary glue go tacky before joining and then set the kit onto some cardboard. When the wings are at the right angle it is left overnight. Next morning I reinforced the joints with CA after applying a little filler onto the underside joints. Before attempting the top wing a windscreen was added curtesy of the spares box and Rodens Gotha G111. Machine guns weren’t needed as this is a D111 and they are enclosed. In it’s previous incarnation I had added guns but they had been removed leaving a hole which was treated with filler.

The lower wings have impressions to indicate the position of the struts but I consulted photographs in several publications before I cemented anything in place. The kit struts are hopeless. They can be cut from the sheet but they are hollow on one side. I had filled them with polyfilla but they were overscale and looked terrible. So I looked to Contrail but the kit interplane struts have the correct angles moulded into them and the U shape within the base. Any side view will show you what I mean. I cut off the bases from the legs after filing them to match the thinner Contrail sections and joined them together. Left to consolidate they turned out solid and useable. Tacky glue was used to get them into position on the lower wing followed by a few dry runs with the top wing and then they were CA’d into final position. The cabane struts are original, complete with original polyfilla, but filed as thin as I dared without breaking them. As I no longer possess any instructions frequent reference was made to photographs.

The tail elevator is moulded as a Pfalz D111a tailpiece. This is larger than the earlier D111 and is cut to shape. Again photos showed what was needed.

By now I had also painted the fuselage and coated it with satin varnish to enable handling. With all the joints reinforced with CA it was quite a sturdy little beast. Now the undercarriage had to be tackled. The kit version was the same as the rest of the struts etc and was discarded. I used some leftovers from a Gotha G111 from Roden.  As they weren’t mentioned in the building of this version I assumed they were the GVb’s Stossfahrgestell that were designed to prevent noseovers on landing. Whatever they were they came in handy and after a bit of pruning were matched up with a section of aerofoil strut as the spreader bar and wheels from the spares box.

The prop spinner is useable and was cemented in place. Blades from the spares box completed the unit. Next came the rigging.  Wings only as usual and it went quite well. I did notice that with the softer plastic the CA seemed to acquire a faster and firmer hold but this may be my imagination.

Colour Schemes:

Pfalz aircraft mostly left the factory sporting a silver colour which was called silbergrau. When they reached the front line units they were treated to the squadron markings and pilot’s preferences. Sites such as the Aerodrome and Cross and Cockade will be able to help in looking up numerous colour schemes. For this particular model I painted the fuselage silver up to the tail unit which is black. The wing upper surfaces are painted purple (Humbrol 68) and green (3xRevell 48 to 1x 65). A Pfalz D111 of Jasta 10 had all it’s upper surfaces painted thus with the under parts silver. Mine doesn’t represent any particular machine I just exercised a bit of artistic liberty.

Decals:

None with the kit. These came from the Almark A29 sheet of German Crosses Eiserne Keruz 1916-17. They are very good but you have to cut very closely around the cross to prevent a large section of transparent backing becoming part of the transfer.

Accuracy:

Spot on. Wingspan was 30ft 10 ins, kit is 5.1 ins. Length was 22ft 93/4 and the kit is 3.8ins and height was 8ft 10 ins and the kit is 1.5 ins.

Conclusions:

I have only seen the Roden kit as a preview and it certainly looks the part. There are other company offerings in injection and I’m sure they are all far superior to this vacform. But, if like me you have several vacforms in the stash and have decided that they won’t make you a fortune on e bay, have a go and you might be pleasantly surprised at what you can achieve. As far as this kit is concerned the detail on the upper wings is good and the fuselage moulding also contains cockpit coaming, foot step, engine panels and what I think are cooling flues. I enjoyed myself, what more can I say.


© Steve Hedworth 2009

References:


© Steve Hedworth 2009

 

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